Owitti, O.L. (2015), “Gender differences and relations in rural household livelihoods of Gog district, Anywaa Zone, Gambella region, South Western Ethiopia,” International Journal of Gender & Women’s Studies, 3(1), pp. 51–79.
With little research on gender analysis, gender-based inequality, a lack of equity, and power imbalances in the distribution of resources and services are deeply ingrained in rural households in Gog district, Anywaa Zone, Gambella region, and South Western Ethiopia. Accordingly, Owitti uses mixed-methods research analysis to examine gender-based disparities and relationships between men and women in rural household livelihoods, including the barriers they encounter for access to and control over resources and services.
The findings show a significant difference and power imbalance between men and women in rural household livelihoods where women engaged in unpaid reproductive roles have more work burden and face many demographic, social, economic, cultural, and institutional constraints as well as their additional reproductive roles and household workload, which account for an important share of their time. Men and women, in regards to culture and tradition, behave in specific ways when engaging in livelihood activities that are culturally shaped by the society of a specific geographic area. In the study area, women are expected to perform unpaid reproductive tasks like cooking, gathering firewood, fetching water, pounding grains, and caring for children; however, it is improper for them to clear land of vegetation, till the soil, plough it, weed it, hoe it, or milk the cows. In the surveyed study area, this culturally based gendered division of labour contributes to unequal access to and control over resources and extension services.
Additionally, because of the unpaid work at home, women are less mobile to access environmental information important for improving their standard of living. They are required to perform unpaid reproductive tasks continuously throughout their daily lives with no opportunity for rest, and as a result, they do not benefit in any way from this in comparison to men in the surveyed study area. Women’s productive work in the home has been disregarded, and little has been done to account for the value of these activities in national accounts. To improve the standard of living for both men and women living in rural areas, Owitti advises efforts from development actors and policymakers working on agricultural and rural development interventions to implement strategies for gender mainstreaming, sensitization, and responsive actions that may incorporate gender-based differences and relations existing between men and women with the ultimate goal of ensuring gender equality, equity, and balance in rural areas.