Person: Drucza, K.L.
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Drucza
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K.L.
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Drucza, K.L.
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- Doing research and ‘doing gender’ in Ethiopia's agricultural research system(Taylor & Francis, 2019) Drucza, K.L.; Tsegaye, M.; Abebe, L.This article presents data from an experimental gender audit that was completed of the national agricultural research system in Ethiopia. The results show how agriculture researchers understand and practice gender in Ethiopia and what the research outputs say about Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture Research (EIAR)’s ability to incorporate gender across the research process. The article applies gender mainstreaming theory and feminist research methods and methodologies to frame the analysis. This body of scholarship highlights crucial questions that go beyond the counting of male and female participants in research surveys and the recruitment of female informants, a problem at EIAR. The article argues that focusing on gender mainstreaming ignores the power relations that currently maintain the status quo and prevent a substantial approach to ‘doing gender’ from evolving. In order to improve gender equality in Ethiopia’s agriculture sector, EIAR needs to expand the methodologies currently used and include and raise awareness for feminist methods. This study adds to the emerging literature on Ethiopian women studies, gender mainstreaming, institutional reform, and gender research methods.
Publication - Pakistan country study of anthropological gender and (wheat-based) livelihood literature(CIMMYT, 2016) Peveri, V.; Drucza, K.L.This review provides a synthesis of the literature on the links between gender and social relationships, livelihood choices, and wheat-based systems in Pakistan. The majority of the data presented is of an anthropological nature. Drawing from a rich tradition of anthropological research, this study outlines the socio-cultural, religious, and existential environments in which Pakistani men and women: participate in a variety of agricultural and non-agricultural activities to secure their livelihoods; struggle with, and challenge, cultural constraints and financial problems; perceive of their own needs and performances; and make decisions over material and immaterial resources. The introduction highlights how the crop sector of the small-farm economy remains somewhat unexplored by economists and anthropologists alike. One standout issue is the involvement of women within these agricultural microcosms. Is it through crop production that women empower themselves? Is it via agriculture that women can struggle to increase their economic prosperity, and through prosperity overcome their confinement and seclusion? Do women like to take part in agricultural work? Do women find it emotionally interesting and rewarding? This literature review endorses the hypothesis that an exclusive focus on agricultural production results in women’s involvement in agriculture fading away into invisibility/illegibility, and it therefore aims at providing alternative and more complex entry points into the lives, feelings, concerns, and unofficial and informal networks of rural Pakistani women. Following the introduction is an annotated bibliography, which includes the sections: (a) Development, Livelihood Strategies, Vulnerabilities; (b) Gender Division of Labor; and (c) Domesticity and Agency Revisited. The existing literature points to a meaningful relationship that links women’s energies, goals, and interests with home gardens (harvesting vegetables), storage of cereals (post-harvest activities), natural resources management, and, especially, livestock tending and animal rearing. The reasons for these deep connections are illustrated and analyzed, along with observations of male dominancy (patriarchy) and other cultural mores that are generally regarded in the eyes of Western observers and developers as hindering women’s agency. Despite the strict insistence of purdah (the code of honor and modesty, with the resulting seclusion of women) in public spaces, women and men’s actual participation in such fora points to there being some flexibility in this code. The literature provides substantial evidence that the spheres of Pakistani men and women overlap much more than they are likely to admit. Nevertheless, there remains a knowledge gap regarding the life histories, local experiences, and unofficial, unritualized, or informal networks of small farmers in general, and of poor and marginalized women in particular. Much information is available on urban, literate, middle- and upper-class women, on the ways they articulate notions of family, individuality, and sexual mores in rapidly changing social and economic milieu. This neglect of rural subjects also results in a missed opportunity to learn and, consequently, to engage in improved program design that contributes to enhanced food security and resilience in rural communities. Case studies are presented to illustrate how existing development approaches may have overlooked localized, culturally determined concepts of empowerment.
