Gender situational analysis of the sweetpotato value chain in selected districts in Sidama and Gedeo Zones in southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Improving food and nutrition security through the introduction of more nutritious orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) cultivars requires full understanding of the sweetpotato value chain, from seed production to root sales in local and urban markets. This study was conducted to understand how gender norms, roles and institutional contexts along the value chain influence the ability of men and women to participate and benefit from the sweetpotato value chain. Funded by the European Union, the study was implemented by the International Potato Center (CIP) as part of the "Quality Diets for Better Health" (QDBH) project in the Sidama and Gedeo Zones of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) in Ethiopia. Qualitative data was collected from 16 focus group discussions (eight with men and eight with women) and 61 in-depth individual interviews (39 with women) along the chain.

The findings indicate that the shortage and fragmentation of land are key obstacles for men and women farmers to increase sweetpotato supply and adopt orange-fleshed varieties. At farm level, women are often regarded as helpers, not farmers. This view is an expression of the gender relations of power within the community because it is used to define the legitimate entitlements of men and women. The current rural extension system reinforces this image and reproduces the practice of inequality because normally men are invited to agricultural trainings and not women. In the production areas, women are generally engaged in low-volume marketing of food crops, including of sweetpotato, while men dominate higher volume and long-distance marketing and the sales of cash crops, such as coffee. The findings suggest that women dominate sweetpotato wholesaling and retailing in the zones' main cities (Hawassa and Dilla). This apparent dominance masks the systemic discrimination against women in market access. Sweetpotato has a low status compared to other crops. It is regarded as a poor person's food. This low status negatively affects demand in urban markets.

The expansion of sweetpotato production and consumption requires training for both men and women farmers on sweetpotato farming, marketing, price negotiation and bargaining. Raising the social status of sweetpotato among male and female urban consumers should be part of the behavior change communication strategy to promote its production and consumption. The report provides concrete recommendations for measures to counteract the mechanisms that reproduce gender inequality. Although these recommendations have been formulated specifically for the QDBH project and SNNPR they can be a useful inspiration to gender sensitive project design in general.