MEASURING THE IMPACT OF THE

PALS/GALS METHODOLOGY ON

HORTICULTURE COMMUNITIES IN

SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

ROBIN DEHONDT

ORTWIN HUYSMANS

LYNN ROODHOOFT

MIMS/MGM

VLERICK PROMOTER : PROF DR SMARANDA BOROS

PROJECT SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF MASTERS IN INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT

AND STRATEGY / MASTERS IN GENERAL MANAGEMENT

2

Executive summary This paper assesses the merits and flaws of the PALS/GALS (Participatory/Gender Action

Learning for Sustainability) methodology in promoting gender empowerment. This

methodology was applied in the implementation of the GYEM-project (Gender en Youth

Empowerment in Horticulture Markets), supervised by the Dutch NGO SNV and funded by

Comic Relief.

The GYEM-project mainly addresses the gender disparities in Southern Ethiopian

horticulture communities. Although women generally contribute most of the work in the

these farming households, they are often unable to reap the benefits of the horticulture value

chains. Through trainings, the PALS/GALS method aims to foster the economic agency of

men and women. Also, it encourages participants to rethink the existing gender inequalities in

household organization. The main learning tools include self-drawn diagrams to visualize the

ambitions, opportunities, division of household responsibilities, and assets. Trainees, also

called champions, are encouraged to share their new insights with their loved ones, and if

possible, to train them to become champions themselves. In so doing, SNV has the ambition

to reach 20.000 beneficiaries in the regions of SNNP and Oromia.

The assessment of this particular methodology is based on qualitative-descriptive research on

data gathered through interviews and observations. The analysis departs from the cultural gap

between the WEIRD background of the SNV staff and a Majority World, East-African

country. Three main discrepancies were identified: (1) collectivism vs. individualism, (2)

power-distance vs. low-context culture, and (3) traditional vs. secular-rational. The gender-

related progress itself was measured using the Three-Dimensional Model of Women’s

Empowerment of Huis e.a.. Finally, our findings were structured with the Van Tulder model,

which distinguishes three levels of results: output, outcome and impact.

The report starts with a discussion of the internal analysis of the organization itself. The main

conclusion here is the cultural mismatch between the individualistic, linear tools and the

collectivistic, cyclical views of the beneficiaries. If organizations want to introduce this new

and alien way of thinking, they should be mindful of the difficulties this might entail. The

external analysis includes a thorough review of the intervention’s results in the field. The

beneficial outcomes, i.e. changes in behaviour and actions of beneficiaries influenced by the

intervention, are evident: champions clearly show an advancement in economic agency and a

significant part of them mentioned an improvement in intramarital discussion. However, the

long-term impact, which is much less observable, will likely be difficult to sustain. Structural

elements, such as the patriarchal culture and the lack of lasting structures to keep the

processual gender change alive, might jeopardize the long-term sustainability of the

intervention. In addition, selective sharing and dilution of the insights from the training may

gradually suppress the gender aspects of the intervention.

We have also identified three opportunities to exploit for further gender-related interventions.

First, the collectivist nature of the horticulture communities easily facilitates the process of

sharing. Second, the growing awareness on the impact of marriage and education on

empowerment, might create momentum for similar interventions in the future. Third, the

establishment of new female saving associations allows women to acquire know-how and

experience with regard to financial decision-making in relative independence from male

dominance.

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Table of Contents

Problem statement 5

Introduction 6

I. Empowerment, Development and Women Agency 6

II. Societal Structure and Cultural Dimensions 8

1. Collectivism vs. Individualism 8

2. Power Distance vs. Low-Context Culture 9

3. Tradition, Tolerance and Religion 9

III. Methodology 10

Results and Discussion 14

1. Social issue 14

2. Mission 14

3. Inputs 16

3.1 Tools 16

3.2 Selection of participants 18

3.3 Insights and advice 18

4. Throughput 22

4.1 Organization of the process 22

4.2 Facilitation ‘from the back’ 22

4.3 Time of arrival 23

4.4 Group composition 23

4.5 Daily subsistence allowance and other materials 24

4.6 Problem of copying 25

5. Outputs 25

5.1 Understanding and sharing of the tools 26

5.2 Factors that support understanding of the tools 27

5.3 Factors that support sharing of the tools 27

6. Outcomes 27

6.1 Positive effects on the champions 28

6.2 Negative effects on the champions 30

6.3 Factors that support outcome 31

7. Impact 34

7.1 Women Empowerment 34

7.2 Upscaling 37

7.3 Women Leadership 38

Conclusion 39

4

Bibliography 40

Appendices 43

First round of interviews 43

Second round of interviews 45

Interviews with staff 46

Interviews with beneficiaries 60

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Problem statement This paper is the result of the action research conducted as partnership between Vlerick

Business School and SNV Ethiopia.

The research focuses on the three-year GYEM (Gender and Youth Empowerment in

Horticulture Markets) project, which started in 2016 in collaboration with local unions Maki

Batu and Timret. One of the initial goals of the project was the promotion of women’s

participation and decision-making power in horticulture value chains. To achieve this, SNV

applies the PALS/GALS (Participatory/Gender Action Learning for Sustainability)

methodology, developed by international consultant Linda Mayoux. This community-led

empowerment methodology makes use of diagram tools and participatory facilitation

techniques to enhance beneficiaries’ economic agency and promote more equitable gender

relations. The trainees, also called ‘champions’, are encouraged to share their insights with

family members, neighbors and friends, and train them in a similar manner. Through this

process of sharing, the organization aims to indirectly reach about 20.000 beneficiaries in the

regions of Oromia and SNNP.

The central research question is to define the merits and pitfalls of the PALS/GALS

methodology. Within this scope, several sub questions arise. Does the PALS/GALS

methodology attain its chief goal of gender empowerment? What side-effects come into play?

Is this methodology sufficiently adapted to the cultural context of rural communities in

Southern Ethiopia? Should we attribute the beneficial effects on beneficiaries to the

methodology itself, or to other factors related to the training and organization? Does the

intervention primarily empower individuals or is the methodology able to ensure that the

entire community benefits? Is this methodology adequate to mobilize communities to sustain

the change process after the organization’s involvement?

The goal of this report is twofold. First, it will provide a preliminary evaluation of the

successes and challenges of the GYEM project in promoting gender empowerment. Second,

it will serve as a template for future cross-sectoral projects with similar development goals.

The analysis will include an elaborate discussion on the problems that arise from the cultural

discrepancy between the western, liberal ideologies of an organization and beneficiaries from

a Majority World country.

Stakeholder interests often are a stumbling block to a thorough and critical internal analysis

of development projects. Instead, independent consultants, who are not involved in the

implementation of the project, likely have a more unbiased view.

This introduction will first discuss the different scholarly views on the complex interrelation

between development and women empowerment. Subsequently, more theoretical part will

elaborate on the role of process and agency in empowerment. The next section discusses the

structural, contextual elements affecting the agency of beneficiaries and SNV staff alike. The

emphasis will be on the contrasting cultural dimensions between these stakeholders. A last

part will explain the methodology of the research and the frameworks used to structure the

new findings.

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Introduction I. Empowerment, Development and Women Agency

Women empowerment, one of the chief goals of the GYEM project, refers to the

advancement of the political, economic, social and legal agency of women, leading to more

balanced and equitable gender relations (SDC 2004). The World Bank (2014) defines the

concept of empowerment as ‘the expansion of freedom in choice and action’. More

extensively, Kabeer (2001) described it as ‘the expansion in people’s ability to make strategic

life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them’.

Since the emergence of the concept in the 1960s and 70s, the complex problems of gender

equity and women development have elicited debate among scholars. One of the main

discussions evolves around its relation with general development and poverty alleviation.

Macro-level research has indeed shown a strong correlation, over time and place, between the

level of development and the level of women empowerment (World Bank 2011). This

observation has brought forth two schools of thought.

On one side are scholars who consider women empowerment as a preferable strategy for

economic development (Shabaya and Konadu-Agyemang 2004). As such, promoting gender

equality is included among the global development activities within the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs), established in the wake of the Millennium Summit of the UN

in 2000. Then incumbent General Secretary Kofi Annan declared that gender equality should

be considered a ‘prerequisite’ to achieve the other goals. Several studies have demonstrated

that an increase in income or access to resources of mothers results in less child mortality,

less malnutrition and better education. Sceptics of this theory contend that gender-focused

interventions only rarely result in long-term, sustainable benefits for women and more often

reproduce or even aggravate existing disparities (World Bank 2011).

On the other side are scholars who believe economic development will eventually lead to the

advancement of women and more equitable gender relations (Mehra 1997). In their view,

poverty alleviation should be the first step towards eliminating existing disparities by

removing financial constraints and expanding services and infrastructure. Indeed, several

studies have demonstrated the beneficial impact of an expanded system of communal

transport on women’s time management and consequently, on their ability to combine higher

paying jobs with household duties (Babinard and Scott 2011). Better income for households,

in its turn, has been proven to have a positive impact on gender-related violence, lower age of

marriage and pregnancy, and women’s health. However, the effectivity of this trickle-down

approach has been contested. The impact on empowerment is limited or even negative, for

instance, when increased income mostly comes through men’s higher earnings. Also, in some

cases, an increase in women’s income can challenge social norms and result in a rise in

domestic violence (World Bank 2014).

Still other researchers circumvent this ‘chicken and egg’-question by highlighting a

bidirectional interplay between the two phenomena. Duflo (2012) questions the validity of

such virtuous cycles, arguing that these beneficial interrelationships between women

empowerment and poverty alleviation are too weak to be sustainable. In her view, continuous

commitment to deal with this issue through policy and interventions is still crucial to

transform gender relationships.

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Chant (2016) points out the pitfalls of considering women as ‘untapped resources’ and

making them instrumental in the struggle against poverty. In her argument, she reiterates a

concern already voiced by the theorists of the gender and development (GAD) approach,

namely, that such view would simply add another burden to the already heavy household

responsibilities which they often have to bear alone (Luttrell, Quiroz e.a. 2009). In this

respect, Chant differentiates between women’s new responsibilities and new obligations.

Furthermore, she argued that the neoliberal view of employing women to mitigate poverty

only enhances the essentialist stereotypes of women being inherently altruistic, family-

focused and risk-adverse. Lastly, this instrumentalization would imply that women’s

empowerment on itself is not a worthwhile goal.

According to Malhotra and Shuler (2005), empowerment needs two components: process and

agency. The sociologic concept of agency denotes the capacity of a human to engage as

individual in social structures, define one’s goals and act upon them in a given environment

(Kapferer 2002; Coole 2010). Women’s agency, i.e. women’s ability to control resources and

make strategic choices affecting life outcomes, is thus at the core of empowerment. Indeed,

the process of empowerment, allowing women new possibilities in choice and action, can

only be successful if it involves women as agents instead of mere beneficiaries (Kabeer

2002). At the individual level, such agency requires a sense of self-efficacy, a woman’s

realization that she can bring change in her life.

The centrality of women agency does not imply that women bear the sole responsibility to

empower themselves, however. Others (governments, institutions, organizations, male

individuals) can also assist in this change process, for instance through political and legal

measures. Still, although they may grant women better access to resources (education,

employment, assets), these resources can only serve their role as critical enablers in

empowerment when utilized by a female change agent. For instance, a woman who acquired

new knowledge to discuss business investments will not be empowered if she is unable to

exert her agency. This lack of agency can be attributed to e.g. her passivity, her submissive

position in the family, or her situation of poverty (Ryan & Deci 2004). Furthermore, research

has shown evidence that increased freedom of choice of women does not necessarily result in

progressive choices that benefit themselves. Indeed, through the internalization of

submission, choices of women in developing countries are often culturally conditioned

(Budgeon 2015).

Empowerment exceeding the level of the individual is equally impossible without processual

change in existing structures. In social theory, structure is the counterpart of agency,

comprising all contextual and systemic factors through which agents operate, and by which

they are constraint or enabled in their actions. Structure thus encompasses political, socio-

economic, cultural and religious values, laws, norms, institutions, classes and relationships

that define and limit the subject. Efforts to promote women empowerment via processual

change can be made top-down through institutions and legislation, but tend to be more

effective through the systemic transformation of patriarchal structures at grassroots level.

Gender-related interventions should thus be strongly contextualized (Baker and Campbell

2016; Mahmud e.a. 2012), certainly when cultural values differ strongly between

beneficiaries and intervening organization. A thorough understanding of societal structures

indeed provides ample insights into the possibilities, opportunities, limitations and risks of

the intervention. Next section will therefore elaborate on these structural elements, reflected

in the cultural dimensions of the horticultural communities of SNNP and Oromia.

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II. Societal Structure and Cultural Dimensions As mentioned before, interventions to empower women need to reckon with a complex of

structural elements, pertaining to ideology, culture, norms, institutions and relations. Indeed,

structure constrains not only the freedom of the beneficiaries but also the leeway of the

intervening organization. Staff members, usually with a WEIRD (Western, Educated,

Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) background often adhere to a liberal value system that is

fundamentally different from that of the rural communities of Southern Ethiopia (Mosedale

2005). Hence, rather than imposing their own take on empowerment, organizations should

strive to tailor their approach to the specific cultural values of the beneficiaries (Baker and

Campbell 2016). It is therefore crucial to fully grasp how empowerment is understood and

experienced. This section will therefore briefly discuss the main cultural dimensions affecting

the conceptualization of agency of both beneficiaries and interveners. It mainly draws from

the seminal Hofstede, GLOBE and WVS frameworks, as well as from the work of other

influential authors. Generalizations are inevitable when describing a country of more than

100 million inhabitants with extreme diversity in terms of ethnicity, culture and social

stratum. However, applying cultural models can help to understand the beneficiaries’

perceptions about the organization and development aid in general, as well as the tensions

that might arise from cultural discrepancies.

1. Collectivism vs. Individualism A notable discrepancy in cultural dimensions is the contrast between collectivism and

individualism. In collectivist cultures, the social behaviour of individuals is determined by

goals/attitudes and values that are shared with some degree of collectivity. Subjects see

themselves and each other primarily as part of one or more collectives (family, organization,

tribe, nation, village), which impose their norms and values upon them. The collective thus

takes care of its members in exchange for their loyalty. Therefore, collectivists prefer to

preserve relationships through conflict resolution and mediation rather than settling disputes

by seeking justice. For the same reason, they mostly compete with the outgroup, not within

group itself. In communication, members of collectivist societies tend to emphasize context

over content (Triandis 2001). Instead, in highly individualist societies, such as the

Netherlands, social behaviour of agents is mostly determined by personal goals and attitudes,

as well as rational reasoning. Here, individuals give priority to personal goals over goals of

their in-groups (families, co-workers, fellow countrymen).

No society can be fully characterized as collectivist or individualist, however, since most

cultures combine traits of both extremes. Hofstede Insights gives Ethiopian culture a low

score of 20% on individualism, meaning that most Ethiopians define themselves in terms of

the social entities they belong to. Life in rural Ethiopia indeed depends on relations with

neighbours and friends, as well as membership of social associations, all of which provide

social, moral and financial security for individuals (Poluha 2004).The collectivism of a close-

knit horticulture community in rural Ethiopia tends to hamper the agency of its members, for

the loyalty to group harmony often has an self-effacing effect on individuals. All of this

strongly contrasts with the protestant individualism of the Netherlands (scoring 80%), where

social networks are much looser and most individuals only take care of themselves and

immediate family members.

Intervening organizations should be aware of this discrepancy. In development,

empowerment is often implemented through interventions promoting individual

advancement, for instance, by providing microfinancing or training for self-development. Yet

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such WEIRD approach seems to be at odds with cultural context of implementation is one of

collectivism. Hence, intervening organizations should eschew the neo-colonial tendency to

transform beneficiaries into individuated, self-centred agents, ‘liberating’ them by imposing

feminism along neo-liberal, androcentric and capitalist lines (Kurtiş and Adams 2015).

Stromquist (2015) therefore argues that a first step to women’s empowerment should be

‘participation in small groups with a collective agenda’.

2. Power Distance vs. Low-Context Culture Hofstede gives Ethiopia a rating of 70% for power distance. In cultures with a strong power

distance, individuals are more likely to accept the existing inequalities and hierarchies as

natural and functional. Power distance also implies that individuals of higher rank expect

status symbols and privileges (Hofstede and Minkov 2010). In Triandis’ (2001) framework,

this would make Ethiopia a vertical collectivist society, where individuals submit to the

authorities of the in-group. These theories can also be linked to Edward T. Hall’s (1976)

concept of high-context culture. In general, high-context communities depend on collectivism

and maintaining relationships (Baker and Campbell 2016). Also, members of such societies

are inclined to communicate more indirectly, cultivate relationships of trust, and take

decisions based on gut-feeling rather than factual reasoning and linear logic. Here, too, rural

Ethiopian culture differs fundamentally from the mostly WEIRD background of the SNV

staff. Indeed, the Dutch culture is characterized by a weak hierarchy, informal relations with

superiors and direct, rational communication. Both power distance and high-context will have

a strong impact on beneficiaries’ ideologies on and perception of trainings, champions,

womanhood, empowerment and self-development.

3. Tradition, Tolerance and Religion A third dimension relevant to this research is related to a society’s openness to change versus

the importance of tradition. In their World Values Survey-matrix, Ronald Inglehart and

Christian Welzel placed Ethiopia within the quadrant of traditional and survival values, albeit

leaning more towards the centre than most other African nations. Again, the cultural

dimensions of the Netherlands are diagonally opposite to those of Ethiopia. Survival values

prioritize economic and physical security and are related to ethnocentric perspectives and low

tolerance for alien practices. These characteristics can be linked to Hofstede’s dimension of

masculinity, in which men are conditioned to act in an assertive, ambitious and competitive

manner. Communities scoring high on this dimension encourage men to strive for material

success, while women are expected to serve. In feminine culture, such strictly defined gender

roles do not exist. Survival values are opposed to self-expression values, which are strongly

developed in the Netherlands, including tolerance for foreigners, gays and lesbians, gender

equality, and participation in political and economic decision-making (Inglehart-Welzel

2015).

According to the WVS, the traditional dimension includes a focus on family values, religion

and deference to authority. This can be linked to Hofstede’s short-term normative orientation,

a dimension characterized by distrust towards societal change, and a preference of long-

standing tradition and rules over pragmatism. Local customs and traditions indeed strongly

affect women’s agency in rural Ethiopia. This is illustrated by a recent study (Hanlon e.a.

2009) focusing on the widespread problem of postnatal mental stress and depression of young

mothers in Butajira. The highly ritualized postnatal period, which ranges from 40 days up to

three months, confines women to rest and recovery at home, and thus largely secludes them

from social and economic life. Although meant to recognize and celebrate the new mother’s

10

status, this exclusion is also known to often exacerbate pre-existing marital or psychic

problems, or lead to isolation and depression.

Both the short-term orientation and traditional dimensions are also related to the central

importance of religion in Ethiopia. Several studies have demonstrated a strong religious

impact on women empowerment. Njoh and Akiwumi (2012) highlighted a sharp contrast

between islam, indigenous African beliefs and Christianity regarding gender relations and

women empowerment. Their study shows the Christian belief correlating with women’s

literacy level and their participation in the non-agricultural sector. However, the study relates

this situation partly to the role of Christianity in spreading western education during the

colonial period, an explanation that does not hold for Ethiopia. Instead, Islamic beliefs such

as those propagated by Usman dan Fodio (1754-1817) are said to account, to a large extent,

for the confinement of women to household activities and their consequent lower level of

education. It is, however, questionable whether such clear-cut discrepancy applies to the

unique religious complexity of Ethiopia. For instance, in the highlands of Amhara, where

Orthodox Christianity is predominant, the median age of first marriage is the youngest of all

regions (DHS 2005), whereas the Somali, Afar and SNNP, with much higher Islamic

population, score much better. Overall, females attain lower education then men in all

religions. Although the discrepancies are least among protestants and Catholics, they are

more or less equal between Muslims and Orthodox Christians: about 40 literate women for

every 100 literate men (Ahmed, Angeli e.a. 2012). Any effort to empower women should pay

attention to the regional religious and philosophical ideologies underpinning gender relations.

III. Methodology

Measuring progress regarding women empowerment remains problematic. Although

aggregate effects can often be empirically observed, internal dynamics within communities

remain difficult to verify (Mahmud, Shah and Becker 2012). Furthermore, parameters of

empowerment, such as increased bargaining power, self-confidence or improved status of

women, are hard to quantify. The proxies or indicators we use often tend to obscure more

11

complex realities (Basu and Koolwal 2005). For instance, greater mobility for women can be

considered a sign of increased agency. However, this perceived freedom might actually bring

in new responsibilities to generate income, imposing an additional burden upon them.

Qualitative-descriptive research and content analysis partly address the need to expose hidden

complexities and provides most of the data in this paper. To gather information on

appreciation of the training, the consequences for the personal life, relations and community,

cultural values and societal impact, we have conducted in-depth interviews with both

beneficiaries and SNV staff members. Further observations in the field during interviews,

trainings, ceremonies, farming and household activities will be used to complement the data

gathered from interviews.

Although qualitative-descriptive methods are preferred for this research purpose, we have

identified five limitations to this approach.

1. First of all, personal interests play a significant role both for SNV staff members and

beneficiaries. The samples of champion interviewees were selected by project officers

who had been personally involved in their training. As a result, they might have

picked more successful participants. Moreover, trainees who were less satisfied with

the SNV intervention might be disinclined to participate in this research.

2. Secondly, in a high-context culture such as that of rural Ethiopia, respondents

generally tend to give socially desirable answers to maintain harmony. Some indeed

might have molded their answers to the ideas from the training without actually

internalizing them. The presence of other community members, such as family

members, friends and neighbors, or even interviewee’s trainer, might affect the

respondent’s freedom to openly discuss negative experiences. Hence, gathering

information about champions’ mishaps and failures remains very difficult. Also,

respondents will hesitate to voice direct criticism of the organization.

3. Third, language barriers have likely distorted the data in two directions. On the one

hand, questions might have been adapted by translators and, in worst case, posed in a

suggestive manner. On the other, through translation, answers might have been

abbreviated, embellished, or simply misunderstood. However, a test-case with a small

sample of interviews led to the conclusion that the translation had only a minor

impact on the respondent’s answers.

4. Four, more caveats apply to data received from other SNV staff members, such as

spreadsheets with changes and accomplishments of the champions. In this case, it is

even more challenging to assess the methodology of the interviewer and its effects on

the respondent.

5. Five, observations will always slightly distort reality because of the observer’s

presence in the setting.

To overcome these challenges, questions were phrased as easily and openly as possible, and

where relevant, examples and anecdotal evidence were asked to back up statements. After the

transcription of all interviews, the raw data, i.e. the relevant quotes, have been inserted into a

database to which we could apply both Van Tulder’s structure (see infra) and the selected

cultural dimensions (see supra). This, in combination with extensive desk research on women

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empowerment, cultural anthropology and development, allowed us to analyze our findings

and come up with conclusions to the respective sections of this paper.

To frame the findings of this research, our paper will use the work of aforementioned prof.

Rob Van Tulder, a Dutch social scientist and economist specialized in development and

sustainability. His research focuses on cross-sector partnerships (CSP’s) between public,

private and non-profit stakeholders. This category clearly includes the GYEM project, which

involves unions, cooperatives, a NGO, community members and kebele administrators. Van

Tulder’s pioneering model for impact assessment of cross-partnerships is therefore well fitted

to structure the analysis of our research findings.

The starting point of this research is the study of the issue which the CSP aims to address, as

well as the original mission of the intervention. Subsequently, the different inputs will be

discussed, encompassing human capital (consultants, SNV staff and selected champions), the

participatory methodology used and learning tools. The next section, throughput, examines

the activities in which the inputs are used to obtain the desired outputs. In the case of the

GYEM project, throughput mainly concerns the organization of the PALS/GALS trainings.

Among the consequences of a CSP’s intervention, Van Tulder distinguishes between three

levels: outputs, outcome and impact.

● Output refers to the most measurable, quantifiable and direct results of the targets set

by the organization, accomplished through the combination of inputs and activities. In

our specific case, the output is the understanding, internalization and sharing of the

tools taught during the PALS training. Other than outcome and impact, output is

primarily associated with the organization rather than its beneficiaries.

● Outcome comprises the positive effects on individuals and communities of

participating in or being influenced by the activities of organizations. It includes new

13

practices and behaviors, such as, in our case, a woman starting to save money, a man

limiting his use of khat, or a couple discussing the sale of a fattened sheep.

● Impact encompasses the ultimate, mostly long-term direct and indirect effects of the

partnership on society. Not all of these effects in this category have to coincide with

the initial intentions of the organization. However, the effectiveness of the CSP is

specifically measured by assessing to what extent impact has improved the issue and

accomplished the mission. Of the three levels, impact is the most empirically diffuse

and therefore challenging to measure. In our case, impact could be the increased

involvement of women in the kebele administration thanks to a more balanced

division in household tasks. However, it could also be the marginalization of women

within the rural community due to resistance against their more outspoken behavior.

Most of the empirical evidence of this research is related to output and outcome of the

GYEM project. Given the short timeframe, discussion of potential impact will inevitably rely

on extrapolations based on observations of the current situation.

This report focuses on the effectivity of the GYEM project to address the issue of gender

relations, rather than assessing the success of a cross-sectoral partnership. Therefore, the

framework of Van Tulder will only be used to structure our findings. As to the data on

women empowerment, Huis e.a. (2017) designed a framework which will help to structure

our empirical evidence regarding the effects of the GYEM interventions on women

empowerment. His ‘Three-Dimensional Model of Women’s Empowerment’ differentiates

between three levels of increased agency:

(1) the micro-level (personal), pertaining to personal beliefs and actions, reflected e.g. in

self-esteem, sense of self-efficacy and self-confidence;

(2) the meso-level (relational), pertaining to beliefs and actions with respect to family,

spouse, community where personal empowerment can be observed, reflected e.g. in

bargaining power within the household, decision-power about family spending,

freedom of mobility from their homes or women’s membership in social networks;

(3) the macro-level (societal), pertaining to the situation of women in the larger social

context, reflected e.g. in women’s social status and their position relative to men.

For our purpose, this classification has to be aligned with the Van Tulder framework. Clearly,

progress of empowerment on micro-level and meso-level depends on changing practices and

behavior, and thus pertain to outcomes. Instead, impact is observed within the society as a

whole, and thus belongs to the macro-level.

14

Results and Discussion

1. Social issue

Significant gender disparities persist in Ethiopia, regarding status, income and educational

attainment. In 2016, Ethiopian women had a 16% lower Human Development Index than

their male counterparts, while male literacy levels were twice as high as women’s.

Furthermore, men earn on average 726 USD more. 41% of females get married before age

18. As a consequence, the Gender Inequality Index of 2015 ranks Ethiopia 116 out of 188

countries; in The Global Gender Gap Report of 2016, the country is positioned as 109 out of

144 countries (Drucza and Abebe 2017; Schuster and Lambrecht 2017).

In rural areas, where more than 85% of Ethiopian women live, discrepancies are even more

striking. While productivity levels in agriculture are already low as a result of limited access

to external inputs, various studies indicate a gender gap in agricultural productivity of 20 to

30%. Underlying reasons include the limited potential of women own land, to have access to

and control over resources, to get credit and to acquire extension services. As a result, women

face enormous challenges to participate in the horticulture value chains. These disparities

have a hampering effect on the development of the agricultural sector. Given that the

agricultural sector counts for 85% of employment in Ethiopia, and that 57% of the working

women (aged 15-49) in rural households participate in this sector, closing the gender gap

would constitute important step in mitigating poverty in the rural areas of Ethiopia (Aguilar,

Carranza, Goldstein, Kilic and Oseni 2014; Drucza and Abebe 2017; Peveri and Drucza

2015).

2. Mission

This section will elaborate on the mission of SNV and the GYEM project, to confront these

with the expectations of its beneficiaries, i.e. those directly or indirectly impacted by the

organization’s activities.

The official statements of SNV mention the organization’s general mission to make a lasting

difference in the lives of millions of people living in poverty. As such, SNV specializes in

three fields: Agriculture, Energy and Water, and Sanitation and Hygiene. An important cross-

cutting theme throughout different project is gender. In agricultural context, the

transformative gender approach called “Balancing Benefits in Agriculture” aims to promote

women empowerment and more equitable gender relations. SNV focuses on three fields:

household dialogue, women’s businesses, women in leadership of cooperatives and other

institutions, and a gender-responsive market system, in which the market incentivizes gender

equitable relations. All of this is aimed to increase women’s decision-power over and

(co)ownership of value-adding resources and assets, allowing them an equal opportunity to

access the business environment.

