Annotation Summary on WEE Literatures

• Women’s Equitable Access to the Labour Market

Gender norms in a society determine roles assigned to males and females. According to (Dula, 2019) women are mostly assigned to reproductive activities including childbearing, caring, and indoor domestic chores which are by their nature labour-intensive and time taking, such as; fetching water, food preparation, caring for the family, caring for livestock, and all other activities that ensure the well being of the family.  (Dula, 2019) explained that productive activities that one performs for income generation through the production of goods and services and community roles that one undertakes for the welfare of the general community like meetings and outdoor activities are assigned to men. This in turn results in a power relation imbalance whereby men assume decision-making roles and women tend to be submissive. women’s access to the labour market is also similarly identified and determined by gender norms. Accordingly, in most societies, women are expected to work in home-based settings, particularly maintenance of the household, and small-scale production and trading. whereas, men are entrusted with the ‘work of men’ that is directly associated with the level of autonomy and economic empowerment level they exercise (Dula, 2019). Thus men engage in outdoor activities including formal employment and decision-making positions. According to (Dula, 2019) women’s access to the labour market is highly affected by deeply-rooted patriarchal social structures, in which women are assigned to the home and men to the community level. This gender-based role classification is identified as gender stereotyping that results in inequality of opportunity and access/control over resources. 

Ethiopia, as one of an agrarian economy, and the majority of its population’s livelihood is dependent on agriculture. In fact, women play a significant role in this sector whereby they cover more than half of the labour work starting from land preparation to the final post-harvesting activities. However, they did not have equitable access to their final productivity and suffered from unequal access to income generated from the product. (Dula, 2019) stated that the existing rigid socially structured gender roles in rural societies negatively affect women’s choices and time allocation among paid and unpaid productive and household activities that lead to time poverty. He further explained that women are expected to allocate their whole time to unpaid domestic and reproductive activities that require intensive labour and time. (Dula, 2019) explained the impact of gendered role classification in alignment with the concept of time poverty which according to him results from women’s engagement in the labour-intensive unpaid work that inhibits them from engaging and accessing paid employment. Women spent the majority of their time undertaking household chores like fetching water, collecting firewood, preparing meals, and caring for children and livestock. Moreover, the lack of infrastructure such as running water, fuel-saving stoves, electricity, and other alternative labour-saving equipment in rural parts of the country exacerbate women’s household burden. Consequently, inequalities in the amount of time available to women and men to devote to paid employment play a significant role in delivering the unequal outcomes previously outlined. Furthermore, even in the absence of cultural restrictions, time poverty restricts women from taking advantage of employment opportunities that require travel or migration far from their rural homes. Hallward (2015), on the other hand, argued that in Ethiopia there are various reforms brought about by the Ethiopian government to ensure gender equality and women’s equitable benefit from resources. Among these reforms, the re-enactment of family law called the Revised Family Code of Ethiopia, is the first step forward that aims to contribute towards enhancing women’s control over property and thereby facilitates women’s empowerment. The Revised family code is a branch of private law that governs the relationship between spouses during marital and post-marital relationships. Among other things the law aimed at governing spouses’ relationships regarding decision-making roles in their household and control/access over assets including private and common properties. The new reform under the code is aimed at changing the bargaining power between the spouses, resulted in the expansion of women’s control and administration of assets, promoted women’s right/ability to work outside the home and increased marital age to 18 years of age (Hallward et al., 2015). Moreover, the implementation of the family code has a paramount contribution to the enhancement of the proportion of women who engage in non-home-based employment, paid work, year-round employment and higher educational requirements. On the other hand (Dula, 2019)argued that regardless of the policy reform still girls and women particularly in local areas are exposed to inequalities and discriminated against when it comes to access to and control over key resources that could economically empower them. Thus, gender inequality in relation to the division of labour and task assignment as outdoor and indoor activities among males and females continued to affect women’s access to the labour market.

