Mulugeta, M. and Amsalu, T. (2014) ‘Gender, Participation and Decision-Making Process in Farming Activities: the case of Yilman Densa District, Amhara Region, Ethiopia’, Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 5(1), pp. 28–34
The introductory part of the study discussed, the enormous contribution of women in agricultural activities and how their efforts were made invisible. Women’s engagement in agricultural activities starts from soil preparation to post-harvesting activities. Though women play a dispensable role, their efforts and contribution went unrecognised and unrecorded. In Ethiopian rural communities, women engage in the extensive work of agricultural production including seedbed preparation, tilling, sowing, applying fertiliser, fodder cutting, weeding, intercultural operations, transplanting, husking, threshing, drying, storing cereals and fodder, selling agricultural commodities and harvesting of all the crops, fruits and vegetables. Though their engagement is economically indispensable, they remained unappreciated. Moreover, they are 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.
With the aim of assessing the participation and decision-making process of rural women in farming activities, the author employed a mixed research approach of qualitative and quantitative study. Systematic random sampling was used to select study participants. Accordingly, 90 participants were selected and participated in the study. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0.
According to the finding, women in the study area were largely involved in weeding, seed preparation, selling agricultural commodities, sowing, and harvesting, whereas their involvement is limited to ploughing farmland, spreading chemicals, and crop protection activities which traditionally consider only implemented by men. Weeding among other activities is commonly considered as the primary role of women. Women also accepted that their main role is ensuring better and more productive growth of the crops at their early stage. Regarding the role of women in decision-making, it indicated that their role in the final decision in land preparation, purchase/sale of farm implements, and purchase of chemical pesticides were very limited. This limited role of women’s decision-making is attributed to various socio-cultural factors including, lack of experience, illiteracy, stereotype on the role of women in agriculture, shortage of technical skills, and shortage of extension services the main constraints. Moreover, the cultural norms and traditional beliefs that promote male dominance and identify farming with masculinity are limiting women’s decision-making role in agriculture.
Generally, the author argued that women’s decision-making role which could facilitate their economic empowerment is very limited. Thus, intervention shall be made to create all possible solutions that will improve women’s participation and decision-making role in farming activities. Moreover, an awareness creation strategy shall be designed to address social, cultural, and economic factors that hinder women’s decision-making and empowerment.