Women’s Empowerment for Agroecology: Evidence from Mixed and Agropastoral Farming Systems in the Ethiopian Highlands

Abstract ID: 3.12932 | Not reviewed | Requested as: Talk | TBA | TBA

Johanna Jacobi (1)
Johanna, Jacobi (3); Jemal Y., Hassen (3); Muluken G., Wordofa (3); Getachew S., Endris (2); Chanyalew S., Aweke (3)

(1) ETH Zürich, Universitätsstr. 2, 8092 Zürich, CH
(2) School of Rural Development and Agricultural Innovation, Haramaya University, Ethiopia
(3) Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Categories: Agriculture
Keywords: A-WEAI, food security, sustainable development, Ethiopia, women empowerment

Categories: Agriculture
Keywords: A-WEAI, food security, sustainable development, Ethiopia, women empowerment

Abstract

This study analyses women’s empowerment and its association with economic, environmental, and social indicators of sustainability in four districts across Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP) regional states in Ethiopia. Primary data for this study comes from a random sample of 619 smallholder farm households gathered using the Tool for Agroecological Performance Evaluation (TAPE) methodology, which evaluates farms against social and ecological agroecological indicators. Improvements of the situation of women were measured using the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) consisting of six indicators (inputs in productive decision; ownership of assets; access to and deccisions on credit; control over use of income; group membership; and workload). It was found that the mean A-WEAI for the full sample is relatively high with 70.89, and higher for ‘crop production only’ followed by ‘agropastoral’ and ‘mixed farming’ production typologies. Among the economic indicators, A-WEAI is found to be positively and significantly associated with land holding size, area under agricultural production, women’s land tenure score, total value of agricultural output, total value of animal products, total value of animals, total expenditure for productive inputs, and productivity. From the environmental indicators, the study revealed that empowering women is associated with a lower pesticide use, but also a lower animal diversity index, and a higher diversity of natural vegetation and pollinators in their farm. From the 10 social agroecological indicators considered in the study, eight (i.e., household dietary diversity, Minimum Dietary Diversity of Women, child dietary diversity, food expenditure, per capita food expense, youth empowerment, youth employment, and family labor) were found to have a statistically significant association with the A-WEAI. Based on the key study findings, implications are drawn to reinvigorate women’s contribution to sustainable agriculture development and food system transformation in Ethiopia and beyond.