Abstract

G. S. Ogato

Research on gender in agriculture was conducted in Ambo district, Ethiopia, between July and September 2007 to assess gender roles in crop production and management. During the study period, gendered knowledge and innovation on crop production and management practices was assessed in three rural communities of the district. A key premise of this article is that both males and females are knowledgeable about crop production and management practices in rural Ethiopian context. The paper identifies and examines males’ and females’ knowledge on crop production and management practices through a thorough analysis of secondary information and primary data collected in Ambo District with the help of questionnaires, interviews, observations, focus group discussions, participatory rural appraisal, gender analysis and case studies (life histories). Statistical package for social science (SPSS) and excel spreadsheet functions were used to treat and analyze the data. The results of the analysis indicate that both females and males are knowledgeable about crop production and management despite the common belief held in the society that females in Ethiopia are not knowledgeable about productive works such as crop production and management but domestic works. From the study undertaken, it is clear that females in rural Ethiopia have important knowledge which must be documented and integrated in multi-stakeholders’ agricultural innovation processes if the Ethiopian agricultural research and development system is to be transformed in a sustainable manner.