Understanding rural women's empowerment: A qualitative
case study of the UNJP-RWEE project, Ethiopia
Annet A. Mulema, Brenda Boonabaana, Susan Kaaria, Likimyelesh Nigussie,
Liza Debevec, Mihret Alemu
Gender Agriculture and Assets Project Phase 2 (GAAP2) Webinar on Qualitative Methods
to Understand Rural Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia, 21 March 2018

Presentation outline
• The UN Joint Program on Rural Women Economic
Empowerment (UNJP RWEE)
• Field work planning and data collection
• Findings
• Key lessons
• Contribution to quantitative methods

The United Nations Joint Program on Rural
Women’s Economic Empowerment (UNJP-RWEE)
• UNJP-RWEE is a global initiative of the three Rome-based UN
Agencies - FAO, WFP, IFAD, and UN Women to accelerate
economic empowerment of rural women.
• Program countries: Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia,
Nepal, Niger and Rwanda.
• In Ethiopia, the UN agencies, in partnership with Government
and other national stakeholders designed the program based on
the local context.
• RWEE enhances rural women’s livelihoods, food and nutrition
security, and decision making capabilities

Program woredas (districts) and number of
beneficiaries
Region Woreda (District) Beneficiary number
Afar (pastoral) 1 Woreda (Dubti)
2 Kebeles made up of
approximately 37,000 people.
500 women
Oromia 3 Woredas (Adami tulu, Yaya
Gulele and Dodola)
6 Kebeles made up of
approximately 150,000 people.
1500 women

The study sites (Oromia region)
Woredas
(districts)
Treatment
villages (kebeles)
Control villages
(kebeles)
Remarks
Yaya
Gulele
woreda
• Iluna Dire
• Nono
Chemerie
• Dedete Tege Sites are remote
Adami
Tulu
Woreda
• Adune
Germama
• Aneno Shisho
• Gulanta Boke Sites are more
integrated and
closer to the
urban trading
centers

The four thematic areas of inquiry
i. The local meaning of empowerment
ii. The impact of the UNJP on the economic advancement of
women;
iii. The impact of UNJP on the power and agency of women;
and
iv. Operational features in UNJP and their impacts on gender-
equality outcomes and women’s economic empowerment

Field work planning and
implementation process

Step 1: Developed the research guide
• Developed collaboratively between FAO project staff and the
GAAP2 Fellows (using online and face to face interaction)
• Adapted the GAAP2 research protocols and the already
existing FAO guide for a related project
• The guide outlined the research questions, methods, tools
and a step by step process for executing the activities
• Document guided the team better on what to do, how, when,
by who and where - doc planned for publication

Step 2: Training of the research team
• Training workshop held for the
research team - ILRI Campus,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (July 25-
28, 2017).
• The focus: Why empowerment,
overview of the UNJP-RWEE,
GAAP2 project, WEAI and Pro-
WEAI.
• Research guide: research
themes, field work roadmap,
methods and tools.
• Pretest

Step 3: Field Work phase
• Carried out in July-August 2017
• Separate group discussions with female beneficiaries and
indirect male beneficiaries
• In-depth interviews with individual case studies (empowered
and disempowered women and men)
• Key informant group interviews (KIIs) with:
• Project implementers (at woreda level)
• kebele leaders in the three selected kebeles of each
woreda.
• Did the same in the control sites

Selection of study participants
• Female beneficiaries selected based on: direct project
beneficiary, age, perceived empowerment level (empowered
or disempowered).
• Male indirect beneficiaries were selected based on:
empowerment level and the fact that their spouses were
project beneficiaries.
• Key informants and case studies were purposefully selected
• Individual case studies selected based on criteria developed during
group discussions using the empowerment tool
• Non-project beneficiaries purposefully selected

Qualitative data collection tools
• Understanding of empowerment tool (in the action sites)
• Livelihood matrix, (capturing decision making/control over income)
• Access to and control over household and community resources,
• Seasonal calendar, gender division of labor, decision-making
• The community profile
• Life histories (for case studies)
• Project operations checklist
NB: Each tool had specific questions to guide and elicit in-depth discussions –
these were recorded verbatim, voice recorded and transcribed

Conduct of group discussions
• The proportional piling/scoring
technique was used to stimulate
discussions on perceptions and
preferences
• A plenary session was held with
both women and men to discuss
the emerging findings
• A total of 187 women and 195 men
participated in group discussions
with farmers and and KIIs

Findings

The local meaning of empowerment
• The Afan Oromo words “cimina” (one who is strong or able)
and “gahumsa” (one who has the capability) are closely
related to empowerment
• Important dimensions of empowerment
• Ability to meet one’s prescribed social roles
• Participating in income generating activities
• Create wealth by saving and investing
• Having knowledge
• Having good conduct and acceptance by community
• Leadership (even more empowering for women)
• Effective time use
• Participation in community activities and ability to speak up

Domains of empowerment

Input in productive decisions
• Joint planning with husband or wife was a form of
empowerment – tried to untangle the term joint-ness
• Important decisions e.g. on inputs for agricultural
production, when to plough, plant, and harvest are mostly
made by men.
• The decision to sell or buy large animals e.g. oxen, cow and
other livestock e.g. sheep/goat, is mostly by men but after
discussing with spouses.
• Although married women are consulted the ultimate
decision and expenditure is made by men.

