Assignment
What would you say if someone
asked you to go to 
This report highlights some of
the project activities and achievements, but more importantly, the evaluation
team’s reactions to being in 
the
rugged uplands of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Regional
State (SNNPRS) and the Amhara National Regional
State (ANRS) in the north. The project’s goal was to enhance agricultural
productivity and food security while directly addressing gender barriers to
agricultural production and food management. It provided access to both men
and women to a variety of farm and household technologies, improved crop varieties,
income-generating activities with credit and extensive training and capacity
building. It was a gender (women’s) focused project but included men, recognizing
that it takes both male and female talents to effect change.
In
the days leading up to departure from Michigan, Mary spoke with a some of
the Winrock staff who initiated the project and received names of people to
meet—names that were unpronounceable at that time—but are now familiar names
of people considered friends and colleagues. Everyone in
Staying
at the Hilton: We had
the choice of two five-star hotels in Addis, the Hilton and the Sheraton. We chose the Hilton because it was closer
to downtown and considered a business hotel, rather than a luxury hotel!
But even then, compared to the housing available to our counterparts, the
Hilton was a luxury. Can you believe breakfast for $10! And other prices equally
high! But as we came and went and returned over the course of the month, it’s
familiarity made it feel like home. The large central lobby became smaller
each day as more and more Christmas decorations were installed….a large tree
with twinkling lights, a structure looking like a gingerbread house, tables
of sale items including books, toys, decorations and 
handicrafts
and constantly changing posters advertising various events including children’s
Christmas parties, special dinners and even a Christmas dance! Every day,
especially over the weekends, the children’s voices playing in the pool could
be heard across the grounds. The pool is fed by hot springs and 
the
water even has to be cooled before entering the pool. Otherwise the air was
warm in the sun but you wanted to have long sleeves or even a jacket in the
shade or after the sun went down. One feature of the Hilton grounds, and occasionally
throughout the city, was the glorious purple blooming Jacaranda Trees. I first
enjoyed the beautiful trees in Bulawayo,
Lastly, let me tell you about Thanksgiving Dinner at the Hilton. Thanksgiving came just three days after I arrived and I was still feeling under the weather with the cold that I brought with me. I noticed the announcement that starting at 6:30pm on Nov. 28, an old fashion thanksgiving dinner would be served. So I planned to attend, more curious than hungry. What a meal! It was a buffet with every kind of turkey recipe that you could think of—the traditional roasted turkey and stuffing, turkey balls, turkey stir-fry, turkey tandoori, turkey tetrazinni, etc. etc. And the vegetables and accessories were equally diverse. Pumpkin pie along with an assortment of pastries, custards, cakes and fruit adorned the dessert table. Needless to say, it was overdone. But the lines of “western” families with all the children seemed to welcome this touch of home. I can only wonder what Christmas dinner was like!
Traveling to the field: The USAID Mission took care of our transportation, and two
of the staff of USAID accompanied us to the field at one time or another. So we had good guides, familiar with the
roads and the communities where projects were located. But even they could
not predict the ever-changing conditions of the roads. Our first trip southwest
from Addis was predicted to be a 6 hour drive…it turned into an 8 hour drive
and then some! Throughout the country, the original roads connecting the major
cities were built in the 1930’s and ‘40’s. Some were improved so that the
military could advance during the war with 
comfortable.
Only two flat tires on the entire journey!
Once we arrived on-site, the Winrock staff managed our logistics and often rode ahead of our vehicles on their motocycles to show the way. Well, off the highways, what they call a road is really a gully. Luckily this was the relative dry season or we never would have been able to traverse those mountain treks. Bouncing along from side to side, we occasionally stopped to move into four-wheel drive, or cut across a field to take advantage of flat land. We traveled through rivers, down narrow trails with thorn-bush fences on both sides, and through glorious scenery of fields being harvested or plowed for the next crop with hills far out to the horizon.
Invariably,
when we arrived at our destination, often late, groups of farmers were waiting
for us. How the communications were delivered to have such a turn-out is a
mystery! Often over 100 men and women would be waiting, sometimes in the shade
of some trees, other times sitting under umbrellas or lingering near some
buildings. These farmers would walk for miles to meet us and most were eager
to meet us so that they could tell their stories and voice their opinions.
We would 
either
break into small groups or interview the large group as one (with interpreters)—trying
to understand how individuals were involved in the project and what it meant
to them. Generally the farmers were straight forward, offering information
and answering our questions. A recurrent theme, however, was heard at every
site—their anger and disappointment that the project was terminating. Many
farmers and local officials were hoping that our evaluation team could influence
that decision. We told them we couldn’t and then tried to change the subject
to get at the information that we needed. But the fact that the project was
closing down had a negative effect on everyone we met—not a happy feeling.
But in reality this outpouring of support was a compliment to the project!
The people and their experiences:
The communities where the project operated were considered poor, underserved
and vulnerable to food insecurity. They were often isolated and removed from
services and markets. The farmers, equally poor, were experiencing declining
incomes and declining hope. But the opportunities brought by the EMPOWER project
were changing those trends. Productivity was poor because of the degraded
soils and lack of inputs, diets were limited with reliance on only a few food
crops, and incomes were limited because of high crop losses and poor prices
at local markets. EMPOWER brought new high yielding crop varieties, credit
so that women could invest in poultry or sheep, vegetable seeds for both
kitchen
gardens and group commercial production, soil conservation 
structures,
improved storage and many other innovations.
