ETHIOPIA: JOINT PROGRAMME ON
GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT– RURAL WOMEN
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT COMPONENT
Case Study
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CHAPTERS
This case study is based on lessons from the joint programme,“Joint Programme on Gender Equality and WomenEmpowerment - Rural Women Economic EmpowermentComponent” Read more
SDGs addressed
ADDIS ABABA
Ethiopia is the second most populous country inSub-Saharan Africa, with a population of more than105 million. Despite many efforts and someprogress, there are still challenges for ensuringinclusive development. Women have not benefitedequally from development as they have less accessto economic opportunities, education and skillstraining. As a result, cultural, social, and structuralchallenges for women continue to exist atindividual, community, institutional and policylevels. These limitations negatively impactwomen’s empowerment and their access to keyservices.
Most parts of Ethiopia are rural and haveenormous potential for agricultural development.However, rural women are especially vulnerable asthey have limited access to skill trainings, formal
education, innovative agricultural inputs, andfinance. They also have limited ownership andcontrol over productive assets and technologies.While women farmers perform up to 75% of farm
labor, they hold only 18.7% of agricultural land.Despite recent policies strengthening the positionof women, rural women still have restricted accessto agricultural inputs, fertilizers, finance, credit,extension services, technology and information.These factors limit their contributions to householdfood security and household income. They alsoface challenges when it comes to diversifying theirwork and building productive assets to deal withdroughts and other shocks due to climate change.
Another challenge for women’s empowerment isweak institutional structures, includingcooperatives, micro-finance institutions, andgovernment bureaus that do not adequatelyaddress rural women’s needs. Because of theirlimited capacity, these institutions are not able toappropriately integrate gender into planning and
implementation of activities to support ruralwomen’s empowerment. Additionally, only a smallnumber of women hold leadership positions atsuch institutions.
This joint programme was developed to accelerateeconomic empowerment of rural women in tworegions of Ethiopia (Afar and Oromia). Theprogramme also promoted gender equality andstrived to reduce rural poverty.
1. SUMMARY
2. SITUATION
Roral women in Ethiopia they have less access to economic opportunities, education and skills training
i While women farmers in Ethiopia perform up to 75% of farm labor, they hold only 18.7% of agricultural land
i
The joint programme targeted 2,500 rural women,
who benefited from increased agriculturalproduction and improved their food security andnutrition. Indirectly the joint programme impacted12,000 household members, more than 14,000community members, 80 producers’ cooperatives
run by rural women for a total of 5,000 members,and 3,000 female members of Rural Saving andCredit Cooperatives (RUSACCOs). As a result of theprogramme, rural women and their familiesimproved their food and nutrition security. They
participated in trainings on agricultural production,households’ food reserve management andcontrol, and cattle fattening and rearing. Technical
capacity building was supported throughinnovative agricultural inputs and technologies.Rural women in Oromia region achieved yields of40 quintals of wheat, 45 quintals of maize and 20quintals of Teff (an annual bunch grass) perhectare, showing 100%, 125%, and 83% increasesin production, respectively. Eighty percent of therural women (1,997) are now able to feed theirhouseholds three times per day with a diversifieddiet. Rural women also increased their income,which helped them improve their livelihoods.
The joint programme supported rural women’sbusinesses and entrepreneurial projects, as well astheir leadership and literacy skills. It also created
access to market information, gender-sensitivefinancial and non-financial services, and improvedaccess to productive resources (land, time andlabor-saving technologies). This greatly improvedtheir income. Out of 2,500 rural women in the
programme, 1,0 66 are now able to c reatesustainable and diversified income sources. Thishelped them have personal savings ranging from$14 to $508. These women are engaged in income-generating activities that include small ruminants
Rural women participate in local Rural Saving and CreditCooperative (RUSACCO) to receive loans and increase
savings to start income-generating activities
3. STRATEGY
The joint programme strategy focused on theregions of Oromo and Afar, using a multifacetedapproach to generate gender-sensitive agriculturalextension services, support the creation ofcooperatives, promote the expansion of women-owned agricultural businesses and increase ruralwomen’s participation in producer associations,financial cooperatives and unions. Thanks to activeengagement from the federal and regionalgovernment, the joint programme in Ethiopiaaddressed the barriers to rural women’sempowerment. Four UN agencies brought theircomparative advantages and experiences in
programmes which empowered women inEthiopia. FAO brought its experience in agriculturalresearch, promoting production and food security.UN Women brought its technical expertise ongender mainstreaming, including planning, andsupporting community mobilization on women’srights. WFP and IFAD brought their rich experiencein increasing incomes and social capital of ruralwomen through women cooperatives and womenassociations. In addition, local civil societyorganizations for women worked as developmentpartners to support the joint programme’seffective implementation.
4. RESULTS AND IMPACT
and oxen fattening, irrigation, livestock and cropproduction, dairy petty trade, sales of handicraft,textile, food and hot drinks (tea, coffee) andtransportation services by mule/donkey and horsecarts. More women participated in producerassociations with the aim to access the marketsand improve their incomes. For instance, theBekelcha Beri Milk processing cooperative was ableto supply milk and butter to hotels in the districttown. Grain producers from the Bedhatucooperative in Dodola district now supply improvedseeds to the Oromia Grain Trade Enterprisethrough unions.
