Challenging structures: gender transformative interventions by livestock CRP in Ethiopia

IntroductionThis study is a review of secondary literature that has been synthesized to extract information and demonstrate the implementation and impact of community conversations (CCs) on gender aspects of social norms in livestock-based systems in Ethiopia.MethodsThe study used the phenomenological method of qualitative literature review to sketch the gender transformative approach to the delivery of knowledge products in a program on transforming the small ruminant value chain. The CC aimed at addressing gender-related norms in the division of labor, resource ownership, and handling practices of animals and their products previously identified, and those that emerged during the CC events across the study sites. A total of 1,517 community members (out of which 574 are women) took part in various CC events.Results and discussionThe review shows that the gender-related norms addressed were in line with the identified constraining norms faced by women livestock keepers in the mixed and livestock-based systems. The CC approach adopted complied with the stages laid out in literature: identification of existing knowledge; imparting new knowledge; knowledge integration and application; and review, reflection, and re-planning. The process was inclusive and community-engaging, which possibly cultivated intrinsic motivation and ownership of the process. Changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices at household, community, and institutional levels were identified. The conclusions include institutionalizing the gender transformative approach in the public agricultural extension system. This could be facilitated by the generation of robust objective evidence of impacts and guidance for subsequent scaling at local, regional, and national levels

Small ruminant value chain and empowerment: a gendered baseline study from Ethiopia

Introduction: Despite growing interest in gender analysis in value chains, comparatively few studies have analyzed gender relations in small ruminant value chains using sex-disaggregated quantitative data in livestock-based systems. Methods: Drawing on baseline data from the Small Ruminant Value Chain Development Program (SRVD) in Ethiopia, this study aims to address two research questions: what is the gender status along small ruminant value chain stages and the related associations among aspects of empowerment and socio-economic variables? We employed empowerment and value chain frameworks to address these research questions. Results and conclusion: Our findings reveal that small ruminant market participation, related decisions, and control over income are gender differential. Estimation results identified several variables significantly associated with agency dimensions, achievements, or both, with mixed results. These are age group, context, being married, being men and head of household, participation in breeding stock selection, livestock ownership, contact with extension agents, access to market information, and participation in selling at marketplaces. Participation in a small ruminant value chain may encourage more egalitarian decision-making behaviors but does not guarantee the capacity to make autonomous decision-making, and thus needs to be coupled with interventions on empowerment dimensions. Nevertheless, further investigations are required to establish the mixed results with additional variables on norms

Pathways to Empowerment: Case Studies of Positive Deviances in Gender Relations in Ethiopia

Development eforts have increased women’s perceived empowerment and free dom, yet have failed to sustainably alter gender norms. There is a lack of research investigating reasons for this anomaly. This study, departing from the conventional approach, tries to fll this gap by employing an interpretative phenomenological approach to assess how women have managed to achieve expanded agency while living within a constraining normative environment. We argue that women have the capacity to deviate and the intentions that lead to new behaviors emerge not only from individuals’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral con trol, as suggested by the Theory of Planned Behavior, but also in combination with demographic and economic factors. Individuals need to make decisions in three ar eas ―self-conviction (attitude and perceived behavioral control), subjective norms (within household and community), and structures (state and non-state institutions). The results shed light on alternative empowerment pathways that could potentially inform the design of transformational interventions

Empowerment resources, decision-making and gender attitudes: Which matter most to livestock keepers in the mixed and livestock-based systems in Ethiopia?

Abstract Background Women's empowerment constitutes an important aspect of the development agenda. Although it is highly contextual in nature, empowerment literature so far has focussed on identifying factors associated with empowerment, neglecting the importance of understanding which empowerment resources and agency dimensions are more important for whom and under what contexts. This is important, because we cannot talk of empowerment for those who are not in a disempowered condition or who do not value it. We examine the gender differences in the relative valuations of empowerment resources and decision-making areas across different farming systems, and examine the most valued empowerment resources. Methods Using a mixed methods approach, data on major household decisions, empowerment resources, and their relative importance were collected. Pairwise ranking methods were used to assess their gendered relative importance. Individual interviews using Ryff’s psychological well-being (PWB) items were conducted to obtain quantitative data on the key empowerment resource, which emerged as an important aspect of empowerment from the pairwise ranking exercises. Drawing on the empowerment framework and self-determination theory, we analysed the data. Results Our results show that the major empowerment resources and decision-makings that are valuable to men and women vary across gender and farming systems. In general, men place a greater importance on decisions about livestock, crop and finances. The women valued decisions regarding crop, livestock and social relations. Regarding empowerment resources, psychological well-being was found to be one of the most important resources, for women as well as men. Assessment of the basic psychological needs―autonomy, self-acceptance, and positive relations―statistically yielded no significant differences between the gender groups. However, the effects of location and the intersection of location with gender were both found to be statistically significant, suggesting that being men and from Horo is associated with higher scores on self-acceptance and personal relation subscales. Conclusions We conclude that gender and location play important roles in forming contextual conditions for empowerment and agency implying that empowerment efforts need to consider both. More specifically, policies and intervention efforts to empower individuals or groups must begin by first building their psychological assets and consider contextual gendered perceptions of resources