 

• Women’s Economic Empowerment Through Agriculture

 

In Ethiopia the agricultural sector covers wide-ranging activities whereby 85% of the population earns their income from it, 50% of the export is from the sector and it contributes 50% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Though women play a great role in agricultural activities starting from the first stage of land preparation and to the final stage of transporting the product, there is a common connotation that ‘women don’t farm’. They engage in extensive work of farming activities including seedbed preparation, tilling, sowing, applying fertiliser, fodder cutting, weeding, intercultural operations, transplanting, husking, threshing, drying, storing, harvesting of all types of crops, and selling agricultural commodities (Mulugeta,2014).  Thus women engage in all farming activities in either of the following three statuses; first, as farmers of their own farms; second, as unpaid workers for their families’ farms; and third, as paid/unpaid labourers on the farms of other individuals and agricultural enterprises (Abate, 2017). Though their engagement is economically indispensable, they remain unappreciated and discriminated against when it comes to benefiting from agricultural productivity and outputs. They don’t have entitlement to the income earned from the products and decision-making roles (Mulugeta, 2014). There are various factors contributing to this problem. The first one is social norms that portray women’s roles in household chores and care services regardless of their extensive engagement in labour-intensive agricultural productivities. They are also exclusively responsible for backyard gardens, cleaning animal yards, milking, and milk processing, and looking after poultry. However, their active participation in wide-ranging agricultural activities doesn’t entitle them to farmer positions on an equal footing with men (Gella, 2015). Secondly, gender-based constraints limit their access to equal opportunities and access to productive resources, including agricultural outputs (Tesfaye, 2022). Though women are primary actors in agricultural productivity, there are deeply rooted gender-based constraints in which men’s role in the traditional ox plough is associated with physical appearance attributed exclusively to masculinity, and women are considered to lack the ability to properly handle the plough. Though ploughing is associated with perceived physical strength, the author (Gella, 2015) argued that the use of farming material by Ethiopian farmers is very simple and doesn’t require intensive labour for their operation. Rather, the problem is embedded in gender-based labour divisions and taboos in the indigenous theory that women’s participation in farming activities would decrease the number of crops produced and the stereotype against the physical capacity of women that considered as frail, delicate, deficient, and lacking; as a result, women farmers are never seen as having bodies which enable them to farm in the same terms as men In addition to the agricultural works, women are assigned as the only responsible person for the household activities, including food preparation, fetching water, collecting fuel, and generally caring for the family members, thus, women’s role ‘triple role’ which includes a reproductive role, a productive role, and a community participation role (Abate, 2017). This, in turn, limited Women’s membership in cooperatives and community-based organisations like Ekub, Wobera, one-to-five network groups, and other development groups, which are found to have positive implications for women’s participation in the identification and prioritisation of agricultural research problems, monitoring, and evaluation. As women spend the majority of their time in labour-intensive work, their workload is found to affect their mobility to participate in public spaces, from where they may access information, widen their social networks, and participate in available opportunities (Mulema, 2019). Cultural norms and traditions are also mentioned as one of the main factors that hinder women from participating in agricultural research processes, in addition to religion. Accordingly, farming is considered men’s responsibility, whereas women are expected to engage in household caring roles including childcare, sanitation, and livestock. Even when women participate in agricultural activities, their role is considered minimal, such as distributing and weeding. Whereas men are considered skilled in farming activities and applying new agricultural technologies. Thirdly, the limited scope of agricultural policies and poor policy guides toward women’s empowerment are also contributing to unregulated power relations between men and women regarding access to the final result of agricultural products (Mulema, 2019). In relation to this, Haile (2016) argues that in Ethiopia, agricultural extension services have been largely designed, crafted, and implemented with the male head of the household as the intended client, and have failed to recognise that women are active, productive, and engaged as economic agents with their own financial needs and constraints. Non-recognition of women’s contribution to farming activities resulted in limiting women’s access to farmland, control over agricultural products, credit facilities, extension services, information, and general decision-making in relation to agricultural productivity.

Thus, women’s empowerment through agricultural activities will be ensured by addressing the following challenges, Firstly, facilitating women’s collective agricultural participation. According to Umer (2015) investing in rural women’s skills will bring socio-economic empowerment, and innovation, and result in the enhancement of women’s decision-making role in their livelihood choices. This same study indicated that women farmers acknowledged that their participation in group work provided them with various opportunities for sharing experience, knowledge transfer, and overall enhancement of their social and human capital, including with their spouses and other family members. They have also enhanced their capacity for collective action and were able to access inputs timely and adequately, produce enough food, and earn cash from marketing the surplus, which significantly improved their livelihoods. Moreover, the information linkage widens their market opportunities and returns to the extent of establishing women’s seed potato producer cooperatives. The finding by Gella (2015) also indicated that men farmers have been organised into kebele-level ‘development teams’ whereby model farmers take three to five other farmers and help them to be as good a farmer as they have become; however, there have been no equivalent teams for women.

