Scaling-up: Gender integration and women’s empowerment in Southern Ethiopia

In the last couple of decades, the scaling up of successful pilot projects has been considered a crucial development strategy. The majority of scaling-up programs in developing countries stipulate the integration of gender as a central objective. In the article we argue that while the integration of gender in the scaling up of pilot projects has the potential to empower women, care should be taken not to overly focus on a segment of the women category (particular female heads of households) and overstate temporary gender gains that do not transform exploitative gender norms and practices. The article draws on evaluation research undertaken by researchers of the Scaling-up of Pulse Innovation for Food and Nutrition Security (SPIFoNS) Project, implemented in Southern Ethiopia. Data of this write-up were gathered using semi-structured questions, focus group discussions and observation. The article argues that if projects such as SPIFoNS are to adequately challenge patriarchy and contribute to bringing about gender equity, they need to recognize the heterogeneity of women and design multidimensional programs that can help married women to gain full access to resources and participate in important household decision-making processes

Gender framework for ensuring sensitivity to women's role in pulse production in Southern Ethiopia

The main objective of this paper is to highlight components of a gender framework developed to guide a Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) project that sought to address food security through pulse productivity and nutrition in southern Ethiopia. The framework was developed based on baseline data collected from 665 households randomly drawn from four pulse growing districts of Ethiopia (Damot Gale; Halaba; Hawassa Zuria; and Adami Tulu Jido Combolcha). The descriptive analysis shows that female-headed households owned significantly lesser land, livestock and other important strategic resources compared to male-headed households. Moreover, women’s role was found to be less valued in pulse production, with local cultural practices limiting them from benefiting economically from the sale of pulses. The gender framework in this paper indicates five key gendered pillars for improving pulse productivity/management and nutrition; namely, knowledge, skills and training acquisition; participation in production and decision-making; access to resources; control over resources; and policy development. Finally, the framework underscores the importance of taking into account gender differences in terms of access to land, technologies and other strategic resources in pulse crop productivity/management and related interventions