Ethiopia A Woman Innovator Speaks NotesKI S ix farmer innovators from Ethio- This is an innovation that challenges pia took part in the recent inter- the cultural norms in Ethiopia, where national workshop on Promoting there is a long tradition of only men Local Innovation (PROLINNOVA), which ploughing with oxen. Gradually, as the was held in March 2004 at the Furra In- partners in the ISWC project started to stitute of Development Studies in become better acquainted with Yirgalem, Southern Ethiopia. Over 60 Mawcha and her work, they discovered participants from Africa, Asia and Eu- that she was also innovating in many rope took part. They discussed experi- other ways in farming and natural re- http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/default.htm ences in building multi-stakeholder source management. partnerships to promote participatory During the ISWC project, Mawcha research and development that starts had the opportunity to take part in a with recognizing the dynamics of indig- 10-day travelling seminar with several enous knowledge. They visited farmer other farmer innovators in Tigray. They researchers and innovators in Southern visited each other's farms, commented Ethiopia and listened to the oral pre- on each other's work and discussed how sentations of the farmers who came local and regional administrations as from more distant parts of the country. well as research and extension services No. 70 One of these farmers was Mawcha could support farmer innovation. In ad- July 2004 Gebremedhin, a woman from Adwa in Tigray, the northernmost region in IK Notes reports periodically on Ethiopia. She spoke with great self- Indigenous Knowledge (IK) initiatives confidence and pride about her in Sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally on such initiatives outside the Region. achievements. Mawcha had been iden- It is published by the Africa Region's tified as an innovative woman farmer Knowledge and Learning Center as part of an evolving IK partnership during the Indigenous Soil and Water between the World Bank, communi- Conservation (ISWC) project (1997­ ties, NGOs, development institutions 2002) coordinated by Mekelle Univer- and multilateral organizations. The views expressed in this article are World Bank sity in Tigray. Mawcha originally those of the authors and should not be caught the eye of the ISWC coordina- attributed to the World Bank Group or its partners in this initiative. A tor, Fetien Abay, when she observed webpage on IK is available at // Mawcha in a field ploughing with oxen. www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/ default.htm 2 dition to this, Mawcha has often received visitors at her even willing to talk to me as they used to do before my hus- home--not only other farmers but also senior government band left. This made me decide to work on my own fields. I officials and guests from overseas--and has told her story had been giving these to the family of my husband for farm- many times: ing, using our oxen for ploughing, and they gave me half of the harvest. The income I used to get from this sharecropped "My name is Mawcha Gebremedhin. I am 45 years old. Af- land was very meagre. Even though I supplemented it with ter I was married to my husband, we begot a child. But then the income I got from daily labour, it was still not enough. So there came the 1984 drought and famine in the country and I decided it would be better to spend my time on my field my husband was taken to a resettlement programme in the and plough by myself. southern part of my country. The place he went was so far "In my area, women don't plough. Ploughing is tradition- that he couldn't come and see me. His departure was a big ally men's work. Thus, I didn't have the skill of ploughing. challenge for me and my son. I had to work as a daily labourer But because I was determined and faced a very pressing prob- in the houses of many people to be able to feed my son and lem, I just boldly asked some men who had always been good myself. I worked for more than 16 hours each day and yet I to me. A couple of them laughed at me and advised me not used to get only 10 Birr per month and something to eat. But to try. But, after my persistent requests, a couple of them it was very difficult for me to go on like that. I couldn't carry showed me how to assemble the plough implements and how on because the work did not bring enough for us and I to handle the oxen. Thus, I started to plough my own fields couldn't bear the ridicule of the other women in the village. by myself. Because I was working for other people, the women were not "In the beginning, some people considered me as an evil wisher who would cause many vicious things to happen in the IK Notes village. Many people came and insulted me with very humili- ating words. Some came and genuinely advised me to stop ploughing and to marry another husband or to sell local beer. would be of interest to: This was a big pressure for me. I used to hide when people passed by. I had to bear all the problems, the ridicule and the Name laughter of people in my village who used to respect me be- fore my husband left. Institution "After some time, I became good in the work. My fields were as good as the fields of the men. I harvested as much, if Address not more, than they did. That was a landmark for me and for my village. It was a strange thing for the people in my vil- lage. There is a saying in our village that the harvest from a woman's field is not even enough for one meal. But my har- vest was enough for months for both me and my son. I started sending him to school, even though it was difficult for me to Letters, comments, and requests for publications should be addressed to: take care of the oxen as well as do all the other farm activi- ties without his help. Editor: IK Notes "The pressure from people did not lift, but it became Knowledge and Learning Center Africa Region, World Bank much less. After some years, I forgot to be shy and became 1818 H Street, N.W., Mailstop J8-811 