Secondly, education is found to be one of the factors influencing women’s access to agricultural extension services. Higher levels of education for farmers are found to increase their ability to use agriculture-related technologies better. The low level of educational literacy among female-headed households negatively influenced their participation in agricultural extension services that could have improved their agricultural productivity. Thus, there is a need for agricultural extension services to focus on facilitating women’s education as a way forward that can alleviate challenges that constrain women’s empowerment in the agriculture sector (Haile, 2016). 

Thirdly, regarding agricultural policy implementation reform, Gella (2015) stated that legal and policy reforms have not adequately addressed the issue of gender in farming in Ethiopia. Though the land certification program has been hailed for its tremendous achievement and represents a significant step forward in addressing issues of equal ownership, it has not challenged the male-centric gender order in any way. The agricultural extension program has also thus far mainly focused on men. Two to four agricultural extension workers, referred to as Development Agents (DAs), with expertise in crop cultivation, livestock and dairy products, and natural resource management are based in each kebele to provide guidance and training to local farmers. In the vast majority of cases, these DAs are men and provide their training and guidance to ‘model farmers’ who also happen to be men.

Fourthly, the role of women in decision-making, (Mulugeta, 2014)  indicated that women’s decision-making in land preparation, the purchase/sale of farm implements, and the purchase of chemical pesticides was very limited. This limited role of women in decision-making is attributed to various socio-cultural factors, including, lack of experience, illiteracy, stereotypes about the role of women in agriculture, a shortage of technical skills, and a shortage of extension services. Moreover, the cultural norms and traditional beliefs that promote male dominance and identify farming with masculinity are limiting women’s decision-making roles in agriculture. Hence, any activity aimed at boosting women’s economic empowerment through agricultural activity shall address challenges related to women’s decision-making role in agricultural activities.

 

• Structural Reforms and Women’s Economic Empowerment

 

In order to assess how women’s socio-economic and political roles have changed over time, and how women’s status has been changed in various ideological and political contexts. Various studies have been made focusing on women’s roles and gender equality throughout Ethiopian history. According to Tesfaye (2019), during the Middle Ages, women played a great role in various aspects of economic, social, and cultural life. However, they are denied control over the resources that could have ensured their economic empowerment. Among other things, women are denied ownership rights over the land, political engagement, and educational opportunities. The modern period in Ethiopia commenced with the coming into power of Emperor Menelik II. Though modern education was opened during this time, only boys were eligible to be enrolled, and girls were denied. The first girl’s school was officially inaugurated in 1931 as Empress Menen School. However, its accessibility is still limited to girls belonging to well-doing families. Moreover, the school served as a place for gender role socialisation, whereby girls learned feminine traditional roles as future wives and mothers. During the Derg regime, the slogan “We struggle to eradicate Double Oppression!” gave some hope to women that their situation would improve. However, the reality on the ground doesn’t hold true, as enrolment at the tertiary education level is dominated by males, and women continue to face gender-based discrimination in various socio-economic aspects. Coming to the current socio-political trends, Tesfaye (2019) indicated that various legal and policy frameworks that emphasise gender equality and women’s empowerment have been introduced in Ethiopia. Among these, the establishment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) for the first time in Ethiopian history was a significant step forward. The ministry played a great role by enacting the ‘National Policy on Women in 1993. The policy identified the broad areas that require specific policy intervention to address gender issues in education, health, women’s rights, Land ownership, protection from domestic violence, Early Marriage, FGM/C, divorce, etc. Moreover, the 1995 FDRE constitution also ensured the fundamental rights of women and their interest in access to and control over resources. This ensured women’s right to remedial and affirmative actions, which entitled them to equal participation and benefit in all spheres of life, such as political, economic, and social life. Following the constitution, various policies and programs have been formulated with gender mainstreaming (Ogato, 2013). Moreover, Kedir (2014) indicated that  Ethiopia is working towards inclusive growth that addresses vulnerable and food-insecure communities through the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), which is aimed at ensuring inclusive growth and addressing inequality. Inequality is discussed from different angles, including, inequality in income earning, inequality in relation to society, inequality in the labour market, and gender inequality. 

 

Regardless of all these efforts, women are still discriminated against when it comes to accessing resources and opportunities. In this regard, as revealed by Ogato (2013), women contribute 60–80% of agricultural activities; however, despite their contribution, agricultural development efforts have been made gender-neutral and fall short of accommodating women’s special interests. Basically, women are denied access to productive assets, including ownership of land, and are underserved in agricultural extension, credit service, labour, and other farming inputs. In the labour market, the study indicated that women’s employment in the formal sector is lower than men’s. This is due to low levels of education and training, a lack of exposure to the business world, and limited access to financial services. Generally, the author indicated that gender equality and women’s empowerment activity in Ethiopia lacks in the following major aspects; limitation in the coverage of national women’s policy, inadequate assessment of women’s roles and responsibilities, limited assessment of women’s decision-making role, a continuation of harmful customs and practices to the detriment of women’s rights, c. 

