“Sheep are Like Fast-Growing Cabbage": Gender Dimensions of Small Ruminant Health in Ethiopia

Abstract

This project feeds into the gender-integrated research agenda with a focus on understanding how gender relations/dynamics affect disease control among small ruminants in Ethiopia. This is put in a broader context of wanting to know the factors that affect disease control in the communities involved. It asks questions on the importance of livestock species, the diseases that are constraints in small-ruminant husbandry, the impacts of diseases on different household members, and who does what in animal-health management. Methods used includes: separate focus groups with adult women, adult men, young women and young men; a short joint feedback session with all four groups; participatory tools such as simple ranking, proportional piling and seasonal calendars. Focus-group discussions show that women and men have different perceptions of livestock.