The Role of Community Demand Driven Development in Empowering Women: The Case of Bambasi Woreda, Beneshangul-Gumuz Region
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Date
2023-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Women empowerment, which remains a substantial issue in Ethiopia, is taken as a research concern in Bambasi Wereda of Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Women in the study area were not empowered both socially and economically as men. This limited empowerment has resulted due to the presence of limited women's participation, lack of capacity building, denial of access and control of resources and deprivation of women to decision making. To avoid these restricting factors, a community driven development approach was implemented by the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project in the study area. This study pinned out the role of community Demand Driven Development in empowering women in the study area. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches (mixed research approach) were used. Questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and document reviews were applied and data were collected concurrently to generate and analyze the data obtained through purposive, stratified, and random sampling techniques. A total of 197 people took part in the study, with 135 Women respondents (48 FHHs and 87 women in MHHs) in household survey, 20 in interviews with key informants, and 42 in focus group discussions. Secondary data were collected from review of related studies, project reports and plans, and other related literature. Quantitative data was coded, entered, validated, and analyzed by descriptive statistics using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-25). Qualitative data was also categorized by themes and then analyzed. The results of the study indicated that community demand driven development interventions have significantly contributed to women's participation in economic and social issues, household and community decision makings, and improved income, which in turn increased women's empowerment in the study areas. Gender norms which encourage the sphere of women at home and household tasks, prevents women from participating in community decisions and community meetings on an equal footing with men, their lower educational status, presence less seed money for common interest groups and rural saving and credit cooperatives which limited credit access to engage in business requiring more money were encountered problems for women. Arranging convenient time for household work, sharing domestic workloads with young children and husbands, combating gender norms in community meetings through representatives of women committee based members, getting support from their children and relative students in recording their expenditure and revenue, improving group saving to fill gaps to engage in big business and to diversify their business, and sharing of market information through mobile phones were among the coping mechanisms that women were used for encountered problems. Conducting continuous awareness creation trainings on gender issues at grass root level; arranging appropriate time and meeting place, capacity-buildings; promoting women-leadership trainings; creating linkage with microfinances and increasing group saving; promoting women friendly agricultural extension services, adopting labor and energy-saving technologies, and encouraging adult education for women to adopt technologies are suggested recommendations by the study.
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Keywords
Capacity building, Community Demand Driven, Decision making, Nontraditional livelihood, Participation, Women empowerment.