According to different studies, there are various factors contributing to women’s under empowerment throughout history. The first challenge is in relation to long-held cultural and traditional norms. Sarah (2021) indicated that cultural tightness is one of the factors that perpetuates the existing system within society. Women are found to be accepting the existing socialised gender norm that they are expected to perform all household chores and live up to the expectations of their husbands. Their high dependency on their marriage is so strong that it goes to the extent of giving up on their freedom and dreams. The connotation of ‘good wife’ is one of the social instruments that perpetuate gender bias and discrimination in the study areas. The good wife is explained as a woman who spends the majority of her time preparing food for her children and husband, who raises her children very well, and who best serves the interests of her husband. Moreover, women’s perception of their status within society is found to keep the status quo regardless of the visible opportunity to change. Though women appreciate the significance of education to lead a better life, they still hold onto the social norms and gender-based expectations that one woman has in society. On the other hand, the intervention mechanism aimed at economic empowerment, rather than social justice or promoting gender equality.  

• Land Rights and Women’s Economic Empowerment

Ethiopia has an agrarian economy, and land has a paramount value for its population, where more than 80% of the community depends on agriculture to earn their livelihood. According to Muchomba (2017), land determines the economic and social status of agrarian societies, whereby decision-making roles and access to opportunities are directly linked to it. Moreover, Women’s access to the land significantly determines their productivity, economic welfare, social status, and decision-making roles in their community. Thus, land rights are found to be directly connected to women’s empowerment, as it facilitates economic opportunities and boosts women’s role in the decision-making process.  Tura (2014) explained that women’s right to access and control over rural land in Ethiopia is very limited due to various socio-cultural impacts, including negative attitudes, and customary practices that deny women the right to inheritance from their family. Moreover, the patriarchal structure that entrusts land to males has been operating against the right of women not to be entitled to the fruit of the land (Muchomba, 2017). In addition to this, the patriarchal social structure affects gender equality in access to the land whereby a patrilineal system of residency prevents women from controlling the land (Yirgu, 2015). Accordingly, during the Imperial period, there was a system called Chiguraf-Sehabo, in which land-holding rights were allocated to household heads through the community. As most of the household heads are male, and only sons can inherit the land from their family, women are excluded from the direct landholding and rather benefit from it through their relations with men as daughters or wives. The Rist system was also most prevalent during this time in which women and men had individual rights over the land. However, this system is also discriminatory by its very nature, whereby males are given preference over females during bequests. During a divorce, women are not also entitled to land division. Moreover, due to the customary practice that women shall not plough, female-headed households receive smaller land sizes when compared with male-headed households. In 1975, the Derg Regime came to power and declared land nationalisation whereby exclusive ownership rights are bestowed on the government. During this period, women are also disproportionately affected by tenure insecurity. After the FDRE government assumed power, there were major changes introduced by the federal government. According to Tura (2014) the promulgation of the 1995 FDRE constitution, which recognises gender equality in various aspects, including property rights, is the primary one. The constitution, under Article 35/4 prohibits the applicability of regulations and customary practices that discriminate against the land use rights of women. However, the reality is far from the constitutional guarantees whereby women are discriminated against due to their economic dependence, low educational attainment, social status, and above all, socio-cultural and institutional constraints. Thus, gender roles are basically determined by a patriarchal orientation that affects women’s constitutional guarantees and their ability to participate in social affairs (Yirgu, 2015).  The Revised Family Code is another milestone toward enhancing women’s access to resources and opportunities. It aimed at ensuring gender equality in ownership and administration of personal and common property and the pecuniary effects of marriage by protecting women’s rights to property before marriage, during a marriage, and upon its dissolution. The land registration and Certification proclamation, which was implemented in Tigray Region, Amhara Region, Oromia Region, and SNNPR, is also a breakthrough reform that is hailed for its objective of ensuring women’s control and access to the land. It has a positive and significant impact on various aspects of women’s empowerment (Melesse, 2018). According to Melesse (208), the land certification and registration process can potentially ensure women’s empowerment and autonomy over resources. Accordingly, certified women are more likely to participate in household decisions compared with uncertified women, are more likely to engage in community activities, and are more informed about their land rights and legal provisions. Moreover, they are found to have greater levels of tenure security, confidence, and willingness to protect rights. It’s also been found that Women with joint land rights tend to have more freedom in physical mobility and autonomy relative to uncertified women and participate more in local institutions than comparable uncertified women. They are more likely to be members of local organisations, and benefit from enhanced opportunities to voice and express their interests and perspectives However, land registration and certification didn’t bring the expected result of gender equality, whereby customary practices that discriminate against women continued to be practised. Melesse (2018) argued that the impact of land certification is applicable only to some aspects of women’s empowerment, whereas the actual figures of most empowerment indices remain very low (for both certified and uncertified women). Particularly, the levels of participation in community activities, physical mobility and autonomy, and institutional inclusion of both certified and uncertified women are low. Accordingly, this is an indication that land certification is not an end in itself, and a lot remains to be done to ensure women’s empowerment to the fullest. Tura (2014) further explained that customary practice has operated against women’s rights in two ways. First, it is through masculine identification of land-holding rights that men control the land and its fruits, whereas women gain access to it mostly through their relationship with a male either as a wife or daughter. This was justified by the stereotype that women should not control land as they have no physical capacity to farm it. Thus, men are entrusted with land possession and ownership as they have the presumed capacity to manage farming activities on the land and manage the process very well. Second, during divorce, the woman will not be entitled to any plot of land as she didn’t contribute to its gain. According to Tura (2014) divorced women are denied a share of the land controlled by their husbands, as land acquisition through marriage is effective only when the husband dies. It’s also found that in a polygamous marriage, husbands share yields obtained from the land registered in their names with all spouses. Moreover, the land regulation does not allow women to possess rural land if they reside outside of the localities where the land is found or if they engage in other businesses. 