In 2016, SNV started a new three-year gender-related project called GYEM in eight different

woreda’s in Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s region. By closely

collaborating with the local cooperatives, the organization aims to empower women and

integrate them into profit-generating horticulture value chains. In addition, GYEM also

promotes female leadership at union and cooperation level.

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To understand the expectations from the beneficiaries, i.e. the rural communities of Oromia

and SNNP, we have inquired some of the interviewees about their expectations and how they

perceive the role of SNV.

The main observation here is that survival values seem to be prevalent for most beneficiaries

in rural Oromia and SNNP. For instance, the DSA remains a source of discussion among

trainees and community members alike. Also, the necessities of farming may often affect the

attendance of aspirant champions at the training. One of the second-round champions,

mentioned that members of her community repeatedly accosted her to inquire about ‘what

tangible things she had received’. Every time the staff passed through the village on his

motorbike, neighbours would ask her ‘what they would bring’. Likewise, her son questioned

the utility of the training, ‘if she did not receive the water pump she wants’. With another

champion, rather than observing behavioural change, her neighbours remembered the new

rug she had purchased with the per diem from the training. She also mentioned her preference

of VSLA over PALS, before being corrected by her husband. One champion expected the

organization to remunerate him for his sharing. At the upscaling session, an aspirant

champion told that he expected to learn ‘how to change his life, save money and use, use my

time wisely, and live according to plans’. Finally, one champion told about his neighbours

and friends not being open to his sharing, because unlike the champion, they were not

remunerated for listening.

One staff member of SNV horticulture seemed to confirm this view. ‘People are primarily

preoccupied with money and motivated by the quick wins, or some money at the end of the

week.’ From his perspective, the concern will always prevail over any other topic in

trainings. Therefore, he suggested to start with increasing the income of beneficiaries and

only afterwards give training on gender empowerment.

Answering the question on what SNV could do more, often times beneficiaries will refer to

financial support. One champion specifically requested the organization to provide the

starting capital for him to expand his horticulture activities; two other champions asked for

financial support to purchase a water pump. On the other hand, better-off champions, whose

survival values are likely less prevalent, mention financial aid less, while underscoring the

value of learning. One such champion emphasized that the lessons are far more important

than earning per diems. The same champion, as well as three others, stressed the importance

of follow-up, in order to further motivate beneficiaries.

When inquiring about beneficiaries’ preferences regarding topics of future training, most of

the answers were related to skills applicable to their own specific professions. Two

champions, for instance, would like to receive training about sheep herding and handling

horse carts, respectively. Another champion requested training on irrigation techniques. More

broadly, some other champions mentioned financial and business analysis as an interesting

topic for them.

To conclude, the expectations of most beneficiaries are based upon survival values, and do

not seem to match the mission of the SNV intervention. While no insurmountable problem,

this dissonance will obviously affect the eventual outcome and impact of the PALS trainings.

For a significant part of the participants, the foremost takeaways will mostly relate to

practicable, applicable skills, which can help them to raise their income. The prevalence of

survival values thus poses an important challenge to any attempt in changing existing

patterns.

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3. Inputs

3.1 Tools The following section will draw an overview of the different tools used in the PALS

methodology. The explanations are based on our observations and the documents on the blog

of PALS Ethiopia (https://palsethiopia.wordpress.com/pals-tools/).

3.1.1 Tool 1: Vision The vision is a preliminary step for the second tool, the vision journey. The tool aims to

inspire farmers with a vision of their lives, their family and community. In the vision,

participants in the training need to draw their next goal in life. Defining a goal reinforces the

motivation for accomplish self-driven progress. Among the frequently observed visions were

the construction a concrete house, and the purchase of a horse cart.

3.1.2 Tool 2: Vision journey When the motivation to realize the vision is present, champions need a plan to achieve it.

This is the purpose of the second tool, the vision journey. The vision journey teaches basic

life planning instruments, allowing champions to reflect on how to realize their goals without

external assistance. It is indeed important for the champions to learn to not depend on others

for improving their lives, but to recognize their self-efficacy and economic agency (cf.

Interview champion).

The drawing of the vision journey starts from the first tool, i.e. the vision. The second step is

to draw the current situation. As a third step, the champion has to identify opportunities and

threats that will help or hinder the champion from reaching the vision. At last, the action plan

are set into place with a set of milestones. By observation, we saw that this tool teaches many

female champions a new investment strategy, that is, a basic asset accumulation from the

lower profit chickens towards the higher profit cows and oxen. To be more precise, the

woman starts by buying a chicken. Then starts fattening the chicken and, in the meantime,

consumes or sells its eggs. Once the chicken is fat enough, she sells it. With the profit from

the sale, she can purchase a goat. She repeats the process of fattening, consuming/selling the

by product and eventually selling the goat. With the profit gained from the goat, she buys a

cow and repeats the process again. Now, she can repeat the whole process and start with

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some more chickens. In this way, she is able to expand her asset base and elevate her income

level.

3.1.3 Tool 3: Change leadership map The change leadership map identifies the relationships of champions with their close ones,

other important persons such as creditors, and with important institutions. Once the

relationships are identified, champions have to identify which relationships they want to

strengthen and how. In addition, the tool invites the champions to think with whom they want

to share these tools.

We have not encountered this tool in any interview, which means that this tool was either not

taught during training, or not memorable.

3.1.4 Tool 4: Happy family tree The happy family tree is the main gender analysis and monitoring tool in the PALS/GALS

methodology. It is an effort to balance the work performed in the households with the reaped

benefits. The tool starts with the trunk showing a vision of a happy, loving family. To realize

this vision, work and expenditures have to be equally distributed between wife and husband.

Therefore, the roots and branches of the tree are split in five. The first two at the right side

represent the wife, the left two the husband and the middle one symbolizes the cooperation

between the couple. After this distinction is made, champions start to draw the activities

performed by the actors in the root of the tree. Here, the outer root represents work that is

done to generate income, while the inner root represents household activities. Once the

champions have drawn the division of household labor, they start drawing the branches,

which represent the expenditures. Again, the outer branch represents expenditures solely for

own purposes while the inner branch is expenditures made for the household. At last, on the

sides of the trunk, the champions draw symbols for the assets owned by husband and wife, as

well as the decisions that are made alone.

Once the drawing is completed, husband and wife are encouraged to discuss what changes

should be made in the roots, what can be reduced in the branches, and whether the roots and

branches are in balance. In addition, the couple starts discussing financial decision-making on

savings, earnings, investments, or whether to sell an asset or postpone the sale. Such

exchanges lead to increased cooperation and transparency in the household. Moreover, it

results in more effective decisions, an improved relationship and more cooperation to achieve

their vision.

3.1.5 Tool 5: Income challenge action tree The fifth tool is the Income challenge action tree. This tree can be used to tackle any issue in

the horticulture value chain. A champion starts by representing the issue in the trunk, e.g. the

problem of low prices/kg. Subsequently, he draws the challenges that cause the issue in the

roots of the tree. Here, challenges are split in three categories: production, gender and

marketing. Once these challenges are identified, the champion starts to think about solutions

and draws them in the branches. Finally, he indicates what specific actions he needs to take to

solve the issue.

None of the interviewees has mentioned this tool, which again means that this tool was either

not taught during training, or not memorable.

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3.1.6 Tool 6: Multilane calendar The multilane calendar departs from the same principles and basic steps as the vision journey,

but is more extensive and complex. It is similar to a monthly cash flow analysis. It helps the

champions to make better decisions to increase the household income and achieve their

vision.

The multilane calendar starts, just as the vision journey, with the vision and the current

situation. Between these two situations, champions have to draw several lanes. The middle

lane is used for profit calculation. One lane above includes planned savings, investments and

asset purchase. Another one below is meant for necessary household expenditures. More

lanes can then be added for activities performed by household members such as cultivating a

piece of land (which is inserted in one lane so a plan for the different crops grown on the

same piece of land can be made), poultry, etc., All these lanes are split into twelve sections,

with each representing one month. At last, champions have to identify opportunities and

threats, forecast the income and cost of each activity, and calculate the total profit. Once

again, the champion needs to do a check whether the household is in balance, and where

improvements are needed.

3.2 Selection of participants The methodology prescribes two important factors to look at for the selection of participants.

The first factor is to balance gender with 50% male and 50% female trainees. The second

factor is to include particular people with little or no formal education and those facing

challenges such as domestic violence or addiction in their lives.

The underlying argument is that champions who really need the methodology are those who

are most likely to share voluntary with others. This is because they gain social respect that

they did not had before. Furthermore, community members with the lowest status,who really

need the methodology, will likely make the fastest progress. Community leaders and other

influential persons are less inclined to need the tools and are generally too busy to be fully

invested in the process (Cf. SNV employee).

In practice, four people (two men, two women) are selected from five different kebeles. The

reasoning is that these people should share within their kebeles. Thus, having people from

more kebeles will spread the methodology more. The selection process is administered by the

government and the SNV field staff. Given the involvement of government officials, selected

trainees basically have no choice but to accept the invitation (Cf. SNV employee). The

consequences of this policy are further discussed in section 3.3.3. and 6.3.1.

3.3 Insights and advice

3.3.1 Evaluating the tools on the cultural dimensions

3.3.1.1 Individualism vs collectivism This section will assess the tools based on the cultural dimensions mentioned in the

introduction. The first dimension is the individualism versus collectivism dimension. As

mentioned in the introduction, Ethiopia is seen as a collectivistic society while the west of

SNV is leaning more to an individualistic society. However, taking a closer look at the

different tools, it is notable that all tools, with the exception of the happy family tree, are

rooted in individualism. The vision, however, bears a slight aspect of collectivism in theory,

as normally a vision for the community and family is drawn besides the personal vision of the

champion. Unfortunately, we did not observe in practice or were never told in interviews any

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collectivistic visions, as most were concerned about building a concrete house for

themselves. An SNV employee also noticed this during the upscale training in Soddo, as she

mentioned in her feedback report: “It was not a common vision, just a collection of individual

ones”. Moreover, the vision journey only builds on the individual vision, paying no attention

to collectivism at all. The same can be said about the multilane calendar, although champions

have to revise the activities done by the members of the household. Still, the goal is the

individual vision.

The only tool which takes more of a collectivistic approach is the happy family tree, which

departs from the vision of a happy family. This is a very attractive starting point from a

collectivistic point of view and might explain the success of the tool. The data collected from

the original champions (cf. Excel file SNV staff) revealed that 50% of these champions chose

the happy family tree as their favorite tool. Later, interviews confirmed this finding, with

three champions stating that family relations are very important. The HFT helps

strengthening this relationship by stimulating open discussions and transparency in the

household. In the scale-up training in Soddo, the expectations of the participants reflected the

collectivistic nature of this culture. One of the SNV officers recalled that “[...] the

expectations of the participants were very generic and focused more on growth, development,

learning, change… and that contributing for a [positive] change in the community was more

stressed and mentioned than changing oneself.”

This observation begs the question of how to act on this discrepancy between the cultural

dimension of Ethiopia (collectivism) and the tools (individualism). On the one hand, the

organization could opt to ignore this cultural gap and impose its own individualistic values.

The advantage of such approach is that champions, by focusing on their own interests, are

more motivated to change, considering themselves as main beneficiaries. Also, they might

start to think how to make change happen without depending on the collective. In so doing,

they become solely themselves responsible for the improvement of their lives. Overall,

motivation and self-reliance might lead to faster results on the individual level, especially on

the economic level, which is often the driver behind individualism (Hamamura, 2012).

On the other hand, the organization could choose to adapt the tools to integrate the

collectivistic dimension of the beneficiaries. For example, the vision could be drawn

immediately on a community level. Thereafter, a discussion should take place on how each

person can contribute more to this joint vision. As the discussion progresses, the facilitator

should, if it does not come up automatically, hint at empowering women, so that they can

contribute more to realizing the joint vision. For example, if the joint vision is something

economical, hint at women being able to manage their own value-generating activities, such

as cultivating peppers, poultry, market trading, etc. This way, community members,

especially men, might see how they themselves can benefit from empowering women, which

might prompt them to favour more empowerment. At the same time, they can inform about

the legal rights of women since not all women know their rights (Cf. champion). All of this

discussion can then be transferred into the vision journey. The advantage is that it will be

easier for the participants to grasp the vision since they are used to this kind of thinking,

which will lead them to take action. Furthermore, the impact might be stronger since the

changes are made on community level. At last, it will also spark more collaboration and

discussion between members of the community.

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3.3.1.2 Linear vs circular thinking style A second relevant dimension with regard to the tools is the difference in thinking style, i.e.

linear vs. circular thinking (Nisbett, 2004). Hereby, Ethiopia leans towards circular thinking

while most of the SNV staff utilizes the linear cognitive style. When looking at the tools, we

can clearly observe that these tools are strongly based on the latter. The vision, for instance,

represents a champion’s state in the future. This seems very evident for a linear thinker, who

uses a timeline as a reference, but might be difficult to grasp for a cyclical thinker with a very

different conceptualization of time. This became evident during the scale-up training: “A

discussion with some of the participants revealed that for some of them, there seems to be no

logical relationship between the vision and what is depicted as a current situation and that

there are differing time intervals between the milestones” (Cf. report scale up SNV

employee). The vision journey is even more linear, consisting of a timeline and milestones,

which again are based on a linear cognitive style. Moreover, opportunities and challenges are

analyzed on the side. Analysis is part of the linear thinking style and difficult to grasp for

circular thinkers. At last, the happy family tree shows also quite some linear thinking by

using a lot of categorization.

Again, the organization needs to reflect on this cultural difference. The first option is to leave

the tools unaltered. Since the participants are not used to this thinking style, we would like to

advice the organization to spend more time to explain the linear cognitive process. Particular

attention should be paid to the idea of time as a scarce resource. The advantage of employing

this approach would be to teach participants linear thinking, which allows them to plan and

take action in a timely manner. The disadvantage is that this is a way of thinking that is alien

to the trainees. They might therefore encounter considerable difficulties to fully grasp the

tools. The second option would be to adjust the tools to the circular way of thinking. Some

examples of tools that are used by circular thinkers are: causal loop diagrams, feedback loops

and connected circles (Acaroglu 2017). A suggestion is to go for a causal loop diagram

instead of a vision and vision journey (Rushing N.D.). On the causal loop diagram can then

be asked what they want to improve (representing the vision in linear thinking) and what

actions need to be undertaken to get towards the improvement (representing the vision

journey). Another suggestion is to use the circle of the vision as a central point and thereafter

replacing milestones with feedback loops, which will be a lot easier to understand for the

participants. At last the connected circles could also help to giving the insight that saving and

investing is necessary for the champions if they want to grow. Overall, more research and

testing are necessary to find tools that serve the same purpose, but are more adapted to the

cyclical thinker.

3.3.2 The use of drawings In the methodology, the use of drawings was advocated because a lot of the people in the

rural areas of Ethiopia are illiterate. Participants thus represent their ideas and visions with

symbols. This makes it possible to also involve illiterate people in the learning process.

However, this does not mean that all trainees can participate on an equal level. One female

champion indeed mentioned that “[...] many did not know how to draw when I was sharing

the tools and thus let their children draw. However, I told them that this was not allowed”.

Another advantages of drawing include the longer reflection period and easier process of

sharing. In the interviews, most people agreed that drawing the tools was useful. This also

converges with the cultural dimension of circular thinking, which favors pictures over written

text. On the other hand, participants that enjoyed formal education might prefer other options

that are more familiar and less time consuming. During one of the interviews, a second-round

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champion mentioned that he would feel more comfortable with writing since it would be

easier to represent things in an objective way. But the underlying rationale is that participants

can think about complex issues in a clear and creative way. Another interviewee in Sodo felt

that there was too little time for the drawings, a view that was also voiced by a staff member.

Therefore, as our personal recommendation, we think that large part of the tools should be

drawn, but that it should be allowed for people to use some words if they would like to for

certain objects.

3.3.3 Evaluating the selection of participants on the cultural dimensions As explained before, the first decision in the Katalyst Phase is the selection of prospective

trainees with personal problems and lower status in the community. If we look at this from

the point of view of the power distance dimension, it seems a good choice. As said before,

power distance is an important characteristic of Ethiopian culture. This means that the people

low on the societal ladder will accept inequalities between them and people with higher

status. This might create a poverty trap and a sense of demotivation to improve their status.

Therefore, the trainings are particularly fitted to give these people a sense of self-efficacy.

A second decision is to take a small amount of people from multiple kebeles. Here, we have

to question this decision as it is made more out of self-interest of SNV than for the

community. We decide to take the individualism vs collectivism dimension once more.

Again, any organization will have to make a choice between pushing individualism or

adapting to collectivism. Following the current path of SNV resembles more the

individualism approach. Only a small amount of people from each kebele go to the training,

work on themselves and start sharing how others can improve themselves. Here, we miss

research on how comfortable the people feel with people from other kebeles, but it is clear

that the training will all be individually focused (you cannot have a joint vision of the kebele

with four people). As an example, we propose a different approach that tries to address the

collectivistic dimension. We propose to have all the people from the same kebele in the

training. A first advantage is that this should spark a joint vision for the kebele in conjunction

with the collectivistic approach in the tools. Then each participant can reflect how they can

contribute to the kebele vision. This approach should facilitate more discussion and

considerations between the participants. Further, since the vision is now a vision for the

kebele, follow up will take place naturally by the members of the kebele itself. Thereafter,

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once change of the kebele has taken place, the members of the kebele can teach the

methodology to other kebeles. In the long run, this might reach more people than with the

individual approach. Further research is necessary to see how our new suggestion works in

practice to see which negative effects appear.

4. Throughput

4.1 Organization of the process The PALS process starts with a catalyst phase. Thereby, twenty champions from four to five

kebeles get a workshop in which they are expected to create their individual vision for a

happy life. More specifically, women and men identify targets for change and create a road

map to reach their vision, starting from their current situation and taking into account

opportunities, challenges, strengths and weaknesses. A second session of workshops is held

three to six months later, being the livelihood strengthening. During this second phase, the

achievements are reviewed and more advanced versions of the tools are introduced. The third

stage is about gender review and the upscaling and sustainability plan. After this process, the

champions have completed their training and receive a certificate thereof. Subsequently, the

sustainability and upscaling process starts. Thereby, the champions start sharing their new

knowledge with people around them, being the upscaling process on kebele-level. Next to

that, an upscaling training is organized to facilitate the sharing between different kebeles.

Since the champions themselves facilitate these workshops, a prior refreshment training is

also foreseen in which the tools are reviewed (Mayoux and De Smet, 2017: 10, 17-18).

Considering that the same principles are lying at the root of the different types of trainings,

the following discussion applies to all of them. A more detailed examination of the

sustainability and scaling up process will then be provided further in the report under

‘impact’.

4.2 Facilitation ‘from the back’ All the trainings were organized according to the

principle of facilitation ‘from the back’ (Mayoux

and De Smet, 2017). As a result of the observations

and interviews conducted, it became clear that it was

difficult for the original champions to facilitate from

the back during the upscaling training in Sodo. That

way, one champion started explaining the vision for

the plenary group. This goes against the core of the

methodology since facilitators should barely speak

themselves (Mayoux and De Smet, 2017). On the

contrary, the tools should be explained by the

different original champions in their small groups.

Although this went better afterwards, it was noticed

during the upscaling training in Sodo that it was a

process of trial and error. Furthermore, as also

mentioned by an SNV staff member, it was

observed to be difficult for them to relate with

others’ problems and to facilitate their thinking

process.

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It is thus clearly not self-evident to work according to a very bottom-up principle as

facilitation ‘from the back’ in a society as Ethiopia that is characterized by a high rating on

power distance and a top-down structure as a result of authoritarianism, hierarchy and

centralized rules (Peveri and Drucza, 2015). Therefore, it is important to be aware of the fact

that the original participants are not used to this way of facilitation. Thus, it seems worth

considering to conduct a training in which these necessary skills are strengthened. As

mentioned by an SNV staff member, this could be in the form of a role-play in which the real

setting is imitated. Moreover, this might be included in the refreshment training that prepares

the original champions for the upscaling training.

4.3 Time of arrival Concerning the time of arrival of the participants, it was remarkable that only 40% of the

people arrived on time for the original training. From this group, 50% was earlier because

they wanted to get additional explanation about the numbers. Moreover, it was also noticed

that only 10% of the male participants arrived perfectly on time, while 70% of the women

were present when expected. These results imply a correlation between sex and arrival. Also,

they go against the intuition that women might arrive later because they have a lot of work to

do.

In this regard, one of the second-round champions mentioned about his training that “If he

came late or did not participate, he got a warning and if he was late or was not present two

times, a monetary penalty was imposed.” This is remarkable in a society that attaches great

importance to the survival values. After all, it is important in such a society not to punish

people that come late occasionally or do not show up because of a valid reason. Moreover,

poor people have little control and therefore, a lot of unforeseen circumstances might occur.

This is also what the theory of the PALS/GALS methodology indicates (Mayoux and De

Smet, 2017). On the other hand, this can be understood from the perspective of the

collectivity of the society, since a collective expects loyalty of its members. It was observed

during the upscaling training in Sodo that participants that came early immediately started

discussing and refining their drawings, even before the training had formally started. Thus,

these pairwise discussions (Mayoux and De Smet, 2017) seem to solve the dilemma well.

This principle therefore seems to be aligned with the cultural dimensions of Ethiopia.

Moreover, some of the participants mentioned that it was difficult to arrive on time because

of the overlap with the timing of the mosque. Also, a lot of people came late during the

refreshment training and this was held during Ramadan. Since Ethiopians attach great

importance to religion with 80.5% of the people indicating that it is very important in their

life and 13.1% qualifying it as rather important (World Values Survey, 2007), it would thus

be a good thing to take into account the religious obligations of the prevailing faith in a

certain area when deciding on the timing and organisation of the trainings.

4.4 Group composition According to the methodology, participants work together in small groups. This group

composition is important. According to theory (Mayoux and De Smet, 2017), the desired

formation differs from one subject to another. During the upscaling training in Sodo, women

were sitting with women and men with men from the beginning. Apparently, the SNV staff

commanded them to do so because participants are supposed to be more free to discuss

without fear in that way. Afterwards, tables were mixed but it is unclear if this happened

naturally or if the staff told them to do so. For the rest of the training, sexes were mixed from

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the beginning and the discussions between men and women seemed to go well. Moreover, it

was observed that female facilitators didn’t go easily around the tables with men, while the

male facilitators were more inclined to take a coordinating role. One female facilitator did

explain something at a table full of men. Although she felt a bit uncomfortable, it was

observed that men were listening to her. While the division of men and wives might have a

sense of inequality in it from the western perspective, the split-up based on gender for some

subjects can be leveraged to stimulate discussion.

Additionally, it was noticed that a lower level of education does result in a less profound

understanding of the tools and an inability to fully grasp the more complex ones. That way,

one of the illiterate champions made a drawing but was not able to explain the meaning or

purpose thereof (cf. Interview Fasika). Different people therefore raised the option to train

illiterates at a lower pace and separately from the literate people since they would have a

better understanding and feel more self-confident. On the other hand, as mentioned by two

member of the SNV staff, the inclusive aspect of the PALS/GALS methodology is of course

diminished as a result.

4.5 Daily subsistence allowance and other materials During the trainings, a daily subsistence allowance (DSA) was paid to the champions.

Moreover, notebooks, pencils and color markers were also provided. The importance of this

topic became clear during conversations with the SNV staff or when observing interactions

about it between the staff and the champions. During one day of refreshment training, a

whole coffee break was devoted to discuss the DSA with the champions. Also, a staff

member of SNV mentioned that it came across that some people left the training in Oromia

because another NGO was paying more. Furthermore, for some people change is even fully

seen in terms of tangible belongings such as money and property. During an interview, one

second round champion mentioned that she saw that an original champion changed after the

training because she received money and could spend it. Moreover, it was mentioned during

different interviews with SNV staff, participants as well as other stakeholders that providing

an allowance and materials creates a tension with the voluntary principle of sharing. Since the

original participants got a DSA, second-round champions will also expect a compensation

and will feel like they are treated in an unfair way if they do not get it. As a result of the

observations, it thereby became clear that SNV provided five notebooks and pencils for each

of the original champions to overcome this burden and facilitate the sharing process.

From the perspective of someone coming from a self-expression culture, this importance is

difficult to grasp. As a result, misunderstandings might arise about the right incentives and

motivations of some participants that seem to attach a lot of importance to the DSA.

Therefore, this issue might be considered as a threat to undermine the objective of the project

if participants are believed to only join the training because of the payment. From this point

of view, it would be interesting to probe the willingness of potential beneficiaries to be

trained without a payment. As mentioned by a staff member of SNV, only then it would be

possible to ascertain which people have an interest to really acquire new skills and which

people are only attending the training for monetary rewards.

It is thus important to take into account the context, and the cultural values of the Ethiopian

society, in order to understand the reasoning behind these compensations and to be able to

critically evaluate the implications thereof. As already mentioned, Ethiopians attach greater

importance to survival values than to self-expression values according to the Inglehart-

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Welzel Cultural Map. Against this background, it is easier to understand how important the

DSA is for poor people living in the rural areas of Ethiopia. The lack of money might

otherwise be a barrier to join the training and acquire knowledge and skills, since it is

impossible to work on their fields and gain money at the same time as joining the training.

After all, people just cannot permit themselves a day off at the field to acquire knowledge and

skills. On the other hand, the learned helplessness as a result of people’s idea of “the NGO

provides everything” might not be forgotten. Another element that can be linked to the

survival values, is the fact that poor people are confronted with a lot of external factors and

have little control over their impulses. As a result, it would be interesting to support them to

make changes instead of only relying on their determination and self-efficacy. As mentioned

by a staff member of SNV, transferring the DSA on an account instead of giving it cash

might be a protection.

4.6 Problem of copying As mentioned by one of the female participants, one of the strengths of this methodology is

that it inspires people when friends, family and neighbours make changes.. In that regard, two

SNV staff members also “wanted to reproduce the people of Butajira” during the upscaling

training in Sodo since the original one had been a success. On the other hand, it is doubtful to

what extent that second-round champions are able to create an autonomous vision without

replicating elements of the original champion. In that regard, it was observed during the

upscaling training that people often copied the drawings of other participants or the examples

given in plenary session. At one point, an example was given whereby a number was put in

the circles of the vision journey, after which almost everyone included a number in this

drawing. Moreover, in one group even three to four people wrote ’20 000’ in a circle.

Thereby, the resultant problems are mostly evident with the illiterate people since they were

copying it but were even struggling with writing the number down (cf. observations

upscaling training Sodo). Although the collectivity of the Ethiopian society thus inspires a lot

of people, the effect of copying can be considered a negative effect of the collectivistic

environment. Examples might thus be avoided when participants understand the abstract

concept, otherwise multiple examples can be given (cf. debrief upscaling training Sodo).

Moreover, it was also noticed that the participants of the upscaling training in Sodo

mentioned things they couldn’t know yet. This could be the positive indication that people

talk about it, but might also be negative when they just copy the ideas and visions of the

original champions (cf. observations upscaling training Sodo). On the other hand, these

farmers are living in a small world whereby it is not impossible that everyone strives for

similar things. This should therefore also be taken into account.

5. Outputs

This section explains the outputs as a result of the PALS intervention. For this project, we

focus on the number of people that have seen and understood the tools as output elements.

Since the methodology of PALS stimulates sharing among the people to accumulate the

number of people that have seen the tool, and this will have a much greater reach than the

number of trainings that are given by SNV itself, we will keep our focus in the document on

the sharing of the tools for this dimension of the output.

26

First, we will first have a discussion on our observations in the field about the understanding

and the sharing of the tools. Thereafter, we identify factors that can help enlarge these output

dimensions.

5.1 Understanding and sharing of the tools Based on the data provided by the SNV staff (Excel staff), we observe that all champions

understood the objective of the tools, but some had problems distinguishing steps and

content. Although this file and judgement of the staff looked promising, concerns were

revealed at the scale-up training in Soddo. In the scale-up training, we saw the trainers

struggling to explain the tools and making numerous errors. Leul expressed his concerns: “I

am afraid to what extent they have really understood the basic concepts behind the steps and

drawings which could just dissipate in the process” (Cf. Soddo report). It is not because they

are able to make the drawing that they really understand the purpose and every concept of the

tools. An earlier argument why this could be the case was made in section 3.4.1. As Sarah

said, people are afraid that the NGO will punish them if they speak the truth (Cf.

Observations SNV employee). Therefore, we have to be very careful to conclude that the

tools are easily understandable based on the data. As an extra input, we will now continue

describing our own observations during the interviews where some of the champions

explained their drawings to us.

