Cash Cropping and Care: How cash crop development is changing gender relations and unpaid care work in Oromia, Ethiopia

Overview

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world and prone to both natural and man-made disasters. More than three-quarters of the population live in rural areas and depend on agriculture. Women are particularly vulnerable, lacking access to and control over land and other resources, and facing harmful social norms. Oxfam has worked in Ethiopia for many years, including on interventions to support smallholder production and marketing and to promote women’s economic empowerment. One of these was the Coffee Value Chain project, in Oromia regional state, and the subject of this report.

The report examines quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the project, and its findings underline the importance of understanding the wider context in which gender and care relations are both reproduced and negotiated.