Search

Climate-induced migration is an increasingly pressing issue in many African regions, as rising temperatures and extreme weather events have caused the displacement of vulnerable populations. This is especially so in Eastern Africa and the Horn of Africa, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia, where extreme weather events have led to rangeland degradation, crop failures, water shortages, and food insecurity. Hence, there is a perceived need to understand these processes better. Against this background, this paper reports on a study investigating the processes associated with climate-induced migration in Kenya and Ethiopia. The research method used consisted of an expert-driven assessment approach, which assesses the causes of climate-induced migration in Kenya and Ethiopia and its human and social implications on local communities. Data were collected from 110 experts residing and working on climate and migration-related issues in Ethiopia and Kenya via e-mail, whose knowledge of the current situation has enabled the identification of some important trends. The results show that climate change is a primary trigger of migration both internally and externally. The high number of migrants, many of whom living within levels of poverty in their home areas is straining resources and services in the receiving regions. Their presence is also leading to increased competition for jobs and resources. Additionally, it has increased urban poverty, as many migrants have little access to living space and health care. This paper provides a welcome addition to the literature in that it lists the causes and implications of climate-induced migration and, by doing so, fosters a better understanding of the current crisis and its implications. The implications of this paper to the overall knowledge of climate change and migration are twofold. First, it highlights the need for governments, international organisations, and other stakeholders better to understand the complex linkages between climate change and migration. Secondly, it shows the usefulness of better recognising how climate change can drive migration and the other factors shaping the decision to migrate. The paper concludes by stating the urgent need for policies and programmes that support climate change-induced migrants. Also, it draws attention to the usefulness of promoting sustainable development in their origin countries and destinations, so that migration is not necessarily perceived as the only response to climate change. A further conclusion is that there is a perceived need for providing access to resources such as education, health care, and livelihood opportunities and establishing mechanisms to ensure a safe and dignified return for those who choose to do so. • Climate change is a significant driver for migration in Kenya and Ethiopia. • Droughts, conflicts, and crop failures are among the key drivers of migration. • Male migration is more prominent than a female one. • Limited access to productive resources leads to outmigration from rural areas. • Lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic did not cause any major migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tempered radicals are change agents who experience the dominant culture as a violation of the integrity and authenticity of their personal values and beliefs. They seek to move forward whilst challenging the status quo. Does the concept provide a useful analytic lens through which the strategies of women and men farmer innovators, who are 'doing things differently' in agriculture, can be interpreted? What are their strategies for turning ambivalence and tension to their advantage? The paper uses research data derived from two wheat-growing communities in Oromia Region, Ethiopia, an area characterized by generally restrictive gendered norms and a technology transfer extension system. The findings demonstrate that women and men innovators actively interrogate and contest gender norms and extension narratives. Whilst both women and men innovators face considerable challenges, women, in particular, are precariously located 'outsiders within,' negotiating carefully between norm and sanction. Although the findings are drawn from a small sample, they have implications for interventions aiming to support agricultural innovation processes which support women's, as well as men's, innovatory practice. The framework facilitates a useful understanding of how farmer innovators operate and in particular, significant differences in how women and men interrogate, negotiate and align themselves with competing narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on my encounter with a group of Ethiopian female students whose common denominators are poverty, discrimination, violence, inequality and resilience, hope, courage and dignity. I describe these students' belief that education has enriched their lives in a country still dominated by patriarchy, with a high adolescent birth rate and a low Gender Development Index (UNDP, 2016). I draw insights from my practical experience as a development professional with the aim of contributing to the realization of the human capabilities of these young women. They aspire to a dignified life and believe education to be the sole instrument with which they can free themselves from the subordinated position society attributes to them. As a Living Theory researcher I neither separate myself, or my practical experience, from the social formation I am part of. In this account I explain my educational influences in learning and show how my work in Ethiopia is enriched by my Living Educational Theory research as it helps me to understand more fully the motivating power of love, faith in humanity and action that I incorporate within my practice, and how I originated the notion of generativity in my living-theory of sustainable development. I also write about recognising the significance of gender, professionally, personally and interpersonally and provide an insight into my research journey, unveiling my living values and living standards of judgment (Laidlaw, 1996) while attempting to be a 'good' development professional aspiring towards a 'good' change (Chambers, 2005). I focus on the influence those Ethiopian women have on my practice and how they have shaped my view of development, sustainability, and gender. I conclude by reflecting on the process that may lead me eventually to answer a key question for a Living Theory researcher, 'How can I improve my practice?' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic stand-alone systems are largely regarded as a viable option for decentralized rural electrification in developing countries. However, literature review reveals lack of documented experiences with installed PV systems such as Solar home systems as well as general problems with system maintenance and battery up keeping. This paper presents results from monitoring 31 stand-alone PV systems in remote health posts of North Gondar Zone in Ethiopia from installation until system failure; several systematic factors were found to have contributed to failure: lack of clear responsibility for the systems due to regular job rotation among health workers and lack of upfront, gender sensitive training, lack of equipment for maintenance work, very slow and unreliable chain of information in case of system failure and costly double tracking of energy supply. Nonfunctioning PV systems were found to threaten the technology'’s reputation by word of mouth. The results gained in this research provide important lessons for future programs of rural electrification by means of PV systems: they stress the importance of awareness building amongst funding agencies as well as the imperative of intense and sensitive training for users, especially women, and advocate for considering living conditions of users in system design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Area-based land taxes – a form of property tax – exist where rural land markets do not exist or do not function well. Understanding how these taxes affect different groups of landholders, including by men and women, is important since a tax based on the land size is likely to have an outsized effect on smaller landholders. However, survey data allowing for an individual- and household-disaggregated analysis has been scarce. Using newly available data on tax payments and self-reported individual land ownership from the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey 2018/2019, this paper assessed the gender implications of an area-based rural land use fee and agricultural income tax in Ethiopia. We found that female adult-only households were more likely than dual adult households to be smallholders with less than 0.5 hectare of land, and these smallholders faced the largest per-hectare tax rates. Female-headed- and female adult-only households faced a tax incidence that was 37 % higher than it was for male-headed and dual-adult households. The gender land ownership patterns, norms limiting women's role in agriculture, household structures, and gender agricultural productivity gaps are likely to result in lower consumption, and consequently, a higher tax burden for women. Finally, we simulated the effect of a hypothetical tax schedule with progressive per-hectare tax rates and exemptions for smallholders, and found that while this would reduce women's tax burdens, the tax remained to be regressive because of the prevalence of landholdership among poor households. Our study highlights the difficulty of area-based land taxes to be progressive. • Newly available individual-level land ownership and tax payment data in survey data. • Female-adult only households bear a larger tax burden than dual-adult households likely due to gender norms in agriculture. • Exemptions for smallholders and progressive tax schedule will reduce women's tax burdens but taxes remain regressive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]