Clapping with Two Hands: Transforming Gender Relations and Zoonotic Disease Risks through Community Conversations in Rur
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Clapping with Two Hands: Transforming Gender Relations and Zoonotic Disease Risks through Community Conversations in Rural Ethiopia Annet Abenakyo Mulema 1,2 & Wole Kinati 3 & Mamusha Lemma 1 & Mesfin Mekonnen 1 & Biruk G. Alemu 1 & Belay Elias 4 & Yifru Demeke 5 & Hiwot Desta 1 & Barbara Wieland 1 Accepted: 11 October 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Gender inequalities and zoonoses are major concerns in livestock production systems worldwide. Livestock producers are at high risk of zoonotic diseases due to direct and indirect contact with their livestock and livestock products. Gender differences and inequalities in roles, access to and control over resources, decision-making, and cultural norms influence exposure to, perceptions, and management practices for zoonotic disease risks. Using participatory action research, we tested the effectiveness of community conversations in changing gender relations and practices that expose livestock keepers to zoonoses in three districts of rural Ethiopia. Our findings show that community conversations change mindsets and practices regarding gender roles, access to and control over resources, decision-making in households, handling livestock, and consumption of animal-source foods. Behavioral change happens when women and men diagnose and understand the problem, reflect on the beliefs/norms that determine their practices, make shifts in cognitive and emotional mental models, commit, and take actions. This has practical and policy implications for interventions that aim to change behavior. The process requires nurturing collaborative relations, trust-building, community-driven social learning, enhancing local capacities, breaking belief traps, and complementarity to existing interventions. Keywords Community conversations . Behavioral change . Gender relations . Zoonoses . Livestock production . Ethiopia
Introduction Ethiopia has one of the largest livestock populations and the second largest human population in Africa (Central Statistical Agency 2009; Leta and Mesele 2014). About 80% of the
* Annet Abenakyo Mulema [email protected] 1
International Livestock Research Institute, P. O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2
Present address: Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Research Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P. O. Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya
3
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
4
Doyogena Livestock and Fish Resources Development Office, SNNP region Doyogena, Ethiopia
5
Menz Gera Agriculture Office, North Shoa zone, Amhara region Menz Gera, Ethiopia
population depends on agriculture and has direct contact with livestock or other animals, increasing risks of zoonotic diseases (Pieraccia et al. 2016). Zoonoses account for most infectious diseases in people and reported as “emerging” or “reemerging” (Woolhouse 2002). Ethiopia ranks high in the health burden of zoonotic diseases including rabies, anthrax, brucellosis, leptospirosis, and echinococcosis (Pieraccia et
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