Publication - Gender norms agency and innovation in wheat-based systems and livelihoods: synthesis report of four community case studies in Afghanistan(CIMMYT, 2018) Tsegaye, M.; Drucza, K.L.; Subhatu, A.This report illuminates how gender norms and agency advance or impede capacity to innovate and adopt technology in agriculture in four wheat-growing villages from two provinces (Kabul and Nangarhar).1 The report covers perspectives and experiences of 132 males and 128 females from wheat-growing households.2 The norms surrounding agriculture provide women and men with different roles and opportunities in farming and often result in unequal access to and control over resources. This study is designed to show evidence-based relationships among gender norms, capacities for agricultural innovation and other key constraining and local opportunity structures that affect the achievement of the CGIAR’s3 development objective to achieve equitable improvements in agricultural outcomes. Gender segregation and strict gender roles exist although there are some variations in responses between males and females across the villages. It was noted that females are not expected to have productive roles on the farm, although many do especially if from a low socio-economic class. Females do all the household work and manage some post-harvest activities, such as cleaning wheat and vegetables inside the house, due to mobility restrictions. Women add value to agriculture products that men sell and yet, only men are identified as “farmers.” The results show that men and women benefit from development innovations differently. Women’s normative gender roles pose major barriers to their access to information that would help them contribute to agriculture. Women do not participate in agriculture meetings, training sessions and other public events that promote new technologies which limits their capacity to be good farmers. Whenever a husband is not around or is deceased, it would be the brother or oldest son who would then be responsible for all the farm work and for the family in general. Gender identity and social norms that govern this behavior result in whole communities policing women’s behavior and mobility. This inhibits women’s ability to access information and play more substantive roles in agricultural improvements. This research illustrates that, in many cases, male and female farmers require different forms of assistance to be productive and to innovate. The two most important factors that support innovation for men are improvements in the economy and larger farm sizes. Many men identified the lack of provision of improved seeds as a barrier to improving wheat yields. Women ranked financial support, education, consultations with elders and workshops as the most important factors that support innovation. Financial problems and poverty hinder innovation for both women and men. Additionally, women cited the lack of agriculture information and training as a barrier to improving their economic situation and hinted at their lack of mobility as a barrier. Innovation and getting agriculture information is considered a man’s role. Even though religious devotion is considered a contributing factor in poverty, barriers to innovation are associated with governance, gender norms and other cultural practices. Responses vary greatly among research sites, suggesting extreme heterogeneity across the country. Some women are ready to take on work to improve their households, and some men would be supportive. However, there is a lack of opportunity in these communities to earn an income. The barriers facing rural Afghans is a combination of a lack of economic opportunity and the lack of willingness to change traditional gender norms. A better understanding of these issues could help identify opportunities for expanding the benefits of wheat-related innovations to many more female headed and poor households. The findings show that norms governing household relations are opening slightly with rising access to information, more education and awareness of women’s rights. This is mainly attributed to improved governance and the Karzai government. However, these improvements aren’t enough to achieve gender equality nor to improve household wellbeing. Household decisions are mainly made by male elders, husbands, brothers or in-laws, depending on the issue. Female respondents generally emphasized that a woman’s freedom to make important life decisions depends on whether her husband would allow her to do so. Therefore, some females can hold decision-making roles, particularly around how much of the wheat harvest to allocate for household consumption versus how much to sell, but others cannot. Females generally feel that they do not have the rights and the confidence to make decisions while males have the full entitlement to make decisions on any household matter. Young males have more power and freedom to exercise decision-making than their young female counterparts. Young females and girls are under full control of their parents and brothers when they are single and remain under full control of their husbands and in-laws after they get married. If R4D programs continue to overlook gender norms then men will benefit more than women from innovations and thus, gender inequality will worsen. The findings indicate the need for creative solutions, collaboration with diverse groups of stakeholders and progressive opinion leaders to change women’s positions in society. When combined with the lack of economic opportunity, the perpetuation of gender norms provide a barrier to increased agricultural productivity and growth in wheat production. Future R4D programs should consider the following points: Mechanization is well received in the study communities and should be accompanied with new opportunities for women. Harvesting equipment has replaced women’s paid labor. Changes are observed in some communities highlighting the potential to change gender norms exists. Careful programing is needed, and this requires intensive male engagement strategies. Afghanistan’s development challenges require all its citizens to engage in productive pursuits. There is value in collecting qualitative data. Data can show how the social, cultural, geographical, economic and historical aspects of a community affect men’s and women’s opportunities to advance and improve agriculture productivity. It reveals how this all interacts with other statuses (age, religion, class etc) which can help to highlight entry points for each community. More context-specific data on women’s role in agriculture crops is needed to ensure tailored programming. • Collect case studies of villages where women report enhanced rights and mobility. Study the history of gender programming in those areas. Identify the appropriate, safe pace of change for men and women and successful interventions, and then, replicate. Acknowledge that men and women have different preferences, needs and interests - ask women and men from the same household about their preferences and crop/livelihood choices.
