The Role of Gender in crop Value Chains in Ethiopia

Lemlem Aregu, Ranjitha Puskur and Clare Bishop Sambrook

ILRI/IPMS

Gender and Market Oriented Agriculture (AgriGender 2011) Workshop Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

31st January–2nd February 2011

1.Background

Rural women represent a significant productive force in the agri sector of Ethiopia either As a family member

Heading the household Government policies to strengthen the position of women

PASDEP 2005 planned to reach out to 30% women in MHH and100% FHH in the agri extension program

GTP reinforce participation of women in the new plan Despite these initiatives, women’s limited participation in

value chains due to a variety of constraints is inhibiting the commercialization of agriculture

IPMS has conducted gender analysis for priority commodities selected in each PLWs as a first step in addressing the gender issues in commodity development

2. Objectives of the gender analysis

To understand the different roles of women and men in crop production, marketing, decision making and their share in benefits

To identify potential barriers for women’s and men’s participation in market-led development initiatives

To identify what actions may be required by the project in order to overcome some of the barriers

3. Methods and process

Qualitative studies undertaken by the project in 4 regions across 10 PLWs

The field work was conducted between 2005 and 2007

The information was gathered in 4 PAs per woreda

A range of participatory tools like Wealth ranking, proportional pilling used

10 to 28 community members per PA participated (1/3rd-1/2 of were women)

Separate discussions held with men and women community members

3. Methods and process

The gender analysis also gathered information on Division of labour in production – who does what Role of gender in marketing – who sells what, how

much, when, how often, where and to whom Access and control of resources and benefits -

who controls the income from the sale of the produce

Access to inputs technologies, information and services – who has access to which inputs, technologies and services; what are the sources of knowledge and information for men and women

Decision making - who decides on what Findings shared among partners through various

events and communication products Published as a working paper

4. Gender characteristics of rural populations

4.1. Workload of rural women In Ethiopia most rural women work from dawn to dusk

(10-12 hours per day) vary b/n wet & dry season In contrast with men they have little time for leisure or

socializing They are the major source of labor in agriculture They are also responsible for caring of children and

entire household Half of their working hours devoted to HH activities In rainfed farming systems, men’s workload is lightest

during the dry season compared to HHs with access to irrigated land

4. Gender characteristics of rural populations

Women Engaged in diverse off-farm livelihood

activities, influenced by the local farming systems resource endowments & wealth

In Rich and middle wealth HHs Trade in ag products at small scale

In poor HHs Work as casual laborer on farm and

in the home of rich HHs Sell fuel wood, sorghum/maize stalk Engaged in cotton spinning or injera

making for sell Brewing and selling local alcohol

4.2. Rural livelihoodsMen

Men also undertake a wide range of off-farm activities Influenced by wealth

Rich men involved in activities that require capital Trading in ag product Investing in processing

equipments Lending money

In poor HHs Work as casual laborer on

farm Migrate temporarily for work

4. Gender characteristics…….

4.3. Female headed HHs On average the proportion of FHHs is 15-35% in Ethiopia They are found among the poorer HH in each community Few FHH in the rich or middle wealth groups

Distribution of male and female-headed households by wealth category

Incidence of female-headed households

The challenges of FHHs are different from those faced by MHHs

138

36

25

50

67

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Rich Middle Poor

MHHFHH

Region Range of FHH in %

Tigray 35 35

Amhara 16 36

Oromia 5 34

South 7 26

Total 5 36

5. 1 Gender division of labour in crop production

MEN Men are typically responsible for heavier manual

tasks like tillage Men play dominant role in seed selection, reflecting

their better access to information They also involved in skilled jobs of broadcasting

seed and fertilizer However once the household adopted row planting

any family members can plant including women Men are also responsible for threshing and

winnowing

Generally men are key players in crop production

WOMEN Women are involved with activities

require handiness and attention to details like rasing seedlings, transplanting and weeding

They are also responsible closely associated with their household responsibilities like storage, processing and adding value

Deviations During critical times, both women and men do the activities together like weeding and

harvesting Richer HHs often overcome labour peaks by hiring labour Middle wealth use reciprocal labour arrangement ( Debo,Jigi, wenfel…) The poor may also use reciprocal labour arrangements but they use their family labour Women support these, through providing refreshment food & drink preparation

In Fogera most of the activities associated with pepper cultivation are done by women