Our first observation was that when explaining the tools, the

champions actually mostly described the pictures. This is a

cow, this is onion, this is coffee ceremony instead of

explaining why these pictures were drawn there. Here we also

have to add that we didn’t ask for it. But for a lot of

champions we had sincerely doubts if they understood the

tools. Some couldn’t even remember what their own pictures

meant (“didn’t know anymore what all her pictures mean”, Cf.

champion). In Soddo, several other misunderstandings

presented themselves: “opportunities were seen as things they

did have and challenges as things they did not possess”,

“Abebe explained the symbols of the roots wrongly” (Cf.

Observations Soddo). The good thing is that he was corrected

by another champion, which shows that some champions do

really understand (some of) the tools.

For now, we will have to come to the conclusion that some understand the tools and others

don’t. As said before, the tools most likely feel unnatural to them and they need a lot of

training to grasp the tools completely.

Based on the interviews, sharing always takes place according to the champions. But here

again, we have to be careful that they are not just telling us what we want to hear. Based on

the fact that we interviewed second round champions (new champions trained by other

champions) and that this is a collective society that gives you a higher social status if you

train someone, we will conclude that sharing is taking place. Further investigation is

recommended to see exactly how much and how thoroughly the sharing takes place since

some just tell their friends to stop the coffee ceremonies or chewing khat (Cf three

champions).

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5.2 Factors that support understanding of the tools In an analysis of the data of the original champions (Excel Staff, we found the pattern that the

level of education influences the level of understanding of the tools. From education level 5,

understanding of the tools was perfect. Most of them even favored the multilane calendar,

which is seen as the most difficult tool. The champions with an education level lower than 5

showed problems fully understanding the tools.

5.3 Factors that support sharing of the tools

5.3.1 Behavioral change The methodology argued that people who change the most themselves will be the ones who

will want to share and where others will want to hear from. Here, we will present several

evidences of this effect. In the kebeles everyone knows each other. Thus, when a person

suddenly starts to make improvements, it is quickly noticed by the others in the kebele. The

improvements ignites curiosity with the others on how the person has successfully managed

to improve (Cf. champion). Next to this, it also leads to inspiration. An example was found in

the interviews: “He knew Abdo was not good before training, but he saw the changes in

Abdo and he was an example for him (Cf. champion)”. On the other side, when someone

shares the tools with others, it gives the person a higher social status, which is highly valued

in this collectivistic community. Therefore, they are eager to share, and because of the

changes they made themselves, they gained the authority that they are worth listening to (Cf.

three champions).

5.3.2 Associations As Ethiopia is a very top-down society, the numerous associations in the kebeles should also

be involved. Examples are the irrigation cooperative, the primary cooperative and the

administration of kebele. They can share more easily, they are listened to in the community

(Cf. champion). Next to this, if the champions can get to the level of being leaders in these

associations, this would definitely accelerate the sharing (Cf. champion).

5.3.3 Government involvement To facilitate the spreading of the methodology, we suggest SNV to convince the government

to organize events where the champions can share their tools. This implies the government to

arrange meeting places and collect people. The government organizing these events will

provide a faster and more spreading of the methodology (Cf. champion).

5.3.4 Level of education and income Based on the analysis of the data of the original champions (Excel Staff), we found no

correlation between income or level of education and willingness to share or train. If we

combine this insight with the findings on understanding tools, we can conclude that a

champion’s willingness to share does not depend on a profound understanding of the tools.

6. Outcomes

This part explains the outcomes as a result of the GYEM intervention. First, the positive

changes of the participants will be discussed. According to data provided by the SNV staff

and our interviews conducted in the field, different positive effects were observed and

mentioned by the (original and second-round) champions. These can be classified under three

levels of increased agency, whereby the micro-level and the meso-level are relevant in what

follows. After that, the negative side-effects that might occur, will be reviewed. Furthermore,

28

different factors were identified that might have an influence on the discussed outcome in a

positive way. Therefore, these considerations might be taken into account when further

interventions are conducted. It speaks for itself that deviant cultural dimensions of a certain

environment can lead to other results. In the end, a conclusion is made.

6.1 Positive effects on the champions1

6.1.1 Micro-level First of all, a lot of the changes that occurred because of the training can be considered as

personal changes and thus be brought back to the micro-level of women empowerment. One

of the most often quoted positive effects by female participants was the creation of an own

source of income and the diversification of earnings with over 60% of the participants

mentioning this. Thereby, 55% of these women invested into cattle and crops, and in

particular poultry and sheep. One other champion invested in a horse cart and another

participant said that she used her earnings to open a new shop. In most of the cases, these

investments were possible because of a greater focus on work and thus an increase in income.

Although, it was also mentioned twice that these were possible as a result of reduced

expenses. Moreover, a lot of them established a vision to further invest in order to make even

more profits. Besides that, some male participants also mentioned the new sources of income

of their wives as a result of their training. This is an indication that these men gained insights

that women can also earn money and that it is even beneficial when a women also does some

lucrative activities.

Furthermore, a lot of female champions started saving, became a member of the VSLA and

took a loan after the GYEM intervention. More specifically, 56% of the interviewees

mentioned this change. One of the SNV staff members thereby noted that “this can be used as

a proxy to determine if a woman is more likely to be empowered or more likely to start a

business and make money, but it is not really a status thing”.

Next to that, 50% of the female participants mentioned the increased respect of the

community and the fact of being better heard by the people as an improvement. It is thereby

striking that 90% of the original champions mentioned this as a positive effect, while no

second-round champions did. Moreover, 67% of these champions also became a member of a

cooperation or another organisation after the intervention. Thereby, all of these women

believe they were chosen because of their new knowledge and changes in behaviour. On the

other hand, also one champion mentioned that she was chosen to be the leader of the one-to-

five groups in the kebele just because she is more literate than others. Still, this might

implicate that women also get respected and heard as a result of their knowledge and skills

and thus get empowered by making changes, working harder and giving up the coffee

ceremonies.

Also, conducting less coffee ceremonies was raised as a primary change by more than half of

female participants. Thereby, also two male participants mentioned that they advised their

wives to reduce the coffee ceremonies after their training with positive results. Also, one

female participants cited that “people often have a wish but don’t know how to achieve it.

1 The considerations of the following part are based on the declarations of eighteen female

participants and twenty male participants.

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With vision and vision journey, it becomes practical. That is why this works.” and “People

did not have a clue about their expenses and income. During the trainings they come to the

conclusion that they have to reduce their expenses.”. Therefore, the consideration can be

made that people start reflecting because of PALS/GALS since they never got a sense of

planning before.

6.1.2 Meso-level Next to an increased agency on micro-level, the meso-level was also influenced. More

specifically, over 40% of the participants considered their household relationships to be

improved because of better communication, consultation and discussion with their family. In

more than one third of those cases, the interviewees mentioned that these interactions often

concerned income, expenses and savings. Once, discussions about the education of the

children was mentioned. In addition, almost one fourth of the participants stated that a less

strict division of household tasks was achieved, whereby the husband started supporting his

wife in the household. These were all participants that also mentioned the improved

communication. Moreover, male and female participants mentioned these changes almost

equally. Also, original as well as second-round champions stated they achieved these

improvements.

However, still more than half of the participants do not mention the improved relationship.

Moreover, some second-round champions seemed to have no idea that the training was about

gender. The underlying cause might be twofold. First of all, it could be the result of the

underlying PALS/GALS methodology, since it tries to implement the gender aspect in the

horticulture value chain of Ethiopia in an indirect way. On the one hand, the backlash against

women is avoided this way (Drucza and Abebe, 2017: 1). On the other hand, the lack of

focus might implicate that people grasp other aspects out of the training and thus the gender

aspect is not fully internalized. As a result, the effect of dilution is created since this aspect

might not be shared with second-round champions. This way, one of the champions

mentioned that he sees PALS more as a training on individual growth. He had another

training that did help him in improving the collaboration with his wife. Thereby, the hours of

work of the wife were compared with the hours of work of the husband. Thus, as a staff

member of SNV concluded, it might be better to speak about ‘change agents’ instead of

‘gender champions’.

On the other hand, the possible impact of various other elements should be considered. First

of all, it is important to consider the source of power of a woman. More specifically, if

women get power because of the way they handle their household, they might lose this when

a man interferes. However, this is probably not the case since various interviewees indicate

that they like it that their husband supports them in the household. On the other hand, the

possible element of shame for a husband to help in the household must also be taken into

account. Albeit, one male champion said he was elected as leader of the kebele because of his

changes, under which the support to his wife. Moreover, it was also mentioned by male

participants that they like to help their wives in the household and that friends were also

happy with this. A last relevant aspect here is that some women might prefer doing the

household tasks instead of the farming activities. That way, one of the female champions

mentioned that she likes the division of tasks as it is since farming is really hard work.

One possible course of action might be to conduct more research about the underlying

psychological reasons and motives to offer support in the household. More specific, it would

30

be interesting to investigate what drives male interviewees to do that. Elements as the

creation of a shared activity with the wife, the establishment of a better relationship with the

children or the alternation in daily activities can be thought of. Then, the often returning

reasons can be leveraged and included in the training. For example, it might be emphasized

how the relationship with a child can be strengthened. Moreover, an SNV staff member

mentioned that it is more profitable to create a more efficient division of household tasks.

This means that one partner should conduct the most lucrative activity and the other can do

some household tasks in the meantime. This could be mentioned more during the training,

since this is clearly responding to the survival values.

6.1.3 Empowerment of men Furthermore, a lot of elements of economic empowerment of men were noticed as well. That

way, 60% of the male participants indicated they did new investments. 75% thereof invested

in cattle and crops. Others bought a horse cart, a waterpump, a fertilizer, improved seed or

used their money to send their daughter to the arab countries. Thereby, some of them also

identified the positive impact of improved understanding of financial management as a result

of the training. Moreover, more than half of the male participants started saving and became

member of VSLA. Furthermore, thirteen participants mentioned the reduction of chat

chewing and drinking alcohol. Last but not least, also the fact of being better heard by the

people was raised as a positive effect by three men.

Although these elements are considered positive side-effects of the training, they don’t have a

positive effect on women empowerment in itself. Only when these changes improve the

relationship between husband and wife, there might be an effect on the relational level of

women empowerment. Moreover, agency can also be established when a women convinced

her husband to make these changes. As one female participant indicated, she convinced her

husband to reduce his chat chewing.

6.2 Negative effects on the champions

6.2.1 Instrumentality of women A first identified negative side-effect that might occur, is the creation of more workload for

women and the risk to make them instrumental in the battle against poverty as externalized

by Chant. Although some positive effects were created concerning the division of household

tasks, various women still quoted these as their main responsibility. When they are on top of

that also expected to do lucrative activities, the risk thus materializes that they have even

more work to do. This hazard is even more intensified by the fact that women are also

expected to reduce their coffee ceremonies and thereby their resting time. This way, a new

form of gender inequality originates (Chant 2016). However we do not have extensive

confirmation of this concern, some observations and statements might be worrying. That

way, one female participant mentioned that she woke up early in order to prepare the food to

be able to attend the training. Another observation tells that a female participant was working

all the time, only came home during the night from the grinding house in the city and then

still had to prepare dinner.

6.2.2 Suffering of social network Another possible negative side-effect is the social network that suffers because participants

are devoting more time to their work and they are (sometimes) absent during coffee

ceremonies and chewing chat. Several interviewees indicated that these are traditional

platforms during which the Ethiopians in rural areas gather, catch up and discuss with

31

friends, family and neighbours. Therefore, the risk occurs that they lose part of their social

network. Thus, although some participants indicate that a lot of outsiders are enthusiastic and

encouraging about the changes made, also various interviewees were confronted with

questions and incomprehension. Moreover, a couple male champions indicated that others are

making jokes about taking responsibility and supporting your wife. One champion even

mentioned that his mother did not understand why he is doing the tasks of his wife and she

said that his father is not like that. In a society strongly recognized by masculinity, being a

pioneer in making these changes is not self-evident.

In such circumstances, people need to be persevering and assertive to be able to give an

answer. Since there is a risk of being excluded, some participants might not be strong enough

to resist this social opposition and it can then be tempting for them to fall back into their old

habits. After all, Ethiopians see themselves as part of a collective and therefore, individual

goals are of less importance. This can be seen as a negative effect of the strong collectivistic

culture of the country and influences the efficiency and effectivity of an intervention.

On the other hand, it was noticed during a field visit that a successful female champion

seemed to have a much less extensive social network compared to a participant that made

fewer changes. Moreover, another participant also mentioned that he did not care about

losing some friends since his life has changed now. This might imply that these persons

attach less importance to the collectivity and are therefore better able to give priority to

personal goals.. The sense of self-efficacy can then be materialized without the (possible)

strong opposition of the conservative network. These people thus started trading social

acceptance for personal development. Although social exclusion might be risked, it was

observed that everyone still greets the female champion and it seems that she has a good

status and is a reference point for others, moreover she mentioned that she did not lose

friends because of her changes. Of course, this might be rather exceptional in a society where

the cultural dimension of collectivity shapes the structure by which the freedom of

individuals is restricted. On the other hand, it was observed that she thought that a neighbour

gave birth to a girl instead of a boy last year, which indicates that she doesn’t have a lot of

social contact in her kebele. This indicates the negative effect on the social network, although

it is unclear how the situation was before the training.

6.2.3 Social desirability of the answers The many observed discrepancies in the report are an indication of the occurrence of the

negative side-effect of the social desirability of answers. That way, people might invent

changes they achieved in order to please the NGO. This must be evaluated against the strong

importance of survival values in the Ethiopian society. As mentioned earlier, people want and

need the DSA. Therefore, the social desirable answers are given as a strategy to maintain the

relation with the NGO in order to ensure future projects. This differs from the expectation of

self-expression that the NGO has, whereof transparency is an element. In order to diminish

this negative side-effect, examples might be asked to prove the change.

6.3 Factors that support outcome

6.3.1 Selection of participants

6.3.1.1 Focus on couples Our observations and conducted interviews show that couples change together and the

influence and support of the partner is thus crucial. That way, one of the champions

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mentioned that only after she was trained as well, they started discussing and this was not

difficult for her since they were both trained. Another champion participated together with

his wife during one day of training, mentioned he really liked to do this together with his wife

and when driving home, they immediately started discussing on how to cooperate and

improve life. Moreover, the husband of a successful champion was very occupied as well

(member of committee, social engagements, taking care of the elektricity), while the less

successful champion’s husband was chewing chat the whole day.2 Also, a member of the

SNV staff indicated that the relationship of both participants was substantially different

concerning communication, cooperation and trust. These are indications that women’s

agency, definitely on a meso-level, is reached in a more thorough way by focussing on

couples instead of individuals. More specifically, a stronger focus on the discussion,

consultation and cooperation might be achieved. A declaration therefore is that both parties

might be convinced of the disadvantages of the strong masculinity of the Ethiopian society as

a result of the intervention.

During an interview with a member of the SNV staff, it became clear that husband and wife

are not trained together because they have to be able to speak freely. Therefore, two separate

gatherings or trainings can be organized. The involvement of the partner might already be

established through the sharing process, but the risk of selective sharing is overcome when

both partners are directly involved. This way, chances are higher that the wife also creates an

autonomous vision and women are being empowered to strive for what they want themselves.

Thus, it might be considered to focus on couples as participants and thus involve both

husbands and wives. As also mentioned during interviews SNV staff and other stakeholders,

a more concentrated and profound impact might be reached this way. On the other hand, this

is a trade-off with a more extensive reach when only one member of a household is selected

as a participant, since the capacity is limited.

6.3.1.2 Sense of self-efficacy A second element that might influence the outcome is the presence of a sense of self-efficacy.

The incentive for selection of participants in the PALS/GALS methodology is that “people

with problems that change will be more inspirational for others to change as well”, as already

mentioned before. Although touching the core of the methodology, it seems that agency

requires a sense of self-efficacy and the resulted motivation to bring change thus plays an

important role in the effects that the training might realize. Observations and interviews seem

to confirm this theory. First of all, one male champion mentioned the fact that motivation is

crucial to change your life. Moreover, a clear distinction between two female participants

could be made as a result of observations. The first women, being one of the most successful

participants, gave the impression that she was already business oriented before the training

and stressed the fact that she wanted to learn. Clearly, she thus already had this sense of self-

efficacy and the willingness to change her life. A member of the SNV staff and another

stakeholder stipulated that this sense of self-efficacy is of course difficult to assess before the

start of trainings, but might become clear already early in the process On the other hand, the

less successful champion seems to live according to the way society tells her. An example

thereof is that she did not dare to answer questions during interviews without considering her

husband and neighbours. It is not excluded that changes can occur for her as well, but it will

be more difficult to create agency in a direct way. She might be more stimulated in her

2 He couldn’t work on the field since the rain did not come yet, but the same was true for the husband of the

successful participant.

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agency when she sees others’ change and for these persons, the collectivism can thus be used

to stimulate her self-efficacy.

Moreover, since power distance is an important factor in this very top-down society, the

importance of ‘status’ cannot be ignored. As a result, people with a higher status are listened

to in the community and it is doubtful if people with a low status are strong enough to

influence the whole community to change. This was also mentioned by a male participant

during an interview. It was also observed by an SNV staff member that the poorest of the

poorest are not really taking it up because they have too many other issues and concerns. As a

result, different SNV staff members and one male participant opted for a mixed system in

which also stronger, more talkative and authoritative persons are involved. Disregarded the

fact that successful people might not be interested or have the time for this, as raised by an

SNV staff member, opting for people with a higher status only strengthens the present

structure since classes and relationships are confirmed again. Since structure is seen as the

counterpart of agency, a way to increase this last one needs to be found without smothering it

with even more structure and a top-down approach.

On the other hand, the cultural dimension of a strong inequality cannot be ignored. Therefore,

the credibility and authority of the present structures should be used as a lever to reach and

achieve change for as much people as possible. One interesting option thereby is the

involvement of cooperatives and the kebele administrations, since these institutions can

create a space for the participants to share their knowledge and strengthen their voice.

Another option to investigate is the involvement of some well-known figures that can fulfill

the pioneer role to lower the burden for the other participants to do the same. In this last

option, it is important that these figures do not dominate. Such an agent of change could be a

independently-minded women that was already a well-known figure in his kebele or a men

that fully supports the empowerment of women.

Therefore, it is not stipulated that the methodology should let go of the bottom-up principle

of selection. On the one hand, people that are clearly motivated to change their life and

thereby embody the principle of self-efficacy are interesting participants. On the other hand,

the present structures can also be leveraged in order to lift more conservative participants up.

6.3.2 The staff The relationship with the staff is an important factor since the intervention took place in a

high-context society in which the cultivation of a relationship of trust is crucial (see supra X).

The creation of the awareness and recognition of how life is in the rural areas might thus not

be underestimated. Therefore, it might have been interesting to train the SNV staff by

consultant Mayoux whereby they could also make their own drawings. Afterwards, they

could then train the original participants themselves. Moreover, these people are Ethiopians

so this is an extra element of connectivity which facilitates trust. Furthermore, staff turnover

during the project might be an obstacle since the process of building a relationship of trust

has to start over again. It speaks for itself that this is not appropriate within a limited

timeframe and must thus be avoided.

Also, it was mentioned a couple of times during interviews that the second round champions

felt they did not get the real training. This could also be avoided by the above mentioned

suggestion. On the other hand, Ethiopians like to have hierarchy and an authority to lead

them as a result of their high rating on power distance (see supra X). Thus, the effects of the

34

original training might have been influenced if consultant Mayoux did not facilitate their

training.

7. Impact

This section will elaborate on the potential impact of the GYEM project on the communities

involved. Within the Three-Dimensional Model of Women’s Empowerment, impact is

observed within society as a whole and thus pertains to the macro-level. Given the short

timeframe of this research, it is almost impossible to directly observe and measure the

ultimate changes that result from the PALS/GALS training. This discussion will inevitably

rely on extrapolations, based on the outcomes and reactions so far observed in the field. The

structure of this section is threefold. A first part will assess the effectivity of the intervention

in tackling the issue of gender relations. A second part will look into the process of scaling up

and the overall sustainability of the project. Lastly, a third part will focus on women

leadership in local associations, with a focus on female saving groups. All parts include a

thorough discussion of the mechanisms that might positively or negatively affect the intended

results.

7.1 Women Empowerment One of the chief goals of the GYEM project was women’s increased decision-power within

the horticulture value chain. Our prognosis on the long-term impact is mixed. We have

determined three problems affecting the success in this field: the first pertaining to the change

process, the second to societal structures, and the third to the long-term sustainability of the

intervention.

7.1.1 Dilution of the Gender Message The first problem is related to the change process. It is also evident that the gender aspects of

the PALS/GALS trainings resonate most with first-round champions. Several male

champions (cf. two champions) have successfully internalized new insights on a more

equitable division of household labour, even defying existing gender norms. Exchange of

thought between husband and wife has also become more frequent in many cases (see supra).

These improvements of individual couples, as well as the ones outlined in the outcomes,

might also have indirect positive effects in the long term. Research has indeed demonstrated

that children’s experience of parental behaviour shapes their future beliefs and behaviours

(Hindin, Kishor and Ansara 2008).

Yet due to dilution of the message and selective sharing, impact on second-round champions,

and by extension to their communities, will probably not be as strong. The downside of using

this indirect approach to empowerment is that the gender aspects are often eclipsed by more

practical and applicable skills to improve their material situation. Here, again, survival values

seem to prevail over self-expression.

Would a more direct approach yield better results? Interestingly, one of the champions

spontaneously mentioned another family training that had a stronger effect on gender

relations and ideologies. This earlier training by university students also used another

transformative methodology to raise awareness on the respective roles of wife and husband,

and included vivid discussions on gender stereotypes (Druzca and Abeba 2017). According to

the champion, all of the fifteen male participants made changes to some extent, although

some took only minor steps. He also mentioned that following the training, he himself now

35

helps out in the kitchen and made progress regarding discussions with his wife. By contrast,

in the champion’s view, the PALS/GALS training was about ‘how to grow as a person’. Like

him, most trainees might become change agents rather than gender champions, as one of the

Dutch members of the SNV staff predicted. Organizations with gender-related missions thus

have to be mindful of the trade-off between more clarity in message and reduced risk of

cultural resistance. A direct approach with an unequivocal goal might yield more visible

short-term results, but would also elicit more resistance and pose the risk of a potential

backlash.

7.1.2 Masculinity and Traditional Values A second problem relates to the patriarchal structures of rural societies. Obviously, the

dominance of cultural masculinity and traditional values in Ethiopia will to a large extend

affect the long-term impact on gender relations. However, here too, views on gender are

complex. Based on interviews, it appears that both male and female interviewees tend to

favour a traditional organization of the household, with a strict division between a wife’s

household responsibilities and a husband’s income-generating activities on the farm. Several

champions mention that men draw ridicule from both men and women when they take part in

traditionally ‘feminine’ household chores. Yet ideals of marriage and relationships can vary

extensively. On the one hand, some husbands demand strict obedience and subservience; a

view that is echoed by at least some wives (cf. champion). Cooking and welcoming her

husband when he comes home are two recurrent answers when inquiring about an ideal

wife’s role. On the other hand, some women stress the collaborative aspects of marriage,

reflected in reciprocal support, common goals and productive discussions (cf.three woman

champions).

Women’s view on empowerment is also equally intricate. Two female interviewees stated

that they would not be comfortable with a man taking over or even assisting her in some of

the household chores. This raises the question whether the household is truly a woman’s

locus of disempowerment, as often has been claimed by western scholars. As sole supervisors

of the house, women wield almost unrestricted control over food supplies, the kitchen, but

also the children’s education. However, some seem to have a clear sense of their

disempowerment due to their confinement to the household. One of the second round

champions, for instance, expressed profound regret with her early marriage and her resultant

illiteracy. In the same vein, a female champion complained about her life at the service of her

husband and her child since she got married, but contemplated that leaving him would not

solve anything for her. Similar ideas emerge when beneficiaries are asked about the kind of

life they envision for their daughters. Three interviewees mentioned the wish that their

daughters would complete their education (Cf. two female and one male champion). This

seems to match the figures on the improving gender parity in primary education in Oromia

and SNNP (Education statistics 1994/05 and 2008/09, MoE). Furthermore, two of these

interviewees wanted their girls to become civil servant in the city, earning a stable income.

The same hope was expressed by one of the new male trainees at Sodo. He also mentioned

that he would allow his daughter to freely choose her husband, and even if she would marry

someone with an inferior or superior status. Thus, despite the predominance of traditional

masculinity, some beneficiaries clearly hope that the next generation of women will wield

more agency than they do. According to another couple, this change is already happening,

with girls having more access to education, talking to anyone and choosing their husband

freely.

36

Within horticulture communities, it will be challenging to find a critical mass with a unified

agenda on gender and sufficient group agency to effectively change the existing gender

patterns of masculinity. Here, the problem of dilution also plays a negative role, as gender

insights will not be prioritized in the sharing process. This effect is even enhanced due to the

selective sharing and the fact that the usage of tools is often discontinued by second-round

champions. Yet the trends outlined above—new emphasis on education and beneficiaries’

hope of empowerment of next generations—might pose interesting opportunities for future

projects on gender issues. Raising awareness about the benefits of school in women

empowerment might give further impetus to the aforementioned trends in education and

marriage. Schools itself might provide an additional channel, as mentioned by a male

champion, to provide training, and possibly also to discuss gender stereotypes.

7.1.3 Follow-up Another complex mechanism that might affect the societal impact of the intervention is

follow-up. Several champions expressed their appreciation of follow-up (cf. interviews four

champions) or requested more follow-up from the organization (cf. interview two

champions). A female champion recounted that VSLA officers regularly dropped by at her

home to check how she used the loan, and that these visits motivated her. Moreover, two

male champions emphasized the importance of follow-up to make the impact of the

intervention last. A champion expressed his concern on what would happen after the

intervention of SNV. In his view, follow-up constituted one of the strengths of SNV

compared to other NGO’s. Also, he regretted the lack of follow-up from his own trainer

Yassin. According to Asebe, follow-up is crucial because people otherwise forget the tools.

Therefore, it is necessary especially for the illiterate. However, his further comments already

point out the main pitfall of follow-up by the intervening organization, as he mentioned that

he ‘looked at the tools over and over again, because [the SNV staff/ferenji] might question

him about it.’

When SNV officers initially used to frequently follow-up on champions (about twice a

month), keeping track of changes and challenges, it created a close relationship between staff

and beneficiaries (cf. interviews SNV employees). Although the beneficiaries often had little

to report, Leul noticed that they opened up more easily, and shared more personal

experiences as a result. The importance of trust in a high-context society clearly plays into

this. However, these follow-ups had a significant pitfall in that they became an impediment to

the beneficiaries’ sense of ownership. Asebe’s inclination to leave a positive impression on

SNV officers by showing his knowledge of the tools clearly reflects this problem.

Consequently, champions might feel instrumental to the organization trying to reach its

objectives. This also runs counter to the project’s goal of stimulating ‘enlightened self-

interest’, because beneficiaries might become motivated by pleasing the organization rather

than personal change (cf. interview SNV employee). At the recommendation of the

consultant, SNV decided to bring the frequency of follow-up down to only once every three

months.

Still, even a more sporadic follow-up may hamper the sense of ownership. Moreover, the

problem of sustainability remains. As a general recommendation, organizations might

encourage champions to involve existing local structures as much as possible to follow up on

new trainees. Here too, they should balance their approach carefully, focusing on motivation

rather than control. Jamal, for instance, mentioned that familial problems within the

community are also discussed during the meetings of the coop and the kebele, which also

follow up on some members’ changes. One of the SNV translators, proposed the

37

establishment of local women committees. A champion, on the other hand, suggested

meetings organized on regular moments, gathering all the champions in one kebele. Here

again, it is important to make the trade-off between encouraging such initiatives and leaving

this role to the agency of beneficiaries.

Lastly, organizations should not underestimate the opportunities that social gatherings in a

collective society pose in this regard. Exchange of experiences is also common during coffee

ceremonies and chat chewing (cf. interview champion). Although beneficiaries often curtail

their participation to save income, these gatherings may serve the same motivational purpose

as a follow-up by SNV staff or prominent community members. Abstaining completely from

such activities might cause social isolation (cf. interview champion), which could complicate

the sharing process and take away the motivational effect of peer exchange.

However, in whatever form or frequency, the interactions that need to motivate beneficiaries

to keep spreading the change are difficult to sustain on the long term. Indeed, even if the

training has empowered a cluster of individuals, including their direct network, there is no

guarantee that the process of change will be continued when the impetus from the

organization is lacking.