Publication - Ethiopia: country study of anthropological gender and (wheat-based) livelihood literature(CIMMYT, 2016) Peveri, V.; Drucza, K.L.This review provides a synthesis of the literature on the links between gender and social relationships, livelihood choices, and wheat-based systems in Ethiopia. It collates evidence from several different fields (this includes, among others, anthropology, feminist economics, cultural geography, international development, environmental studies, and agricultural sciences) and reads the available data through an anthropological lens. The current research literature on gender in agriculture has notable gaps, specifically in terms of farmers’ own voices, perspectives, and lived experiences in relation to food and crop choices. The introduction discusses these literature gaps. It begins by describing the policy approaches for agricultural transformation that have dominated the Ethiopian development trajectory, with a special focus on agricultural extension services. Next it discusses the Green Revolution approach to wheat productivity and production vis-a-vis the farmers’ preferences for landrace over improved wheat varieties. Finally, it highlights the biased perception of women as “non-productive,” which results in their contributions to agricultural food production becoming marginalized and invisible. Following the introduction is an annotated bibliography, which includes the sections: (a) The Political Economy of Development; (b) Farmers’ Knowledge, Indigenous Adaptations; (c) Gender Bias, Gender Blindness; and (d) Seeds of Diversity. The existing literature points to a persistent, positive correlation between women’s (and by extension children’s) nutritional status and women’s decision-making autonomy. Moreover, the normative division of activities, according to which men dominate field activities and women home affairs, is contradicted by the limited yet highly relevant ethnographic evidence that reveals how in practice women exert “soft” power in decision-making and, specifically, in saving, classifying, storing, and sharing seeds. Households headed by women or households with more female labor are found to grow more diverse crop varieties. This literature review substantiates the, so far neglected by the research literature, link between women and on-farm crop genetic diversity and suggests that women are traditional seed experts. Modern farming marketing practices overlook the role of women by targeting and selling to men. Furthermore, markets seem not to value the crop traits that farmers, and especially women in their home uses, prefer as consumers. If gender is a relevant category that affects the adoption of wheat varieties and perceptions of their traits, then more research is needed to elucidate the extent of “gendered” influences on matters of food security, nutrition, and crop/livelihood choices. For instance, how is diversity managed in traditional small-scale farms; and how are the responsibilities and decision-making shared by men and women? In order to specifically capture the point of view of women farmers, the literature needs to move from only thinking in terms of formal markets to also considering informal social networks, home gardens and kitchens, and other “informal” aspects. Similarly, broadening the perspective from food production and productivity to food preparation, consumption, and preferences may reveal women’s soft power and its influence over the small-scale farming system. Categories such as taste—that is, qualitative/subjective traits such as gustation, olfaction, feel, and appearance—may also need to be considered in breeding projects and agricultural research. Women’s preferences, roles, and gender relations, along with ecology and the agricultural landscape, are overlooked in agricultural research and policy development, to the detriment of local livelihoods and food security.