The world of these farming communities
altered considerably with the presence of this Extension project. It offered
training along with access to new technologies so that farmers could test
out, adapt and then adopt the new varieties or improvements if warranted.
The project spread the message of gender awareness and gender sensitivity
throughout the ranks of community agency staff, local leaders and farm leaders—generating
consensus that harmful traditional practices and cultural constraints on women
should be removed. The project created ways for women to receive credit (often
for the first time) so that they could invest in agricultural enterprises
that would supplement diets and incomes. Women eagerly took up sheep fattening,
poultry 
rearing,
vegetable production and other enterprises. Monies from one project led to
another, with profits used to send children to school, buy much needed clothing
or repair/improve the housing structure. Some women eventually could purchase
an ox and be able to farm their lands and even rent-out the ox for cash. These
successes in agriculture earned women the right to be considered equal to
the men as farmers and managers of assets—a very different reality from their
previous low status. Women increasing began to attend community meetings,
sitting side-by-side with men, voicing their opinions
and even campaigning in behalf of changes that they felt were needed. Agencies
began inviting them to committees and planning events so that the woman’s
perspective could be heard. And men were proud of their spouses—no longer
confining them to household duties and concerns but treating them as equals
both in the family and the community. These were unbelievable changes especially
when considering the conservative nature of these rural communities! But in
fact, the evaluation team could see and hear the evidence for themselves.
Less
easy to see where the actual impacts on family food security. In all of these
communities, but especially in the north, families’ food grains lasted for
only 6-9 months of the year. In the south, families could supplement their
grain with enset, a starchy product made from the
flesh of a banana-looking tree. In the north, potatoes and root crops helped
stave off hunger, but because of poor rains, relief was also needed. So the
project wanted to help farmers to produce more on their limited landholdings,
to reduce post harvest losses and to diversify their production to have more
options and flexibility if one crop failed. All of these strategies met with
outstanding success. New crop varieties had yield advantages of 20-100%, improved
storage devices could reduce damage from rats and insects by 50%, botanical
pesticides were found to increase storage times by 3-6 months and income generating
activities raised family incomes by 100-370birr on the average (doubling their
income). Thus the introduced innovations could make a difference. And individuals
proudly told how they had shared their newfound knowledge with others—creating
lateral diffusion rates of 2-5 times.
These successes were especially
appreciated because they provided hope that things could change. Already families
proudly noted that they were sending their children to school now, or were
replacing their thatched roofs with more reliable tin roofs. But of special
note was how women’s time had changed. A group of introductions especially
were targeted at the household. Fuel-efficient stoves were introduced to reduce
the 
burden
on women’s time for wood gathering. These simple mud stoves used 3-5 times
less wood than open fires and were safer for children and others. A simple
hay box could be used as a slow cooker, capturing residual heat for lentils
or beans, a daily item of the diet and a considerable fuel savings technique.
Along with the stoves, women made shelves out of local scrap material so that
cooking and eating utensils could be stored above the floor. By adding a cloth
or mat sheath to the shelf, an iceless cooler was created. Water evaporating
from the cloth cooled the interior and extended the shelf life of vegetables
and fruit by up to three days. Women also used the mud-brick technique in
making the stove to make raised sleeping platforms, seating places and other
home improvements. A model house was demonstrated at each project site showing
how the small round huts could be constructed out of mud not logs. It also
separated the animals from the human living areas, and separated the cooking
and sleeping quarters from the main communal room. Although few farmers could
afford to rebuild their homes, many women hoped that their daughters would
construct such a house and many tried to improvise within their own homes,
especially in removing the cattle to adjacent areas.
Understanding
project mechanisms:
EMPOWER was basically a technology transfer Extension program. There were
no magic bullets—just good extension work! It applied proven principles of
farmer-led extension such as participatory, demand driven, technology adaption/adoption/diffusion with a focus on local capacity
building for long-term sustainability. Additionally, it had a special focus
on women—empowering women to be actors and agents of change on the rural landscape.
These two strategies together were especially important as both men and women
participated in the development activities.
An additional element of the
project was empowerment of professional women working in the agricultural
sector. Ninety-two women received scholarships for advanced degree training
to upgrade their academic credentials and their ability to take-on leadership
and decision-making roles. With this major infusion of women into the ranks
of planning and monitoring roles in ministry of agriculture and related agencies;
programs and policies will more likely reflect the needs of women. Additional
over 100 professional men and women participated in an in-depth “leadership for change” training. This leadership
development program focused on understanding the constraints on women and
ways to unleash their potential. Individuals shared insights, reviewed case
studies, designed programs and made commitments to create change in their
own agencies and communities. Such efforts created a critical mass of professionals
with new skills, commitments and abilities to deal more effectively with gender
issues.
EMPOWER was a unusual program—a
gender empowerment program that focused on creating capacity at both the institutional
level and on-the-ground in rural communities. It is a credit to the designers
and funders that they were able to assign resources
to this experiment in “women in development”. It has proved to be well-received
and showing immediate results. Whether the enthusiasm and commitment can continue
is a question. But those individuals whose lives have changed for the better
as a result of participation in the project will continue to share their talents.
Whether others will be able to benefit will depend on the agencies and individuals
holding the responsibility for sustaining the effort. We hope that local demand
and positive results will be sufficient incentives for such continuation.
Time will tell! 
The Evaluation Team...Hedera, Mary, Senait and Mike
The full report of the EMPOWER evaluation is on the USAID website: http//www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/wid/pubs/ethiopia_part1.pdf