stronger. I continued to be vigilant and hard working. But Washington, D.C. 20433 E-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org then there came a new pressure from the relatives of my husband. As I said, in the previous years, I used to give them 3 my land and they sharecropped it. But when I started to till it "In the meantime, the people from the Bureau of Agricul- myself, they did not like this and became like enemies. ture gave me words of encouragement and things have be- "I am not originally from the village where I now live. My come better for me. And, most important of all, people from husband took me from another village far away, so I do not Mekelle University heard about my innovation and came to have access to support from my own relatives. The relatives me. They wrote down what I am doing and gave me a prize as of my husband told me to leave their brother's land and to go top woman innovator, together with other women. Since back to where I came from. But I couldn't do that, because then, they frequently visit me and give me advice and en- my mother and father were no longer alive by then. So I couragement. stuck to the land of my husband. His relatives started to hit "After I started to till the land of the four families, I left my son and my oxen. I tried to get protection from the Baito the steeply sloping part of my land fallow. I left it to regener- [the village administration], which helped me to stay in the ate because that part was degraded and production started to village. decline. And, in fact, it was no longer necessary to plough "In the meantime, my husband came from the resettle- that part of my land. I had enough for myself from what I got ment programme to the village and asked me to go there from the plots I was sharecropping. I made checkdams by car- with him. He said he was getting richer there. But I refused. rying soil from other parts of my land. These dams stop the He, however, did the worst and most unexpected thing for flood that washes down the soil from the mountain. I also me--he took my son with him. That was the worst day for sowed grasses to stabilize them. After long years, the land me; I even thought to kill myself. I thought that my son grew big trees. This again was a source of dispute with my would be my protection in the future, and all of a sudden I neighbours and, of course, with my husband's relatives. They felt as if I had lost my future. But the Baito people were very tried to cut the trees and to take the grass. I had to guard the cooperative and good. They consoled me and told my land, even at night. One day my husband's relatives tried to husband's family that the land belongs to me and that they hit me. In fact, they did. But I appealed to the Baito and they could be punished if something happened to me. This gave were punished. They were given a last warning that if any- me strength and I continued to work hard. thing happened to me they will be held accountable. "As I said, my harvest was very good, indeed even better "Since then, I am using the grass for my oxen. The trees than the harvest of some men in the village. Some villagers regenerated nicely and I use them whenever necessary. For whose sons were in town and who were too old to continue instance, I cut the branches for fuel, I cut some strong ploughing asked me to till the land for them on a sharecrop- branches for making the ploughshare, I sell them and many ping basis. I accepted their offer and started tilling and sow- other things. I am also raising goats and sheep using the grass ing the land of four families. This was a big blow for the rela- in my forest. tives of my husband, but a big strength for me. It had both "Now with the help and encouragement I get from the economic and social advantages for me: I get half of the pro- Baito, the university, the Bureau of Agriculture and other duce I harvest from their land, and the people have started to visitors, I am leading a wonderful life. I built a house of my accept my strength and innovation. They said: `We used to own. To do this, I have made my own road across the moun- laugh at you; now you laugh at us'. tain to be able to transport the stones by car. Now I have a "Four women whose husbands were sent for military as- good house and am proud of it. signment to the militia asked me to show them how to "Thank you." plough. I trained them and they tilled their land for years till their husbands came back. In addition, three schoolgirls who Just before Mawcha came to the workshop in Southern live in the village asked me to do the same, and I trained Ethiopia, she was working as a consultant in Tigray. The them and they are still tilling their land. Adigrat Diocese Catholic Secretariat (ADCS) in the Eastern 4 Zone of Tigray recently launched a project to encourage This example shows that innovation comes about not women--especially some of the many women household merely by developing a new technology. Ploughing with heads--to plough their own land. ADCS hired Mawcha to oxen is an age-old practice in Tigray. What is new is that train and advise them. She showed approximately 100 women are daring to plough, and thus to gain more income women how to work with oxen, how to fit the harness, how to than if they gave out their land and oxen for sharecropping. handle the plough, and how to till the land. The women were In this case, the innovator had to sustain ridicule and be psy- much more confident in trying out this innovation since they chologically strong enough to persevere. Often, the most were taught by a woman who is doing it herself. important support that development agents and local admin- istrators can give is encouragement and protection, so that farmers feel free to innovate. This is especially important in the case of women, many of whom face greater challenges than men to be able to secure a livelihood for themselves and their children. This article was recorded and translated by Mengistu Haile, Mekelle University. For more information, e-mail Rwoytek@worldbank.org