7.2 Upscaling Through training and sharing, SNV hopes to reach 20.000 beneficiaries in Oromia and

SNNP. This scale-up is implemented on two levels: first, through the sharing by champions

in their own kebele; second, through trainings by champions in another woreda. The latter

phase has started only recently, which makes is difficult to assess the potential long-term

impact. (The observations made during the first days of these upscaling training at Sodo have

been integrated in the inputs, throughput and output.) This section will therefore focus on two

factors that affect the sharing process in the champions’ own community.

The first is related to the agency of the champions. Although the progress of some individual

women champions is impressive, as discussed earlier (cf. outcome), it remains uncertain

whether their role of change agent will extend to the community as a whole. True, a

determined champion is, and will probably remain a respected example within the kebele.

However, due to being constantly preoccupied with working and accomplishing goals, little

time is available for social life. The lack of exposure indeed limits the opportunities to share.

Consequently, the inspirational role within the community will remain indirect. Also, one of

the committed and successful champions, earning 2.000 BIRR per month, opted out of the

upscaling, probably for similar reasons. Furthermore, a recurring vision of the champions end

with the construction of a home in the city and thus leaving the kebele. Hopes that the most

successful trainees will automatically share an inspirational message to their fellow

community members, are thus not necessarily materialized. This finding shows that the

‘enlightened self-interest’ stimulated during the training can sometimes tilt beneficiaries

towards individualism.

The second factor is linked to the cultural dimension of collectivism. We already mentioned

the negative copying during training, when beneficiaries try to imitate the drawings and

vision of their fellow trainees. This self-effacing inclination is counterproductive, since the

inability to determine personal goals hampers the agency of the champion. However, the

collectivistic dimension also poses opportunities, which community-driven projects such as

GYEM should exploit. Collectivism indeed also encourages exchange in both the sender and

the receiver. On the one side, champions’ eagerness to share can be attributed to a sense of

38

being indebted to the in-group. For instance, one female participant mentioned that she does

not like to be rich when her neighbours are poor, and that she wished that her fellow female

community members would receive the same training. On the other side, it is clear that

individuals are curious about changes and successes of their neighbours. The collectivistic

values also raise expectations from non-champion beneficiaries—champions’ friends,

neighbours and family members—about benefits of the training being shared. For instance,

one of the male participants mentioned that he noticed the changes made by an original

champion, who was an example to him, and later his trainer. Likewise, another participant

joined the training because this same original champion is a relative and he brought a change

to his life. One second-round champion even stated that his friends were ‘copying his style’,

and bought poultry just like him; he proudly declared that he was ‘leading them’.

7.3 Women Leadership Although, as mentioned in the discussion on outcomes, a considerable number of women

became members of saving associations, health committees and cooperatives, nothing so far

indicates that this would positively impact decision-making power of women in the

community in general. It also remains to be seen whether female leadership will extend to

male-dominated associations.

However, one promising societal impact is the emergence or further development of

women’s saving associations. A staff member of SNV had apparently encouraged one of the

champions trained by the organization, to establish a 1-to-5 saving association. The members,

all female friends and neighbours of one champion, each save 10 BIRR every 15 days. Their

weekly gatherings, which take place at her home, appear to have two main purposes: (1) the

champion’s training of the other members; (2) discussing future investments. Earlier, they

already purchased a sheep together, with the purpose of sharing the profits of the sale.

However, due to financial difficulties, they had to sell it prematurely. During the meeting, the

members had to ‘draw something from beginning to end’, as one of second-round champions

mentioned. The trainer of this champion herself later mentioned that the joint to purchase a

shop as the ultimate goal of the association. Probably, she had found inspiration in a similar

saving group in Enseno, started by five women, who had eventually managed to open a kiosk

together. So far, this has also been the only proof of new women’s businesses.

It is uncertain whether saving groups like these have a strong impact on the society as a

whole. However, the associations of both these champions are noteworthy for several

reasons. First, women have the chance to discuss financial investments and make economic

progress in relative independence from direct male influence. Second, it seems that the

previously mentioned saving group applied the individualist tool of the vision journey to

collective action. Such approach might perhaps be more fitting to the collective dimension of

the Southern Ethiopian rural culture. Third, within the framework of this project, these

associations arguably constitute the most unequivocal product of women empowerment.

Therefore, it is advisable that future projects fully exploit the opportunities of these

initiatives.

39

Conclusion This paper aimed to assess the effectivity of the PALS/GALS methodology in promoting

gender empowerment and women’s leadership in horticulture value chains through

qualitative-descriptive research. The analysis departed from the multi-layered cultural

discrepancies between the values of a organization with a WEIRD background, and those of

its beneficiaries in a Majority World country. These differences can be summed up in three

antitheses: (1) collectivism vs. individualism, (2) power-distance vs. low-context culture, and

(3) traditional vs. secular-rational. Using the Van Tulder framework, the conclusions of this

assessment can be subdivided into an internal (with respect to the intervention an sich) and an

external part (with respect to the beneficiaries).

With regard to the organization itself, we believe that, despite the obvious merits of the

methodology, there is room for improvement through the progressive adaption of the tools to

the cultural values and complexities of beneficiaries. First, the individualist principles

underlying most of the tools seem to be at odds with the overtly collectivist nature of rural

Ethiopia. Therefore, some of them might be adapted to reflect joint visions rather than

personal ambitions. Second, while some tools have a temporal dimension, they are solely

based on a linear rather than a cyclical view. For future trainings, organizations could

consider alternatives that reconcile the same learning goals with the cyclical views of

beneficiaries.

With regard to the beneficiaries, we can assess the effectivity of the intervention on two

levels. First of all, on a personal level, a clear behavioral change is notable among most of the

champions. Most female champions indeed acquire their own sources of income and see an

improvement in self-confidence and status. On a relational level, a considerable (about 40%)

of respondents mention an improvement in intramarital cooperation and fruitful discussions

on financial decisions. In general, most direct beneficiaries acquire planning skills and apply

these to lever economic agency. However, one should not lose out of sight the risk on

negative side-effects of the instrumentality of women, the suffering of the social network and

the social desirability of the answers.

Given the short timeframe, the long-term impact of the GYEM project can only be assessed

through extrapolations. Based on observations and interviews, we believe that the long-term

impact will be complicated by several structural factors. For instance, forming a critical mass

with sufficient group agency to change existing patriarchal structures will be very difficult.

Also, the lack of lasting structures to keep the processual gender change alive, might

jeopardize the long-term sustainability of the intervention. Moreover, selective sharing and

dilution of the insights from the training may gradually suppress the gender aspects of the

intervention.

However, we have also identified three opportunities to explore for further gender-related

interventions. First, the collectivist nature of the horticulture communities easily facilitates

the process of sharing. Second, the gradual changes in gender ideologies, reflected in a

growing awareness of the impact of marriage and education on empowerment, might create

momentum for similar interventions in the future. Third, the establishment of new female

saving associations allows women to acquire know-how and experience with regard to

financial decision-making in relative independence from male dominance. Although still

small-scale movement, these initiatives might develop into collectivist platforms of women

empowerment.

40

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Appendices

Interview guides

First round of interviews NO ABSTRACT CONCEPTS. behave as a curious foreigner who wants to learn, how can we make

better

Profile ● [I would like to know about you] tell us a bit about your life before the training

o Just to have an idea, would you mind giving us an idea about size of crop/land + type

of crops

o Children, parents, siblings

● Can you tell us something about your family (kids/siblings etc)

● what is the life in the village like? I would like to know something about your life, household,

how household is organized…

● What are your values (...) (phrased differently)? What is important to you in your life/in

your household?

● Can you tell me what made you decide to join the training?

● How did you know about the training?

Experience of training ● What happened during training? (how many times, where, with whom, number of

participants)

● What moments do you remember from training that were particularly useful, or made you

think?

● After training, what happened when you came home? Can you tell me about your

experiences? (can you give an example of that?)

● Can you share something you learned?

● What did you like most… memories to share

● What was more difficult? (What did you not like or was less useful during training?)

(probably not inclined to say the negative things) => negative and specific much later if

needed.

o Can you help us to improve the training?

o I can imagine that not everything was easy during training, can you share

something that was not entirely clear or helpful?

o If you could attend another training, what topic would you prefer? What would

you like to learn more about?

Effectiveness ● Did anything change after the training?

● What? Can you give an example/story?

44

o Examine whether this change creates value for women/man. E.g. cutting in coffee

ceremony: creates value or destroys it? => less contact with friends etc… Is a man

sharing in typical ‘female’ chores a good thing for wives?

o Splitting tasks => creates value?

● Do you think that SNV can facilitate the sharing process? (eg providing notebooks/pencils,

give explanation of the project in different kebeles...)

● Did you continue working on the tools? And do you think it would be helpful there that the

SNV staff provides further support after the workshops?

● are you trying to change something else at the moment? Would you like to see any other

change? (ask for examples) => how is it working out so far?

Impact in community ● Has anything changed in your community since you had the training?

● (Do you notice any signs of change on youth/gender relations in the community as a whole?)

● was it sometimes difficult to share these insights?

● can you give an example of such difficulty?

(Do you experience resistance when disseminating the insights in your community?)

45

Second round of interviews Changes made to the interview guide:

● Probing about the take-aways of training showed that knowledge/understanding of tools

was remarkably less profound => questions less about training/tools because no tool was

mentioned. + more general

● More questions about family values

o ideal husband/wife/marriage

o organization of household: how?

o happiness

o what do you want for your daughters?

o story about discussion

o why is it important for you that your daughters study/earn money before they get

married?

● have you seen any change in the community since training?

● have there been any changes in your family/marriage since your training?

● what more would you like to be trained in?

● are there people in your community who are less receptive towards training/sharing?

46

Transcripts of interviews

A. Interviews with SNV staff

Interview A

Project officer in the project. Job consists of:

o Documentation (comprehensive reports and pictures on workshops)

→ Very detailed reports, eg who is arriving at what time

o Follow-up visits to champions: tracking changes & challenges they experienced. Also

interviews with people around the champions.

--> Earlier regular visits once or twice a month, afterwards gender consultant said it is better

to only visit once in three months

→ How did people react on these visits? Given the culture, they wouldn’t be that

direct to say that they don’t like it. Positive relationship created with field staff, but not

that much to report every 15 days. Only side issue.

--> Some serious issues throughout the project? One person required the organization to

pay him to share information with others.

à General impression of interaction between champions? If you give them enough space,

they interact very well with very little intervention from the facilitator. People from different

places were paired to make sure they can share as much as possible; also women with

women and men with men. That way, people willing to share a lot but as a society, not that

used to discussion.

--> What happens in informal group of friends? Not used to discussing real issues, concrete

issues

à Makes it difficult from field staff. How do you make them talk? Do not interrupt, listen and

let them speak, even if not really an answer to the question. Also, equal conversations and

human relationship, not just there for the project. Create understanding.

Example: ask about the kids, the wheather, the field etc. Create personal feeling and human

relationship before getting to the point.

--> How do you experience to be in the middle between the two worlds (European –

Ethiopian)? We try to create awareness of sense of ownership, they are doing it for their own

and not for the sake of the project. But on the other hand: guidelines and strict reporting

requirements from the organization. Difficult balance.

--> Indications of balance that is not met:

o They tell things you want to hear and they have been done but not true or not to that

extent (eg reduced alcohol consumption)

o You see it when real sense of ownership, gut feeling can be involved (eg people that

tell they are not that happy about their results)

--> How do the discussions go then? Creation of platform to discuss with others who did

succeed to learn from them.

But no clear parameters.

47

--> How does the learning normally happen in general? People go out and ask people,

informal meetings during coffee, market place for women, people talk while having “chat” (=

10x a coffee; but addictive)

BUT people do it more than they should and thus not working on their farms and it is

consuming their money instead of buying food for family + bad for health. People might get

aggressive when reducing it but feasible to reduce it because they can fill the gap with other

activities. Also: their physical condition improves.

BUT what does it do to your social life and network if reducing these ceremonies? Matter of

balancing. Also others platforms for men to interact.

--> What do you think about the tools? Gives them a sense of being respected and

reputation in the society for making changes. Also: improved relationships with spouses and

children.

Why do the tools help to make the change? Their own responsibility, they have drawn their

own manuals.

--> Very top-down society. This is the opposite (bottom-up) and that’s why it works.

Completely community related approach. No real differences between regions concerning

interests in the implementation of the tools.

Eg difference: Oromia: a lot of questions are asked ßà South: not that much questions

→ Also other observations about the process, the tools?

o More dedicated to changes if they have the feeling it is something of their own.

o A lot of opportunities and not only problems in rural areas, they are things they need to

keep

Eg traditional platforms such as coffee ceremonies

--> Why were discussions in workshops so short? People don’t usually let go of these things,

very new approach. Tools are shared as a teacher-student approach, one of the challenges.

Is there a way to share the tools without mentioning them? Keep the meetings informal

So how to organize them? Inform the participants but need to know when to withdraw,

facilitating from the back. Very challenging.

Interview B

What is different with GALS from the other ones?

o Gender aspect

o The tools that include everything (talks about everything within the household: income,

expense, decision making, … )

o Vision journey for the people and not only for yourself but on household level

à Now, people often only have a wish and don’t really know how to achieve it. When you

come to a vision, it will become practical. One of the big reasons why it works.

o Very practical and impactful because it starts from the vision and how to achieve it

o Supports you to think differently (eg you don’t realize you have some resources,

unbalanced gender decisions)

o Not top-down but bottom-up approach; inclusive methdology

à Though for trainer provider because takes long time but impact is high

à Most striking things:

o Minimizing expenses, they didn’t realize the amount of their expenses and

come to the conclusion themselves that they have to minimize

48

o No lecture way but in a picture manner, gives them enough time to think,

understand and recognize

o Indirect way of teaching gender issues

Shameful to be seen as sellfish in this society? Yes, but it is often not clear. Nobody thinks

about it, because it is all his own property. But it’s not only his, but from the whole family.

Many challenges because a lot of people not well basically educated. Lack of knowledge

affects their life: how to spend, how to make etc. Improving but still challenge.

Men think women don’t have the capabilities but they have it, they are managing their

households (making breakfast, sending children to school, going to the field, going to town

for groceries, …)

The man has everything, does the simple fact of seeing on paper the situation makes him

aware of the need for change? No, it’s not enough but at least he recognizes it and can see

it.

In your experience, which women benefitted most? Direct participants or women whose

husbands did the training? Both sides.

à Example: Medina did the training. Her husband neglected her and she was everything

doing herself but now he affects her and takes her advice. Mezreth talked to her directly and

she gave concrete examples (eg they decide together about the expenditures.

What kind of questions work with the champions? They don’t like direct questions. “How is

life? How is everything going?” and they will tell us that way. Eg man has minimized alcohol

use.

Do they sometimes report negative things (eg less coffee ceremonies so saving of money

but less connected with community as a negative side effect)? Yes. But it doesn’t affect their

friendships.

What other changes did you notice? What was the most interesting thing to see?

o Decision-making processes on the resources improved a lot

o Improved way of family standing

o Improved affection, eg husband spends time in the town with friends, now minimizing

that and spending time on the field and at home

With women champions, is it different the way they interact because you are a woman?

Advantages of being a woman in the project? Women feel more free to talk and that has a

positive impact.

Interview C

● Happy Family Tree => household labour (how to balance household chores)

● Selection of persons with problems (financial, smoking, alcohol). Sometimes men

impress their women with their new insights

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● Recommendation of Fekade on project:

○ involve more stakeholders + government, for instance in the monitoring of the

champions

○ provide more incentives for champions

○ but gov should also give more incentives (for upscaling)

● tools are appreciated differently

○ vision journey => much liked by champions (male and female members)

○ happy family tree => also much liked

■ example of man showing tree and his wife is very impressed

● example of more influence of women in coffee ceremony: use time more for

economic activity

● one of the main challenges: relations with government

● takes a while to gain credibility/authority for training (SNV has to show it is not just a

normal NGO)

● role of the unions: involved through all workshops (first until certification)

Interview D

Who? advisor (support to projects => develop tools, indicators for change, monitor change

in SNV); business development

Practical discussion

GYEM => how did you find the indicators? not top-down. List of indicators from head office

as a menu => decided with stakeholders (brainstorming with cooperatives, unions,

government, farmer organizations), discussion => how would this indicator show change

mixed monitoring: evaluations never from one source (different sources, sometimes external

also)

Discussion on donors (amounts that are too small are often not included because they take

a lot of time in terms of administration and are insufficient for strategy of scalability)

(more to come)

Monitoring of gender = very challenging

MOST CHALLENGING: the notion of equality/balance of gender rather than empowering

women at the expense of men (also among the team: difficult to transfer this notion).

Misunderstanding is most important problem => wrong definition of gender equality. Takes a

lot of time

+ also (says Boros) difficult to quantify impact on gender balance. Impact = long term.

Interview E

o He wrote the proposal for this project. During writing the proposal: huge lack of

knowledge + the project is now something different than he had in mind

o People are motivated by money, looking for the quick wins, some money at the end of

the week. Therefore: better to start with increasing the income and only afterwards

talking about gender.

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o “Actor-oriented approach” believes that every person is trying to make the best out of

life by grabbing every chance. A lot of projects think that society is makeable, but that is

not possible. So much things are playing in society. Often projects are working, but not in

the way it intended. Also, always assumed that a group is homogeneous, individual

approach is not possible.

o Motivation is key.

o Difficult to measure GYEM and show results. Donors often want to see clear

(economic) results. Possible with this metholodogy?

o Gender in another project: separate trianing for women to catch up on technical jargon

+ some public speaking confidence training for women + showing 8 cartoons

representing household issues at end of each meating with some questions (= moment

that people laugh the most) + invitation of husband and wife as member to farmer group

à There had to be a gender aspect from the donor!

o Sometimes a lot of pressure on husbands to make sure they earn enough money for

the family

o Is the PALS/GALS the right methodology to let women participate in the economy?

o A lot of useful lifeskills, but doesn’t believe these “gender champions” are sustainable.

How sustainable is this project? Will people keep on sharing with neighbours etc? Maybe

more “change agents” than “gender champions”? More sustainable he thinks, but is it

then something for SNV? Doesn’t it fit Oxfam better then?

o Possible measurements for gender

eg training women that have small shops, link them to financial resources and see what their

growth in income is

eg scaling their relationship (1-10) before and after the training

o Gender is so culturally defined and has so many facets and factors playing, that’s why

it is very difficult

o Is bottom-up the right methodology? Shouldn’t we tackle the stronger and more

talkative women instead of starting at the bottom?

Interview F

● experience of last week: main impressions

○ first day with Bilsha, good experience, her relationship with husband is

different from that of Zulfa. Bilsha looks at her husband ever time she talks

(looks up when question is asked)

○ She was sitting in front of him, he would come in front of her when she had to

asked (under his supervision)

○ Zulfa: almost by herself, answered for herself. As partners, they were ok. Not

this kind of dominance.

○ Bilsha: also looks at neighbors for answers. Not only husband.

○ Reason: attitude towards life? Zulfa: interest to learn, vision to learn when she

was 14. Sent children to school. Bilsha wants to live the way society tells her.

Her vision = get married, get kids, be obedient to husband. Zulfa: urge to

change herself, even as little girl. Her vision from cottage life to start

business, do business with husband. Zulfa communicates easily, Bilsha has

difficulties articulating her ideas. Different personalities.

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○ Bilsha likes to sit down and talk, coffee ceremonies; Zulfa was working all the

time and did

○ Said chews chat, prefers to talk and sit, he doesn’t even go to the field; Jamal

very occupied with all sorts of things, member of committee, social

engagements to change things, bring electricity => personality of men

influences women. Both Jamal and Zulfa busy, occupied all the time.

● division of chores in household?

○ Bilsha: does everything, sometimes eldest sister helps, running entire

activities. She sent him to send things from city. Majority of tasks on her

shoulders. All the time in house. She once went to farm to collect tomatoes

○ Zulfa does everything too, but husband takes over some tasks (also little

boys!!) if she’s absent

○ But still husband helps little overall in household.

○ Said does take part in social activities, but chews a lot of chat

○ they would be happy (especially Zulfa) if husband would help more.

Jamal believes he’s helping. Bilsha: opinions shaped by the neighbors, no

strong stand. They tell her what to say in their own language.

○ Bilsha: tells answers to make you happy.

○ Zulfa: tells you things that happened in her life. Zulfa: less social pressure.

Independence, you can see it in her acting. People were not coming to her

house but says hi to everyone, everyone talks to her still, good status,

reference point, people look up to her despite not taking part in so many

social activities. Her daughter does very well at school.

● Why did no one came to Zulfa?

○ separated compound, not very near to someone. Independent life.

Neighborhood is more isolated. Also Zulfa: keeps her busy. Jamals friend

came over and some drank coffee but afterwards they leave. Bilsha: more

close to each other; not separated, more interaction, more interwoven.

○ Zulfa doesn’t give her children too much direction, they have to study ⇔

Bilsha’s son was helping her with cow, she told her kids to help in the house;

daughter had to go to school but she helped with household activities; Bilsha

does not care that much about school.

○ Difference between literacy? Bilsha: weak vision, does not fully understand

what it is; Zulfa knows what vision is. Bilsha will change but it will take some

time. Jamal has changed and Abdul too.

● was it not a good idea to select Bilsha?

○ it will take time to change Bilsha, first we have to change her attitude. You

seem some change in Bilsha however, in her own circle, she is better than

others, she uses irrigation, cabbage cultivation… she has changed a bit but

not comparable to Zulfa and Jamal.

○ Bilsha: her friends said she is communicating more, working together in farm,

discussing what expenses to make and not. Also extension for cattle built to

her home. Neighbors interfere a lot.

○ Bilsha noticeably communicates more. Talks more with husband and

neighbors. Bilsha is not that assertive, she is afraid of what husband and

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neighbors might think. Social acceptance is extremely important. Zulfa is

already accepted and respected in community. Social acceptance is less of a

concern to Zulfa.

● cabbage and maize is now also cultivated by Bilsha. Husband does physical work

but Bilsha helps with sorting the seedling etc.

● Why do they tell you that they work together? He might invite her to discuss some of

the expenses (buying clothes, going to market etc).

● Bilsha is part of VSLA, saving. But he is the one that goes to the VSLA, because she

is busy with household and because he is head of household. When there is a

meeting VSLA, she rarely goes.

● Bilsha prefers VSLA to PALS, but when she uttered that opinion, her husband non-

verbally changed her mind. => to make us happy. For Bilsha: immediatel getting

money and change is most important. Getting money is priority. Everything she talks

about is related to money ⇔ Jamal and Zulfa never talk about per diem, for them the

lesson and the skill is important.

● Bilsha’s community did not like change -- why? They do not understand purpose of

why the training is given. They see change in terms of money/finance. Not at

personal level, only at material level. Zulfa is already planning. She wants her kids to

change too.

● Biggest difference between Zulfa/Bilsha = outlook on life; it will shape her vision.

Bilsha’s vision is so much interwoven with expectation of communities. Zulfa expects

more; after finishing 1 step she wants more.

● Negotiations between Zulfa/Bilsha and husbands?

○ Not observed but during interviews. Zulfa and Jamal together, each speaks

on his turn, they do not tell each other what to say/think ⇔ Bilsha was

interviewed but Said interfered a lot. She constantly seeks approval from

Said.

● element of religion (islam) => submissive to man but Zulfa is not submissive

regarding kids, here she really hammers on the education e.g.

○ Zulfa is probably an exception, impact of training is strong. Strong committed.

○ Zulfa has motivation to change/learn, wants her kids to live differently ⇔

Bilsha

● could a group conversation help Bilsha? Women and men sharing experiences?

● Bilsha: people were coming and coming and coming; not one moment of personal

time, being alone. Bilsha needs the leadership to change someone/share the

training, also the people around them are very difficult. Bilsha: very timid ⇔ Abdul is

outspoken.

● Women in neighborhoor of Bilsha:

○ a lot of them are worse off than Bilsha. Some produce maize just for own

household, one had 8 children (difficult to feed), one of her neighbors wanted

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to go to Arab countries but husband did not want her to go. Most of the

stronger women went to Arab countries, they brought money and improved

situation.

○ Bilsha’s sister-in-law is more outspoken and speaks more. Some also when

they are close to their husbands.

● About training

○ Bilsha said “I made a drawing” but cannot tell the meaning of drawing, or

relate it to their life. She does not know what vision/vision journey is; what the

purpose is.

● Zulfa: social life before the training?

○ She does not look like a person who has many friends. But she is satisfied

with it. Coffee ceremonies: when we were there, Zulfa had things to do; we

were there as a guest, but she had to go to the grindhouse. If she had

something to do, she would do it, irrespective of neighbors. For Bilsha: more

importance attached to guests.

● Gap in translations in the field

○ often interviewees do not understand the questions.

○ When you ask them what vision is, they do not get it => you have to phrase it

more simply.

○ people tell you what you want to hear.

○ when translator asks something => he leads them into a question.

○ when we ask them question, they do not understand it often; you have to give

examples; like what kind of change do you want? => What kind of life do you

want to live? Give examples, make specific.

○ Most answers are reliable

○ translator was male: no influence on what people will say.

Interview G

How do you decide if a man or a woman will be trained?

· it is always equal men and women, but they have to be from different families to

spread the effect more. The intention was to take people who have problems, for

example alcohol problem, because people with problems who change will be more

inspirational for others to change as well. The government and cooperatives choose

who will participate. From each village 4 people (2 women, 2 men), they should find

support with each other.

· Taking the poorest is an assumption, do we have to assess that?

· The methodology was developed in Uganda and that team took the assumption but

what I see in the field is that the poorest of the poorest are not really taking it up because

they have too many other issues. So, I’m not sure of this assumption, maybe some

people who are already a little bit stronger might be better. What I noticed is that the

ones who are left behind most of the time are left behind.

· If you have an already influential person, is that not better to spread the word?

· Status is important in this community, so yes. On the other hand, we see that these

people are already very busy. They don’t have time for this and they don’t have much to

change about them because they are most often already successful.

· Since the process is steered, is it difficult to convince people?

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· This is a top down society, so they don’t really have a choice. Secondly, we provide a

per diem for them, so they might come for the money. But the difficult thing here is that

people want more money. The second-round champions don’t get a per diem and some

wanted one because it felt not fair.

· What are your thoughts about that this does not feel like a traditional NGO

project

· In a traditional NGO project, the farmer listens to a training but in the end of the day,

nothing really changed for the farmer. Also, NGO’s are tailored towards the rich farmers

but when we are working with the poor farmers, we are not really making sense for them.

Also, gender is something that creates resistance and empowerment creates resistance.

· We come from the west and we are very individual. Here it is really about the family. I

think it is better to not talk about gender but about family, because that is the core of

them. If the family doesn’t work, they have nowhere else to go. So, that is not an option

for them.

· Do you see any failures in the recruitment process?

· not really, more in the coaching thereafter. The follow up. In the beginning we

tracked the champions a lot, maybe too much. So, those people felt instrumental. On the

other side, the project staff built a good relationship with the champions. You need to

wait until they want to share their story instead of asking about it.

· We have to be careful if people want to do it to accommodate the project, nothing will

change in the end because they will just tell you what you want to hear. So, we need a

way to avoid this, but this is really difficult. They need to do it for themselves. Here, we

are also trying to figure out, is it the drawing, is it the sharing? What exactly makes them

change?

· another issue might be that we are now very training oriented, the staff is in the front

and then tell the others what to do. Now, we are trying to just set people together and

draw and when they have questions, they can ask them. This brings another question

forward: is it the steps that are important? Is it the content? What is important? Do you

need to have the steps correct? Is maybe the steps and content too difficult? They mix

the steps and content, you will ask what is your vision? Then they say, you have to draw

a circle.

· In the report, it was remarkable that a lot of the people were not drawing

anymore. Do you see that as a problem?

· For me it is just about them. If they are not drawing but they change their life, it is

good for me. That’s why I’m also trying to figure out if the drawing is really important for

change? But if it is not important for change, then they don’t have to draw all the time.

This is also an oral culture, so maybe talking is sufficient? I do see the point of

introducing it, but then to monitor and change, drawing is maybe not needed.

· What else does the government do and where can they help more?

· At the end of the workshops, they show to the government their drawings. An idea is

to train the government, so that they can then train the people. One issue is that they

don’t have money. Linda advocates that the champions do this and not the government

because farmers learn more from farmers. The government should be there to facilitate

events and meetings, like a place or something. And then further show publicly that they

are in favour of gender equality.

· What is in your view the most and least effective tools in the training?

