Assessment of the Roles and Constraints of Women in Economic Development of Ethiopia

Ayferam, Gashaw. 2015. “Assessment of the Roles and Constraints of Women in Economic Development of Ethiopia: The Case of Ambo Town Since 1991.” Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs 03 (01).

The article attempts to shed light on the role of women in economic development over the course of history in Ethiopia. Thus, the author has tried to portray a contrasting view of women’s roles into two spectrums of the past and present dichotomization. In this regard, the article has demonstrated the dire situations of women in the past and also showed the improving women’s roles in economic, social, and political integration in the current period. Having given the historical background of improving women’s role, the author has argued that women’s role has been challenged and unrecognized in the economic development of the country. 

The study has explained the data collection instruments which are questionnaires and interviews with key informants. Regarding the research approach and research methods, the author has mentioned nothing. 

In this study, the author has found the role of women in the economic development of Ambo town is visible and significant.  In this regard, women’s contribution can be demonstrated in terms of income generation activities, saving, and efficient utilization of resources to accelerate the economic development of the town. However, regarding the contribution of women, the finding revealed half of the respondents believe that women’s role in the town’s economic development is at a medium level. In the same vein, the finding revealed nearly half of the respondents consider women’s role in the town’s income-generating activities to be at a medium level. On the contrary, the study also uncovered the constraints that inhibit women from fulfilling their contribution to economic development. Thus, the finding demonstrated a majority of the respondents agreed that women are affected by traditional backward beliefs and attitudes regarding women’s income-generating activities in society. 

Consequently, the author also pointed out that Low-level educational background, lack of business know-how, dependency of the family on women, lack of interest to work in a group (cooperation), women’s dependency on men’s income and, Lack of confidence and inferiority are found to be the constraints for women to exercise their roles in the town’s economic development. 

As the recommendation, the author indicated that enhancement of women’s role in economic development can be actualized through participating women in income-generating activities, by providing the necessary business skills, and availing initial capital, marketplace, and continuous follow-up to their businesses. Therefore, the author stressed the role of the government in encouraging and providing assistance to women to participate in economic development endeavors is monumental.