Empowering women in agricultural markets through collective action

1. Empowering women in agricultural markets through collective action Tarekegn Garomsa and Dr. Berhanu Denu, 18th September 2012

2. Introduction to WCA Research in Ethiopia • Collective Action, a powerful means for smallholder farmers in markets. Increasing awareness of women’s important contribution in agriculture. • Jimma: Maize, Coffee, Spices; West Gojam: Vegetables, Dairy, Honey; In-depth analysis of the honey sub-sector Amhara National Regional State (Mecha and Dangila woredas). • Case studies -‘Effective collective action’ helping women smallholders to access markets. • The research studied:  Formal and Informal groups •  Single sex and Mixed groups • A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods were used.

3. The Research Questions To what extent and under what conditions does women smallholders’ engagement in market-focused collective action lead to gender equitable outcomes ? • Who benefits? • What are the benefits? • How does collective action overcome constraints? • Which development actor strategies are most effective?

4. Methodology: How we did it • Qualitative Research Methodology • A combination of field methods and documentary sources: • Review of documentary sources/ records. • Key informant interviews with market actors, government officials, and other development actors. • Focus-group discussions with members of both women-only and mixed groups used participatory exercises, e.g. Timeline analysis and Venn diagrams. • Individual semi-structured interviews – Life Stories. • Market, household and farm visits. • Pilot study of 12 days.

5. Methodology: How we did it • Quantitative Research Methodology • Propensity Score Matching (PSM) used to compare WCA members (treatment group) with non-members (control group). • Compares like women to like women to minimize potential bias. • Women were grouped in 5 development domains based on ecological zone, market access and population density. • We interviewed 920 women: 332 WCA-members and 588 non-members.

6. Findings of the Research

7. A. Collective Action in Agricultural Markets benefits women and delivers wider Economic and Social Benefits • ETHIOPIA: • Economic benefits for women Ethiopian WCA members included a higher quality product, higher volumes, and higher prices(6.26 birr/US$0.35 more than non-members for honey). • MALI & TANZANIA – • Also improved and diversified production, improved product quality, higher volumes, securing better prices. • Tanzania : 50% increase income from marketing. • Mali: Women involved in marketing through various channels; diversification of income-generating activities – resilience.

8. A (2) Collective Action in Agricultural Markets benefits women and delivers wider Economic and Social Benefits • ETHIOPIA: • Wider Economic/Social Benefitsin the Ethiopian groups: • More mobility, voice, visibility and leadership skills. • Increased decision-making power at household level. • Using time more efficiently, managing money, culture of savings. • Solidarity, social insurance in times of hardship. • MALI & TANZANIA : • Across all countries, women members were found to have improved status, increased community participation and leadership. • In Mali, women cooperative members reported being invited to consultations on community development, they advise each other on household management and have a strategic vision of their own development.

9. B. Women’s collective action in agriculture is helping to change Unequal Relations between women and men • ETHIOPIA: • Relations in Households/Communities • ‘No longer confined to the kitchens’. • Women actively decide household matters jointly with their husbands. • More ‘legitimate for women to have a space in value chains’. • “Without a woman’s hand in it, success in beekeeping is like a dream of having a milking cow in the sky”. • MALI & TANZANIA – • Also in Tanzania, a sense that women have new roles in agricultural markets. • Yet – restrictions by husbands still limit women’s benefits and leadership.

10. C. Governments, Donors and NGOs’ Interventions help CA deliver benefits for women where they… • ETHIOPIA: Successful NGO Interventions have included: • Setting up women-only spaces within mixed organisations (SHGs). • Rotational leadership within these groups has allowed (marginalised) women to develop confidence and exercise leadership. • Quotas of women at membership and leadership level. • Technological changes – e.g. the promotion of modern beehives. • Mechanisms to prioritise the most vulnerable women – poorer women and female-headed households. • However, interventions tended to focus on production and finance rather than marketing. • MALI – • Long-term external support: Training in governance, group management • Support on national marketing, networking, market information

11. C. (2)Governments, Donors & NGOs’ Interventions help CA deliver benefits for women where they… • Successful interventions: • Provide a package of services, including technology, finance, organisational management, market information and literacy. • Recognise a range of formal and informal groups, address multiple dimensions of women’s empowerment • Introduce rotational leadership • Intentionally work with men (husbands), involved in promoting WCA • Address gender dynamics in groups, including creating women-only spaces within mixed groups • Support collective marketing, not just production and finance. • Explicitly promote good governance so women’s equitable benefits are secured.

12. D. Not all women are Benefitting from market-focused collective action • ETHIOPIA: • WCA members were younger than non-members (34 vs. 37 years). • Poorer economic status with smaller plots of land and fewer cattle. • Mostly single women and female-headed households. • MALI & TANZANIA – • Women involved in CA tended to be older, married women with fewer household responsibilities and a higher status. • Overall: Few women reached by interventions on collective marketing, mostly production & finance.

13. E. ‘Positive exceptions’ that address additional Barriers facing women smallholders • Collective action overcomes common barriers to markets • Barriers specific to women may remain: mobility and time constraints, illiteracy, land & limitations imposed by husbands • ‘Positive exceptions’ - innovative interventions – can address these issues and reach new market niches. • Ethiopia: consultation process with men/husbands to discuss benefits for women in CA, and raise the acceptability of women’s increased participation in CA; dual household membership • Tanzania: informal collective action to hire vehicle for trading.

14. Conclusions Implications of findings • For women’s collective action to maximise benefits, innovative interventions can support the following: • Recognition and support of informal groups and SHGs, providing assistance to informal as well as to formal groups. • Strategies to engage women in marketing, as well as improving production. • Mechanisms that facilitate women to have fees or assets to become a group member – especially access and control over land. • Interventions to address illiteracy, and to provide a wider range of services. • Labour-saving technology and infrastructure to address time poverty, especially to facilitate participation of married women.

15. Questions? For more information, visit us at: www.womenscollectiveaction.com