Gendered Data Collection
August, 2019
In August of 2019, members of the TARTARE team, including Dr. Kathleen Colverson from the University of Florida and, Ariel Garsow, a graduate student from OSU, traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to teach a gendered data collection course at Addis Ababa University.
One of the activities completed during this course was the creation of a 24-hour clock to look at the differences in how small holder male and female farmers spend their time in a typical day. Men were asked to create a 24-hour clock of the typical day for a female smallholder farmer, and women were asked to do the same, but for a male smallholder farmer. The result was a pictorial representation of reality that allowed for an open discussion of gender roles and equality. This activity also helped reveal community food safety practices. Further, it can be used to see when most individuals are available to have conversations and trainings around food safety.
After the training, the team visited several small holder dairy farms in the area surrounding Addis Ababa, including the Kersa and Wolmera woredas, to help conduct a gender analysis of the food safety practices in the dairy value chain. The goal was to obtain enough information to guide development of community-specific best food handling practices. Results showed that women are primarily responsible for stall cleaning, watering, cleaning of utensils, and some feeding of animals, but less involved in grazing and veterinary care. Males were responsible for slaughtering and cutting beef and other livestock for consumption. Similarly, women have limited involvement in marketing of beef and meat products, but almost exclusive control of processing and sales of milk and dairy products.
The examination of gender roles in value chains allows for the determination of the likelihood of risk of food borne diseases by gender and aids in the creation of interventions to that target those who are more likely to be able to change behaviors to reduce foodborne contamination. Future food safety trainings need to understand these gender roles to appropriately target the correct audiences.
If you are interested in learning more about the team's experience, please read Ariel's blog post at the following link: https://foodsafety.osu.edu/blog/march-23-2020-138pm/making-invisible-visible-gendered-data-collection