Omondi Immaculate, Njuguna-Mungai Esther, Derseh Melkamu Bezabih, Teufel Nils, Galiè Alessandra, Njiru Nelly, Kariuki Eunice, Mulema Annet Abenakyo, Baltenweck Isabelle, Jones Chris Stephen
Policy Livelihoods and Institution (PIL), The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.
Feeds and Forages Development, The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 23;19(12):e0309927. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309927. eCollection 2024.
Small-scale cultivation and irrigation of planted forages can increase the availability of good-quality animal feed in smallholder farms. However, low adoption rates of improved forage technologies in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa have been observed and are partly attributed to limited understanding of gender dynamics in the context of production and utilization of planted forages. The introduction of small-scale cultivation and irrigation of planted forages is likely to interlink gender relations in the mixed crop-livestock farming system given the differences in contributions, benefits and challenges men and women farmers face. Efforts to transform livestock systems through improving adoption, scaling, and sustainability forage interventions can benefit from empirical evidence on gender relations in feed-related activities. We aim to highlight the linkage between gender relations and women's empowerment in the production and utilization of feed resources smallholder settings. We used mixed methods, drawing on quantitative data obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 250 men and 250 women, and qualitative data obtained from eight focus group discussions in smallholder settings of the Amhara and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's regions of Ethiopia, where small-scale irrigation was introduced to boost the production of cultivated forages by households. We used the Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index tool to elicit data and analyze the empowerment of the sampled men and women. Women's empowerment differed significantly with different dimensions of gender relations, types of forages grown, and small-scale irrigation practice. Moreover, women in households practicing small-scale irrigation of planted forages were significantly more empowered and most (80%) achieved the adequate threshold in "work balance". The study findings point to the positive link between empowerment and the likely shifts in gender relations from the practice of small-scale production and irrigation of forages.
小规模种植和灌溉人工种植的草料可以提高小农户农场优质动物饲料的可得性。然而,在撒哈拉以南非洲的大部分地区,改良草料技术的采用率较低,部分原因是在人工种植草料的生产和利用背景下,对性别动态的理解有限。鉴于男女农民在贡献、收益和面临的挑战方面存在差异,引入小规模人工种植草料的种植和灌溉可能会使农牧混合系统中的性别关系相互关联。通过提高采用率、扩大规模和增强可持续性来改进草料干预措施,从而改变畜牧系统的努力,可以从与饲料相关活动中性别关系的实证证据中受益。我们旨在强调在小农户环境中,饲料资源的生产和利用中性别关系与妇女赋权之间的联系。我们采用了混合方法,利用了从对250名男性和250名女性的横断面调查中获得的定量数据,以及从埃塞俄比亚阿姆哈拉和南方各族人民地区小农户环境中的八次焦点小组讨论中获得的定性数据,在这些地区引入了小规模灌溉以促进家庭种植草料的生产。我们使用了畜牧养殖中妇女赋权指数工具来获取数据并分析抽样男女的赋权情况。妇女赋权在性别关系的不同维度、种植的草料类型和小规模灌溉实践方面存在显著差异。此外,从事人工种植草料小规模灌溉的家庭中的妇女赋权程度明显更高,大多数(80%)在“工作平衡”方面达到了适当的阈值。研究结果表明赋权与因小规模草料生产和灌溉实践而可能发生的性别关系转变之间存在积极联系。