Despite all the barriers, studies indicated that if women had the opportunity to access the land on an equal footing with men, they would be more efficient and productive in agricultural activities. According to Marenya (2021), female farmers are found to be more productive in farming activities whenever they are given the same access to resources and opportunities as males. According to this author, women-managed plots had higher yield returns than those managed jointly. The study also confirmed that once access to inputs, agronomy, markets, and extension is controlled for, women farmers’ productivity is commensurate with that of male farmers. Thus, any attempt aimed at increasing yield shall ensure women’s empowerment in agriculture so that developmental programs can be attained. 

 

• Women’s Engagement in Informal Income Generation Activity

According to Gobebo (2017),  women in Ethiopia are adversely discriminated against from accessing various economic opportunities that could have given them an opportunity to engage in alternative income-generating activities. There are various factors contributing to this trend, including but not limited to cultural bias, a non-participatory policy framework, illiteracy, and a lack of business information. As a result, unemployment in formal employment sectors, and a lack of economic sovereignty among Ethiopian women are changing the gender dynamic in Ethiopia.

Informal income generation is defined by the ILO (1972) as small-scale activities that are semi-organized and unregulated by their nature, use simple labour-intensive technology, and are undertaken by artisans, traders, and operators in work sites such as open yards, market stalls, undeveloped plots, residential houses, and street pavements…not legally registered and, in most cases, do not have licences from local authorities for carrying out businesses. The definition provided by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA, 1997), states that the informal sector is the sector that is primarily engaged in market production, is not formally registered, and has fewer than ten members.