Publication - Case study 2018: care Ethiopia's institutional gender reform(CIMMYT, 2018) Drucza, K.L.The public discourse sparked by the #metoo movement has allowed for the issue of gender disparity and power dynamics to come unapologetically into public consciousness. And it is not only discourse - in Ethiopia, universities have been increasing female enrolment via their own institutional changes, including more rigorous anti-sexual harassment policies, a life-skills module and tutorial classes. As of October 16th 2018, 50% of Ethiopia’s cabinet will be female. If an institution is concerned that its staff might not be ready for gender parity reform, know that those changes are in fact overdue, and that the groundwork has been laid. According to the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, it will take 217 years to reach gender parity in the workforce. Locally, the issue is even starker. According to UN women, Ethiopia “suffers from some of the lowest gender equality performance indicators in sub-Saharan Africa.” While male employment rates rose between 2005 and 2013, female employment rates essentially remained static, and as of 2016 female youth unemployment rates were almost twice as high as male youth unemployment rates.v Despite increases over the past four election cycles, women in positions of power within government has failed to reach 30%. The NGO sector is no exception. Despite global numbers of female workers in NGOs outstripping male workers 3 to 1, the numbers of female staff in NGOs in Ethiopia are low. Of six sample INGOs operating in Ethiopia, all had between 15-25% female workers, if they reported workforce diversity figures at all, and only two of them had gender specific or affirmative action policies in place, and both of these were fairly recent inclusions in their Human Resources artillery. This case study has been compiled to help other organisations create a more equitable working environment in Ethiopia, and elsewhere.
Publication - Afghanistan: country study of anthropological gender and (wheat-based) livelihood literature(CIMMYT, 2016) Peveri, V.; Drucza, K.L.This review provides a synthesis of the literature on the links between gender and social relationships, livelihood choices, and wheat-based systems in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s recent history has been marked by extreme hardship and violence. The war economy has brought about a profound transformation in social relations and has dramatically undermined a rural economy based on subsistence agriculture and pastoralism. This scenario raises the complex issue of how to promote social cohesion and achieve land-based food security in a society devastated by suffering and loss. The introduction contrasts optimistic accounts about farming systems and livelihood options with a growing body of literature that clearly highlights a loss of confidence in farming as a means to generate a livelihood. The livelihoods that exist now are a result of the history of conflict and drought Conflict and drought have required households to implement flexible coping approaches. For a majority of poor households, non-farm labor, rather than agriculture, is the most important source of income. This has major ramifications for agricultural policy and programming, as it demonstrates that the needs of the rural poor are currently being missed due to the predominant (and misleading) focus on agriculture. With regard to development and empowerment, the literature shows that the process of reconstruction must take into consideration the gender dimension when serving the needs of women and men. Which are the areas where there is great potential to engage women and men? Which are the structures and narratives, both at the national and international level, that set out the constraints within which women and men must live their lives? Do those same structures also shape the possibilities for change and the form that this change is likely to take? Different framings of Afghan gender roles are juxtaposed and compared to highlight the complexities and negotiations that engage both genders in the process of decisionmaking. Given the present conditions of life in Afghanistan, punctuated by chronic crises and weak governance, religion and family may be perceived as the only force able to reinstate a sense of nationhood, solidarity between fellow citizens, and economic and political empowerment. In the fragmented landscapes of Afghanistan, the opportunities are limited, especially for the poor, and the need for income diversification is acute. This literature review shows that not enough is known of the extent to which men and women are able to access different livelihood opportunities, or the extent to which programs may impact on women and men differently. The references reviewed converge, however, when drawing attention to the diversity of livelihood strategies at inter- and intrahousehold levels, seeing this as a meaningful entry point into the processes of reconstruction, change, and resilience, and raising questions about assumptions linking agricultural growth, poverty reduction, and promotion of gender equality. In this highly complex politicized setting, it is crucial that strategies be explored with a view to supporting household livelihood diversification, rather than trying to move households to agriculture entirely.
