DETERMINANTS OF RURAL WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN EAST HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Several decisions are made by farm households with family members who contribute labor, time, and knowledge, and by those who have stake in all activities of households. These members mainly include the household head (male or female), spouse, productive youth, and the elderly. Rural women in the developing world in general and throughout Ethiopia in particular make critical contributions to household agricultural production and consequently to household and national food security. However, it is often mentioned that most of the household decisions related to production, processing, and marketing are dominated by male members of the households. Women not only need access to productive resources but also need to use those resources efficiently by making necessary decisions in farming activities. Because of socially constructed roles, various factors may affect women’s level of involvement in such decision-making. This study was aimed at describing the responsibilities, access, and control of farm resources among men and women members of the households; assessing women’s role and contribution to farm household decision making; and assessing factors influencing women’s level of participation in household decision-making process. Data were collected from household heads and their spouses from a randomly selected 140 male-headed households in Gurawa, Kobmolcha, and Meta woredas of East Hararghe zone. Descriptive analysis and a multiple linear regression model were employed to analyze the data. The results indicated that women’s decision-making power is better for activities related to livestock production while all activities related to crop production are dominated by their men counterparts. However, the level of satisfaction of women in terms of the workload they shoulder is very less. Overall, only about 8.8% of women have achieved adequate empowerment. The regression model result indicated that level of education of the household head, access to irrigation, market distance, and age of women positively affected decision-making power of women; while land size and access to credit negatively affected women’s empowerment. It is, therefore, necessary to put in place sound public policies that recognize the roles of women; to strengthen adult education both for male and female members; to offer trainings to broaden understanding of the community on the roles of women members; to encourage use of irrigation technologies; and to decrease workloads of women in rural households, for instance, through introducing labor saving technologies.