Food Security, Gender and Community Relations. Challenges and Strategies of Rural Women in Goncha Siso Enese Woreda, Ethiopia, and the Role of the Productive Safety Net Programme in Empowering Women. Addis Bezabih Mekonnen MASTER THESIS M.Phil programme in Gender and Development Autumn 2013 Faculty of Psychology Department of Health Promotion and Development DECLARATION I, the undersigned student declare that this is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other university and that all sources of materials used in this thesis have been duly acknowledged. Addis Bezabih November 19, 2013 Acknowledgements I am thankful all of those people who supported me in any respect during my study. I am particularly thankful to my supervisor, Haldis Haukanes, who offered invaluable assistance and guidance from the beginning to the final level of the study. Your substantial and constructive comments were of paramount significance in shaping this study. I am greatly indebted to my families especially my husband Hiowte and my brother Mulugeta who support me in all aspects. I also want to thank all the people who participated in this study and the staff of Goncha Siso Enese Woreda Administration and Office of Agriculture and Rural Development for their willingness and support they provided me in collecting the data. Last but not least; I am eternally grateful to thank my GAD friends i List of Acronyms ACSA Amhara Credit and Saving Association ADE Administrative Division of Ethiopia ADLI Agriculture Development Led Industrialization CFSTF Community Food Security Task Force CSA The Ethiopian Central Statistics Authority DAs Development Agents DS Direct Support ECA Economic Commission for Africa FAO Food and Agricultural Organization FDRE Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia FGD Focus Group Discussion FSS Forum for Social Studies KFSTF Kebele Food Security Task Force MoARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MoFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations PSNP Productive Safety Net Program PW Public Works SNNPR Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples WWAO Woreda Women’s Affairs Office UN United Nation ii Abstract The study was designed to explore Food security, gender and community relations. Challenges and strategies of rural women in Goncha Siso Enese Woreda,Ethiopia, and the role of the Productive Safety Net Programme in empowering women. The research applied qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, Focused Group Discussions and observation to address issues from a gender perspective. The livelihood approach and empowerment approach have been the theoretical frameworks that underpin this study. Findings revealed that access to and control over resources such as natural capital, human capital, financial and social capital is less for female heads of households than it is for married women. The study also revealed that both female-headed households and male headed household are food insecure. Moreover, the study findings indicate that rural women engage in various agricultural activities though there are activities that women are not supposed to engage in due to cultural division of labour. This put women in a more disadvantageous and vulnerable position than men. The study further confirmed that women’s labour is considered to have the same value as men’s labour in the study area. The role of female-headed households’ role in community based activities such as edir, equb, mahiber and other social events is less than married women. As a result, female heads of households have less access to social capital than that of married women. It has also been found out that lack of agricultural resources or capitals (land, labour, credit and saving), lack of social security and unfair division of resources are major challenges for the informants. There are differences among informants’ coping strategy. There are also differences between different groups of beneficiaries as concerns their perceptions of the PSNP programme’s contributions to their lives and to the community. iii Table of Contents Chapter One ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Presentation of Study Area ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Statement of the Problem and Motivation behind the Research .......................................... 3 1.3. Productive Safety Net Program .............................................................................................. 4 1.4. Objectives................................................................................................................................ 5 1.5. Research Questions ................................................................................................................ 6 1.6. Organization of the Thesis ...................................................................................................... 6 Chapter Two ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Literature Review .................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Concepts of Food Security.......................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Overview of Food Security Situation in Africa ............................................................................. 9 2.2.1. Overview of Food Security Situation in Ethiopia ................................................................ 10 2.2.2. Food Security State of Amahara Region ............................................................................. 11 2.3. PSNP ........................................................................................................................................... 12 2.4. Gender Dimension of Food Security and Resource Control ...................................................... 13 2.5. Strategies of rural women in Ethiopia ....................................................................................... 15 Chapter Three ....................................................................................................................................... 19 Theoretical Framework of the Thesis ................................................................................................... 19 3.1. The Livelihood Approach (LA) .................................................................................................... 19 3.1.1. The Use of the Livelihood Approach for this Thesis...................................................... 21 3.2. The Empowerment Approach - Kabeer’s and Mosedal ........................................................ 22 3.2.1. The Use of the Empowerment Approach for this Thesis .................................................... 24 Chapter Four ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Methodology of the Project .................................................................................................................. 25 4.1. The Qualitative Research Method ........................................................................................ 25 4.2. Data Sources ......................................................................................................................... 26 4.3. The Process of Fieldwork ...................................................................................................... 26 4.4. Methods Data Collection ...................................................................................................... 27 4.4.1. Interview ....................................................................................................................... 27 4.4.2. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) ...................................................................................... 28 4.4.3. Observation and Informal Conversations ..................................................................... 29 iv 4.5. Site and Informant Selection ................................................................................................ 31 4.6. Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 31 4.7. Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................................... 31 4.8. Challenges Met During Fieldwork ......................................................................................... 32 Chapter 5 ............................................................................................................................................... 33 Agriculture and Food ............................................................................................................................ 33 5.1. Agricultural Resources ............................................................................................................... 33 5.1. 1. Natural Capital-Land .........................................................................................................