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· there is some kind of hierarchy between the staff in the field and the champions. For

instance, the champions got a certificate, but the staff did not get it. And the staff was

wondering why they didn’t get it. Then the multilane calendar got too complicated, too

much business.

· Do you think some people were not opening up because of shame?

· Most people opened up during the training. I don’t know when they come home how

it is then. Because sometimes there are tensions between the champions, there was

some sort of competition.

· How do Ethiopians go about failure in general?

· Failure is a taboo here

· there is also religion, it is god who decides on your life, you cannot control it. But you

lose face when you fail.

· are some of the champions afraid to fail?

· maybe they are. The impact of failing once is much bigger if you are poor.

· How is the competition and jealousy in the community?

· I don’t think there is a lot of that but there is some kind of mistrust. We as SNV have

to check-up on the quality of the training. So that the training that is given now, is really

just as good as the one they received.

· Is it also the other way around that the champions are not confident

themselves to give the training?

· I wonder as well

· Do you have an idea of the turnover of champions? How many drop out?

· In Romia, there are people leaving because another NGO pays more. In total 4

people left the project in Romia. In Butajira, 1 left.

· How strong is the spill over effect of champions going back to the

community?

· Sometimes it’s very strong, sometimes they don’t really know what they are doing. It

might depend on the relationship between the two?

· Do you see the man become less respected when the woman becomes

empowered?

· Depends on how she uses that power. A problem is also the neighbours, they will

laugh at him for helping his wife. Peer pressure is huge. But they all want to be loved.

Story about man helping his wife and grandmother freaked out. Kitchen is the woman’s

place?

· One of the changes we saw was that the man stopped hitting their wives. When we

digged deeper it was that they stopped hitting them outside but still inside. Also, woman

here belief that man hitting a woman is a sign of love. Because man here have multiple

wives. It’s all about them talking to each other what feels right for them.

· Are there negative side effects?

· Reducing the coffee ceremonies might have social consequences. Same for man

with chat, but it felt less affected with the man.

Interview H

· Agriculture sector lead

· GYEM is a woman empowerment project

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o How can they benefit from horticulture activities?

o The tools we used were different, it’s not only about the woman but

about the whole community

· When an NGO comes in, it is sometimes difficult to change woman because they

don’t have time

· We have to be careful that our help does not give negative side effects that

make the situation actually worse

o Work even more

o Start to neglect their children, some studies being done that show

that nutritional values of kids started going down

· How can we build the skill of woman actively willing to be involved in the decision

process?

o If we place them in the board but they do not actively engage, it is

useless

o Problem is that woman don’t have much experience (didn’t learn

that much yet) about making these decisions, being a leader, …

· It’s not about just giving them loans, saying start a business, etc. It’s about learning

woman how to make good decisions and how they can do this all by themselves.

· Main resistance factors

o Starts with commitment from organisation (belief that you can make

change)

o Bring the understanding of woman empowerment to the government,

they need to belief in the project as well

o Same for donor side

o Commitment at different levels is necessary

o Also change the formal and informal leaders of the community

o The community should then reward the ones that are accepting the new

norms and are changing, while discouraging the ones that still have the

old norms

· Economic change is easy to measure

o Changing behaviour takes more time

o Economic impact as entry point

· How to fight against dilution of the waterfall effect?

o Resource limitation unfortunately

o You need to spread as much as possible if you want to change

communities

· Better to take a mix group (not only the poorest with problems)

· Better to target women or men to change the norms?

o You need both

· Men looked more convinced?

o Men are just better at telling you what you want to hear

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Interview I

Some of the champions in the south became members of the VSLA’s that our project

promotes. Apart from that, champions in Oromia, after being participant in the trainings and

after implementation of their plans, have been elected to chair their primary cooperatives (2

male champions).

“Primary cooperative” = collection of farmers living in the same area that are sharing

resources such as waterpumps and the stronger once have their own office and

communicate with the government about trainings. But most of them are not that strong,

they are just there to transfer messages from the government. Every cooperative has a legal

credential and so is linked to the government. They are thus quite institutionalised but not

well-functioning. “well-functioning” = being active in terms of marketing and production, eg

providing members with required inputs (fertilizers, insecticides), organising training,

supplying their articles to the union because most the cooperatives are part of a union. And

if not having a union, consumer associations. Some of them, with the support of GYEM,

eg Timret union has created a link between the South and a consumer association in Addis.

Was an additional market for them.

In most of the cases, farmers are connected to a cooperative (the same as irrigation coop

but they are more focussed on pumps etc) but they are not all active members. They are

informal relationship, eg chairpersons of cooperative is only buying products from his

friends. One of the problems we encountered in Oromia, there seems to be a distrust

between the members and the administration of the cooperative. As a result, they are less

willing to provide their products to the union and they end up selling their products to

brokers. This is one of the prime reasons cooperatives are established for so they don’t

want this. Mekibatu (union Oromia) says to have more than 150 cooperatives as members

while only 50 of them are active, the others are sleeping. Brokers provide a little bit of

premium price to get the attention of farmers and as a results, they undermine the power of

the cooperatives. But the brokers are not sustainable, they don’t always come, even when

they said they would buy it. GYEM also works on output marketing.

If a person becomes an active member of a coop, it’s an improvement of status. The more

active members a cooperative has, the more sustainable market. And the more sustainable

income for a farmer. People here tend to be short-sighted so that’s why they tend to sell to a

broker with a little bit of an incremental price. Not fully blamed on the farmers, because

administration of the cooperatives is really weak, and even they don’t trust the unions

because they are most of the cases politically appointed. People also suspect they are

highly corrupt.

What does it mean to be a member of a kebele? Structure of Ethiopia is that there are

regions. Within the regions, there are zones. Within the zone, there are woreda’s. Within the

woreda’s, there are kebeles. This is just an administrative unit, the places where you get

your ID’s etc. Every kebele has a chairperson, politically appointed so selected by the

government: responsible for the administration of the kebele, they implement regulation

coming from the government.

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How are these leaders of a kebele appointed? Government chooses politically active

people that are already living for a while in the kebele. If he is loyal to the government,

government doesn’t really care about if the person is respected or not. Being a chairperson

is definitely a status, people listen and respect him. Unless if he is opposing his measures

and he is not friendly to the people. They are employees of the government so they get a

salary therefore, even if not that much of work. Every department has its own activity (eg

cooperative promotion office, …) and they have meetings.

In Ethiopia, people are structured in their kebele from 1 to 5. They incourage them as a

group to sit together to discuss issues such as productivity issues, security issues etc. The

leader of these 5, is assumed to be doing good and can share his expertise with the others.

This is then reported to the kebele. This leader is appointed by the leaders of the kebele.

Leul is not sure if people can propose someone to be a leader. The kebele leader is thus a

higher status than being the leader of 5 people.

About the saving associations.

· VSLA: idea introduced by development workers and NGO’s, formal instutions in

which every member has a passbook and they come around every month to put a

specific amount of money. That they lend to everyone who has a good reason to borrow

money. No big money or capital that they institutionalize, but sufficient for one member to

do business. Rotating beneficiary. Relatively new idea in Ethiopia. They have meetings

but mostly to pay (Petros and Shimelis are experts, they established VSLA’s in the

south). Not a big thing to become part of VSLA. But for a woman that might have some

status because she might be able to lend some money. But not just her that decides,

also her husband. We can use it as a proxy to determine if a woman is more likely to be

empowered or more likely to start a business and make money. But not really a status

thing.

· Edir: more oriented towards helping people in time of funerals. A social security.

Expected that members of the Edir go to the funerals. Monthly payments and passbook.

Now, also Edirs to support people if they are sick for a long period. Most of Ethiopians

are member hereof.

· Ekub: less formal than Edir. There might be no records here of the money being lend.

Between friends and family, people that really know eachother. Now, there are Ekub’s in

Addis that became really big and transformed themselves in micro-finance institutions.

If member of kebele is one, then leader of 1-5 is two and kebele leader is three. But of

course you also have traditional leaders and religion leaders (eg priest, imam), they don’t

have any political appointment but they are really powerful. They even seem to be more

powerful than the kebele leaders. Member of cooperative is more or less same status as

member VSLA. Not a big thing for both of them. It might be something for a woman to be

member of a cooperative by herself. One of the leaders of a coop is more or less the same

status as a kebele leader, but probably kebele leader is somewhat higher ranked. But he

emphasizes he is speculating.

What do you think makes a champion successful? PALS is build on idea of sharing. Even

before you start to change, people are expected to share. I consider as a successful

champion one that is able to make progress in its personal life and then started to effectively

59

share the knowledge. A less successful champion is one that didn’t plan well or doesn’t

share with others, has not tried to make some changes, …

Eg open community day: witness that Hoessein (one of the champions) used to beat his wife

in open field when they had a disagreement and he is not doing that anymore after the

training. They then did an interview with Hoessein at his house afterwards.

Underlying reasons to be successful or successful:

· Being interested in the process itself, the ones that show a strong desire are also the

ones sharing to others and motivation

Eg successful ones don’t wait until we come, they try their best the whole time to draw as

good as possible

à But you can’t take decisions based on one session, sometimes champions became

more interested because they saw the changes of the other champions and they try

to catch up => informal competition

à Maybe it was better for the project to only continue with the ones that were really

interested and wanted to change. Lifetime of the project is very limited and you have

to be able to deliver something.

· Often people are coming for the per diem and people are complaining that per diem is

not sufficient etc. The successful ones aren’t complaining. $

· Apart from their own motivation, the partner they have. If they do not have a

supporting system around (husband, wife, kids), also determines their success. Starting

position of the relationship, if they are already discussing etc.

· Also some people who started as a very shy person were able to change. But we

could have achieved more if we only worked with people that are self-confident, not

extremely shy and can express their thoughts. But was a great discussion, consultant

doesn’t agree with this. The ones that change is a minority.

During the trainings he gave, he thinks that 7/10 are more or less interested and 3/10 are

not interested.

à Why do the 3/10 join then? They were selected by the kebele and they want the per

diem. They also think that some other benefits will join the training.

What about selection of people with low status and problems? If you really want to show

change, it is probably better to go with people that are really not in a good position. But if

talking about sharing, it gets time for not so well positioned people to get listened to, in

contrast with well positioned people.

à Therefore, working in separate settings would maybe be better.

à Some of the low status people are also making it to the most successful ones. Being

motivated and not being motivated is not really related with the status.

Main objective of PALS was to spark and catalyze the gender relations and positions, but

in most of the cases, the changes they made are mainly economic. More an economic

gain. Even the most gender tool the HFT, is from an economic point of view. It’s not

really gender that is changing.

What would your ideal group of champions look like? 2 groups, not knowing eachother.

First group: a diverse group with people with a low status. Another group: people having

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status. He would see how it is going and he would divert resources to groups are doing

well. He looks at it more from a group perspective than an individual one. No contact

between the different groups. Then, replicating the group that is doing well in the other

woreda’s.

Interviews with beneficiaries

Interview J

· married, one son and two daughter, father is deceased

· ¼ of hectare; she supports her husband

· less land before the training?

o started poultry after training (before only sheep)

· how is the life in the village?

o we try to change our lives; we are both working, “our life is good”

· Her role in household: first working at home, this was my responsibility (food,

kids); also feeding poultry

· any activities you would like to do?

o I support my family, children, feeding sheep and poultry, I like all

activities?

o any other you like to do?

o I would like to purchase small calf, and feed/fatten them, and the sell

again, and make profit (calf makes more money than sheep/poultry)

o what does she need to achieve this? “money” (from sale of

sheep/poultry)

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· why did she decide to join the training?

o when people first said, “I’m trained by …, if you would like to volunteer,

tell me”. Did it take long for her to agree to be trained? They had to ask

her two times? First she thought about it but she was working, then

discussing with husband => he agreed. He said: this training will change

your life, she asked him if she could join, he immediately said yes.

· “training was very good…”

· Location not too far away

· what does she still remember of the training? Vision + HFT. I don’t remember all

the tools because time has passed.

· when I watch my textbook I remember my vision => change from hut to concrete

house.

· explanation of the vision:

o this is my vision (where I am now). First I produce maize, start poultry,

fattening sheep, then I try to construct concrete house. After three years I

try to get about 50.000 BIRR => to construct my house. How far is she

now? Now I start from poultry, already fattened sheep, after I sell them, I

start fattening calf/ox => when I sell them => construction of home

o after picture was showed/understood (shown by trainer) => she could

draw one herself. But not similar to the trainer’s. What was on her trainer’s

picture? I don’t remember.

· did she share picture with husband?

o yes. What did he say about it? It consulted us; he was happy about it.

Did he draw one himself? He did not draw one himself, he also had same

house etc, not necessary. “If we can change our lives, and that of our

children, I agreed to picture”

o maize (also husband participating)

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· will she draw a new one after this one is accomplished? yes. She wants to buy a

car.

· Can she explain HFT? Root/branches. Cost coffee ceremony + cost of myself, my

house; then husband’s area. How much BIRR for every branch? Reduction of chat

· She does not know how much he will save. But he has stopped chat chewing.

· Purchase of clothes and coffee reduced. Chat: now stopped only half

(inconsistency). How come? I tried to convince him by discussion. Is it because of his

friends? “His friends are not leading his home, he should first think of his home”

· Expense of ceremonies (ramadam etc) => also reduced (cost tef, meat)

· How much have you saved by cutting coffee ceremonies?

o I know how much I saved with cutting coffee/chat but money is already

spent to poultry and other activities.

· Anything else she remembers from training? No too much time has passed.

· Favourite tool: HFT

· anything difficult in training? Not really

· How did she share with husband? She showed the picture, he did not immediately

understand, then she explained, he was happy and accept it

· Difficult to convince him to chew chat?

o before: also tried to stop chat, but he couldn’t. But with picture, he was

happy, and tried to stop chat. Friends are pushing him to chew chat

before picture.

· did he think about stop seeing his friends and focus on family?

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o Some friends ask her: “after training he has stopped chewing chat, they

asked: was this training about chat? Then she tries to show them HFT,

then they also stop (???)”

o before he went to city to chew chat with friends

o communication has also increased

· did he think about increasing income?

o they discussed about income, expenses…

· how does she see the role of SNV, how can SNV help her more?

o I’m happy with organization, is working for us, advices us, organization

supports people.

· What can be improved: that is your plan, not my plan.

· did stopping with coffee ceremonies change her personal life?

o no problem.

· does husband also help with chores in house (washing kids, food etc)?

o yes he supports here.

· is it a good thing?

o yes.

· would she prefer him to also help with cooking food or not?

o when I’m cooking, he might be washing clothes etc…

· can a man not prepare food?

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o he can prepare, eg. cooking wat

o does it happen a lot? tomorrow holiday with start ramadam.

· Has she shared her training with others?

o around 4-5 persons.

o what did she share? unnecessary costs, chat, coffee ceremony not

good for life; she adviced them. Did they listen to her? They listened but

did not stop. Did women stop with coffee ceremony? Yes, some reduced.

o was it easy to share this with the others? Yes easy.

o Mostly close friends/family or normal friends as well? Neighbors.

· Has she seen some changes in community since training?

o some women asked her: why did you stop participating in the

community? I said: I am changing life, when I am with you I’m not

changing my life; they appreciate that.

· Was it not tempting to go back to “old life”? No.

· Has she seen other wives and husbands communicating better now? Yes some

are working on HFT. Robin: can you tell names; she tells some names.

· I’m happy with organization, we are happy with organization following up,

supporting us, interviews.

Interview K

Very open person, felt really appreciated

· life before training/general life

o first: l emphasizes importance of follow up, he’s grateful for interview

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o Used to chew chat, every two days instead of every day (reduced).

However, he has chat in his garden. 100 BIR he can earn if he sells

instead of chews.

o 1 wife, 7 kids, who go to school. Father has two wives. They’re living in

kebele.

o He cultivates maize, tomatoes, onion, wheat

· how did he learn about possibility of training?

o before training, we didn’t know about income, expenses and how to

manage these. Training helped us to manage this.

o First he talks about process of selection (4 champions selected by

Linda). He is leader of irrigation cooperative => he was consulted.

Criteria: fighting with wife, chewing chat addiction => with these criteria =>

he discussed with committee of cooperative who would be selected, two

male, two female (4 original champions). They were sent to training, came

to village later and showed some change. “We saw the change in these

persons”

o previously involved in selection of potential champions. so consulted to

make selection, and then he became a champion afterwards

o In this kebele, everyone is addicted to chat; shouting, complaining,

fighting with wife.

o He himself trained by champion (he is new champion).

· what made him decide to also follow training?

o after training, they made a good change in their homes.

o shared it with the members of coop. They became interested to listen,

training, then he accepted to be trained himself.

· memories of training? Vision + HFT

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o vision to produce vegetables (onion, tomatoes)

o he remembers meaning of leaves, root, trunk of the HFT

o inspired him to improve his way of living: he began to think again how to

change his way of life.

· Did he accomplish this?

o vision = onion + tomatoes. But market is failing, prices are failing, falling

=> for the time being he shifted to maize, wheat. He needs more finance

for tomatoes

· Practicalities training: twice a week (Wednesday and Sunday), around 15 days

and then it was completed.

· Previously, I had pride as a husband, I commanded her, so there was

disagreement among us. Due to training, he changed his way of cooperating with wife;

improved way of living; he developing the usage of helping wife (fetching water when she

is cooking food, providing firewood, he says: “You can ask her, she is there”.

· How did his wife react to him suggesting to help her out in these household

chores?

o She asks him often: “Do you remember that you made this change after

the training. She is also interested in the training, supporting in

household”

· training about producing crops, onion, vegetables, how they live to gether how to

maintain economy, how to improve live through cooperation together, participate

together with wife in workshop with new champions: WORKSHOP IN REDDIET

HOTEL, exchange of ideas, experiences, changes in their life, improvements of

cooperation => he and his wife went home afterwards, discussing about how to

cooperate with her, improve life. He was never aggressive to her but some

changes were needed and they agreed on that.

o REDDIET HOTEL MEETING was very important to them: hearing about

other’s experience => inspiration. + being there with his wife

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o afterwards, they shared not only within cooperation, but also in kebele

meeting, how to cooperate in the community.

o How sharing? workshop: sharing with pictures; at the meeting in

kebele=> orally, talking, sharing, discussing

o together with his friends, he also discussed, shared about changes in

life, they were very interested.

· Were there people less interested/open to hear this?

o Better work together with cooperatives, administration of kebele.

But majority was interested. Some not”

· we are trying to reach more people, how would it be easier to reach them?

o more and better training. It will be continued by YOU.

o champion training from bottom to top. economically less with

behavioural problems => this was previously => those are the facilitators

=> it is important to involve coop, work together, also train them. Better

work together with cooperatives, administration of kebele.

o So do the cooperatives have a crucial role?

o also more the village administration and coop (irrigation, primary

coops etc) should be involved => they can share more easily in the

community. Training and sharing will be easier.

o Top to bottom is also helpful for sharing/training. They are listened

to in the community => others can follow. Irrigation cooperative, primary

cooperatives, administration of kebele. Access to community.

o But change starts from themselves! Participating rather than learning in

PALS => begin from change, showing change to others.

Economically/socially unacceptable people showing change.

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o So would we have to involve more authoritative people to work with?

Combine lower/higher status people in community? Yes

· Isn’t there the problem that people with status are more busy?

o if those lower people are training, and the higher administration people

are informed by participating in workshop, it will not be a new thing. They

also are aware of PALS, voluntary. Kebele people are more heared,

respected. When they tell to the people, they are facilitating at the back.

You (Snv) should make them aware, involve them.

· Anything we can improve?

o we have to communicate, discussing changes, follow up => your

coming is part of training. He also underlined that knowledge is more

important than per diem payment; knowledge more important. Follow-up

is important, on status, challenges, changes.

o if you fall apart, you forget each other, we have to meet each other.

Once every two weeks, they meet together to discuss kebele issues, to

save together VSLA (village saving association), they meet each other,

about saving

· Can you give an example of an issue discussed at these meetings?

o previously, they had problems with irrigation coop. (was weak). They

were saving in kind (maize, wheat). Previously: weak relations, they come

together how to strengthen importance coop, so that it becomes stronger;

nowadays saving together in kind and cash. Now they shared with this

some shares of the union. Problem of weak organization becomes

stronger.

· Example of more discussion with wife

o before training, many extravagancies to use income, they have a

problem. Discussion: how to improve our lives, how to use income

appropriately; open bank account together (husband and wife) =>

check and control together, saving together, give her a chance to

control what is happening, especially regarding finances. “I can add

another thing”: they also save at home/house, they have box to

save, which they save to bank to save together (see picture!)

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o “you can ask her, I’ll call her” (we said we can believe you) => you can

always ask her.

o We have improved a lot in this neighbourhood

· Next investment?

o land at Butajira, they have house there, they want to cement it, construct

fence in concrete, build house; this is their next plan.

· Initially there were problems in village, tell me about it

o he shared to people in village, to couples, when they discussed one to

five (development group, five people together => share together, how they

can improve in household => they showed some changes)

o what would help him to achieve this? (to do this even more)?

o main thing is to change mind. Is most important to change mind. If NGO

brings a lot of assets here, it is useless if people don’t know how to use it.

To avoid harmful practices: one family is not enough. All people have to

be aware of negative features. Not cooperating with wife, working

together, first we have to change, and then we have to change other

people, then it is more effective. Change lives together to work together.

· can you tell an example of when it was more difficult to hear

o he hasn’t faced any difficulty => people believe him, are accepting him. When

he advices them => he has earned this respect not because of authority but

because of his behaviour. people have knowledge, they have changed their

minds, but have a problem with finance, investment. They have their vision but

also shortage of finance. Would be good to increase their sources of finance, so

we can complete changes

Interview L

· not married, 24 years old

· recently started with onion crops + peppers (producing for half a hectare)

(previously producing tomato: but climate conditions were not good, loss making crops,

after training choosing what kind of crops => onions)

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· brother and father are helping him. Profits are shared after sale of harvest (also

selling the egg)

· Parents are cultivating maize + wheat (onions yield more profits) but problem is

working capital requirement for onion (but net income is higher)

· he became acquainted with new champion (discussion with champion who is

doing better) => then others see that he is doing better => inspiration, curiosity. When

someone in the village notices someone else with an improved life, they are eager to ask

him

· 2 times 3 hours of training

· champions shows drawing, then the other participants have to draw it too.

Champion shows and introduces his own picture.

· HFT = most fun, especially to understand family, to know your relation with family.

He also tries to train his family so they discuss the HFT as well, the differences between

themselves, also the income of their household, and how they support their son. “they

need to have a happy family to support me”

· parents now know the income and expenses, now they can discuss what assets to

buy, how to support me

· “I was enjoying Chat with my friends in the city, sharing the HFT with friends” =>

he is now reducing his chat consumption. His friends first asked him why he was not

chewing chat anymore. He advices his friends not to chew too much chat/smoke

cigarettes. He asks them: “why not save some money, make an investment”.

· Friends see me busy on my field, are curious. Around 10 friends in network that

might see

· something you would like to see different?

· useful training, “my friends see that I am improving”

· 2 times 3h a week = enough time but suggests that the vision journey and HFT

could be taught at school (would be useful/opportune in his view for kids)

· difficulties sharing the insights with friends

· his friends ask him to train them, but don’t have the exercise book, the pens etc.

Friends observe his picture

· vision journey also used by parents, discuss this tool. Parents have drawn a

concrete house for vision. Vision = construct concrete house. Now they are working to

achieve this.

· Changes in what mom and dad do? Parents used to spend money without

long-term perspectieve, now they discuss with HFT, start saving, if they want to

purchase/sell anything they discuss.

· “we need the organization, eg. for starting capital” => for horticulture they need

starting capital. He would like more support of SNV workers in that field.

· he also wants a concrete house and to marry.

Interview M

o F; wife and husband trained together by Jemanesh

o Changes. Previously, disagreements with husband but now they discuss and

interchange ideas

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o About the training. She preferred the production planning and the happy family tree

because family relation is the basis for everything else. Follow ups are motivating her.

Vision journey: her vision is to have a bigger house. Opportunities: she has a farm.

Challenges: financial resources, waterpump, sand, donkey to carry stones. She has the

same vision as her husband in terms of house constructing, but his plan is to have a

horse cart for transportation means of rural people to town and making money like this.

But he is also supporting her in her planning.

o After the training. She already started to have poultry (10 chicken but she is planning

to have more) and she wants to do ox fattening as well (not yet started).

o Sharing with others. She started sharing with others. Sharing is not difficult for her.

o Future. She needs waterpump.

o Remarks. Interview took place at Jemanesh place so she was also around.

Interview N

o F; illiterate; trained by Jemanesh

o About the training. She liked the production calendar. Her vision is to have a vehicle to

generate more income. She needs financial support, mainly for a waterpump.

o Changes. Reduced costs related to coffee, she used to drink coffee 4 to 5 days per

week. Now, only one day per week. It costed 50 birr for coffee, but now only 5 birr per

week. With this money, she purchased poultry (13 chicken) and sheep. Now, they are

using improved seed for their own maize farming and are using fertilizer so their

production can be improved. Previously, she also had problems with husband. She also

shared and discussed with him so that the home situation is improving now. Her

husband reduced chat chewing. She tries to be a member of VSLA.

o Sharing. She started sharing for 2 people. One didn’t accept her, but the other did.

The one that accepted her is also reducing costs of coffee and is using improved seed.

o Remarks. Immediately started naming all changes she made, before I was able to ask

her name. She didn’t know anymore what all her pictures mean. Jemanesh was

listening.

Interview O

o F; 25y old; 2 children (1y and 4y); married and trained by her husband; her parents

live in the same village

o About the training. Her vision is to have love between her and her husband and to

have a good relationship. Her activities: retailing of maize, making matrasses, household

activities: preparation of food, washing clothes, cleaning the kids, … Joint activities:

when she is preparing coffee, he is also doing something (eg fetching water, taking care

of the kids). His activities: providing water, farming. She was trained one day per week (2

hours per day) for ten days. She woke up early to already prepare the food to then be

able to attend training. She liked the song about vision where they were dancing

together. Nothing was more difficult because it is a good lesson. She would like to have

more training on business skills, more specifically she wants more financial support and

follow ups. She would like experts of keeping sheep to come to her and advise her (eg

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which kind of medication they need). Example: people of VSLA came over to see what

she was doing with loan money and ask her for financial information, this motivates her.

Also, she is health worker and follows up the sanitation of others and if they keep their

house clean. They also came to do it at her place.

o Changes after the training. They started saving because she got to know the benefits

thereof. She used to fight with her husband because he was chewing chat, was always

with his friends in town until midnight. Now, he comes home early, he is farming, they are

discussing things and most of his expenses are reduced. They also have sheep now and

a small cow. Now, he is also supporting her (eg looking after the children). She also

became member of VSLA and took a loan of 500 birr. Previously she was only working

at home, now retailing maize. She became more empowered, if she doesn’t agree, she

discusses with her husband. Example: he wanted to sell the sheep and she didn’t agree

so she discussed with him and challenged him. After his training, he inclined to discuss

with her but mainly after her training, she started to discuss with him. He was also

trained so it was not difficult for her to do this.

o Reactions of others. Her relatives are happy because of her changes. She also shared

to friends and neighbours about her changes, they are also happy for her and

appreciating her. Also some friends show some changes in her life, they started retailing

together with her. At kebele – level, people are organised under 1 to 5 as a result of

government structure. So she is leader of 4 other people and they are discussing on

sanitation, health and security issues, so that made it easy for her to share with these

people her insights and they are also accepting her. She was chosen as a leader

because she is more literate than the others.

o About the future. She is planning to pay back current loan and take more loan. She

wants to build her house in Butajira and to educate the kids there. She wants to intensify

her retailing activities to achieve the vision. 5 years ago she went to Arab country

because of better income, then already she had the dream of building her house in

Butajira. When she came back, she married but she still has that vision.

Interview P

o M; 23y old; 9 months of marriage; trained together with his wife by Abdu (friend living

in the same kebele); his father and mother died earlier so he is also leading his parental

family of 3 older sisters but because he is a man, all resources are therefore in his hands

o About the training & changes. He was chewing chat and drinking together with Abdu

but he withdraw from the group and made some changes, then he became interested in

the training.

Changes. He chewed chat before training and drunk alcohol. He spended around 100

birr per day thereon. He also invited his friends and was often drinking beers and

dancing in town. His money management was very poor, he didn’t know his income and

expenses. He was also fighting with his sisters because of chewing chat, he beat them.

He actually planned continuing drinking and chewing, but the training made him

completely shifting hisd decision and that is unforgettable for him.

