Gender Differentials in Access to and Control over Assets, Livestock Inputs and Income from the Sale of Livestock and Livestock Products among Smallholders in Ethiopia

Abstract

Looking into the existing gender dynamics in smallholder livestock production system mainly with regard to access to and control over productive assets by men and women smallholders gives insights into existing intra and inter household gender differentials by and large. Mainly the degree of participation of the household head, the spouse and other members of the household in access to and control over specific assets and decision making over the use of different types of inputs, services, technologies and agricultural tools showed significant differences.  LIVES project survey result showed that woman in male headed households had lesser control on technologies and livestock related services. In the context of female headed households the woman as the head of the household seemed to have the monopoly of control over resources, however, she depended on male relatives and partners to make use of technologies such as water pumps and to access to some livestock related services. This is partly due to gender norms that constrain women’s use of certain technologies in the farm context as well as cultural impositions over women’s physical mobility beyond the village to access also services located in other areas.The survey finding indicated a clear gender differentials on the participation of men and women in selling livestock and livestock products and controlling over the income after the sale. However, the participation in selling livestock by men and women differs by livestock type.The findings are based on a household baseline survey carried out in four regions of Ethiopia in the year 2014. The survey instruments were systematically designed to capture a gender disaggregated data from 967 FHH and 4037 MHH. 8.3% of the FHH involved in the survey were households inhabited by a female household head with a male partner. The survey was involved 10 zones, 31 districts and 30 PAs

Keywords: Gender differentials, access and control, livestock and livestock products, decision making, gendered incentives.