The programme helped address gender inequalityand strengthened women’s involvement indecision-making, focusing on sustainable socialchange in communities and within households. Asa result, 53% (1,335) of women are now able tojointly make decisions with their spouse abouthousehold resources and matters involving sales ofassets like cattle and rental of land. 15% (368) ofrural women now participate in decision-making inrural institutions, including RUSACCOs. When theprogramme started, there were no rural womenparticipating in decision-making processes of ruralinstitutions, so the impact of the programme hasbeen significant. In the public sphere, 108 rural
women (96 in Oromia and 12 in Afar) assumedpositions in their cooperatives’ administrative,auditing, control and loan committees. No womanheld such a position in either of the regions beforethe programme started. Moreover, 24 cooperative
leaders, 54 women association leaders and 112rural women received training on leadership andmanagement, family law and economic rights. Inaddition, 2,127 rural women (1,793 in Oromia and334 in Afar) gained access to credits/loans throughtheir RUSACCOs. Out of 900 women who receivedloans in the first round, 744 rural women havealready repaid their loans and accessed additionalones to support their income-generating activities
The joint programme also supported gender-responsive policies and an institutionalenvironment that fosters women's economic
empowerment. A National Network for GenderEquality in Agriculture was created to supportgender-responsive agricultural sector policies,strategies and programmes, and to increasenational ownership. Through this network, the jointprogramme advocated for gender-sensitivenational plans and policies. The joint programme inEthiopia also supported two evidence-basedstudies, “Costing the Gender Gap in AgriculturalProductivity in Ethiopia” and “Budget Tracking ofAgriculture Sector from the Gender Perspective” toinform policy development and enhance awarenessabout gender gaps. A notable result is the“Cooperative Strengthening Manual of FederalCooperatives Agency (FCA),” which is now more
gender-sensitive. This manual aimed to strengthenthe cooperatives nationwide and incorporatedwomen-specific access indicators, including thetracking of women’s membership and participationin leadership.
2,500 women farmers increased agricultural production of wheat,
maize and teff
2,127 rural women gained access to credits and loans
190 women received training on leadership,
family law and economic rights.
iDifferent operational and implementationmodalities of participating UN agencies coupledwith different organizational structures andinternal processes presented a challenge.Government officials and other experts attendedworkshops to address these challenges andimprove coordinated work.
The programme increased women’s access to andcontrol of land. However, complex and sensitiveland issues in Ethiopia, including traditionalattitudes opposing a woman’s right to land, createdchallenges. One of the joint programme’sassumptions was that there was an enablingenvironment resulting from a federal policy and a
proclamation granting women access to land andthe government’s joint land certification process.But even there was this institutional environmentto grant women access to land, theimplementation of this process proved to bedifficult and the progress slow. To address thesefactors, awareness campaigns on gender anddialogue with the relevant governmentstakeholders should be continued.
The joint programme experienced several delaysdue to the state of emergency and severedroughts, which left millions of people dependenton emergency food assistance. The devaluation ofthe Birr (national currency) against the dollarcaused delays in procurement of equipment. Toaddress implementation difficulties, a high-leveldiscussion was held between federal, regional, anddistrict officials in order to set priorities and informthe participants about the interventions.
The participants’ busy schedules at home and inthe fields, along with their limited awareness aboutthe benefits of the Functional Adult Literacytraining limited their participation, so only a smallnumber of women reached sufficient literacy levels(ability to identify and read letters and numbers).To address difficulties, continuous communicationswith the bureaus of Education and Women andChildren’s Affairs helped educate the participantsand created a reward system for those whoattended and performed well.
5. CHALLENGES
Rural women in Oromia region participate in trainings to increase their literacy skills and entrepreneurial capacity
iComplex and sensitive land issues in Ethiopia, including traditional attitudes, created challenges to increase the women’s access to and control to land
➢ The government’s participation and nationalownership is crucial for accelerating programmeactivities and achieving successful results.Institutional capacity building should be continuedto ensure the government brings different actors todeliver services for women. It is important toprovide updated and tailored manuals, guidelinesand standards for capacity building activities inorder to change attitudes and perceptionsregarding gender issues.
➢ In order to ensure positive outcomes,programme interventions should be aligned withnational and global policies and standards topromote and protect women’s economic rights.This allows for better synergy and lowertransaction costs because of the use of existinggovernance arrangements, institutional supportand implementation infrastructure.
➢ New agricultural technologies and products suchas improved seeds will work better if climatechange is better taken into consideration. Forinstance, improved wheat seeds were helpful inDodola town (Oromia region) since it has highprecipitation, while they were not as helpful asexpected in AT-JK district since because of its dryarea. In Afar region, lowland wheat variety couldhave been productive.
➢ Male engagement in community mobilizationand gender–sensitive approaches creates anenvironment that is conducive for the programme.The involvement of men and boys in gender-awareness activities gave women the opportunityto express their concerns and work together toidentify mutual interests, bring attention to theimportance of family perspectives and triggereddiscussions within households and communities.Now, gender equality and women’s empowermentare not seen solely as women’s issues and men arebeing engaged as actors to spur social change.
Prepared by the SDG Fund: Ekaterina Dorodnykh (Knowledge Management and M&E). Editing by Vesna Jaksic Lowe andVictor Garrido.
7. SUSTAINABILITY AND POTENTIAL FOR REPLICATION
Results can become sustainable by working at thepolicy level to influence mechanisms that promotegender equality and women’s empowerment inEthiopia. A positive impact on the lives of morethan 2,500 rural women and their family membershas been realized through the multisectorapproach employed to address the individual,institutional and community-level barriers of the
targeted rural women. The results show that thisjoint strategy can be replicated and scaled up inother regions of Ethiopia. Additional funding fromSweden and Norway was secured to increase thenumber of beneficiaries as well as to reach newand vulnerable rural women in the Dubti Districtand two towns in the Oromia region.
Ila Robale, a programme beneficiary, received a loan fromto buy a second ox to plough her 1.5 hectares of land and
produce food for her family
6. LESSONS LEARNT