They trained two days per week for 3 months. After the training, he got married, reduced

chat (he only chews at certain festivities) and drinks and visioned things. He started to

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save and diversify his income sources. He mainly liked HFT, that was for him the turning

point: he learned about income and expenses. He also started discussing with his sisters

on income and expenses. His sisters are not farming, but all doing home activities. He

also joined the village association and even became a leader of the association. It is

great that they were able to acquire this knowledge for him. Follow-up support is crucial

because it motivates. He would like to have more training on vision journey, more

specifically the financial analysis and identifying business, what business is good.

Training was clear for him, but he finds it difficult to objectively represent something by

drawing it. He would like it better to represent things with words.

o Daily activities. He started ox fattening and sold it afterwards. Today, he achieved his

vision of having a horse cart. Costs 12 000 birr. He employed another person, being his

brother, to ride the hose cart. Also, he employed his sister in law to work on poultry.

Weekly he gets 200 birr from the horse cart. He sold the ox for 10 000 birr and then took

a loan of 2000 birr to buy the cart.

o Reactions of others. They are still members of their group of friends that are still

chewing and drinking, they are joking with Abdu and him. He replied that they have to

take care of their family. His friends are justifying on age, they find themselves to young

to save. But some other friends changed because of his sharing. Because he is a leader

of the association, he could share easily. He is also leader of the government structure

1-5 so there he is also sharing the tools.

o Remarks. Woody said she felt he was telling the truth.

Interview Q

GENERAL REMARKS (OH): balanced testimonial, discussions with husband although

he discourages her to participate in farming. Well aware of financial situation and

possibilities.

o F; 22y old; 3y of marriage; wife and husband trained together by Abdu; member of

VSLA, coop and kebele

o Changes for the husband. Previously: great expenses, now: reduced chat and thus

saving but not fully quitted because addicted. He chews chat alone.

o Changes for herself. Started saving and took loan (1000 birr) and bought 2 sheep with

it that are pregnant now (can give birth between 6m to 1y). She could save because she

was inspired after the training. Only when she saved, she could get a loan with the

association.

o About the loan. She decided for the loan together with husband, they agreed also to

buy sheep. He is also member of VSLA. Reason to go for sheep was that she saw from

other people that sheep was good. First they discussed on who was taking the loan (both

had the right) and decided to only take a loan for one of them, she took the loan. No

particular reason why her, but better one person than both of them (more difficult to pay

back). VSLA has own rule that you can maximum take a loan for 3 times of saving so

she saved around 400. They came together for saving 2 times a month: “saving day”.

She saves 20 birr every month and he 40.

o They also have poultry (10) to produce eggs. That is her income. Before training, she

didn’t have one chicken => increase of income.

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o About the training. She joined the training because Abdu (1st champion) is a relative

and he brought a change to his life. She stopped in the middle of the training because

she got sick. She liked vision, her vision was constructing a better house and she is

working on poultry therefore. After she stopped, husband completed the training but

didn’t show her what she missed but she also didn’t ask for it (she gave no reason for it,

she forgot because she was busy). She has no drawing on HFT because she missed

that tool. But she did see the drawing of the husband and discussed about it. Also, she

didn’t ask Abdu to teach her again afterwards.

o Division of tasks/income in the household. They have quarter of land, husband

produces maize besides sheep keeping (and thus gets all income from these activities)

and selling his labour (he can get 100 birr per day from this at big time of harvesting).

She thinks maize is very interesting crop because it requires not a lot of investment and

needs less pesticides than other crops, also fertilizer is easy accessible for them. Her

main task: keeping chicken + housing tasks. She likes the division like this. Income from

the maize: 20 countar (1 countar = 700 birr) per year (maize harvest only once a year

possible). Her income: 1 egg is 3 birr, she supplies 50 egg per week to the market so

she earns 150 birr per week. Husband is also helping to wash the child and helping her

to look after the poultry. She likes that he washes the child because then she can do

other activities at home. Washing the children and poultry she does together with

husband. She also wants to farm to increase income. She discussed this with husband

but he didn’t agree because she has to take care of child and prepare food and

therefore, she doesn’t have the time. She will continue her discussion. On the other

hand, farming is really hard work so she is happy now.

o Future dreams. She would also like to have her husband buy a cow for her to be able

to make milk and cheese, income thereof is always for the women normally. She

discussed with husband one month ago and expects him to buy. Cow costs 10 000 - 12

000 birr. Also, she would like her husband to fully cut his expenses on extravaganza and

spend more into the household. Husband is also intended to have loan and take lease to

work on his own land instead of selling his labour but it is costly: 3000-4000 birr per

quarter of land but he has this plan.

o Sharing with others. She hasn’t shared with others because she is at home most of

the time except if she goes to the market on market day. People didn’t ask them about

their changes.

Interview R

o M; 3 children; married; trained by Imerit together with his wife; his father has 3 wives

and his mother is one amongst those 3

o Daily activities. Harvesting of avocado, mango, cabbage. He also has 1 donkey, 1 ox

and 1 cow. Also, he is selected as a leader in his village. Activities of his wife: producing

local alcohol, poultry (15 chicken), last time they got 2000 birr by selling this poultry.

They discuss on how to use the money. Last time, they invested in purchase of fertilizer

and improved seed. With the remaining money, she suggested to take a contract of ¼

land. They bought it for 1200 birr. They save weekly: 10 birr for direct saving association

and 1 birr for social saving. He took a loan of 3000 birr and now he harvests maize on

the land. They agreed that they will first pay off this loan and then is wife will take

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another. Earnings: donkey cart: 80-90 birr per week so +- 320 birr per month, poultry:

they purchase for 50 birr and sell at 250 birr, because of reduction in consumption of

kale: savings of 150 birr per month.

o About the training. Initially, he was not really interested in the training but afterwards

he became. He is able to plan thanks to training. He now wants to build a house at urban

area Enseno and rent it out. He likes HFT a lor, makes husband and wife working

together, supporting each other. Eg if she is cleaning kids, I have to fetch water. He also

discussed his drawings with his wife. Their visions are the same: building house at urban

area and supporting their kids. 1 hour per week for 2 months. They started with 4 people

but only 3 completed the training.

He says that they still need to do some changes in the household, his wife still needs to

do some changes and therefore he wants to know the HFT better and better. Eg wife

gets income from local alcohol production and without consulting him, she is giving the

money to relatives to support them and HFT is all about discussion and consultation of

eachother. He says that follow up is important, because people will forget the tools. Even

because the project is temporary, there are people that are illiterate and they need follow

up to remind them and motivate them. He says that he looks at the tools again and again

because we may question him about them.

o Changes. Before training, he was chewing chat and drinking alcohol. He was fighting

with his wife. He used the money he made from maize and he also sold sheep for chat.

After the training, he realized this was a problem so reduced chat and alcohol. As a

result, relationship with wife improved. Because he was able to save money, he bough a

donkey cart. His children can make money that way during the weekend. He also fulfills

the needs of the house with this money. He also bought kale cabbage by selling maize to

consume at home but now he is consuming less at home.

o Household activities. He supports his wife. He fetches water. When wife is tired from

market day, he also cooks food at home. He is very happy with this. Previously, a

division of work at home, but now he is very interested to work in the house as well.

Some friends don’t get the benefit of working together and are making jokes about it, but

some are appreciating. These are also getting rid of the strict division of tasks in their

households. He is also recently selected as leader of the village because of his changes.

Socially he became more accepted and respected thanks to its changes of attitude and

generating income. His mother said: “why are you doing your wives work? This will not

contine, you have to be the example for your kids. From where do you learn this, your

father is not like this.” He then replies to his mother than her thinking is old-fashioned.

o Sharing with others. He is sharing with his friends because they liked his changes, his

way of treating his wife and reducing chat. They are also joking with it but are changing

themselves as well.

o Future. They are now only harvesting once a year but it should be 3 or 4 times and

therefore they need a waterpump for irrigation. He wants to live in urban area and

building their house there.

Interview S

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· Family situation: I’m living like any other farmer, father has died since childhood;

married last year, living with mother, now they both support his mom (he and his wife).

Two sisters, one in an Arab country, other one lives here

· Division of the tasks at home? Mom has a trade (weaving baskets), purchases some

mais from city nearby; she is a merchant. She also supports home activities: cooking

food; additionally, after training from Abdul, I created a job for her (porter?); now I also

have a shop

· How did he got acquainted with champion? We discussed training and made a

planning with him (champion).

· Has he approached the other champion to be trained? After training, he immediately

got married; now often times he is with his wife and ceremonies, so busy. He does not

train, but he shares with his friends (three); his friends ask him: Why you draw? But now

they also understand HFT. Thre close friends already know the tools.

· His trainer is called Sedriz

· Before training, did he also see the pictures of the other champions? No he did not

see the pictures before, he was selected by Sedriz

· How many times training? Per week two times (nine to ten); at least four months

· Where organized? Well organized, we were five; even if one person is not attending

=> we have a penalty because he agreed first. First punishment; if he does not

participate => warning. If a person fails to participate, he asks the trainer to understand

tool. If he not attends 1 time/two times: ten birr… different penalty (monetary) (rond

minuut 16). Money Is collected, after we accomplish training, we make a ceremony/party

with coffee ceremony, prepare food, they enjoy; at least 10 persons participate (other

people also take part). He is very happy about this program.

o He had to pay penalty himself, twice, but he is happy about is, because

it makes him participate and think of it.

o Reasons: first day after fattening ox => Saturday, market day;

o Second time he forgot to wake up because of weather conditions

· Moment that he remembers: HFT (although forgot the name); root with balance

man/female.

o What did he draw? At that time I was not married but I already told my

mom; after married, afterwards he has shown it to wife. She was also

happy

· What did they discuss (he and his wife)?

o After training: start with vegetables, and we discuss about our lives (with

wife), where we would find money; he also started a minishop

· How does the plan to change his life look like?

o After training, we see ourselves; we think and we plan for the work;

poultry, cabbage; shop… all parts of his plan, according to economic

capacity.

· Decision to opt for cabbage? Before I did not think about cabbage, he was mostly

thinking about cultivating chat but cabbage is better for me; also for income, but also for

consumption in the house (multipurpose).

· Next crop: I’m also producing beans and will perhaps also cultivate chat. I also want

to produce coffee (1/8 of the hectare); also continue mais and wheat

· The choice for cabbage: done aftr discussion with wife?

o Yes, and she is also helped

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· And the poultry?

o Yes, is managed by her

o Very profitable; already sold some hens, for buying sheep

· Is shop working out well? Yes she is running it; selling, meanwhile, she manages

the poultry

· Did he buy/rent shop? The house is constructed by us, concrete house, also with

money from sister (from Arab country where she is working).

o 50/50 concerned.

o He also consumes things from the shop but now also made profit

o 2000 birr in material invested

o Has he already discussed something regarding shop with woman?

§ Yes, mom is trainer, discussed before opening shop, discussion

with all family

o if new item is to be sold? Who decides? We discuss, but wife decides

most of it; she is managing shops and poultry, she bears responsibility; if

everyone would work on the shop, it would not be good; she has a good

insight in what sells well.

o Is she happy with shop? She is very happy, responsible for shop,

working hard.

o Are there a lot of shops in neighbourhood? Close to their neighbourhood

not so much, but further, yes, but they discuss between these shops,

when one material is lacking. She (wife) has a good idea about pricing,

she knows what price to ask?

· Other pictures he drew during the training?

o Only HFT

· Was it also the plan to reduce some of the expenses?

o Before training: lot of chat chewing, with friends, who also smoke

cigarettes

o I no longer smoke it since training, no more drinking either

o First, friends were not voluntary, they asked why he did not join? After

long discussions , they have also stopped smoking; one of his friends also

stopped chat.

o One of my friends initially did not want to stop, but after long time, he

stopped and now he is grateful to him.

· Relation with other four champions that were trained with him?

o We train in local language

o Most of training is about development, discussing ourselves + training

· Something more difficult in training? No problem, training was in the school; no

problem.

· Did he have notebook and pencil? Yes – He got if from Zulfa?

· What can SNV do (more)?

o We started saving with saving association – is really helping us.

Borrowing from village. He took loan from saving association; he already

repaid the loan. He already bought two sheep. He is fattening sheep (they

ar for fattening)

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o I took loan of 300, had savings of 100. Bought poultry, when they had

becom bigger, sold them for 200. Purchase of sheep + repay loan

· How much land + animals does he own?

o 2 cows, 1 calf, 1 ox

o 0,5 hectare more or less

o Does he plan to buy more land? Half a hectare is not enough for us for

livelihood. Contract with other farmer for one fourth of hectare for home

consumption, which costs 1500 per year.

o Already planned for purchase of land: for maize, is more for

consumption at home

· I tried to know my annual income from agriculture

· After training: nice time, not only planning. Before training: only maize eating. But

afterwards, we purchase tef and wheat from the part of maize we sell > more healthy.

time before and after training Not comparable

· Have you also tried fertilizer and other techniques?

o Improved seed

o Without fertilizer also, land is not so productive (learned from kebele

development agent)

· is there something else he tries to change? (crops, relationship with mom…?)

o Yes, I discuss with my family; before I did not closely discuss this with

my family. His consumption standard has also changed.

· Future goal?

o Purchase city land, and construct house in Butajira

o How much would it cost? Depends on time/condition etc. At this year

500.000 BIRR. But next year will be different.

o How long would he need to save to accomplish this? My vision: three

years for city house.

· What does your sister do? (1 in Arab country, other one…)

o Is living with grand (mother/father?)

· Any changes noticed in community since training?

o Friends are changing, they are following my style => when I purchase

poultry, they do it too, he is “leading them”

o Does he like leading them? Yes, I’m very happy, when he tried to

convince friend to stop smoking, he first had a conflict with him, but now

he has changed as well; he would be happy if that person will achieve

other things like me.

o Other friends also ask him. (confusing bit at 1:18 in which it is maybe

covered up that his friends are not all that enthusiastic). He also showed

his pictures; one friend already bought a textbook to draw HFT. He

wanted to know what the pictures all represented (OH: see below. Not all

friends are that open it appears. Inconsistency…)

· How was it to share pictures/explain it…

o Show picture => first joking (childish etc) => but later, after explaining,

he changed

o After he understood picture of HFT, he bought a book to draw as well

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o Others friends are still joking about pictures and do not volunteer to

participate. Does it hurt him? He spends less time with them; more time

for personal life; no problem for him.

· Other champions in his training: have changed as well in what to cultivate/buy

· Discussion with Zufa about choices (what crop, what animals)

o First she followed us, followed up our plans

o She shared her own experience, plans, what she has achieved

o Still following up now (according to Shimelis)

· Anything else to share?

o Light is needed for chicken => has to use a lamp for chicken, this is a

problem??

Interview T

· Family situation: married, lives with his wife, 3 children (all daughters)

o Has 3 sisters and 2 broth0ers who are all married

· Division of labour

o Himself on the land: 0,5 ha land -> harvests maïs

o Wife does household tasks & trades pepper

o They take care of the chickens together (only said after being asked if

they do activities together)

§ Plan to go from chicken to sheep to ox (rising profitability)

· Discussed with his wife on HFT to reduce cost and increase income

o Started chicken because of this discussion

· Training

o Wolkito was his trainer

o 1 day (Thursday) per week for 3 hours -> 17 days in total -> 50 hours

o Learned first vision, then vision journey and then HFT

§ Vision, could explain concept very well but did not give his ultimate

goal (miscommunication with Shemeeli)

· First step: poultry -> achieved

· Second step: irrigation -> not achieved (need more

money)

o Plan from poultry to ox to be able to have enough

money for irrigation

o Other plan is getting loan from government

together with 4 of his friends -> grow tomatoes and

use profit for irrigation

o HFT is his favourite tool

§ When he got home, he showed his drawing and explained it to her -

> she was very happy

§ They discussed about how to save cost and generate more income,

what he will do, she will do and what together.

§ Save cost: she will do less coffee ceremony, give less when a new

child is born. He will stop drinking and go less out of town.

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· Was easy for them to stop because they were thinking

about their household instead of themselves.

§ His first thoughts were why didn’t I learn this tool earlier, I’m wasting

my life here

§ Teacher shows his HFT and explains everything, then they have to

draw it for themselves

§ Likes that it is with drawings, was easy to do this way

o Was asked by trainer to be trained

§ Was immediate convinced

o Materials provided by SNV

§ He gives papers of his notebook to the others that he is training

o Wants more training that can improve his life further

o Is sharing the tools with others

§ Is making new friends because of it

§ His community status is higher now

· Better clothes and shoes, washes himself

· Wants follow up

Interview U

· Life before training

o was chewing chat with his friends, his productivity on the field was not

good.

· Farming

o Harvests mais

o Tried peppers but was destroyed by disease

· Family

o Married for 6 months (after training)

o lived with his family, now with his wife

o 4 sisters and 4 brothers

· Training

o Trainer was Abdo, Abdo asked him to train

o He knew Abdo was not good before training, but he saw the changes in

Abdo and he was an example for him

o Meeting one time a week on Sunday for 3 hours for 2 months -> 24

hours

o Abdo shows drawing and explains it, then he draws for himself

o HFT

§ Coffee ceremony reduced from 3 per day to 1 per day

§ Himself he reduced chewing chat by 50%

§ Learns to manage costs and income

§ Cost calculation was most helpful -> how to save money

o Some challenges

§ In the trainings, they were thinking about the past, it was painful to

think about the past

§ Family was complaining that he was spending time getting trained

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§ Friends also couldn’t understand why he was getting trained

· He responded that he could train his friends if they want,

otherwise they should not call him anymore

· His friends then accepted his training and were happy for

him that he made good economic progress

· Because his life is so much better now, he didn’t care that

he lost some friends

o Next training, he wants would be about agricultural activity

§ Examples: fattening and milking cow

§ Higher productivity of crops

· If there is now conflict in the community, he tried to resolve the conflict with the help

of HFT now

· Started with poultry after training

o Plan is to have enough money for water pump for irrigation

· Family sees that he is on the good way, they say if you now fall back, we are not

your family anymore

· Morally happy but needs working capital

Interview U

· Life before training

o previously, before training, she stayed long time with neighbors,

chatting, drinking coffee, etc. Did not know what to do. But later on, after

training, she became organized with association, saved money, began

poultry production.

o What else does she do in daily life? work for sheep, tried with seedling

of cabbage but unsuccessfully. wants to sell 2 sheep she is currently

fattening.

o she is living with her mom, not married. Does she has to take care of

her mom? Yes, she is the only one taking care of her, supporting her. Can

she manage to take care of her mom with only her income? Yes it’s good.

Did the training help with that? Yeah, she is caring for the sheeps, now

one is giving birth to a lamb, also feeding the sheep. She takes care of the

sheep. Sheep caring + poultry are her source of income.

· training impact?

o she has become able of her vision, producing cabbage and sheep

keeping, poultry production. After training she began to produce cabbage,

poultry, sheep… she is also related to champion (sister of her husband).

o she lives with mom: what to do for change, she began to think =>

poultry. But poultry was affected by disease (in certain season, poultry

died) => then she began to think: what to do to change her life => now

thinking about sheep. Choice for sheep: easier to manage. “Cabbage: can

be easily done by women.”

o sheep are given birth => more earnings expected.

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· Income at the moment: selling egg 100 BIRR per week. From sheep not yet

income (are giving birth).

· She became interested in training after others told her about it. She was trained by

Mebit.

· Organization of training

o Once a week for 2 months (8 days in total trained)

o can you tell about a change you particularly liked? she appreciated the

changes of her trainer. When she went to her parents home, she stayed

there for 2 months, afterwards she came back. Her mom was also very

interested in training; she is working for her change. (difficult to

understand, see minute 17)

o previously, she complained about aggressive husband, but now they are

discussing together, about farming, together. Great change.

· what did she like about training?

o she liked all the tools, mostly HFT => she discussed this with her mom.

She also joked with her mom about this. Did she discuss this with her

mom

o Mom laughed about tree, then we drew together these tools, mom also

appreciated the change.

· How did training impact mom? Her mom also accepted the advice on wise use of

money and savings. She used to not listen to her but now she does, she is also saving

now.

· How did change impact her social life?

o she started sharing with others, they also listened to her (about money

being spent well etc)

o other people who were less receptive?

§ she hasn’t told to the other but she will continue sharing (???)

but she only did it to neighbours, four people.

o she likes the change made (working more), doing nothing she did not

like.

o reaction of friends/family?

o Some positive. Others: Negative reaction: you were paid, you were

trained. The others say: you invite us but we are not paid.

o “Implementing tools can change our lives, so others can follow our way”.

o What do you expect from SNV? => training, follow up

· changes she has seen regarding women/men relations?

o more saving, discussion with wives.

· she has shared (simply talking), but not yet trained.

· How did you share? Give example…

o simply told about tools while going on the way to farm, to the water pit,

about vision, about family relations

o How did people react on this? different people, some say it’s good,

interesting; others say: don’t you have other work to do? Are you

jobless? Why don’t you tell something different. Others are interested.

o It is easy to tell, when she is on the way, while walking together, she

shares about vision etc. Easy to transfer/share for her.

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· changing herself first, then changing others, when they see the change they will

be willing to change.

· what change would she like to do herself?

o she wants to plant coffee (is now most marketed crops), she expects to

gain more income from this. September: she will start to plant.

o Follow-up needed in long term? No change is already clear she said.

· anything to improve? Tools have been taught, now need to put this in practice to

change lives. Now she wants to expand to coffee (income is better).

Interview V

o M; married; 3 children (2 boys and 1 girl); 8 brothers and 2 sisters of which all of them

are married; father and mother also live in kebele but in another house; trained by Yassin

o About the training. 3 hours, 3 times per week for 1 month. His wife also had a training,

but only for 3 days. He liked HFT and his objective is to have love between husband and

wife, cooperation. During the trainings, Yassin was drawing on the black board but also

they were thinking and drawing for themselves. His vision is to have a concrete house

and he already achieved this vision. Journey towards his house: first he was renting

some land from his brother where he produced some tomato and that’s how he made 10

000 birr and he constructed his house. He expected even more money from this, the

harvest was not that succesful, that’s why he didn’t repeat it afterwards.

o About the changes & daily activities. Before the training, he was only doing handcrafts:

digging holes (300 birr for 1 hole) and constructing houses, but after the training also

other activities. Namely: production of kale (375 birr per week earned but only when

production is on market), production of chat (2x per year sold, around 4000 birr per year

earned) a selling eggs of 10 chicken (50 eggs sold per week so 60 birr per week

earned). They now own ½ hectare of land for these activities. Before, they only had ¼

hectare of land for maize production. No loan was taken for the extra land. But het wants

to take loan to be able to do irrigation on the field. He wants to get the loan from micro

finance. To get a loan of 30 000 birr, he needs to save 7000-8000 birr. His wife is also

saving, she is retailing the kale. She is going to the urban areas by donkey cart, they rent

it (10 birr). He wants to purchase a cart if children are older because then they can ride

with it. Wife is also helping digging chat and doing household tasks. For the rest, they

don’t really do activities together. Before the training, only he was generation income.

She was not voluntary and he was also thinking that women were only for household.

After the training, she also started working. She reduced her coffee ceremonies

afterwards and didn’t complain about any social implications afterwards.

o Relation husband-wife after training. They are now discussing and working together to

come to an agreement, eg on their expenses. He is now also supporting his wife, eg

when she is working, he is keeping the children or fetching water. He likes to help her

with these things. He’s also sometimes making coffee. His friends are happy that he and

his wife are supporting eachother. Daughter is also grateful when he is supporting his

wife. His daughter is also supporting her mother in the household because his wife can’t

do everything in the household. They also discuss on how much money is needed for

what and how to spend it.

o Reactions of the others. He is accepted. When his friends saw his changes, they also

made some changes themselves. He also started sharing. He is also a member of the

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association so there he is sharing. He is also showing his drawings and because of that,

some others started drawing as well (he could name 1 and the others are “from in the

village”).

o For the future. He would like to purchase a waterpump + purchase a house in the city

and rent it. His wife sometimes says she wants to go to Arab countries, but he doesn’t

agree. She says that if he doesn’t work hard and bring money, she wants to go to the

Arab countries. His reaction is then that he will work hard. If he would have another

training, one on irrigation would he be interested in. SNV can help by providing a

waterpump.

o He is concerned with what will happen after the training. SNV is follow up and he likes

that in comparison with other NGO’s. This motivates the people. Same effect if Yassin

follows up on him? The problem is that he is not following him up, but it seems a good

idea for him that Yassin organizes a day with all champions to come together once in a

while.

Interview W

What happened since we were here the last time? Were there special things, in your life or

the life of your family? Or maybe nothing has changed, that is also fine.

The change is good. Life has changed, we are trying very hard. Everything has changed

from our previous life.

What is the previous life? When was that? Did something happen in the last 3 months?

Life continues as ealier. I do the things I used to do earlier, but in terms of … no change, I

am going as usual.

on what are you working now? What are you doing now?

we are not doing anything now because we are waiting for the rain to come.

are you producing atkilt?

Recently they produced, so they are not producing any vegetables now.

what kinds of crops did they sell? And did they get a good price?

cabbage, … This year the price has gone down. Last year, it was 300 birr per quinta (?) but

this year was very low and was only 100 birr.

There was a VSLA meeting this morning, so you are part thereof. Can you tell how that is for

you: your savings, how many times you lend, what you are using the money for?

two months ago I lend 1000 birr for the cabbage and when I sold the cabbage, I paid it back

to the VSLA.

How much did she earn thereof?

they sold for 15 000 birr and total cost was 10 000 bir, 9000 from her brother and his friend

and 1000 from VSLA. Profit of 5000.

How long does it take for the cabbage to be produced?

3 months.

Are your friends also part of the VSLA?

Zemzem is also in VSLA.

Is it you or you and your husband together that took the loan?

I took the loan but her husband and her friend as a kind of collateral.

How do they give the guarantee?

Kind of contract agreeing that she gets the money and he and her friend are a witness

thereof.

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Suppose she takes the 1000 birr, goes to Enseno and disappears. What will happen?

The husband and the friend are then resposible.

Has it happened before that somebody took the money and went away?

It has not happened.

What is the most powerful from the VSLA? What makes it work?

When I run out of money, I have a place to go.

But she saved money upfront to be able to be a member. So she made the effort of saving,

what triggered her to save money?

saving is good, but the most important thing is to have access to the loan.

What kind of advantage has VSLA over edir and ekup?

I don’t have any ekup, she does have edir but it is different VSLA. They used to be part of

another saving assocation but didn’t function so stopped working. People taking the loan

had no connection with the government so they took the money away and disappeared.

She trusts the VSLA?

she has complete trust because she is a treasurer.

If she would be a member, would she have the trust?

Even if the bank is not with me, I have complete trust because the members know eachother

very well. There is trust in the neighbours.

Does she always participate with her husband or do they sometimes participate alone?

most of the time, he is the one that goes. Sometimes they are going together, but she is

never going alone.

If she doesn’t go, who takes the responsibility of the treasurer?

Her husband is the one.

If she is not going, what is the reason then?

Because I do the household work. So he gets the responsibility to deposit the money at the

VSLA. I fully trust him.

Is the money at the bank account or still in the box?

It is in the box.

why didn’t he take the loan?

: she went together with him when she wanted to take the loan.

can he also take a loan in the VSLA?

Yes, separately.

And why didn’t he take the loan in this case?

Turn by turn they take a loan. Now it was her turn to take one.

So the cabbage, how do they organize the work among them to grow the crop?

we bought the seed, then we planted it. When it was ready for the market, we took it and

sold it.

Is there a task division for these things?

Husband diggs the field together with the daily laborers and when a pesticide is needed,

they do it. She took care of the household work: making food for daily laborers and making

coffee. He does physical work.

If she could change something in the VSLA, what would it be? Also fine if she doesn’t want

to change anything.

she wants the saving to be very high, as high as 30 000 birr. Then, she wants to connect

saving with government agency. So then to give money as collateral to the government so

they can take loan of higher amount again.

What would she do with high loan?

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Expand production

More land needed for this or not?

Yes, they want to expand production by more land.

Is it fun, serious during VSLA meetings? Or you talking lot? How does it go?

They discuss about cost of living and the loan they take from VSLA is very small amount and

doesn’t even cover costs for 2 bicycles. So they discuss that they want the loans to be

higher.

Did they also save something private, next to the money from the brother and his friend?

they sold sheep and invested that money also for the cabbage

Are they looking forward to the VSLA meeting or is it quickly done and then everybody goes

home?

We want to have discussions there because it is very important.

Do they talk about other things then the cost of living?

They are now discussing the rain because the coming months they plant the seeds.