In Alaba, they are performed solely by men In Bure, the activities are shared Men dominate vegetable activities in Atsbi while it is shared in Bure

5.1. Gender division of labour…….

There are inter-regional differences in division of labor (e.g., pepper & Vegetable)

Division of labor differences by wealth group In Miesso, men perform all activities related to maize and

sorghum production in rich HHs The activities are shared in middle and poor HHs

Generally the gender division of labour less marked in poor HHs; the income tend to share more equitable

MEN Men from rich and middle

wealth HHs often sell major crops in bulk

Occasionally they may travel to distant markets to secure high prices

Poorer farmers and women tend to accept price at local markets which are accessible by foot

Women and the poor are more likely to sell directly to consumers

Men and better off HHs sell to private traders and cooperatives

5.2. Gender roles in marketing and sharing the benefits from the production

The nature of market engagement differs significantly b/n women & men and influenced by wealth of HHs

WOMEN Women have little control over

the income benefits from crop production Out of 13 crop commodities

produced for market which were studied, men control income from 11

Women control and share income only from 2 crops

Due to the dominance of men in marketing, women sometimes sell small quantities of the produce in secret which results in market inefficiencies Table 6 control of income.doc

5.2. Gender roles in marketing ……

When the volume of produce per HH is small, women control the income

when it is more substantial, the income tends be shared

When the production is commercialized, men control the income Table 5 workload and benefit sharing.doc

Control over the income differs with the level of production (e.g., fruit production in Goma)

Wealth group

gender Avocado sales by HH wealth in Goma

Bulbulo

Limu

Sapa

Gengi

Elbu

Rich W 10 - -

M - - 800

T 10 - 800

Middle W 12 60 50

M - - 600

T 12 60 650

Poor W 15 - 150

M - - 20

T 15 - 170

Generally there is imbalance between workload and share in the benefit of the crop

5.3. Gender based preferences for seeds

Women opt to produce varieties which are good quality and for domestic consumption

Men prefer crop varieties which have high market demand and fetch high price Eg.in Ada men prefer to produce improved varieties Shasho,

Arerti of chick pea for the market In Alaba men prefer to produce improved haricot bean

Mexican & Awash as they fetches higher price women prefer the local variety Dima & Red wolayta

Poor tend to prefer generally less risky (disease resistant and locally available crop varieties)

Women’s preferences for crop varieties differs from that of men

6. Gender differences in technology &services

Although both men and women benefit from improved technology availability, men tend to benefit more

Adoption of technology among poorer inhibited by inability to afford

Women and poor HHs access agricultural inputs mainly through formal government sources

There is limited private sector involvement in input supply and service provision, mainly catering to the rich and middle wealth HHs

6.2. Gender access to inputs and services

6.1. Gender differences in tech adoption

7. Gender access to sources of information, knowledge and skill and Decision-making

Men depend mainly on formal information sources This helps men to improve their skills and knowledge and their

performances in agricultural activities In contrast, women farmers rarely get extension support that

would enable them to enhance their knowledge and skills which can improve their performance of agri activities They depend on informal sources (neighbors & husbands)

7.1 Source of infon, knowledge and skill depends on the HHs wealth and gender differences

Decisions about enterprise mix and technology adoption tend appears to be male dominated Particularly in Rich and middle households joint decisions in poor households

Only in FHHs women control the decision on what to plant and technologies to adopt,

7.2. Decision-making

10. Implication for market led development

As a result of market-oriented development it is expected that workload will increase for both men and women but in different magnitude Depending on what tasks they are responsible for

Generally there is an imbalance between workload and share in the benefit of the crop production

There is very real risk that process of commercialization may further marginalize women

Women may be also deprived of control over income from the limited range of commodities that they enjoy at present

Risks that further marginalize women should be understood and measures should be introduced along side the intervention

11. Conclusion

While designing development interventions for supporting market oriented agricultural development, it is important to take account of gender differences in terms of workload, share of the benefits and accessing, inputs technologies and services

It is also relevant to consider their input preferences provide access to improved varieties which serve dual

purpose - home consumption and sale Access to credit is critical to be able to use some of

the modern technologies Capital scarcity acts as a major barrier for women and poor

and tends to leave them out of the technology development process

It is required to conduct site and commodity specific gender analysis to understand gender roles and relations in crop

value chain

Thank you!