Income generation
• Participating in income generating activities was an important
dimension of empowerment.
• Men: crop production, fattening (cattle and sheep), and wage
employment.
• Women: in addition to the above- sell local alcoholic drinks,
vegetables, handcrafts, poultry and dairy products, and petty trade.
• Participation of women in work outside of the house is increasing but
perceive as a threat by some men
• Married women consult with husbands when deciding to
engage in casual labor

Control over income
• Degree of participation in
decisions regarding use of
income from a specific activity
depends on:
• the power to make
decisions on productive
activities
• who earned the income,
• access to information e.g.
on price of commodities,
and
• size of income
• Cultural norms

Resources and assets
• Decisions over highly valued assets like agricultural land,
livestock (oxen, cows, goats, sheep, horse) and house are
made jointly.
• Land certificates bearing both husband and wife’s name give
both land use or ‘ownership’ rights
• Women’s autonomy limited to productive assets/resources of
low monetary value (e.g. chickens, eggs and donkeys)
• Women have autonomy over small quantities of crop produce
e.g. 25kgs of cereal

Resources: control over credit, savings and
remittances
• Results give mixed perceptions across sites
• men and women have equal access to and control over credit and
remittances
• women have more access to credit than men, which is mainly due
to targeted interventions such as UNJP RWEE
• men have more control over joint savings but spouses have equal
access
• Invisible power: Women have more bargaining power over
UNJP RWEE credit which comes under their names

Resources: bank accounts
• Formal bank accounts are mostly
opened in the names of men.
• RWEE women opened accounts
in SACCOs and deposit part of
their profits.
• RWEE women receive financial
management training.
• Women have more control over
savings they make by themselves

Leadership
• Participation of women in groups as members and leaders
has improved
• Group membership alone may not be a good indicator of
empowerment
• Ability to lead a group or community mentioned by both
men and women as one of the characteristics of an
empowered women.
• Women who are shy to speak in community gatherings are
considered disempowered.

Time use
• Time use not measured in
terms of hours spent but
efficient time use
• There is increased
participation of women in
productive activities and
limited participation of men
in domestic activities.
• Workload is higher amongst
empowered women

Mobility
• Mobility is one of the characteristics of empowered women
but also a very contentious issue
• Mobility is not only about number and type of places visited
but also distance moved, purpose for movement, age,
marital status, wealth status, culture and workload
• Married women may have to seek permission to go to
meetings and far places.
• Mobility is a threat to men - fear for lose of masculinity and
spouse
• Mutual respect, trust and harmony important for mobility

Self-worth, esteem and confidence
• Beneficiary women expressed increase in self-esteem and
dignity demonstrated by:
• increased participation in important decisions (big issues) related
to selling high value items such as cattle and surpluses
• increased participation in meetings and ability to speak in public
• increased participation in income generating activities etc.
• Increased knowledge
• RWEE beneficiaries have developed the ‘I can’ attitude

Key learnings
• Qualitative research requires very good planning, appropriate selection of
respondents, qualified and trained researchers, appropriate consent and
continuous reflection.
• Empowerment has many emotional elements which can be elicited using
qualitative methods.
• Very empowered women considered social deviants – how can women
manage social expectations
• Flexibility in scoring – group verses individual opinions
• Understand the context in which mobility can be empowering.
• Prioritize the dimensions of empowerment with community members

Contribution to quantitative methods
• Measuring women’s access to credit alone is not enough. Delve into
control over credit, who manages the investment, size of investment and
how credit is serviced.
• Measuring control over income alone, may not be sufficient. Tease out
input into decisions over income from large and small sales.
• Membership to groups as a measure of leadership is not enough. Assess
ability to speak out and leadership in groups
• Its important to understand the socio-economic and cultural context to
be able to attach meaning to the figures
• Understand where women spend most of the time – valued and
empowering verses less valued and disempowering activities

Photo credits
Photo credit: ©UN Women/Fikerte Abebe (slides
19, 22, and 24)
Others by Annet A. Mulema (ILRI), Likimyelesh
Nigussie (IWMI) and Brenda Boonabana (Makerere
Univeristy)

This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
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