Benishangul-Gumuz Region
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PARTICIPATORY GENDER ANALYSIS IN SORGHUM BASED FARMING SYSTEM; THE CASE OF ASSOSA DISTRICT IN BENISHANGUL GUMUZ REGION OF ETHIOPIA Research Team Afework Hagos Etagegnehu Seifu Megersa Mengesha Tokkuma Legesse Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................ 1 List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................. 3 List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 5 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 6 2. Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1. Description of the study area.............................................................................................................. 8 2.2. Data Sources, Tools and Analysis ...................................................................................................... 9 3. Results ...................................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1. Regional Profile ............................................................................................................................... 10 3.2. Sorghum Production Trends ............................................................................................................ 11 3.3. Cropping Calendar ........................................................................................................................... 13 3.4. Importance of Sorghum in the Study Area....................................................................................... 14 3.5. Sorghum Availability Year-Round .................................................................................................. 16 3.6. Gender and Family Roles in Sorghum Production........................................................................... 17 3.7. Reproductive Role of Gender and Family Members in Sorghum-Based Farming System ............. 21 3.8. Participation of Household Members in Decision-making .............................................................. 24 3.9. Access to and Control Over Productive Resources by Gender ........................................................ 24 3.10. Main Sources of Information on Sorghum Production and Extension Services .............................. 25 3.11. Priority Problems in Sorghum Production (Pair-wise ranking) ....................................................... 26 3.12. Preferred Phenotypic Characteristics of Sorghum Varieties ............................................................ 27 3.13. Major Storage Pests and Post-harvest Losses .................................................................................. 28 4. Discussion ................................................................................................................................................. 29 5. Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 34 5.1. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 34 5.2. Recommendations ............................................................................................................................ 34 6. References ................................................................................................................................................ 37 1 List of Tables Table 1. Sampled Households ............................................................................................................................. 8 Table 2. Farmer Responses on Trends in Sorghum Production ........................................................................ 13 Table 3. Cropping Calendar (Indigenous communities).................................................................................... 14 Table 4. Cropping Calendar (Settlers) ............................................................................................................... 14 Table 5. Rank of Importance of Sorghum Compared to Other Crops (pair-wise matrix) ................................. 16 Table 6. Household Coping Strategies for Sorghum Shortages ........................................................................ 17 Table 7. Sorghum Production Activity Profile (Indigenous Communities) ...................................................... 18 Table 8. Sorghum Production Activity Profile (Settler communities) .............................................................. 20 Table 9. Community Activities by Gender (Indigenous Communities) ............................................................ 22 Table 10. Community Activities by Gender (Settler Community) .................................................................... 23 Table 11. Access to and Control Over Productive Resources (Indigenous Communities) ............................... 24 Table 12. Access to and Control Over Productive Resources (Settler Communities) ...................................... 25 Table 13. Access to and Control Over Extension Services (Indigenous Community) ...................................... 25 Table 14. Access to and Control Over Extension Services (Settler Community) ............................................. 26 Table 15. Cropping Methods and Use of Inputs for Sorghum Production ........................................................ 26 Table 16. Constraints of Sorghum Production, Marketing and Utilization ....................................................... 27 Table 17. Farmer Preferred Traits for Sorghum ................................................................................................ 28 List of Figures Figure 1. Map of the study area ........................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 2. Sorghum-producing households, area, and production in Benishangul Gumuz region ..................... 11 Figure 3. Major crop production (qt) in Assosa district .................................................................................... 12 Figure 4. Area covered by major crops (ha) in Assosa district ......................................................................... 12 Figure 5. Major crops in terms of area coverage for indigenous communities ................................................. 15 Figure 6. Major crops in terms of area coverage for settler communities ......................................................... 16 Figure 7. Uses for sorghum grain, by household type and gender .................................................................... 29 Figure 8. Methods of preparing sorghum grain, by household type and gender ............................................... 30 Figure 9. Sorghum grain use in brewing beverages, by household type and gender ........................................ 30 Figure 10. Uses for sorghum stover, by gender and community type ............................................................... 31 2 Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge AsARC Director Assefa Gidessa for his facilitation and positive responses during the field survey; without his keen support, the data collection process would have been impossible. Also, we appreciate the woreda agriculture experts for their assistance identifying major sorghum-producing kebeles. The development agents also were appreciated for their participation in focus group discussions, key informants’ interviews, and farmers’ identification and selection. We deeply appreciate the farmers of Nebar Komeshga and Selga 24 who volunteered their time and willingness for focus group discussions and gave relevant information for the intended research. Finally, we acknowledge SMIL for their support of this project to mainstream gender research in in Ethiopia. This report is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. 3 List of Acronyms AsARC Assosa Agricultural Research Center CSA Central Statistics Agency DAs Development Agents EIAR Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research FGDs Focus Group Discussion FHHs Female-Headed Households KAs Kebele Administrations MHH Male-Headed Households NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal SMIL Sorghum and Millet Innovation Lab 4 Executive Summary Sorghum is the major food crop in area cultivation and production in Benishangul Gumuz region in general and in Assosa woreda in particular. Thus, sorghum has multiple values for smallholder