The Role of Income Generating Activities for Livelihood Improvement of Women and Youth in Addis Ababa: The Case of Yeka-subcity

Abstract

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world with high rate of unemployment of women and youth. This rate is higher in urban than rural areas. In order to minimize the economic and social costs of high urban unemployment rate and raise the income of people living under poverty, the government has adopted income generating schemes through promoting MSEs. The study examined the role of such IGA for improving the income (via expenditure approach), saving, and decision-making of participants in Addis Ababa by taking Woreda 11 as a case and using quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative method employs propensity score matching and multiple regression analysis to assess financial asset improvement of participants. On the other hand, the qualitative method uses descriptive statistics, key informant interviews, and FGDs to assess the IGA profiles by gender and education of participants and beneficiaries’ psycho-social change brought by the program. Findings show that the major types of IGA are construction, manufacturing (metal work, woodwork, and food preparation), service, and trade. Of those who are engaged in food preparation, 96% are women whereas 85% of those engaged in construction are men. This shows that women are more into IGAs that perpetuate their traditional roles as food providers, which is reported to be mainly due to lack of skills for other activities. Also, findings show that program participation is increasing among graduates of higher learning institutions as shown by the growth in participation from 9% at the current IGA implementation stage to 20% at the training stage .findings further show that participation in has brought significant improvement in participant households’ total monthly expenditure (1%), saving (5%), and equb contribution (5%). IGA has also contributed to improving participants’ decision-making and self-esteem.

Keywords: IGA, Addis Ababa, financial asset, Women, Youth