According to Jenberu (2021), the growth rate of urbanisation in Ethiopia comes with a high rate of unemployment. Joblessness, in turn, prompts a high rate of engagement in the informal sector as the last resort for earning a living. The high rate of women’s engagement in the informal sector is the contribution of various factors, including illiteracy, low income, lack of employment in the formal sector, lack of social support, and low decision-making roles assumed by women. Elaborating on this, Hagos (2017) indicated that only a little above a quarter of women have owned their own informal businesses. The main factors inhibiting women from engaging in formal/descent business are lack of money and lack of knowledge. The study has also found that the majority of the women (95.7%)  showed interest in starting a business in areas that include selling animals and animal products, beverages, agricultural products, and others. The author reiterated the global data that indicates 70% of the global poor are women. In Ethiopia, too, though the government has signed many international human rights instruments and taken various actions that aim at the promotion of women’s rights, there is still a significant gender gap in which women are economically, socially, culturally, and politically disadvantaged (Hagos, 2017).  According to Habtamu (2022), women engage mostly in activities like selling vegetables, fruits, injera, charcoal, traditional drinks, secondhand clothes, shoes, handicrafts, sugar, salt, and similar products. Studies also indicated that in some exceptional scenarios, women engage in selling drugs, stolen goods, and sex to supplement their income. Engagement in this sector has many challenges for actors. In this regard, Desyalew (2016) found that women engaged in the informal sector, particularly street vending, are vulnerable to shocks and security issues. Some of the products they sell in ‘Gullit’ including tomatoes and onions, are exposed to spoilage, and thereby they won’t be able to cover their daily lives. Studies also show that women dominate the informal sector due to a lack of access to financial services, which could otherwise facilitate their engagement in the formal sector. According to Habtamu (2022), very few women had access to formal financial services and borrowed money from microfinance institutions. Most of the community fears the risks of paying the debt due to their low economic capacity to pay it back. Moreover, there is a lack of trust in credit-providing institutions, so women borrowers will not be able to repay the debt without the help of men. Moreover, the rigidity of the repayment deadline, the frequency of the repayment schedule, and the high-interest rates are the major factors that inhibit women from accessing credit services. In addition to this, Hadis (2015) indicated that women in the informal sector face challenges like a lack of a conducive working environment, a lack of access to formal financial services or credit, and limited supply and low demand for their products. This in turn negatively affected women’s engagement in the informal sector and minimised their prospects for business expansion. There are also some other challenges that affect women in the informal sector. According to Yohannes (2019), women engaged in the informal sector, particularly street vending, have been subjected to various socioeconomic challenges. To start with, as the informal market is unregulated, most of the time consumers refuse to pay for their products. Usually, the buyers will first have the product, and then they will pay for it. But according to this study, due to a lack of proper regulation, women selling various products in the street face the challenge of payment refusal. The other challenge for women in the informal sector is the lack of a conducive environment to sell their products. Due to the informal nature of the transaction, they were subject to security conflicts, damage to the goods due to rain and sun, and the perishability of the goods over time. This situation is further exacerbated by the absence of storage mechanisms at home for unsold goods and products. As a result, they lose their startup capital instead of their expected profits. The other main challenge encountered by women in the informal sector, particularly street vending, is sexual violence and abuse. According to this study, women engaged in street vending are subjected to sexual harassment, theft, and robbery, particularly during the nighttime. 

Despite all the challenges, the study conducted by Hadis (2015) has shown some prospects in the informal sector as a means for women’s economic empowerment. According to the author, a large number of women in Ethiopia are engaging in the informal sector as their only means of self-employment. Accordingly, the informal sector plays a great role in enabling the majority of women in Ethiopia to secure self-employment, particularly those between the ages of 19 and 34. On average, women engaging in the informal sector earn 720 ETB  per month, which facilitates their capital accumulation and investment. It thereby facilitates not only women’s economic empowerment but also serves as a basis for the survival of their family members. Jenberu (2021) also noted that the informal sector is playing a great role in addressing challenges posed by rapid urbanisation and the mismatch of the formal labour market, whereby labour force supply outweighs labour demand. The informal sector also facilitates employment opportunities, increases productivity, reduces social burdens, and serves as a facilitator of women’s economic empowerment. According to Menelik (2022), in the informal sector, off-farm activities are showing another opportunity for women’s economic empowerment in Ethiopia. According to him, the off-farm sector is absorbing a large number of women without a need for work experience or prior skills. Accordingly, off-farm activities, including Masonry, carpentry, weaving, pottery, blacksmithing, etc., are proven to be ideal labour force engagement for women and serve as an alternative to traditional farming activities. This is due to the ease of entering the sector and its very nature, which is interlinked with acquired skills (as opposed to educationally gained skills) and easily manageable alongside other domestic engagements.

• Financial Support for Women’s Economic Empowerment

Financial support for women is usually studied along with financial inclusion in a country’s financial policy. Financial inclusion is defined as the accessibility and availability of formal financial services, including bank deposits, credits, insurance, and all other financial services, for individuals participating in the economy. Financial Inclusion is believed to benefit the interests of low-income earning communities by addressing their financial constraints, financing small projects, and facilitating self-employment (Mossie, 2022).  Ethiopia, as a developing country, has recognised the importance of financial inclusion and has taken various steps to promote it through the expansion of microfinance services, banks, and insurance companies. Despite this reform, women’s access to the financial sector is found to be very limited when compared to men. The microfinance service is aimed at providing micro-level loans to the poorest members of the community who can’t afford the collateral requirements otherwise. Microfinance is the main facilitator of women’s economic empowerment because it increases their income generation and control over that income and enhances their knowledge, skills, and business experience (Beyene, 2019).

