IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v13y2024i5p233-d1381894.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Innovations for Empowering Pastoralist Women: Evidence from Dasenech, South Omo, Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Melisew Dejene

    (Department of Journalism & Communication, Institute of Policy & Development Research, Hawassa University, Hawassa P.O. Box 05, Ethiopia)

  • Tafesse Matewos

    (Department of Geography & Environmental Science, Institute of Policy & Development Research, Hawassa University, Hawassa P.O. Box 05, Ethiopia)

  • Addisalem Adem

    (Department of Social Protection Management, Ethiopian Civil Service University, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 5648, Ethiopia)

Abstract

Innovations are vital for empowering women and youth by introducing alternative pathways for development. This study focuses on a social innovation project executed in Dasenech, South Omo, Ethiopia. The project introduced innovative initiatives (index-based livestock insurance (IBLI), a goat market value-chain system, an eco-friendly hydraulic ram pump, fodder production, and a vet drug store). Key among the goals of these initiatives was the empowerment of pastoralist women by promoting the livelihood base of the Dasenech Pastoralist Community. The present study assessed the contributions of these innovations to the empowerment of women and youth. We employed a mixed-method research approach to pool both quantitative and qualitative data using a household survey through Kobocollect, FGDs, KIIs, and case stories. We computed empowerment by employing a 5DE model with five domains, i.e., production, resources, income, leadership, and time use. The findings suggest that 93% of the project participants were empowered, recording “adequate achievements” in line with the 5DE model, i.e., with scores of at least 80% in four of the five requirements. Technological innovations that properly assess the context of the intervention area and, most importantly, that use proper avenues of implementation with women and youth as owners and leaders, have the capacity to empower such individuals in the economic, social, and political spheres.

Suggested Citation

  • Melisew Dejene & Tafesse Matewos & Addisalem Adem, 2024. "Social Innovations for Empowering Pastoralist Women: Evidence from Dasenech, South Omo, Ethiopia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2024:i:5:p:233-:d:1381894
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/5/233/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/5/233/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanni Dosi & Pierre Mohnen, 2019. "Innovation and employment: an introduction," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 45-49.
    2. Wen-Dong Lv & Dan Tian & Yuan Wei & Rui-Xue Xi, 2018. "Innovation Resilience: A New Approach for Managing Uncertainties Concerned with Sustainable Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-25, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nicoletta Corrocher & Daniele Moschella & Jacopo Staccioli & Marco Vivarelli, 2023. "Innovation and the Labor Market: Theory, Evidence and Challenges," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Politica Economica dipe0033, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    2. Montobbio, Fabio & Staccioli, Jacopo & Virgillito, Maria Enrica & Vivarelli, Marco, 2022. "Robots and the origin of their labour-saving impact," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    3. Liviu Andrei Toader & Dorel Mihai Paraschiv & Florentina Chițu, 2023. "The Effects of Individuals’ Levels of Computer Skills on the ICT Sector Employment in the European Union during the COVID-19 Pandemics," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 26(85), pages 67-77, June.
    4. Carlos Bianchi & Hugo Laguna, 2020. "Firm’s innovation strategies and employment: new evidence from Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-06, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    5. Yang Liu & Moses Olabhele Esangbedo & Sijun Bai, 2019. "Adaptability of Inter-Organizational Information Systems Based on Organizational Identity: Some Factors of Partnership for the Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, March.
    6. Paola Azar, 2020. "Politics as a determinant of primary school provision The case of Uruguay, 1914-1954," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-07, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    7. Taymaz, Erol & Voyvoda, Ebru & Yilmaz, Kamil, 2024. "Is there a virtuous cycle between wages and productivity? Turkish experience after the transition to democracy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    8. Chee‐Hong Law & Siong Hook Law, 2024. "The non‐linear impacts of innovation on unemployment: Evidence from panel data," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 402-424, January.
    9. Dosi, G. & Piva, M. & Virgillito, M.E. & Vivarelli, M., 2021. "Embodied and disembodied technological change: The sectoral patterns of job-creation and job-destruction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(4).
    10. Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Nicola Grassano, 2022. "The EU vs US corporate R&D intensity gap: investigating key sectors and firms [A primer on innovation and growth]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 31(1), pages 19-38.
    11. Jasmine Mondolo, 2022. "The composite link between technological change and employment: A survey of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1027-1068, September.
    12. Marinko Skare & Beata Gavurova & Martin Rigelsky, 2024. "Transforming power of research and development on inequality and well-being: a European Union perspective within the circular economy framework," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Antonio Miceli & Birgit Hagen & Maria Pia Riccardi & Francesco Sotti & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2021. "Thriving, Not Just Surviving in Changing Times: How Sustainability, Agility and Digitalization Intertwine with Organizational Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    14. Barbieri, Laura & Mussida, Chiara & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2019. "Testing the employment and skill impact of new technologies: A survey and some methodological issues," MERIT Working Papers 2019-032, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    15. Mottahedi, Adel & Sereshki, Farhang & Ataei, Mohammad & Qarahasanlou, Ali Nouri & Barabadi, Abbas, 2021. "Resilience estimation of critical infrastructure systems: Application of expert judgment," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    16. Taimin Li & Afzal Izzaz Zahari & Soliha Sanusi, 2023. "The Sustainability of Technological Innovation in China: From the Perspective of Network Relationships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-26, February.
    17. Dosi, G. & Pereira, M.C. & Roventini, A. & Virgillito, M.E., 2022. "Technological paradigms, labour creation and destruction in a multi-sector agent-based model," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    18. Başak Dalgıç & Burcu Fazlıoğlu & Aytekin Güven, 2023. "Innovation, employment and market structure: firm level evidence from Turkey," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 1385-1407, September.
    19. Borsato, Andrea & Lorentz, André, 2023. "The Kaldor–Verdoorn law at the age of robots and AI," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    20. Chih-Hai Yang, 2023. "R&D responses to labor cost shock in China: does firm size matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1773-1793, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2024:i:5:p:233-:d:1381894. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.