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Review on Gender Roles in Livestock Value Chain in Ethiopia

Received: 25 August 2020    Accepted: 18 September 2020    Published: 11 November 2020
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Abstract

This paper is reviewed based on livestock value chain from gender perspectives in Ethiopia. Livestock are generally considered a key resource for rural livelihoods and they also play significant economic and cultural roles in the country. They can also be an entry point to promote gender empowerment in rural areas because livestock activities are a daily occupation and animal products such as milk, butter and meat are produced, processed and marketed in the country, with men and women contribution for the work. For these reasons, it is important to review gender roles and access to, control over and benefit from the resources along the livestock value chain and factors affecting women participation in livestock value chain in the country. The paper is reviewed based on a desk research of the synthesis and site-specific/country level studies from the livestock commodities’ value chain conducted in Ethiopia. Accordingly, both men and women play a significant role along the stages of livestock value chain in the country. Women mostly participated in gathering feed and provide feed to the livestock, watering, take care of the sick and young animals, contribute to cleaning the animal shelter, milking and contribute to sale of the livestock products. Men are specifically involved in herding, cutting forage, marketing and taking livestock to health centers. Livestock ownership between men and women is strongly related to social, cultural and economic factors. It also depends on the kind of livestock they raise. Large livestock are owned by men while smaller animals such as goats, sheep and poultry are mostly owned by women. Although small ruminants are often owned by women, it is the men who are responsible for their disposal and thus in charge of making decisions related to their sale. Gender related factors such as poor technical skills in animal care, limited veterinary services, limited access to markets and poor marketing skills, limited access to financial and extension services, high illiteracy levels and social expectations in the community, less ownership and benefits from the productive assets tend to affect women’s participation to livestock value chain. Therefore, to contribute to household security, women should be supported as livestock owners, processors and users of benefits as men for strengthening their decision making power at the household level and also, to reduce poverty, women should be supported economically as well as socially.

Published in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14
Page(s) 140-147
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Gender, Livestock, Value Chain

References
[1] IFAD. 2010. Value Chains, Linking Producers to the Markets. Livestock Thematic papers. Tools for Project Design (http://www.ifad.org/lrkm/factsheet/valuechains.pdf).
[2] IFAD. 2010. Value chains: Linking producers to the markets. Rome, Italy: International Fund for Agricultural Development.
[3] Njuki, J., Mutua, E. and Saghir, P. 2012. Review of gender and value chain analysis, Development and evaluation toolkits. Nairobi, Kenya: International Livestock Research Institute.
[4] Rubin, D. 2010. Promoting gender equitable opportunities in agriculture value chains: A Hand Book. USA: USAID.
[5] Mayoux, L. and Mackie, G. (2008). A practical guide to mainstreaming gender analysis in value chain development. International Labour Office, Addis Ababa. 113pp.
[6] USAID (2010). Guide to Gender integration and analysis [http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/200/201sab.pdf]. Site visited on 4 October, 2011.
[7] Riisgaard, L., Fibla, E. M. A., Ponte, S. (2010). Gender and Value Chain Development. The Danish Institute for International Studies Global economy, regulation and development Copenhagen, Denmark. 77pp.
[8] Coles, C. and Mitchell, J. (2011). Gender and agricultural value chains: A review of current knowledge and practice and their policy implications. ESA Working Paper No. 11-05.
[9] Njuki, J. (2011) “Working with and for Women and Livestock”: A filmed presentation of ILRI (The International Livestock Research Institute). Web link: http://blip.tv/ilri/hrjemmimah- and-women-h264-5787857 (visited on 27-09-2012).
[10] FAO (2010). FAO Gender Programmes: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. [http://www.fao.org/gender-home/gender-programme/gender-livestock/jp/]. Site visited on 20 August, 2012.
[11] Quisumbing A. R., Pandolfelli L. 2010. Promising approaches to address the needs of poor female farmers: resources, constraints and interventions. World Development vol. 38 (4) pp. 581-592.
[12] FAO. 2011. The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011. Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development (http://www.fao.org/docrep).
[13] World Bank. 2001. Engendering development through gender equality in rights, resources and voice. Washington, DC, USA: World Bank.
[14] IFAD [International Fund for Agricultural Development] (1999) “Household Food Security and Gender” Memory Checks for Programme and Project Design, IFAD.
[15] Njuki, J. (2010) “Farm Animals can Help Millions of Women Raise the Well-Being of their Households and Communities”: A filmed presentation of ILRI (The International Livestock Research Institute). Web link: http://blip.tv/ilri/farm-animals-can-help-millions-of-womenraise-the-well-being-of-their-households-and-communities-3437728 (visited on 27-09-2012).
[16] Terrill, J. 2011. Gender Mainstreaming in Value Chain Development: Practical guidelines and tools. Netherlands: SNV.
[17] AGP (Agricultural Growth Project). 2013. Agricultural Growth Project -Livestock Market Development. pp. 30.
[18] Ulfina Galmessa., et al. “Gender Roles in Dairy Cattle Production, Processing and Marketing in Two Selected Districts of West Shoa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia”. EC Agriculture 5.12 (2019): 01-14.
[19] Gebremedhin, B., Tesema, E., Tegegne, A., Hoekstra, D. and Nicola, S. 2016. Value chain opportunities for women and young people in livestock production in Ethiopia: Lessons learned. LIVES Working Paper 24. Nairobi, Kenya: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
[20] Fletschner, D. and Kenney, L. 2011. Rural women’s access to financial services: Credit savings and insurance. ESA working paper No. 11–07. Rome, Italy: Agricultural Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
[21] Gammage, S. 2009. Gender and pro-poor value chain analysis. Washington, DC, USA: USAID.
[22] Solomon, D., Derek, B., Samuel, A. and Sintayehu, G. 2010. Diagnostic Study of Live Cattle and Beef Production and Marketing: Constraints and Opportunities for Enhancing the System.
[23] Kaplinsky, R. and Morris, M. 2000. A handbook for value chain research. Ottawa, Canada: IDRC.
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    Dabesa Wegari Obosha. (2020). Review on Gender Roles in Livestock Value Chain in Ethiopia. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 5(4), 140-147. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14