According to Mossie (2022), Men are ahead of women in accessing financial services including account ownership, credit services, and other financial services. There are various factors contributing to women’s low access to financial services, and this includes, specific reasons for women’s low level of financial literacy, lack of money, and limited participation in formal employment. Moreover, women are found to spend their entire earnings on household consumption.

Chirkos (2014) discussed the potential of microfinance to serve financial inclusion in Ethiopia. According to him, Microfinance plays a key role in alleviating poverty as it helps to improve livelihoods, reduce vulnerability, and foster social as well as economic empowerment.  When Microfinance is properly implemented,  it increases income, enhances education and health status, improves housing conditions, empowers the poor, and provides confidence and social pride. Having access to financial services not only provides a coping mechanism for unforeseen risks but also enhances women’s productivity and sustains their living standards.  

According to the findings of the study conducted by Chirkos (2014) on Microfinance institutions, access to the service brought a personal change in savings, increased employment opportunities, housing conditions, and basic social services after receiving the credit from microfinance.  Changes in the participants’ life standards were demonstrated by access to education, health care, housing, clothing, and nutritional foods. In short, the study indicated that the overall quality of life improved as their income increased. Kebeta (2017) also indicated that Ethiopian micro-financial institutions are succeeding in improving the lives of poor women as they are being transformed from a survival way of life into a planned one as they start to afford better nutrition, housing, health, and education. Finally, the study recommended that the interest rate should be reduced, they should diversify their services to poor women, and train recipients about microfinance benefits. In connection with this, Alem (2021) noted access to microfinance services has a significant impact on the income of the participants, which changes are shown in terms of monthly income in many households before and after access to microfinance services. This is directly linked to the employment opportunities facilitated by microfinance services.

However, studies have outlined various challenges in relation to women’s access to services. According to Beyene (2019), even though microfinance targets the low-income earning community, its success history indicates that it is most efficacious in urban areas where investment opportunities are wide, borrowing demands are high, income generation is diverse, and the cost of reaching the clients is very minimal. On the other hand, the initial target community, particularly those in rural areas, urban slums, and the very poor, has limited access to the services.

 

• Equitable Pay and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Ethiopia

Ethiopia, as a country, has taken major reforms to enhance women’s economic empowerment and ensure their benefit throughout various sectors. Among these, the reform made to the labour proclamation to safeguard labour relations in general and employee interests, in particular, is the first one. Changes are also made to the family code and land registration proclamation, all of which have a common attempt, which is ‘emphasising women’s interest’. According to Melaku (2019), regardless of these efforts, women are still discriminated against when it comes to equal rights to employment, income generation, political participation, and equitable benefit from economic activities. He further noted that there is a  significant gender pay gap in the manufacturing industries. Firms with higher female employee shares pay less than the average when compared with firms with higher male employment. Regarding wages, the study indicates that female workers are paid less than their level of productivity. Moreover, the lack of a minimum wage is also contributing to labour abuse in the Ethiopian labour market. The minimum wage stipulation is under public discourse, which for long has remained a public agenda. As women don’t have equal bargaining power with their employers, they are the most affected by the bargaining power freedom entrusted to the labour market in Ethiopia.

• The Role of Education for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Ethiopia

Women’s empowerment is a multidimensional process that encompasses economic, sociocultural, familial, legal, political, and psychological dimensions. Access to education is one of the various facilitators of women’s economic empowerment. However, according to the report made by UNESCO, women remained among the most illiterate groups in the world. Accordingly, 757 million adults were illiterate in the world, and among these, 63% were women. There are multiple socio-cultural causes contributing to women’s illiteracy in Ethiopia. Moreover, poor access and women’s lower participation rates in formal education contribute to the high illiteracy rate in the country (Mengistie, 2020). 

