Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia

Ensuring sustainable development in Africa necessitates empowering women through different initiatives, including social innovations. This is because the existing gender-based disparities and resultant inequalities are evident in Africa, limiting women's participation and empowerment on the con...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tafesse Matewos, Melisew Dejene, Semeredin Yimer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Social Sciences and Humanities Open
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000464
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823864273182392320
author Tafesse Matewos
Melisew Dejene
Semeredin Yimer
author_facet Tafesse Matewos
Melisew Dejene
Semeredin Yimer
author_sort Tafesse Matewos
collection DOAJ
description Ensuring sustainable development in Africa necessitates empowering women through different initiatives, including social innovations. This is because the existing gender-based disparities and resultant inequalities are evident in Africa, limiting women's participation and empowerment on the continent. The main objective of this study is to assess the role of social innovations (SI) in empowering women in pastoral areas of Afar and Somali regions in Ethiopia. The study employed a mixed research approach to collect and analyze data from different sources. We used the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) to measure women's empowerment in five domains: production, resources, income, leadership, and time use. We also used the chi-square test to examine the association between women's empowerment status and involvement in the SIs. The data analysis has shown that the SIs have contributed to women's empowerment by building knowledge, skills, and financial autonomy for women in the study area. Besides, the findings have also revealed a statistically significant association between women's empowerment and their participation in social innovations. The study recommends that social innovations need to address women empowerment initiatives and factors that affect the adoption and diffusion of SIs.
format Article
id doaj-art-c026f4bec0814e3e8f6c75cd5ef02eff
institution Kabale University
issn 2590-2911
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Social Sciences and Humanities Open
spelling doaj-art-c026f4bec0814e3e8f6c75cd5ef02eff2025-02-09T05:01:21ZengElsevierSocial Sciences and Humanities Open2590-29112025-01-0111101319Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of EthiopiaTafesse Matewos0Melisew Dejene1Semeredin Yimer2Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, Institute of Policy & Development Research, Hawassa University, Ethiopia; Corresponding author.Department of Journalism & Communication, Institute of Policy & Development Research, Hawassa University, EthiopiaInstitute of Policy & Development Research, School of Governace & Developemnt Studies, Hawassa University, EthiopiaEnsuring sustainable development in Africa necessitates empowering women through different initiatives, including social innovations. This is because the existing gender-based disparities and resultant inequalities are evident in Africa, limiting women's participation and empowerment on the continent. The main objective of this study is to assess the role of social innovations (SI) in empowering women in pastoral areas of Afar and Somali regions in Ethiopia. The study employed a mixed research approach to collect and analyze data from different sources. We used the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) to measure women's empowerment in five domains: production, resources, income, leadership, and time use. We also used the chi-square test to examine the association between women's empowerment status and involvement in the SIs. The data analysis has shown that the SIs have contributed to women's empowerment by building knowledge, skills, and financial autonomy for women in the study area. Besides, the findings have also revealed a statistically significant association between women's empowerment and their participation in social innovations. The study recommends that social innovations need to address women empowerment initiatives and factors that affect the adoption and diffusion of SIs.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000464Pastoralist womenSocial innovationsWomen empowermentResilienceEthiopia
spellingShingle Tafesse Matewos
Melisew Dejene
Semeredin Yimer
Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia
Social Sciences and Humanities Open
Pastoralist women
Social innovations
Women empowerment
Resilience
Ethiopia
title Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia
title_full Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia
title_fullStr Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia
title_short Empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia
title_sort empowering pastoralist women through social innovations in somali and afar regions of ethiopia
topic Pastoralist women
Social innovations
Women empowerment
Resilience
Ethiopia
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000464
work_keys_str_mv AT tafessematewos empoweringpastoralistwomenthroughsocialinnovationsinsomaliandafarregionsofethiopia
AT melisewdejene empoweringpastoralistwomenthroughsocialinnovationsinsomaliandafarregionsofethiopia
AT semeredinyimer empoweringpastoralistwomenthroughsocialinnovationsinsomaliandafarregionsofethiopia