Publication - Gender norms agency and innovation in wheat-based systems and livelihoods: synthesis report of six community case studies in Pakistan(CIMMYT, 2018) Tsegaye, M.; Drucza, K.L.; Hailemariam, M.This report summarizes the Pakistan findings from a global qualitative comparative research initiative called GENNOVATE. It covers perspectives and experiences of 351 respondents (174 female and 177 male) of different ages from wheat-growing households across six wheat-growing villages from two provinces (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan) in Pakistan. The research reveals that restrictive gender norms are one of the largest barriers facing effective innovation and engagement by women in the agricultural sector. However, women and men from different socioeconomic backgrounds and age groups can be affected by gender norms differently. Moreover, gender norms and expectations can be contradictory and difficult for community members to navigate. The intra-household decision-making dynamics are complicated in joint-family settings. Men are generally the decision makers, but not all men feel they have a high degree of power and freedom. Elders and khans have the ultimate decision-making power. The general perception is that women do not make any decisions except on household-related chores. However, the findings reveal that women are involved in joint decisions regarding subsistence crops and some livestock products. This implies that there is a certain level of negotiation taking place within households before making decisions. This requires further investigation. Moreover, women gain status as they age. Gender norms and women’s decision-making positions are determined by factors such as age and marital status. Gender differences were observed about expectations of a “good wife” and “good female farmer” and “good husband” and “good male farmer.” The qualities of a “good wife” mainly relate to women’s reproductive and household roles as well as socio-culturally “correct’’ and acceptable behavior. Men are reported to have no role in household chores which is commonly known as women’s work. Men are considered the sole provider for the household. Women are widely considered to have little role in bringing the family out of poverty, despite women’s involvement in several income-generating activities. The gendered dimensions of factors shaping socioeconomic mobility and poverty trends were explored. In most cases women did not perceive that poverty in the community was reducing as quickly as men. Female-headed households (FHHs) are said to be among the worst off in their wellbeing status, which is mainly attributed to women’s restricted mobility to search for a decent job and other economic opportunities. Men and women in all villages agreed that financial position is one of the major enabling factors for agricultural innovations and decision-making, but this is not true for women. Women from financially well-off families are less mobile, do not work for pay and feel powerless. Consequently, new infrastructure developments and the opportunities that result from them benefit women and men differently. Women’s and men’s innovation preferences and opportunities are also different. Generally, men are said to have more opportunities to innovate than women because of their physical mobility, which facilitates access to information, knowledge, skills and financial resources, essential elements for learning about and adopting technology. For men, class impacts a farmer’s ability to innovate. Rich farmers with larger land holdings are mainly at the forefront of agricultural innovations. Poorer farmers showed a level of precaution before adopting new technologies and follow the experiences of earlier adopters before they are comfortable adopting for themselves. Similarly, the factors hindering innovation and technology adoption reflect the gendered norms and expectations of women and men. Women from all villages insisted that the availability of women-only vocational training centers is crucial for them to try to innovate. Women felt they would be allowed to go to these places if they existed. Otherwise, for women, there is no way they can go into public places and learn in the presence of men apart from their relatives. The overall dynamics around enabling and constraining factors for innovation prove that gender norms inform opportunity structures for men and women. If R4D programs continue to ignore gender norms in programming then men will benefit more than women from innovations and thus, gender inequality will increase. The findings have indicated the need for collaboration with diverse groups of stakeholders across social, economic and political sectors and with progressive opinion leaders to change women’s positions in society. Future R4D programs should consider the following points: Women and men are not homogenous; therefore, gendered norms affect men and women from different contexts, class, marital status, and age differently. This signifies the need for additional gender analysis to understand contextually-embedded practices that determine women’s and men’s positions and opportunities in society. Effort to transform the strict and deeply-engrained gender norms require intensive male engagement strategies, including Imams. There is a long way to go before women are free to move around, engage in income-earning activities and decide on issues that matter to themselves and their family without men feeling “less.” Female heads of households (widowed and divorced), mobile women and educated women who joined the professional work force are positive role models and should be promoted as such.