• Gender Norms and Stereotypes in Ethiopia 

Ethiopia is a country with deeply rooted traditional norms and beliefs, gender-based violations and abuse have been considered part of cultural practice. According to Semahign (2015), violence is an intentional use of physical force/power, it’s actual/threatened to harm oneself or another person, which might result in bodily injury, death, or psychological harm. Domestic violence is any violence that is committed against the victim by known perpetrators. It’s a serious human rights violation that affects women’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health. In Ethiopia, too, domestic violence is a common phenomenon both in urban and rural settings, whereby approximately one out of ten women become victims of abduction, early forced marriage, rape, and marital rape. Moreover, around 68–81 percent of women agree that wife beating is justifiable if the husband has a reason for it, and around 88% of rural and 69% of urban women agree that their husbands have the right to beat them. To alleviate these deeply rooted challenges, the Ethiopian government included a revision of the family code, emphasis on women’s rights under the FDRE Constitution, the reenactment of the Criminal Code, and other institutional reforms. However, domestic violence against women by their husbands, and intimate partners is still a public health problem for women and results in adverse social, economic, emotional, health, sexual, and reproductive health outcomes. According to the finding by Semahign (2015), more than half (50.5%) of women in Ethiopia experienced domestic violence, including physical and psychological harm, in their lifetime. Regarding factors associated with domestic violence, the study indicated that the problem directly relates to the different sociodemographic characteristics of the victim and perpetrator. Among these, are husband alcohol consumption, khat chewing, family history of violence, partner education, decision-making power, and residence, in which rural women are more exposed to violence than women who reside in urban areas. Age and literacy also determine exposure to domestic violence. Accordingly, women aged less than 18 at first sex or marriage have a high exposure to violence. Women’s literacy is negatively associated with domestic violence, whereby women with lower educational status are more exposed to domestic violence. The study also outlined that, due to traditional gender norms that support wife beating, the majority of the victim women accept wife beating as legitimate and the right of the husband. Another study also revealed that violence against women begins in the early stages of their lives. Murphy (Murphy, 2021) found out that girls’ children usually face violence in the form of punishment whenever they commit any acts in violation of their parent’s expectations or direction. The act is more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas. This is because, by contrast, norms in urban communities emerged as less supportive of physical punishment, leading parents to adjust their parenting styles. Though boys and girls were the victims of violence, there were gendered differences in their reasons for punishment. Accordingly, girls usually get punished for violating gender norms for reasons such as not living up to local norms around femininity and mastery of domestic chores or for being seen with men. Girls respond to the negative impacts on adolescent girls’ mental well-being, with young girls increasingly exercising agency and resorting to distress migration or even suicide in response to harsh parental treatment. Kaufeman (2019) also discussed another form of violence against women, which is usually committed by intimate partners. According to this author, 71% of female Ethiopians who have ever partnered had experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Intimate partner violence is usually prevalent and occurs in the form of overt physical abuse, coerced sex, and controlling behaviour. 

Early and forced marriage is also found to be one of the gender-based traditional practices that negatively affect the lives of women. According to Abera (2020), by entering into a marriage relationship before attaining maturity age as stipulated by the governing laws,  both boys and girls are victims of early marriage. However, the norm supports girls’ early marriage more than boys. There are various socio-economic and normative factors that are interlinked with a girl’s early marriage. This includes poverty, illiteracy, tradition, patriarchy, etc., which undermine women’s social status, capabilities, and choices. According to the data used by the author, 59% of girls in Ethiopia were married before 18 years of age. The effect of early marriage is wide-ranging on victim girls. It marks the end of their childhood, limiting their right to attend school, acquire skills, and develop their personal development, and self-reliance. The author appreciated the legal and policy action taken by the Ethiopian government to alleviate early child marriage through the enactment of the 1995 FDRE constitution, the revision of the Family Code, and the introduction of Reorient societal attitudes towards and valuation of women in education, training, and development. Bayissa (2020), on the other hand, stated that domestic violence is considered/perceived as a mechanism through which a man corrects his wife, and this is considered the right of men to control the behaviour of their wives. In Ethiopia, too, 50-60% of women experienced domestic violence in their lives, and among these, sexual violence is the most prominent one. The study found that, though women are aware of the violence, it is considered a cultural practice and compromised in many families as a corrective measure. If the man fails to beat his wife, the community cannot accept him as a man, beating a wife is seen as one of the criteria to identify a strong husband from a weak one. Due to the embedded patriarchal structure in the country, women are expected to be submissive to their husbands. They are also expected to consent to any action taken by their husbands and should refrain from referring family issues to outsiders.  The study also indicated that marital rape is also most prevalent in the study area. However, due to privacy, it is rather kept secret, whereby the victim women are exposed to both physical and psychological damages. The outcome of this study indicated, women who were victims of sexual based violence usually preferred to keep silent as the best strategy to maintain the relationship they had with their husbands and keep peace in the family for the best interests of their children. Even if they attempt to take the serious case to court, they fear that the situation might get worse and become out of control, which will bring divorce, which they don’t prefer.