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Improving women pastoralists’ access to animal health services: recommendations in Ethiopia and Kenya

Using the experiences of pastoral communities in the drylands of Ethiopia and Kenya, we provide evidence-based recommendations to improve women pastoralists’ access to animal health services.

Publisher SPARC
By Conrad Buluma Noura Kamel Jacqueline Foelster Ellie Rakoff
Supporting livelihoods and markets Gender equality and social inclusion Africa Ethiopia Kenya

What tangible steps can be taken to improve women pastoralists' access to Animal Health Services (AHS)? Providing evidence-based recommendations to answer this question drove a field-based study, by SPARC partner MarketShare Associates (MSA), exploring gender-inclusive approaches to AHS delivery in four pastoral communities in Oromia and Somali regions in Ethiopia and Isiolo and Samburu counties in Kenya. 

Our research focused on understanding the behavioural, normative, and social drivers that influence whether and how pastoralists – especially pastoralist women – interact with AHS. Our study, which is due to be published in November 2024, focused on understanding the behavioural, normative, and social drivers that influence whether and how pastoralists – especially pastoralist women – interact with AHS. Applying a systems lens, we examined how pastoralist men and women interact differently with AHS systems to determine ways in which AHS can be more responsive to gendered behavioural and normative factors. 

 Samburu pastoralist women after a Focus Group Discussion, with a camel feeding on salts in the background, Loltulelei village, Samburu County, Kenya - Image by Jennifer Lekasuyanj / EAMDA
Samburu pastoralist women after a Focus Group Discussion, with a camel feeding on salts in the background, Loltulelei village, Samburu County, Kenya - Image by Jennifer Lekasuyanj / EAMDA

In our first blog of the series, Bridging the gender gap in Animal Health Services as a resilience pathway: Insights from pastoralist communities in Ethiopia and Kenya,  we presented the findings of that study. Here we provide more details on the recommendations we made to improve women pastoralists' access to AHS. 

To make AHS more gender inclusive, we recommend:

 

 

 Pastoralist women in Samburu County, Kenya  – Image by Jennifer Lekasuiyan / EAMDA
Pastoralist women in Samburu County, Kenya  – Image by Jennifer Lekasuiyan /EAMDA

 

 

 


 

[i] Mekonnen, S (2023). Delivering Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia Vaccine through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Franchise Business Model in Borena Zone, Oromia Regional State: A Pilot Project. Addis Ababa

[ii] Addis Abbaba University (2023). Best Practices on Adoption of new technologies and Systems by the beneficiary communities and local stakeholders. Addis Ababa. Prepared by Prof. Degefa Tolossa, Dr. Esubalew Abate, Prof. Feyera Senbeta, Prof. Getachew Terefe and Dr. Meskerem Abi

[] Fisseha, A (2023). Final Evaluation of A Livestock Vaccine Innovation Project Implemented by Vétérinaires Sans Frontières – Suisse (VSF-Suisse) and Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Germany (VSF-G)iii

 


Source URL: https://www.sparc-knowledge.org/news-blog/blog/improving-women-pastoralists-access-animal-health-services-recommendations-ethiopia