Publication - Scoping study: gender and social equity in wheat research for development (R4D) in Ethiopia(CIMMYT, 2018) Drucza, K.L.Agriculture is one of the main sources of income for women in Ethiopia; yet women are disadvantaged compared to men. According to the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, more than half of women (56%) engaged in the agricultural sector were unpaid workers, and 65% of women were working for a family member.2 Traditional gender norms link women to household work, contributing to the general societal perception that farming is “a man’s job.” This cultural perception remains strong, even though numerous agricultural tasks, such as weeding, harvesting, grinding, and storing, are deemed “women’s work.” Consequently, women’s work in agriculture continues to be invisible to researchers and to the extension agents that deliver technical scientific knowledge. Unlike for other staple cereals, Ethiopia relies on a significant proportion of imported wheat to meet domestic demand.6 Wheat imports vary between 25 and 35 percent, depending on the size of the harvest and other factors.7 The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has announced its plans to become self-sufficient in wheat production and to stop importing substantial amounts of wheat by the year 2021. GoE has also committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have a number of gender and food security indicators, such as “zero hunger” and gender equality. All of the goals aim to “leave no one behind” and deliver more equitable development outcomes. The Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) funded a research development project, “Understanding gender in wheat-based livelihoods for enhanced WHEAT R4D impact in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ethiopia.” The aim of this research project is to help take stock of the current situation regarding the integration of gender and social equity in WHEAT research for development (R4D) in Ethiopia, and to identify and conceptualize opportunities for strengthening this integration. This scoping study report summarizes four outputs from this project and explores the following questions: How are gender and social equity issues around WHEAT R4D currently being addressed? How should gender and social equity issues be addressed in future WHEAT R4D in Ethiopia? The report begins with a summary of a literature review of 92 articles from peer-reviewed and secondary/gray literature. The following research questions are answered: How does the world look, and work, for men and women in households that rely predominantly on growing wheat? How do gender relations shape livelihoods in terms of nutrition, food security, and agriculture? Next is an overview of the policy analysis results. Seven pivotal policies were subjected to a critical feminist analysis while twenty-two other policies and legislation were reviewed along with regional and international commitments to contextualize the results. The policy analysis asks two questions: What is the quality of Ethiopia’s agriculture and gender policies as viewed through a feminist lens? How can the heterogenous needs of women working across the country in the agricultural sector be enshrined in policy? A data mining activity follows and explains that the reason the agriculture literature and policies fail to substantially address gender may be related to the way agriculture research is undertaken. The objective of the data mining component is to find out if identity (sex, religion, age, location, marital status, education level, and ethnicity) has any bearing on wheat productivity and efficiency; and how effectively is gender and social equity integrated into WHEAT R4D survey instruments? By considering the sampling strategy and size and the division of labor question from two surveys, recommendations are made for adopting an intersectional approach to survey development. The final section presents results from a country-level stakeholder analysis. In Ethiopia, stakeholders are defined as all those agencies that have a role to play in mainstreaming gender and social equity in WHEAT R4D (and therefore agriculture more broadly). The following questions guide the analysis: What is the current thinking and understanding by stakeholders about gender equality and social equity in R4D? Who are the main actors driving change? What promising practices and methodologies exist? The report concludes that there is a need, and plenty of scope, to improve gender and social equity in WHEAT R4D and in the agriculture sector generally.
Publication - Feminist policy analysis: implications for the agricultural sector in Ethiopia(CIMMYT, 2018) Drucza, K.L.; Rodriguez, C.M.This report provides a feminist analysis of seven policies, relating to gender equality in the agriculture sector of Ethiopia. Ethiopia has progressively expanded women’s rights and the enabling policy environment since 1994. Despite the strong commitment of Ethiopia towards gender equality and gender mainstreaming, many of the policies analyzed do not integrate gender equality as a priority for the growth and development of the country and do not adequately mainstream gender. At best, there is an emphasis on increasing women’s participation and integration, but little solid ‘gender’ targets are set. The analysis shows gender-specific policies have regressed since the 2006 National Action Plan on Gender Equality (NAP-GE) that proposed important gender-sensitive measures. The 2017 Women´s Development Package reduces gender objectives to the expansion of women´s access to certain services and benefits. Meanwhile, agriculture related policies have significantly improved in gender-sensitivity over the same time, culminating with the approval of the Gender Equality Strategy for Ethiopia´s Agricultural Sector (GESAS) in 2017. However, alignment across policies and implementation remains ad hoc.
Publication - Gender norms, agency and innovation in wheat based systems and livelihoods: synthesis report of four community case-studies in Ethiopia(CIMMYT, 2019) Drucza, K.L.This country report is a summary of the Ethiopian findings from a global qualitative comparative research initiative known as GENNOVATE. This report examines how gender norms and agency shape, and in turn are shaped by, local benefits from agricultural innovation and NRM. This study, conducted in late 2014 and early 2015, aims to build greater knowledge about the connections between gender equality and agricultural development. In Ethiopia, 138 women and 137 men from wheat-growing households participated in this research across four villages.
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