gisw13_chapters

ethiopiaEmpowering women through ICTsEthiopian Free and Open Source Software Network(EFOSSNET)Abebe Chekolabechekol@yahoo.comIntroductionEthiopia is a country of over 85 million people, 1nearly half of whom are women. It is also a predominantlyrural country, with 85% of the entirepopulation employed in agriculture. It has beenleading the way with regard to making marketinformation instantly available to the country’ssmallholder farmers, many of them women. 2 Over90% 3 of agricultural output is driven by smallholderfarmers, and with a contribution to the country’sGDP of over 40%, agriculture plays a major role inthe overall Ethiopian economy.The role of gender in the Ethiopian agriculturalsystem is also critical: in post-harvest activities forcereals, women contribute as much as 70% of onfarmlabour; in marketing, particularly in cereals,the participation of women is as high as 60% of thelabour market share. While government strategiesdo identify the role of women in the agricultural valuechain, the gap is in the implementation of thesestrategies.Ethiopia has witnessed rapid penetration oftelephone technologies and access to other informationand communications technology (ICT)services in the last five years. By the end of 2012,Ethiopia’s mobile penetration had reached over 18million subscribers (nearly 21% penetration). However,fixed-line penetration remains less than 1.5%,and internet and data users account for a mere 1.1%of the population. 4Research shows that although the type of ICTtools that women tend to use differs from men, increasingawareness and use of ICT tools by womenin their social and economic lives is evident. This1 www.csa.gov.et2 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2010) Accelerating EthiopianAgriculture Development for Growth, Food Security, and Equality.www.ata.gov.et/wp-content/uploads/Ethiopia-Agriculture-Diagnositc-Integrated-Report-July-2010.pdf3 Ibid.4 www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htmreport tries to explore how the use of ICTs empowerswomen in their social and economic activities. Itconsiders the case of women smallholder farmerswho use mobile phones to access market informationin order to enhance their income. It also looksat how ICTs are being used to empower women entrepreneursthrough networking among women inbusiness in Ethiopia.Policy and political backgroundAs a commitment to gender equality, Ethiopia issuedthe national Ethiopian Policy on Women in1993 and granted equal rights for women in its constitution.Furthermore, the recently adopted familylaw, a new pension rights policy for women, andother efforts made for the advancement of womensuch as an affirmative action provision for highereducation, employment and promotion, are someof the policy and legislative instruments worthmentioning. These are all ensured through institutionalmechanisms created to implement policiesand strategies on women, where currently the Ministryof Women’s, Children and Youth Affairs takesresponsibility to this effect.However, despite positive government legislative,policy and programme initiatives, genderequality is far from being realised. This is evidentin that Ethiopia ranked 72nd out of 93 countriesaccording to the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) Gender Empowerment Measure(GEM), which focuses on women’s and men’s capacitiesto engage actively in the economic andpolitical sphere. 5The national ICT policy of Ethiopia clearly stipulatesin its strategies for implementing the policythat it “supports the development of ICT systemsand programs that enhance the participation ofwomen and the disabled.” The policy’s overallguiding principle indicates that it will provide unhinderedaccess to ICTs, where gender inequalitiesshall be gradually eliminated by building the capacityof women and girls in the use of ICTs. 65 UNDP (2008) Human Development Report 2007/2008, UNDP, NewYork.6 Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1997) The EthiopianNational Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy.www.eictda.gov.et/Downloads/Policies/ICT_Policy_English.pdf125 / Global Information Society Watch