We also did PALS/GALS, suppose we do another project somewhere else and there is no

budget: should we invest the money in establishing VSLA or in workshop for PALS/GALS?

They would be happy if you invest in VSLA.

Why? What made VSLA more important to her than PALS/GALS?

first she said VSLA, but now she has a second thought and she prefers the training.

Because with the training you get knowledge and you can put knowledge into money.

Can Said also explain why he agrees?

I can relate what I learned in the training with what I am doing on a daily basis.

What about the training made them change? What did she do afterwards? Something

concrete that I can do?

last year, he was growing cabbage and he learned to save money in the training, he got the

intention to save and invest. He went to the bank and deposited it. By saving the profits from

the sale of the cabbage, he constructed a cow house.

Where is the cow house?

Next to this room.

And what about Bilcha?

They learned us to save

Something else that she learned from the training thanks to which she is doing something

different now?

Interview X

can she tell about her life in general?

I have 3 children, 2 daughters (8y and 3y) and 1 son (1y). I grow maize. Generally, life is

OK.

Does she also grow other crops?

Also beans for household consumptions and kind of soja bean for the market. The maize is

primarily for household consumption. If they have too much, they sell it.

How does a day look like for her?

I prepare tea an drink coffee, after that I milk the cow and then I make food for my children.

Before, I used to attend coffee ceremonies most of the time but now I reduced it.

why?

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taking too much coffee is not good for my health. Now I prepare coffee one in three days.

But I prepare also tea for the children. I don’t put coffee every day, but I do when a guests

arrive.

does she still have coffee ceremonies with her friends?

Yes, but the frequency during the day is less than before.

How many times do they drink coffee?

2 or 3 times a week.

What did her friends say when she reduced?

They don’t resist me that much because I shared what I learned.

Are they still having it without her?

They also reduced because she told them what she learned. Now, they only do it once a day

but they used to do it in the morning, during the afternoon and in the evening.

how was it for her to grow up as a young girl?

my childhood was good, she has 4 siblings (3 sisters and 1 brother)

what age did she get married?

she was 18 years old

how did it go? Did she fall in love or was it arranged? Did she know her husband?

They fell in love

what was it that attracted her?

she grew up with her uncle here in the area, her mother lives far away from Butajira. Her

husband also lived here with his parents and that’s how she met him. They went away

together.

why did they ran away?

because he asked her and she was in love with him

what attracted her to him?

he doesn’t chew that much chat, he doesn’t drink and he is better than the others. Before we

ran away together, we had a relationship already.

what is a good husband for her? How does he behave?

someone who doesn’t smoke and chews chat and who doesn’t spend money unnecessarily

and can save.

and what is a good wife according to her?

sme who doesn’t chew chat and who doesn’t say undecent things to her husband. Someone

who is calm and decent and respects her husband.

is there someone in the community that she respects a lot? And why?

in terms of financial capacity, sometimes I wish I had a better house and my husband’s

brother has a better house. In terms of social behaviour, everyone who has a good attitude.

what does it mean a good attitude?

if I have an argument with another person, there are people that want revenge for what you

said. I don’t like that kind of people, I want people that tell immediately what they feel and

think.

when she looks at the brother of her husband, is there something in his life that he did that

brought him to this bigger house? Or was it out of luck?

he send his daughter to arab countries and with that money he build the house

was it also some of her aspirations? Or would she like one of her daughters to do so?

now I don’t want to go because I have my children. I worked there for 7-8 months but I was

only paid for 4,5 months and the other months she worked for her flight ticket.

how old was she?

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she was 22

and her husband stayed alone with the child?

yes.

was it hard?

it is difficult for men to raise children so it was difficult for him. And when I was there, I

missed her so much.

did it gave her extra revenue she otherwise wouldn’t have?

I didn’t have enough money when I returned back. They paid 40 000 birr to her.

how would she like to see the future of her children?

I want them to learn and I don’t want them to go to the arab countries.

does she want them to have the same life as she has now, the farming life? Or what would

she like different?

I want them to go to school to learn here and if I get enough money, I want to rent a house

in the city and I want them to live there.

how does she see it for her daughters?

I don’t want them to work in the farm, I want them to live in the city and be doctors or

teachers. In a life of farming, you work from the morning until the evening, you don’t have

time for yourself.

Would she like to have more children?

if I have the same life, I don’t want more children but if I have an improved life, I would like

more.

how would an improved life look like?

in terms of having a house, a good life style and money to raise children in a good way

can she define for me what she sees as a happy marriage?

she explained again in terms of financial capacity and behaviour, when you are able to cover

your expenses and able to raise children without any worry. My husband is like that.

does she consider her own marriage as a happy marriage?

she sees her marriage as a happy marriage because they have the interest to change. Her

husband really wants to change his life. He works and she has the same attitude.

where is her husband now?

he is farming in the field.

did the training have an impact in her life and can she give a concrete example?

after attending the training, he involves me in the financial decisions he makes. He was also

a hard worker before, but earlier he didn’t involve me in decision making and now he does.

Eg if he wants to sell an ox, he asks her and involves her in the details. Also for the

purchase of seeds of maize.

how did the training reach him? Because she was attending the training?

community open day he saw it

how did she communicate with him about her training in Butajira and what she learned?

I showed him my drawings

how was that communication going? What did they discuss?

I drew the family tree and showed him the expense part and the responsibilities. He listened

to me and accepted it.

did he draw his own tree?

yes.

what about the changes on her level?

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before I spend my time with coffee ceremonies with friends. Now I reduced and I also do

poultry.

how did she explain to her friends that she reduced coffee ceremonies?

I explained to them that you shouldn’t spend your time necessarily. You can do coffee

ceremonie in the early morning and work the whole day afterwards.

what was it about the training that gave her a new insight?

I like the happy family tree. Only when family is happy, you can discuss. I also shared this

with my friend who has a disturbed marriage. I told them and they openly discuss now about

their life.

is she part of any saving groups?

Yes, of the irrigation saving association. It’s her brothers saving assocation. Her husband is

part of it, he saves 22 birr every 15 days.

if I want to go to another region to do the PALS training, is there something we can improve?

nothing I dislike about the training so it is okay.

does she has a female role model in the neighborhood?

Jem: there is nobody. I am struggling to change my life so my focus is on my life.

Interview X

· how is your life now?

· growing mais and hot pepper. They have 4 blocks of land, 2 they have themselves

and 2 they are renting.

· Since when she started renting it

· Last year

· What else does she grow?

· Khat in the garden

· What do they do with crops?

· From the money of selling the khat, they repay their loan for the house. They needed

30 000 Bir to borrow the land. They loaned 20 000 Bir from the sister and the other 10

000 from themselves. The outstanding amount is 10 000 Bir.

· How does her daily life look like?

· She wakes up in the morning and does her salat (prayer). After that, she prepares

coffee. Once she has coffee, she will take the cows out and then she gets ready for

lunch (baking bread and cabbage). After that she starts preparing for dinner.

· How many cattle does she has?

·Before training, we had 1 cow and 1 ox. Then they fattened the cow and sold it to buy 2

oxes.

· the lessons we learned from you had lots of impact on me and on others. For myself,

it started me to work. She trained 5 others and one of them started poultry then sold the

chickens and bought a calf with it.

· Back to daily life, how does the rest of the day look like after preparing dinner.

· Thereafter I take a rest

· And does she farm as well?

· No, I don’t farm, only the plants in the garden

· And if she is on the farm, what is she doing then?

· She puts the seeds in the ground.

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· Something else? Fertilizing?

· Harvesting and collecting, assisting when they pesticide.

· You have 7 children, you have a husband and work yourself? In other families there

is a lot of poverty but with you I see a lot of wellbeing. How did she build this up?

· First they lived in half a house, then the husband started trading hats. They saved

that money. They learned to harvest their production and saved it until the price goes up

and then they sold it.

· Have they always discussed together if about their decisions what to do with the

money?

· After the training we started discussing. Before the training, it was discussion but was

different. Even in some point I left the house because they were in disagreement. She

has a close friend who came in between her in Jamal because she told different stories

at Jamal and Zulfa. But then Jamal called Zulfa to come back and he said that the other

person is the problem.

Is she now still your friend?

· Yes

· At that point he wanted to beat me because of what the other person had told him

but now he wouldn’t do that anymore, it is different

· how was the marriage?

· She was 14 years old and it was arranged.

· Did she seen him before marriage?

· No

· How does she sees it for her children?

· I don’t want her to be married in the same fashion as I did. I want her to learn.

· What would a good husband be to her?

· Financially capable and open for discussion. Someone who listens.

· What does a good wife looks like?

· A good wife is someone who keeps the house clean, herself clean and welcomes her

husband when he comes home.

· she hasn’t mentioned coffee ceremony, is that also part of being a good wife?

· Yes, but we should not gossip in the coffee ceremony

· is there other places where she would gossip?

· When you go on the street, but when I hear it, I tell them not to do it

· Is there a woman she can think of she respects?

· No

· Can she think of a time in her life she was really happy

· Now, we have land a bit far from here as heritage. They sold the eucalyptus tree on

the land for 50 000 Bir, and they discussed to buy a tricycle vehicle with the money. But

the vehicle was 100 000 more, so now they discussed and decided to start poultry on

that land and a new eucalyptus tree on it.

· Do your kids only go to school or do they help you with something?

· When they come back from school they help her with poultry, cooking and cattle.

· What is the most significant change on the PALS/GALS?

· I work, I earn money and I save to reinvest again. And further she can buy homestuff

like pillows.

· And this was not possible before the training?

· No, it reinforced my attitude

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· What is the change she is still waiting for?

· A better life, I want to look good and clean. And I want my children to live in the city

· What would they do in the city?

· In the city they would have a chance to do business. In the rural areas, there is a

shortage of land and electricity.

· he also taught the tools to other people. How was it?

· They were happy that I shared the tools. But many did not know how to draw. It

was there children who drew the pictures. But I told them it was not allowed.

· And did they draw it then themselves?

· They didn’t draw

· How did she make sure that they came to the training?

· The members that not show up are fined 10 Bir

· Did she collect a lot of money

· Nobody was absent

· Is she part of other saving groups than the eider?

· They borrow from friends and families

Interview Y

· tell something about yourself

o 8 children (4 daughters)

o [inaudible]

o together with husband

o No crops; cabbage, I think about what food I will give to my children…

o small amount of crops (maize and colo?), just for themselves. We don’t

grow wheat, tef, beans. No extra space for other crops. Not even

sufficient to sustain family

· how do you sustain you family then?

o daily labourer on other farms. Dig land, plant tomato seeds, dig them out.

· everything from seedling to harvesting?

o whenever person has work, he can call me. If she works well, she can earn

60-70 birr a day.

· How many days/month can she work? 9-10 days if business is good, otherwise 2

days a month

· Husband?

o works as carpenter, earn some money. Earns good amount of money, but

whatever he earns he uses for alcohol and chat.

· Do you know how much he earns?

o She knows how much: 300-400 BIRR per month on average.

· But you can earn about 600-700 BIRR per month

o Yes

· How do you spend your money

o I buy salt, cabbage, sugar from market.

· And does he spend all his money on chat and alcohol?

o if he earns a good amount of money; he spends most of it to chat/alcohol.

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o he gives some of the remainder to us, to buy sheep and for the house. We

keep sheep, use money for our purpose, we can save some

· Do you have a sheep now

o We have 2 small goats

· Can you sell them?

o yes, if necessary

o now mostly to have milk (not butter)

· How old are your children

o married in 1988 (Eth calendar) => 19 years old daughter. Oldest is a girl,

she is pregnant. Girl lives together with husband. How? She chose

husband and married.

· Did you approve/say something about it?

o She used to sell beans, and one of her friends told her that she was smiling

at a man

o when I heard this, I went to market, she was already picking up clothes for

wedding. I wanted to find her at market. But wife of brother said I should

not do this, ‘leave her’, your daughter is already a … (inaudible) and she

may ask others to have you beaten. Since I’m a woman, I have no choice,

I have to accept her and her husband.

· Husband’s reaction?

o her husband cried a lot; regretted that he hadn’t done anything for her

daughter, didn’t buy her nice shoes, and that she now is gone to another

family; and the whole family cried with him.

· Will they take a different approach with other girl/daughter?

o I don’t want to get rid of them; I want them to stay with me, but they do as

they wish, they do not listen.

· Are there other things she would like to do differently, taking the lessons of their first

daughter?

o Yes, if they wish, what can I do, if they want to go I will let them go, but if

they want to get married, I want to invite villages to the wedding, and I

want to offer a simple meat with meat.

· was there a wedding for first daughter?

o the elders (husbands) => appointed date => she prepared small feast,

prepared some wot, cheese, collaborating with neighbours who assisted

· Life as a young girl?

o I was a spoiled girl, father used to have money, had a good life. I didn’t

work too much, oldest sisters were doing most of the work

· Amount of siblings

o 6 sisters, 2 brothers. She is not the youngest; 3 younger siblings.

· Oldest sisters had to work a lot?

o I didn’t do much, only small tasks, according to age, sisters had to work.

o I used to work on ‘small tree’, ‘safet’, made with dried grass. She did it for

household and for market.

· Did she go to school?

o no not to school, she doesn’t even know how to read basics

· Comparison life of daughters/her?

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o my time is much better than their time

o now girls don’t care about family, they can talk/discuss to anyone, get

married to anyone they don’t give respect to us. My time was much better

than theirs, we were reserved, we didn’t just speak to anyone on the

street.

· But I want to know: does her daughter have a better life than she had as a girl?

o she tells me that her life for my girl is better than when I was a girl. Many

things have change. Access to education, better food, rice, access to

many things.

o Mohammed (husband?) says: there is a generation gap: girls nowadays,

they go to school (primary, secondary), they are told not to listen to

parents, what they say, now at a very young age (15), (this was not the

case before) start struggling for their lives, they no longer have place for

parents, don’t give respect—actually it’s not about respect; parents don’t

listen to kids and vice versa.

· Can she tell about her marriage

o as she said yesterday, “marriage is seen as misery”

o my husband sent elders to father to ask for marriage, when they agreed, I

was given as a wife to my husband. I respected their choice, and the

marriage.

· How old?

o very small, 15 years old.

o In her time: younger sister was not culturally accepted to get married if

older sister was still unmarried.

· Was he supposed to marry older sister?

o Yes but when he saw her he wanted to marry her, bc she was younger and

he was interested in her; but father not comfortable with giving younger

sister while older is not given in marriage. So her (referring to daughter of

Zemzem I presume) husband’s father had the same experience so it’s ok

for him to give his younger daughter

· was it an arranged marriage or spontaneous?

o it was an arranged marriage

o Husband interjects: he stayed with me, earlier it was a tradition of

arrangement, but now it is the choice of the man and girl; they discuss it

among themselves, check how much money they have and then they tell

the parents.

· Yesterday she said: being married it being miserable. Explain about marriage, what

makes it miserable

o if you don’t have money to give food, education etc, then what’s the point of

having children, being married.

· Being married and having children is same thing to her?

o once you are married you have to have children (barely audible, lot of

laughter)

o nothing good about being married.

o because we are poor, I’m saying that marriage is misery; but every time I

had a new kid, I have reason to live; but it’s the financial (the issue?)

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· financial constraints aside; are there reasons to be happy with husband?

o since we have a child together, all I have to do is make myself present ever

to him; I try to accept that it is what I am; since we have kid together, even

if I leave him, I would get back, I would not get better husband

· what is a good wife in your view?

o one with good heart and good cooking skills

o even if woman have good cooking skills, if she doesn’t have the money to

…, inputs to do… she will die without showing what she has (her cooking

skills).

· What does it mean to be ‘presentable’ (mentioned earlier by Zemzem)

o We consume whatever we have together

o if we have small thing, we try to share and be happy.

o [Sarah reiterates question about being presentable]: whether I have money

or not, all the same approach with me and my husband; treat him the

same

· What is a good husband according to you?

o [inaudible] discuss about spending with her, plans how to use […]

discusses many things with her

· Is that happening in her marriage?

o Half-half

· What do they usually discuss together?

o we do not always discuss

o we plan about financial issues; we save what, to spend what, how to use it

tomorrow?

· Do they follow a plan?

o Yes (awo awo)

o Husband interject: as much as possible we try to plan because we cannot

predict what will happen

· When were you happy in your life?

o when I would have enough money for my family, I will always be happy

· You joined VSLA, your husband too?

o no, only her

o whenever he earns money, he gives her some amount to save at VSLA

· Why did she join VSLA?

o Said advised me that it would benefit me one day

· Is it benefitting you?

o I haven’t benefited yet, I have only saved, not yet received a loan

· Does she attend every meeting?

o I don’t, sometimes, but sometimes I simply save the money when I have

too much work I can’t attend

· You don’t know how much you saved?

o No it’s been a while since I checked

· Sometimes husband gives you money to save?

o Yes we save 12 birr per 15 days, he gives me this amount

· Does she sometimes save from own pockets?

o if he has some amount, he gives me, sometimes partly

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· What would she want to do with loan

o start business, buy a … in the city

· Does she have a plan?

o Not yet plan

· Bilsha attended PALS/GALS; what do you know about it?

o she told me something, showed me something, ‘beginning’ and ‘end’ in her

own words (inaudible)

o she showed me something => to go from beginning to end you need a plan

· does she have a plan?

o I have a plan, but haven’t been able to practically use this plan because

lack of money. If you have money, […]

· did she see an change with Bilsha after training PALS/GALS

o Yes

o I have seen change, every time after training she brings some money with

her, and buys better mat for her house; saves some money; in that way,

she saves some

· yesterday we discussed, if we go to Tigray, do we invest in PALS or VSLA. After

discussion conclusion was PALS. Do you still agree and why?

o training is much better, there you gain skills which she can use; transfer to

money

· Can you give example of how Bilsha used training, transfer into money?

o she tells what she learned in the training and she is … (inaudible –

instilling??) us to work. On the other hand, she has also brought some

money from training and that money is important for her

· Do you know Getan?

o she does not know, but on the one to five training she saw one elder lady

· Two times with Bilsha on training (1 to 5 training). Why only 2

o I attended when they called me (only 2 times)

· She doesn’t know about other trainings?

o no

· How was training?

o they told us to draw, I drew

· She doesn’t not much?

o we practically experienced what/how to see… [inaudible] if we plan, how to

[…] from beginning to end.

· She stopped after 2 times, why?

o because they did not invite us to come.

o Shimelis informs them to village coordinators, they were not called/invited

to attend to meetings, and we waited (??).

· Who organizes these meetings?

o Kebele administrators facilitate these trainings

o The 1-5 ones facilitated by kebele administrations; and there they discuss

· She mentioned Shibelis, did he or kebele administrator called meeting?

o shimelis informs kebele administrators to call this meeting or to discuss

issues in these meeting, but he did not inform us, we were not informed

· Anything to add?

96

o I’m very committed to work; I can sell chicken, I have the readiness to work

Interview Z

· explain about life, land, crops

o two blocks of land, they grow maize, waiting for rain on the two plots of

land

o other block: wheat, tef

o day starts typically in morning, prepares breakfast, have breakfast

w/husband, he goes to work, she cleans house, prepare lunch, take care

of kids, sometimes has to go to market

o work on the farm as well? In farming, when husband does the plowing, they

also hire 1 person for seeding, she follows, she puts fertilizing when

person is sowing because they cannot hire two persons

o Also during harvest? yes, she helps with harvesting, she collects the

produce, puts it together, find cart from parents, she helps to save money.

· how did she met Abdul/got married?

o lived in same surrounding, fell in love, studied until 9th, he until 10th, they

met after school, fell in love

· what made her fall in love?

o natural, cannot explain love

· what is important in good husband? Eg for her daughter

o not only about working hard, but also behaviour. Good attitude, outlook,

not necessarily about money

· what is a good person to you?

o you can tell. good person has good thoughts about others, does not insult

others. I can tell it when you’re a guest in someone’s how, how they

receive you

· what is a good wife to you?

o good wife takes good care of her house and when there is work to do, she

does not reject it, she just works; and she is happy about it. Someone

who is dedicated to her house and had a good attitude to work.

· Did she have to convince parents

o I had to convince parents that I wanted Abdul. They did not pleasure me

that much. they didn’t have a wedding ceremony; why? because they

wanted to save money. They did not want to spend a lot of money on

ceremony

· How long already married?

o been married for 5 years

o total of 11 years that they know each other.

· live close to parents?

o yes, close to his parents

· How did they officialise wedding without a ceremony?

o they know from early beginning; it was not a big surprise for them

o they went together into his house; people came to wish her happy marriage

· How old married? 22

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· Offense in community due to lack of ceremony?

o it was surprise to the people; we didn’t care about what they think; because

they would not contribute a penny to marriage. Before marriage she was

in Arab countries

· During relationship?

o Yes

· How long in Arab countries?

o 1 year

· Did it yield lot of money?

o they didn’t give any money, she returned empty-handed. If I would have

had money, do you think I would be living like this?

· How important are her friends

o Important, we meet frequently

o 2 friends, whenever I want to see them I call them

o we meet/chat over coffee ceremony; only one max two come over.

· what kind of life does she want to give to her children?

o I want them to grow up and be happy.

· What do they need for that?

o if I provide them with food that is necessary for their health, school bags,

things they need to learn, then they will be happy I think

· Is a farming life a happy life?

o farming is good, it’s also part of a happy life; farmers show their produce in

the city; it is due to their effort that farmers can live in the city. It’s good.

· Moment of happiness in your life?

o all day, I say I’m happy.

o you only live once. I was happy because I went to Arab countries and I

came back safely home. Then I was happy

· Would you send your daughter to Arab country

o No.

· is there someone in community she respects a lot?

o There is no one she respects

· Are there persons that respect her?

o for me, I don’t know; I’m young; probably when I’m older I can be

rolemodel, but at this point I don’t have a rolemodel. She respects elder

people; family, his family

o but no rolemodel in this society

· She is 27/22?

o almost 24 but they stayed married for 5 years… (confusion)…

· respect for elder people and family, why?

o I respect them; because they are my parents

o she is younger, she has to serve them

· What do old people mean to her? Can she rely on them?

o yes she can rely on them

o When I go to market I can give my kids to them to look after

· About PALS—Abdul attended PALS training at Butajira. Speak freely; did anything

change

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o things have changed; I go to the market; I spend my day doing business at

the market. He is also out; doing things that bring the money.

o he is always busy, never idle.

· Before not always busy? (Abdul)

o yes also but now more busy after training

· What does doing business in market mean?

o she does retail; she buys things like potato and then she sells it with profit

to another person

o on a daily basis? 3 times a week, she also has to look after children and

house

· before training she was not doing business at market?

o before training she used to do business; but after training they were trained

to save more, and what she saved, she invested in business in market

· him being more business, she being more business; does it bring in more money?

o yes.

o can she quantify, how is money used? with money earned, they buy from

market , eg. tef, sugar, for her and her children => expenses are covered

· Suppose there was no training; and I would come here today, what would be

different?

o there will be change. Before training, we have never been unhappy, before

or after training. but there would still be change.

· Direct advantage of taking part in training? usefulness of training…

o He would still be working in cabbage, he was incurring loss (monetary) (?)

o training helped him; he used to have many friends before but now he

doesn’t see his friends anymore that much

· Positive or negative, not seeing your friends that much?

o it’s a positive impact; he has reduced the spending that I have no

knowledge about.

o spending on chat, getting together, coffee => these expenses are reduced.

· seeing friends less => does it also mean that you have less social support? Does it

lead to isolation?

o as long as you have family, you will always have social support

· another change due to PALS?

o he is using time wisely, not spending time idly

· he is part of saving group; she also part of saving group

o yes; together

· Both member

o yes

o brothers’ association

· do they attend together

o if they have time they go together, at times they go alone

o yes, most of the time, HE goes, he is chairman of the association, but

sometimes she also goes.

· In whose name is the loan taken?

o any of us can do it separately. He is leader so they have trust, there is no

problem; she can also take the loan on her name.

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· if we go to Tigray/Amhara, we work with farmers => do we implement PALS/GALS or

saving association and help people with saving; what is best option to invest in?

o both are good

o [insisting on choice] => training is better

o [he (husband) wants to speak on her behalf because she might not explain

her ideas – he says the training is much better, because they acquire the

skill of investing; even if you have the money, it will be difficult to use it;

you have to know how to spend it. Skill is difficult to have => training

helped]

o Now Abdul is speaking

· What is the skill you obtained?

o training helped me to believe that it is not always good to expect from

other, build my confidence, that I can change and not depend on others.

Not good to depend on others

o we used to work, I used to earn money. He knows how to operate the

waterpump; people who don’t know how it works ask him about it. People

ask him to maintenance; they pay him 500 BIRR (before training). He got

money but he spent it in the city with chat and friends.

o for 15 days during training, very busy training, no time to chew chat. during

that time, he realized how much chat has cost him. After that, he realized

that if I have money in my pocket I have peace of mind to think.

o HFT = 95% of my success to stop chat. But not to seclude myself from

social activities, I chew on weddings, social gatherings etc. [only 5% =>

referred to the use of chat, cf. the 95%? Not sure if I understand this right]

· Did she experience that his confidence had grown?

o yes, he was another person.

o How? I see it in not chewing chat; changed outlook; no longer spends time

idly, is busy

· effect on her life?

o Big change. He saves what he used to spend on chat; in house we have

good relationship, happy home

· they also had good relationship before?

o Yes.

· Tell about when he came home after training?

o he came home from training, told that he was very happy, shared what he

did

· if she has to choose, first skills and then money or vice versa, what would she

choose?

o I prefer skill, if you have the skill, it is easier to contact other people.

· Did she profit from him acquiring skills in PALS?

o yes she believes she did

o What did she learn?

o [Abdul asks whether, if he leaves, she can have the freedom to speak]

o [Abdul still speaking] by the time he went to the training, he used to come

every night and showed what he learned. He shared with her. He wanted

to say, when you do things, when they are fresh => I have really

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internalized it, but my wife would forget it. It would be good to have follow

up; so that many people would learn it, and learn from his experience.

· How do you see follow-up? [still Abdul]

o follow up => get together periodically, discussing it, in Q&A

o when he asked her she had forgotten it => he was surprised. It was

because she was not involved, in asking questions etc, coordination,

getting together, discussing

· can they organize this themselves?

o they do it with other champions

o they discuss it, they are smart about it, they know everything by heart.

· with whom is he meeting?

o second champions

· Question now to S what to improve in the training, if we go to Tigray?

o [A interjects but S cuts him off and asks her opinion]

o Before we have changed also, but if I would attend training now, again,

then it would be good

· Sarah gives the word to A again

o he did internalize what he learned (all by his heart), he also trained the

others; but the issue is, as a human being; you are caught up in daily life,

when you leave, you might not remember all of the training. A revision

would be good. Good thing would be if 2nd generation champions would

do it again. 2nd generations say: you are so enthusiastic about training

due to per diem. if you would give them a new training, it would be

refreshed

· Because of the per diem it would be refreshed?

o it is not only about perdiems, but if they see people who did it directly, they

would feel inspired to do the same

· anything more you’d like to share?

o thanks to organization, training helped a lot because earlier he thought his

wife had to go to Arab country, but now he believes all the things he have

learned in the training, and he has a storng belief that he can work and

achieve something by working hard rather than going to Arab country

Interview AA

· M; Married, 4 children (2 boys & 2 girls), 1 brother which is also married

· Daily activities. He also hires daily laborers. His wife does the household activities.

He grows cabbage and red root by irrigation.

· Training. Trained by Melles and also attended the training in Butajira for 1 day. I

liked most the idea that you can grow big, starting from zero and step by step. I now

know that I can really change. He would have liked if he attended the PALS training

more than 1 day. Combination of men and women with a majority of men. Same status

as him. He said that he was poor before the training, but now he is average through

work. He believes that people who have the motivation to change themselves and want

to share with others should attend the training. It would be good to higher the frequency

of the training.

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· Changes. After the training, more interested to work. He has a partnership with his

friend, he owns ¼ of land and they also own ¼ of land together. They lend money of 40

000 birr from a cooperative. They are harvesting red pepper there. He managed to pay

back the 40 000 birr. Before the training, not that much work so I easily get into an

argument with my wife. But I learned that in order to have a good relationship with her

and create peace with her, I have to be calm. Now I also have work to do and don’t get

easily in argument with my wife and I also handle my children in a smooth and peaceful

manner. Training gave him the motivation to work and to gain money. He also borrowed

some money and was able to pay it back. He still chews chat, but not the whole day, he

doesn’t devote working time to chewing chat. Within the community, he saw that different

people were able to build a bigger house as a result of irrigation activities. He thus saw

others changed and this also stimulated him to have the partnership and make some

changes himself as well. He wanted to go to the city, but since the city is expanding

towards his kebele, he wants to bring the infrastructure of the city to his kebele. He

wants to open a grinding house together with his friend. He shared this plan with his wife,

he does everything in consultation with her.

