Age as a Moderator and Socioeconomic Correlates of Cash Transfers-linked Empowerment Among Pastoralist Women: Evidence from Turkana Central Sub-County, Kenya

Cash transfers programmes are frequently used to improve the socioeconomic status of vulnerable women, yet there is still little data on whether the beneficiaries' own socioeconomic characteristics influence these outcomes, especially in populations of nomadic pastoralists. In Turkana Central Sub-County, Kenya, this study investigated how age moderates the relationship between Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) cash transfers and three measures of pastoralist women's socioeconomic empowerment: savings, household decision-making, and meal frequency with education and marital status as direct predictors. Based on Kabeer empowerment theory, the study used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design and a pragmatic mindset. It included two focus groups, three key informant interviews, and a structured survey of 342 HSNP beneficiaries. While qualitative data were studied thematically to contextualise statistical findings, quantitative data were analysed descriptively using chi-square and ordinary least squares regression with interaction terms connecting programme design features to beneficiary age. The findings demonstrated that rather than moderating empowerment effects equally, socioeconomic characteristics did so selectively. Savings were significantly associated with education and marital status, with married beneficiaries and those with only a primary education reporting the greatest percentages. The associations of payment frequency and payment modality on savings were strongly moderated by age; older beneficiaries gained disproportionately from more frequent and accessible payment modalities, partially offsetting an otherwise negative direct effect of age on saves. Although there was no statistically significant moderation, household decision-making was consistently high (above 96%) across age, education, and marital categories; yet qualitative reports indicated underlying contestation over control of transfers within married and polygamous households. Food security among older beneficiaries necessitates measures beyond payment logistics, as evidenced by the considerable drop in meal frequency with age that was not significantly regulated by payment mechanism. These results suggest that significant subgroups of pastoralist women may experience differential outcomes under a uniformly planned cash transfers with socioeconomic characteristics acting as indicator-specific rather than general mediators of empowerment. Based on the associations identified, the findings suggest several programme implications: first, age-targeted nutritional support to address the age-related decline in meal frequency observed among. Second, complementary social-norms interventions to address contested household bargaining power and finally, targeted financial literacy support for beneficiaries with no or only secondary education and differentiated payment scheduling and delivery methods for older beneficiaries. The results provide a methodological guide for designing cash transfers programmes that are gender-responsive in various pastoral contexts.