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    Dabesa Wegari Obosha. Review on Gender Roles in Livestock Value Chain in Ethiopia. Ecol. Evol. Biol. 2020, 5(4), 140-147. doi: 10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14

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    AMA Style

    Dabesa Wegari Obosha. Review on Gender Roles in Livestock Value Chain in Ethiopia. Ecol Evol Biol. 2020;5(4):140-147. doi: 10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14,
      author = {Dabesa Wegari Obosha},
      title = {Review on Gender Roles in Livestock Value Chain in Ethiopia},
      journal = {Ecology and Evolutionary Biology},
      volume = {5},
      number = {4},
      pages = {140-147},
      doi = {10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.eeb.20200504.14},
      abstract = {This paper is reviewed based on livestock value chain from gender perspectives in Ethiopia. Livestock are generally considered a key resource for rural livelihoods and they also play significant economic and cultural roles in the country. They can also be an entry point to promote gender empowerment in rural areas because livestock activities are a daily occupation and animal products such as milk, butter and meat are produced, processed and marketed in the country, with men and women contribution for the work. For these reasons, it is important to review gender roles and access to, control over and benefit from the resources along the livestock value chain and factors affecting women participation in livestock value chain in the country. The paper is reviewed based on a desk research of the synthesis and site-specific/country level studies from the livestock commodities’ value chain conducted in Ethiopia. Accordingly, both men and women play a significant role along the stages of livestock value chain in the country. Women mostly participated in gathering feed and provide feed to the livestock, watering, take care of the sick and young animals, contribute to cleaning the animal shelter, milking and contribute to sale of the livestock products. Men are specifically involved in herding, cutting forage, marketing and taking livestock to health centers. Livestock ownership between men and women is strongly related to social, cultural and economic factors. It also depends on the kind of livestock they raise. Large livestock are owned by men while smaller animals such as goats, sheep and poultry are mostly owned by women. Although small ruminants are often owned by women, it is the men who are responsible for their disposal and thus in charge of making decisions related to their sale. Gender related factors such as poor technical skills in animal care, limited veterinary services, limited access to markets and poor marketing skills, limited access to financial and extension services, high illiteracy levels and social expectations in the community, less ownership and benefits from the productive assets tend to affect women’s participation to livestock value chain. Therefore, to contribute to household security, women should be supported as livestock owners, processors and users of benefits as men for strengthening their decision making power at the household level and also, to reduce poverty, women should be supported economically as well as socially.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Review on Gender Roles in Livestock Value Chain in Ethiopia
    AU  - Dabesa Wegari Obosha
    Y1  - 2020/11/11
    PY  - 2020
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    T2  - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    JF  - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    JO  - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    SP  - 140
    EP  - 147
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-3762
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eeb.20200504.14
    AB  - This paper is reviewed based on livestock value chain from gender perspectives in Ethiopia. Livestock are generally considered a key resource for rural livelihoods and they also play significant economic and cultural roles in the country. They can also be an entry point to promote gender empowerment in rural areas because livestock activities are a daily occupation and animal products such as milk, butter and meat are produced, processed and marketed in the country, with men and women contribution for the work. For these reasons, it is important to review gender roles and access to, control over and benefit from the resources along the livestock value chain and factors affecting women participation in livestock value chain in the country. The paper is reviewed based on a desk research of the synthesis and site-specific/country level studies from the livestock commodities’ value chain conducted in Ethiopia. Accordingly, both men and women play a significant role along the stages of livestock value chain in the country. Women mostly participated in gathering feed and provide feed to the livestock, watering, take care of the sick and young animals, contribute to cleaning the animal shelter, milking and contribute to sale of the livestock products. Men are specifically involved in herding, cutting forage, marketing and taking livestock to health centers. Livestock ownership between men and women is strongly related to social, cultural and economic factors. It also depends on the kind of livestock they raise. Large livestock are owned by men while smaller animals such as goats, sheep and poultry are mostly owned by women. Although small ruminants are often owned by women, it is the men who are responsible for their disposal and thus in charge of making decisions related to their sale. Gender related factors such as poor technical skills in animal care, limited veterinary services, limited access to markets and poor marketing skills, limited access to financial and extension services, high illiteracy levels and social expectations in the community, less ownership and benefits from the productive assets tend to affect women’s participation to livestock value chain. Therefore, to contribute to household security, women should be supported as livestock owners, processors and users of benefits as men for strengthening their decision making power at the household level and also, to reduce poverty, women should be supported economically as well as socially.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Mamo Mezemir Campus, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia

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