· Household activities. He assists his wife in the household, eg when she washes

clothes, he is fetching water for her. Sometimes he also makes coffee. In addition to that,

his wife is also supporting him in the field, eg preparing food for him and for the daily

laborers. She als puts seeds when they are planting. People become more interested

and open to such things.

· What is a good wife? Someone who listens to her husband and obeys him. In the

same manner, he has to obey her. This way, there are no arguments. Eg if I ask her

advice that I am going to work in the field and that I will rent land, she has to listen to me

and give her reflection and advice and with a good tone.

· Before PALS, he already had a training about family relationships and common

issues, about administering family. He thus had some insights before PALS. The two

trainings are totally different, PALS is more about how to grow yourself. But for family

training, the first one was more interesting. This other training helped him in discussing

with his wife. People of the university came for 15 days and trained him about how to

have a good relationship with wife, how to make decisions together in terms of money

and raising the children. They also trained them on health related issues. He also got a

certificate at the end of the training. They asked them about the length of hours a women

works vs husband hours of work; they weighted the time and he concluded that hours of

work women are higher than his hours of work. It should be equal. They also asked

questions as if: can a women work on the field? Can a man make dinner? Some didn’t

agree but they learned us that this should be the case, you should support eachothe (eg

if she is busy, you should help her in the kitchen). Now, his wife helps him in the field and

he also started to prepare coffee. 15 participants who live near, all men. Everyone has

changed to some extent, although some didn’t make great changes. People who gave

the training, come regularly to their houses to see if they made some change.

· Sharing. He shared with 4 other people. His business partner is one of the four

people he shared with. He also shared with his wife and she was really happy. Reactions

of others are good. They see his changes and attribute these to the training. Some

people also don’t want to listen, don’t give him a chance to explain and they don’t give a

reason therefore. These people don’t have the moral to work, they just sit the whole day

and chew chat. It takes time to convince these people so it would be good to give them

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more time and to have someone who is able to convince them. He believes he can

convince others. He thinks it would have been good if he had the training directly from

the organization because it gives the chance to directly see the demonstrations instead

of hearing it from another person.

· We are really interested to work but we need access to good seeds. If you can give

us access, I want to buy it with my own money.

Interview AB

· M; married; 2 daughters; 4 sisters and 1 brother; member of edir; studied until 10th

grade and then failed national exam; then he started to work in horse cart. He saved

some money, bought a waterpump and started to work with the waterpump. He harvests

red root, onion and cabbage. The land is owned by their family.

· Training. His brother (Hemessa?) attended the training and he shared some things

afterwards with him that initiated him to work. As a result, they started to work together.

He works hard to provide his family. His brother shared things about living together as a

family, about trusting eachother and supporting eachother, also about making savings

and reinvesting. He told I should not only live for chewing chat but that I have to work.

His brother used to drink Araki, after the training I saw him reducing drinking alcohol.

Advice he got in the training made him realize he has to change. His brother shared just

in an informal and oral discussion. He shared to him and 4 others (3 men and 1 women:

the wife of his brother). He liked most the relationship between husband and wife and

how the wife should treat her husband and how to work together to overcome the burden

of life.

· Changes. He still chews because during chewing, he has the chance to gather with

others and share and discuss with others. Wife will ask him to give her money to buy

sugar or soap and I used to get angry and not respond to her in a good manner. After the

sharing, I developped the habit of listening to her. I know that she needs materials for the

household. Even before she asks me, I give her whatever she needs for the household.

We also discuss about family issues such as raising the children. She does her

household tasks and he does the necessary work in the field. Earlier, he went out with

friends frequently but now he has reduced that habit because he has to take care of his

family. I like the change. Attention shifted from going out to the household. Major

change: sometimes his wife gets angry for no reason and welcomes him with a bad face.

He used to become offensive and also become angry. After the training, they have

developped a compromising attitude. I believe that the others also changed, because

they learned something new. Apart from that, he doesn’t know if their lives changed. The

most challenging thing was that even if I have the willingness to change my relationship

with my wife, sometimes I ran out of money and we got into an argument. To have a

succesful life, you need money. I wish good things for my wife and for my children, but

money is a problem. The training helped me to make proper use of the money I have

(stop chewing chat and drinking alcohol) but not to make more money.

· A good husband? Someone who gives money to his wife whenever she asks him to

provide money and someone who doesn’t consider what his wife says negatively. He will

listen to her and will not get into an argument. In terms of finance and behaviour,

someone who doesn’t get easily into an argument.

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· A good wife? Prepare food in the house, make sure the meal is ready when

husband comes home. Whenever husband brings friends in the house, she has to

welcome them with a charming face.

· Task division. His wife doesn’t support him in the field, it is totally socially

unacceptable for a woman to stay out in the field. He says that this is possible in other

regions, eg Amhara. But here, you measure the grace of a woman in how she handles

her household. Also, another man might fancy her when seeing her in the field and this is

not good. When wife is busy in the household (eg preparing food), I take care of the

children. Also, I assist her in small tasks such as preparing coffee and tea. Whenever

she is breastfeeding them, I go out and fetch water for her. I support her in such tasks. I

am not a serious husband towards my wife, I only have to be serious towards my wife. I

have a good relationship. My friend used to have a wife but they separated. Before, she

was working as a maid in arab countries and used to send him money. He said he was

building a house but actually took all the money from her and was drinking Araki. I

strongly believe I have to save money and plan, I don’t want to be that kind of person.

· Impact on social life of reducing chat/alcohol? Has an impact because you see your

friends less. But I have to make this sacrifice if I want to make my life succesful. But on

special occasions (eg funeral/birthday), I chew chat and sit together with people. I cannot

totally leave the chewing, but I don’t give attention to it whenever I am working.

· Sharing. He shared his insights with his wife and encouraged her to be hopeful.

Some people accepted, some partly accepted because things are going on in their lives.

They are not satisfied with their personal life, eg issue in the household, money issues

etc. If they truly listen to what is thought in the training, he believes they can change. But

people are highly preoccupied in their personal life. When he starts to tell them that they

can change their lives with what he learned in the training, people say that it is because

he is living a better life than them.

· Saving & future. He is saving money with the association Shimelis facilitates. His

plan is to start poultry and keep cattle. In addition, he has many ideas to invest but the

problem is still money. He consulted other people for this vision of poultry and cattle, but

he also saw the changes and progress others made from these activities. He also once

wants to fly a plane. I share these ideas with my wife and my brother. We have a lot of

different ideas, ideas are priceless. The sky is the limit for the future. I am ready to work,

I want to work very hard if I get money. He compares success by a ladder, step by step.

He is now working a horse cart, but he wants to drive a bajaj.

· I would be happy if there is a training related to what I am doing, being driving a

horse cart. Farming is a very tiring activity and doesn’t bring you money in the way the

horse cart does. Physically tiresome.

Interview AC

· F; Divorced and married again; 2 children (13 and 17) from first marriage and 3

stephchildren; educated until 7th grade; member of association called “success” and they

have a waterpump; she wakes up and prepares breakfast and she prepares bread. She

works on the field (maize, wheat and red pepper) and also works as a cleaner. The

Health Post is owned by the government so she works for the government. They own 4

blocks of land and her land is not situated near the water resources, therefore she

switched land with someone in Enseno having proximity to water resources. During

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weekends, she works on that land. Her oldest child has taken the national exam so he is

free and can assist her now. When she married with her second husband, he brought 2

blocks of land from his first wife. She is using the property of her first husband for

irrigation.

· Division of tasks in household. While she makes breakfast and works as a cleaner,

her husband takes care of the sheep and chicken and works in the field. Her husband

doesn’t work in the household because he doesn’t have the knowledge. But when she

returns from home, her child of 13y old prepares tea. She supports her, but her husband

doesn’t. She would be happy if her husband helps her in the household, it is good to

assist eachother. But he will not be happy to help her in the household because the

culture doesn’t allow it. Also, he is not educated so he doesn’t have knowledge of the

household tasks.

· She is okay with her life now but she would like some change. She would like to have

more money, save it in a bank and then build a house, like she drew in her vision.

· Perfect husband? Someone who listens to you and with whom you share a common

thing. Someone who supports, assists and listens to you.

· Perfect wife? Someone who listens to her husband and if her husband is going the

wrong way, she should tell him that he is going the wrong way and she should advise

him in a good manner. Together, they should work towards a change.

· What about her relationship? His children from his first marriage are not listening to

him and he is not directing them in the right direction as a father figure. He also drinks. If

possible, I want these things to change. I want him to agree with me and that is one of

the reasons I attend this training. I am not living in a good situation, she has an issue

with her husband and her stephchildren.

· Relationship with stephchildren? They live in the same kebele, but she has no close

relationship with them.

· What about marriages out of love? She supports that children choose their husband.

If they have the change to choose, they know what kind of person he is. If I would have

had the chance to choose my first husband, I wouldn’t be divorced. Because he was

drunk and didn’t care about his family. When you choose your husband, you know if he

is responsible. She chose her second husband but sometimes she is not happy with this

choice. According to culture, when you marry a second time, it is the woman who should

move to the house of the man. But with her, her husband came to her house so culturally

it is not accepted. Her stephchildren are not happy about this and thus are not happy that

he married her.

· Most important thing in a relationship? A good relationship is when you have an

agreement with eachother, you have to compromise and agree.

· How important is love? I love my husband compared to my first husband, but my

worry is that I don’t have a child from him. Probably that might create a tension, he might

want to have children from her. She believes that this is a better relationship because of

that reason. I love my second husband because he doesn’t drink that much as my

previous husband and he doesn’t spend that much time going to social engagements

and he is a hard worker. We discuss and he listens to me. (a lot of contradiction with

previous answer)

· Discussing with friends or husband about important things? She prefers to discuss

first with husband, if the issue can’t be solved and they have an argument, they bring a

common friend and discuss the issue with that person. But there are issues that I discuss

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with my friends as a woman in the 1 to 5 women association at kebele level. The most

important things discussed are about the culture, the challenges like harmful traditional

practices and abduction.

· Do they take some measures amongst the women against these practices? They

have phone numbers of bureau of women affairs and children abuse affairs. When they

see such things happen, eg female genitale mutulation/abduction, they call the office or

will tell the responsible of the 1 to 5 association. If the issue is female genital mutulation,

then the child will be taken to a health post and they will see if there is a circumcision or

not. If there is, the kebele will start a case on the parents. They will send the police.

· Why are you here today? She has land and switched it with someone else, she

wants to make sure how to be able to get the water close to her house. By attending this

training, she wants to evaluate where the gaps are and how she can get proximity to

water resource. One might have a land and no waterpump and the other way around.

She wants to be succesful, like the organization she is a member of is called.

Interview AD

· very traditional view on household. Not happy with life, and does not enjoy

doing household; but does not seem to accept assistance from husband

· yet she regrets not being empowered and understands the underlying

reasons (early marriage and illiteracy); therefore, she strives to give a different live

to her daughters

· What happened when you came home? Did you tell husband about training?

o I came back from B I told him about attending training with B in group of

five, and I told him training was about change; he was happy, his

reception was good.

· did you share something with him?

o she didn’t share with husband; exercise book is with Bedria.

· Has something changed in their marriage?

o we attended the training not that frequently, the change will come in the

program. But we just started, the effect has not been that big. When

Shimelis came they got together the five of them; but so far we don’t meet

frequently; but in the process, I hope there will be change?

· Has she seen some changes with Bedria?

o she has seen changes with Bedria, she attended several trainings, then

she came back, now she is provided with waterpump, she already dug a

waterwell; her life is good, I have seen some changes, she is better off.

· How many trainings already done?

o 4 sessions (4 in one month, once a week)

· Memorable moment during training?

o after training, B showed them how a person can go out of poverty, succeed

in life; step by step, she gave some examples [but she cannot tell an

example, Fasika said]

· What change would you like to see? Example?

o if I can change my life, I would be sending my kids to better school,

provide them with better clothes, better than the ones they are wearing

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now, and if I would build a better house than this one. that would be my

dream, to have a better life

· what kind of life would she want for her daughters?

o I want my daughters to study

o I don’t want them to marry until they are financially good

· Why don’t you want them to marry?

o I don’t want to give them in marriage, because I know my life, I regret

that my parents gave me to my husband so young; because I am

o I regret not being educated.

o I don’t want them to live the life I have experienced

· what would an education have changed in her life?

o I would have had a different life

o she has half-brothers, they live in Butajira, are civil servants, I would

have been one too, I would have lived in a better place, have better

chances. I always ask my parents why they did not send me to school.

· She also mentioned they have to have financial means before marrying. Why?

o it would be different, bc I work as daily labourer, just like my husband

o they need to have something before marriage, like education, so that

they are not extremely poor

o we have 1 block of land for maize for household consumption; we have

to work hard, we spend our lives struggling.

· She is daily labourer as well? And she has an income too?

o Yes

· How do they discuss financial issues?

o since land is very strong, it is not enough to uphold household

o we buy additional products, clothes on markets

o we only discuss expenses, not on savings since we have none.

· daughters have to study => important that woman as well as husband makes

money?

o yes I believe both women and men should work, earn money, they don’t

have to be like me; they have to work and earn.

· What if husband already earns sufficiently, what would the ideal situation be?

o even if he provides sufficiently, she also has to do household as well as

additional earning; so what he provides is enough for household, what

she earns can be a saving. it is also good that the woman does not stay in

the house, she has to be active, not stay in house, she can assist/help

him, for instance making food for the daily labourers.

· in the household, are there some tasks a husband can perform?

o there is nothing a man can do in the house, but if she does not perform

adequately in the household, he should tell her that she has to improve, if

she is lazy, but he cannot just get in the kitchen.

o He just has to be served if she is a good wife.

· anything to add?

o I want to change my life, I already started with the 5 group with Betria, I

want to change, I am really committed to give a better life for the children.

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Interview AE

· Can you tell something about life?

o 6 kids, 4 daughters, 2 boys. Youngest 1 year old, oldest 15 years old.

o [B joins]

o early in morning I wake up and start cleaning house; then I prepare food

for children, she fetches water, takes care of kids, this is my day

· Does she have an income?

o she also works as daily labourer, collects tomatoes in tomato farm, puts

them in bags etc.

o 60 birr per day, in irrigation farm

· How did she learn about training?

o First she attended training at Bedrias house, with 5 persons, we drew

something from beginning to end, and then they also started saving, 10

ETB. Once in 15 days they save 10 BIRR; they save it. Group of 5

women.

o in 1 to 5 meeting, they bought sheep together, but when they needed

the money, they sold the sheep and shared money (because of financial

needs)

o they meet once a week.

· what convinced her to share her training with others?

o with Petros, I facilitated the training, they saved some money

o I also encouraged them to take the training

· Why do you encourage them?

o I began to share me because Petros and Shimilies said it

o Also, I don’t want to be poor, I don’t want them to be someone with no

money, I want them to change

· back to (X): is there something you find particularly interesting?

o she remembers that they used B’s notebook, they don’t have notebook

themselves, they showed pictures on how to change themselves step by

step, for example to go from cottage to better house, by working, then to

city… from cabbage farm to tomato farm… then you go to city… Then

they bought a sheep, now they have one sheep only left

· what are the next thing that you will teach them?

o we managed to save some money, buy sheep, but we sold one sheep

o it would be good if women get some financial support to start something,

poultry, cattle or so… it would be good. I shared what I learn, but what I

showed them will disappear (message will not last, she means I

believe)

o these 5 women share profit equally

· when you went home after training? (to X) did you tell him?

o yes I told him, yes I did it with his permission to go to her house

· Did you tell him about training?

o he is also interested (one of the attendees? I don’t understand)

· How did he react regarding financial planning, takeaways?

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o encouraged me, when we save 10 birr => he reminded me that I save

10 birr, he was supportive, he encouraged me to save.

· When they buy something with that, do they discuss? Example from past…

o yes they discuss expenses, income, when I was going to buy sheep, I

told him and he agreed. She also works as a daily labourer, she also

gives him the money she earns; she also provides for the children

o He (husband) doesn’t work as a daily labourer, only when necessity

demands. Otherwise, mostly women work as daily labourers. (e.g. tomato

farms). Men are mostly work on farm for household providing.

· what is a good husband?

o someone I can openly discuss with, discuss about expenses, share my

thoughts with (what to do next), someone who I can work with to change

my life.

o someone who loves his wife. Listen to her, accept what the other says,

they have to have a common understanding.

o Example of listening to each other: if we go to neighbour, they do it

together, one should not go separately. when I want to go to your house,

my husband has to agree, if he doesn’t agree, than we have a

disagreement; they have to do their things together.

· For Bedriam, what changed in their marriage since training?

o B’s husband passed away

o more attentive to work, household; earlier I was not that interested in

working in field; often I put my work aside and go to other activities (in the

past); but now I have become more interested in work. Now not idly

passing time. I also managed to buy clothes for my kids.

· What is a good working marriage? How should women and men work together?

o husband has to listen to what wife has to say; I don’t have to go my way

and he doesn’t have to go his way; we need something to work towards;

we should not go separate ways.

· what is their plan at the moment? (since she mentioned having a plan together)

o her plan with husband is: they want to make their life better, want to make

house better, build better house, buy better furniture, send children to

school, finish school, and if possible, want to live in city. He is thinking

about sending her to arab country, to earn money, they are saving for this.

o if they have to money, she will go

o they had a good life living from red peppers (they used to cultivate this,

good in the market) but now land refuses to grow it, even if they use

fertilizer. it only grows maize, which is for household consumption and not

for selling. Now many people want to go to arab countries, to compensate

for sale of red peppers, what they would have earned.

· going to ARAB country, whose idea, husband or wife? Both their idea

· what gave you the idea to start saving group?

o Bedria went to different training from different training. After PALS she

started saving group.

o Pedros encouraged her to start 1-5 saving association, before she had

another 5-1 association. Pedros encouraged her, so she started her

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o Before, she had different saving group from other training

· Bedria: who trained you and what was the training like?

o Pedros trained her, told her that we could grow different kinds of crops,

not one thing; whether it’s a quarter/half of land, we have to grow different

kinds of things, tomato, potato; he told us to grow this.

o he told us to make savings, than you would be able grow different

vegetables

o make savings and reinvest it again

· Particular moment Bedria remembers? What was inspiring, gave new insights…

o change is possible step by step, from scratch to something good,

process of change from cottage house to city house.

o I also remember discussing family relationship.

o what I buy for my household, whether my son wants to sell it. We

discussed relationship with my son.

· what did she learn about this?

o we discussed relationship with son

o he is student, lives with her, he did not work before, but now interested

to work, now he doesn’t bother me in the house. Relationship is good

now. Sarah also told about family relationship

· what changed in particular?

o son is 16 y old, student, used to chew chat, sit idly there, now he is

working in field, assists her, this is change I observed

· back to W, what kind of life do you want for your daughters?

o I want them to live a better life, marry someone educated, I want them to

have the best things, better things, this is how I want them to live

· what kind of husband does she want for her?

o marry civil servant with constant income, I want her to be educated and

work as civil servant, work together and live a better life

· is it important that daughters also have income/bring in money except working in

household only?

o I want them to work in household, balance life in household and working

outside

· what is the household best organized in their view?

o relationship between man and women: both have to work + have a good

understanding between each other

· what is so funny? “who is going to be her husband” => husband of Bedria passed

away

o whenever he asks something, you have to provide him, you have to

provide him with moral support whenever he’s working, and both of them

need to work together, that way you can make it work (the marriage); she

also mentioned intimacy, that is what make her love

· ideal division of household chores

o household: sole responsibility of woman, he has to work on the field

· are there some situations in which husband helps in household?

o no he doesn’t support me, but whenever kids bother me, he’ll take them

out and play with them

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· is this good situation? does she like to have more support in heavy household, or

is situation good like this? (to X)

o I would not be happy if he supports me in household

o people in this area, men do not work in household, as wife I would not

be comfortable

· some things in household that give satisfaction (to X)

o I particularly like to clean house, cleaning makes me happy when

everything is clean

· when is she really happy in her life (to X)?

o I would be happy if my life was better, more money

o there is no moment when I was happy, I don’t remember such moment,

I am in the household, my life is in household

· would you be happy with other activities?µ

o yes if I am out of household, eg. when I change my clothes, visit

parents, I would be happy. Because time in household is shorter, than I

have lesser time to spend in household; when kids are sent on vacation to

parents house, I am happier that way; less work

· what if husband would support you?

o if he tells me if I have to go out of household, it wouldn’t make me

comfortable, because I would think he would give me more time out of the

household, to leave the house: just to have more time in household alone

(the man alone?); I would not feel comfortable.

· Does she prefer household or daily labour?

o I don’t want to work as daily labour, very hard work with sun, I just do it

when there’s a lack of money

o I prefer working in household, seeing my children running here and

there

· If saving group would sell sheep, what would happen with the money earned?

o we sold the sheep because of financial necessity, we needed money for

household.

· To Bedria: something to improve in training?

o after training, when you go home, people expect to see something,

something con crete/tangible. They ask: what did they give you, they

come to your house to ask you. People need to see something physicial

change; the change they need to see

o she means people from community (after coming back from Butajira)

o they need to see a shop; they need to see something like that, that she

has changed.

· what changes did she make?

o managed to build house for waterpump but has not been able to buy

pump itself, although she dug a well. She doesn’t have the money. but

she built house after training (house for pump)

· plan to buy pump?

o yes, I had plan, all I have to do is work

· reaction of son on pump

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o I discussed with son about training, but son asks: “what is benefit unless

they give us pump/buying ox/?” but I usually argue with him: “we are the

ones that have to work for pump” => I convinced him that it is important to

work, and they constructed house for pump

· son chews less chat, Bedria mentioned, how did she convince him

o chewing chat = not beneficial for someone like you, too young => step

by step she convinced him to reduce spending to chat. mostly older

people chew chat, sit idly, spend their time like this

· difficulty in sharing?

o people I shared with were neighbours, they were not difficult, every 15

days they come together

· anything to add

o I would be happy, if I would get support for waterpump or if the 5 women

are assisted so we could buy a shop, sell things like soap, and get a good

income, support ourselves, we need encouragement. It would be good if

other women were also trained just like her.

o from Bedria: its good to get together, work together, what is the benefit if

I am rich if my neighbours don’t have the same status? if we build a shop

then we go together

o she also said that it would be good if we go to the city and attend the

training there just like Bedria, direct contact with training. when

[Shimelis?] is coming with motorbike, people ask: what do they give us?

we need to show them. they ask what did they do to you? We need to

reply what we received. we need to show what they gave us. we have to

reply what we received.

· what do you answer then?

o they usually reply: they gave us education, we share what we learned.

This is a challenge. They ask: “do you think knowledge is not important?”

then they reply: “yes it is important”. but it is a challenge. We face

challenges from community, about what we received and we answer

them.

o We would also like to receive additional training

· I feel it’s bothering them, these constant questions? Fasika says yes.

· Additional training

o on job creation

o to work on irrigation activities + job creation, so we can be able to open

a shop. With 5 group, so we can sell in turn.

· are there other groups of 5 saving together?

o yes in Enseno. There was a group of women who opened together a

shop

Interview AF

· M; Life in general? 6 children (3 daughters & 3 son); children go to school

but in their spare time, they support him in the field; wife takes care of

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activities in the household; he farms teff and maize and with irrigation

vegetables like onion and cabbage

· Good husband? Someone who doesn’t argue with his wife, doesn’t drink

and takes care of his children and household.

· Good wife? Someone who looks after the household and welcomes her

husband, prepares good food for him and doesn’t argue with him for

everything.

· Disagreements. If wife fails to provide food when she gets back from the

field, they easily get into an argument. In order to reduce the argument, I

don’t have to get drunk and get into the house, I have to provide her and I

have to listen to the children and take care of them. I usually get drunk, but I

try to reduce it.

· How is household organized? Man is considered to do activities at the farm,

to bring wood for the fire and to take out the cattle and to give them food. A

woman has to take care of the household, she has to make breakfast and has

to make sure that the kids are provided with food. She cleans the house.

· What life for your daughters? He wants his daughters to go to school and be

educated. He wants them to be a civil servant and to get married. I want my

daughter to marry someone in the same status as hers; same level of

education and life status. Educated women should marry an educated man,

farming women should marry a farmer. Why? In order to speak the same

language and to agree with eachother. They understand eachother better

than.

· He and his wife want something better for the children. They discuss about

the future of their children. They don’t want to give their daughters to

someone who is not a good one, eg a person that is nagging. Nagging

someone is someone who is drunk and comes to the house, argues with his

wife for every little thing and gets in disagreement with his neighbours.

· Why does he want his daughters to become civil servants? Because if they

are educated and have a job, than it is possible for them to have a better life.

Then they will also support me.

· His daughters can choose the husband they want to marry. But I will not

allow it if my daughter that is going to college wants to marry a farmer,

because if he is a person that has 200 birr monthly income, she should have

the similar income. Family would then come together and advice her that this

is not someone from her standard. But if she persists, there is nothing we can

do. “If she persists to marry him, I will not kill him”. A woman can earn higher

than a man. If a woman earns more and she loves a man that is not earning

anything, she can show him where to work and what to do. But he stressed

that money is very important to make the relationship between a man and a

woman work.

· Expectations of the training? I believe that the training will give me some

directions in the way I should go, eg how to save money, how to use my time

wisely. Currently, I am not living according to plans. I also share what I

learned with my wife. I will use the planning and the land to my best ability.

· What happened when he went home after the training yesterday? He

showed his exercise book and what he learned to his wife because she asked

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him where he went. She also attended another training on poultry before but

she is not doing the poultry because she doesn’t have chicken yet but they

are preparing to have them. The organization that gave the training will give

them some chicken. He also shared it with his 14y old son.

· The now earn money from the sale of the previous harvest. If they have a

saving, they would use that money and if they don’t, they sell cattle and other

things in his house. He also employs some daily laborers to assist him in

irrigation.

· How to improve training? The training is different from previous trainings he

attended. Previously, it was with writing and now it is with drawing. It is good

so far. But there is a shortage of time to draw the pictures, so it would be

good to have a reference book.

Interview AG

What about the open community day? I read that the timing was not so convenient …

shall we do it on a Sunday instead like the first time? Yes, the time was peak

farming time. In case of Mareko, they are mainly Muslim and hence they are

farming even on Sunday. But since the beginning of training we will discuss with

participants on convenient day.

- I see that Abdo and Emebet are among the trainers again … what about

Wolkite? Who else fell out? How can we ensure that Shemila for instance can

take the lead instead of Abdo? What do you think? Yes, you are write Sarah!

Sorry for saying nothing concerning these. During refreshment training we

critically see who is cooperating to what is advised and who is considering

himself as full. During refreshment, while the others are drawing the tools for

better practices, Wolkito was site idle, less focused on practice, and questioning

other things such as, amount of payment. Hence, we advised him to stay some

time outside apart from disturbing others and he stayed outside during vision

journey session. Of course, it is his right to ask but we believe that it has time for

it. In addition, he had also telling Abido to refuse scale up training participation

due to fasting time. Even though he could abstain himself, initiating others

negatively could affect our effort. Of course we believe that he has important

change in his way of life, he considered himself as full to be advised, to be

guided. So the one who have good ear is good facilitator and the facilitator never

be full. Likewise, Madolo is a trainees of Wolkito, who shared the same attributes

with him. Having this things, we discussed to exclude them from scale up

training.

On the other hand, Abido has good ear, but he has also some problem in explaining

things i.e. he added other things apart from what is said about tools. But he is okay to

listen others and politely responding. Likewise, Emebet is knowledgeable champion

equally with Abido. She has also good ear. So they are believed to support the new

champions in Mareko than Wolkito & Madolo. Abido & Emebet will intentionally be

back stopper, while the others are coordinating turn by turn.

- I also see that there are only 16 champions to be trained? How come?

Champions’ selection is based on our project areas of intervention, mainly

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kebeles which encompasses FFS, irrigation coop and VSLA. Accordingly, there

are four kebeles which can meet the criterion. These are Dida Halibo kebele

(Rohobot coop), Kunoalimena kebele (Amocha coop), Kunokertefa kebele

(kunominch coop) and Kosheakababi kebele (Yetebaberut coop). Though

Kosheakababi kebele (Yetebaberut coop) has currently no FFS since it is kell

producing kebele than other crops such as, onion, pepper, and tomato, it also

contained VSLA. Thus, there are four champions selected from each kebele.