Empowering women through value chain development - IPMS ...

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The commodity fact sheets 4developed for the prioritycommodities in all PLWs basedon the gender analysis provideddetailed information on therole of women and men in theproduction and marketing ofthese commodities. Based onan analysis of the tasks womenare responsible for in variouscommodities, their ability to makedecisions and control income/benefits from commodities andfactors influencing the same, theproject designed commodityspecific strategies to increase theirinvolvement in the productionand marketing of agriculturalcommodities.Strengthening enterprisestraditionally undertaken bywomenEven if men are generally thekey players in crop and livestockproduction, and are the principalbeneficiaries in terms of controlover the income generated fromthe sale of the commodities, thereare some deviations from thisgeneral trend in which womentake part in the production of somecommodities and earn benefitsfrom their sale.All across IPMS pilot learningworedas, the gender analysisrevealed that commodities likepoultry and dairy are some ofthe commodities where womeneither dominate the workload andincome or dominate the workloadbut share the income with men.In order to increasewomen’s engagement inthe commercialization ofagricultural commodities,IPMS in collaboration with theMinistry of Agriculture and4 http://www.ipms-ethiopia.org/Focus-Area/Gender/Fact-Sheet/adaa-Liben.aspCommodity specific strategiesRural development (MoARD)tried to increase the productivityand marketing of poultry anddairy production through theintroduction of new technologiesand creating market linkage. Theproject targeted women specificallyto make sure that they were notmarginalized.Introduction of technologies forpoultryPoultry production does notrequire much land and capital.Poultry is also a source of selfreliance,since poultry and eggsales are decided by women andprovide them with an immediatecash income to meet householdexpenses.The gender baseline surveyundertaken by IPMS revealedthat women are responsible formost of the production activitiessuch as hatching, rearing, hygiene,feeding, watering, protectionand egg collection. They alsocontrol the income from thesale of eggs and chicken, exceptin Bure and Alaba where boththe workload and the incomeare shared between men andwomen. Though in all PLWsmore than 50 % of the produce issold, chickens are produced on asmall scale and using traditionalmanagement practices. Producerstend to prefer low productivelocal breeds which require lowerlevels of management. As a result,women earn low income from theenterprise.Considering this, the projectstrived to improve the productivityand the marketing of poultrythrough the introduction of variouscontext specific technologies.Raising a day old chicks to twentyweeks was one of the technologiesintroduced in Dale woreda wherethe public poultry supply systemto urban and periurban farmers isproving to be inadequate to meetwith the ever growing demand forcommercial egg layers.An out growers’ scheme wasinitiated by IPMS and the woredaoffice of agriculture with theparticipation of 80 women. Eachwoman was provided on credit ahay brooder box with a runner, 50day old chickens and feed providedto last three months. Village leveltraining and continuous technicalsupport was provided by theworeda office of agriculture andIPMS. Women vaccinated theirchickens under the guidance andsupervision of regional and woredaveterinarians.Women organized in groups andbacked by a sound business plancould successfully become partof the poultry value chain assuppliers of pullets and knowledgefor sustainable market orientedagricultural development.These chickens were sold to 173periurban producers and 400 ruralhouseholds. On an average eachwoman/hh earned gross income ofBirr 1071.78 in three months.Identifying women in the valuechain as input suppliers, inthis case pullets, and womenthemselves vaccinating theirchickens was either thought tobe not possible or was not takenseriously. Unlike many projectsin the woreda, it is the first of itskind which mainly focused onwomen since they receive the loanand totally own the enterprise. Ithas improved their esteem andreceived attention from extensionservice.8
Radia Tomsisa: Goingforward with poultrymanagementRadia Tomsisa is one of the eightywomen involved in raising dayold chicks in Dale. One year agoIPMS trained women in her areaon poultry management which shewas part of and after eight monthsshe was provided with fifty sevendays old chicks. To take the chicksshe had to make 150 ETB initialpayment. Her husband, her olderson and her contributed 50 eachand took the chicks. After 90 daysshe sold the 49 chickens at 50 birrand paid back her 1300 birr loan.She made a net profit of 1150birr and she gave 200 birr eachto her husband and son becausethey helped her with the initialpayment and she took the rest ofthe money because she was theonly one who was taking care ofthe chickens. With her 200 birr shebought a goat and her son boughta ‘tiga’ (calf). The chicks whichwere provided to her grew fastercompared to the local chickens shewas used to raising.Supporting the development oftraditionally women-dominatedcommodities like poultry is a goodentry point.Improving the productivity ofdairyDemand for dairy productsappears to be rising in the recentyears across PLWs. Dairy isanother marketable commoditywhere women have closeengagement in the production andmarketing of products. It is thewomen who sell milk and butterand control the income from dairyproducts. However, the communityrears the indigenous breed thatproduces small amounts of milkin open grazing systems, probablybecause of very limited awarenessabout improved breeds and theiravailability. The introduction ofcrossbred or improved dairy breedRaso Usman, Feed farmer in Miessoand supplementary feed has thepotential to contribute to increasedproductivity of the dairy sector andwomen’s income.Encourage women in feed andforage developmentIntervention on feed in the ruralareas, like forage development,either in the backyard or ingrazing land has a significanteffect on women’s income. Mainlybecause at the household level thefeed produced is fed to lactatingcows which leads to an increasein the milk and butter production.The women churn the butter andsell it, and also control the incomefrom butter in all PLWs.Raso Usman from Miesso woreda has been involved in forageproduction for three years. She was approached by IPMS based onher past experience with local breed cattle and forage development.However, as the milk yield was quite low, she decided to switch to abetter breed called “Borena”, which require more feed to give betteryield. In 2009 Raso started planting forage in one hectare of landintercropped with sorghum, with the support of IPMS and MoARD.The main objective for adopting this technology was to be able to feedher animals well. As a result, the milk production increased from1 l/day to 3 lit/day.She was able to feed all her cattle throughout the dry season. With thehelp of IPMS, Raso also tried MUB (Mollases Urea Block) preparationat her back yard, but she did not continue, because of lack of molassesand Urea. She suggests that the materials required for adopting atechnology should be available and regular follow up should take placeto see the impact.Farmers in the neighbourhood come to visit her cattle and wonder howshe is able to feed the animals considering the cost of feed, but she tellsthem that if animals are well managed (fed properly, maintain hygieneand drench timely) they fetch a better price that would cover theirexpenses, and also allow her to make a profit.9
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