Cultivating Confidence With Potatoes in Central Ethiopia

Woyneshet Kassa, 32, carefully brushes dirt from a potato in a cultivation shed at her family's homestead. Beside her, Fufa, 38, rolls potatoes back and forth along a suspended bed, which holds hundreds of the germinating vegetables. The spacious timber shed, known as a diffused light storage (DLS) facility, is filled with thousands of medium-sized, brown and white potatoes, neatly arranged on racks. 

The structure is in Woliso, a small village in Ethiopia’s Shewa zone, where Kassa and her family live as subsistence farmers cultivating a variety of vegetables for consumption and sale. Having spent most of her life working on her family’s land with her husband and three children, Kassa first encountered iDE when they visited her village in 2022. At the time, she enrolled in the iDE Her Time to Grow project, which provides localized agricultural and business training, joining 25 other men and women from her community.

After completing the training, Kassa, Fufa, and three other participants formed a cooperative to cultivate potatoes. With iDE's assistance, they applied for a loan to purchase ten quintals of potato seed, organic fertilizers, and pesticides. iDE also supported the group to acquire materials including metal roofing and nails to build the DLS facility, enabling year-round seed storage and propagation using the techniques they learned in the program. Funded by Global Affairs Canada, Her Time to Grow seeks to create business opportunities for at least 25, 000 women in agriculture across Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia over a 4-year period. The project, now in its second year, could potentially help generate more than $30 million globally for women by focusing on female entrepreneurship, gender equity and climate resilience among small-holder farmers. The project includes micro initiatives like the "Women's Empowerment Challenge Fund" —  an internal fund providing subsidies for women who are innovators and early adopters— to accelerate innovation among female farmers. “I’m helping contribute financially to my family and my community. I feel so confident,” says Fufa. 

Microfinance Changes Gender Norms in Woloso

But it wasn’t easy for Kassa and Fufa to get their potato business off the ground. They faced a number of challenges related to gender norms that had to be overcome. For example, in Woliso, land is scarce and is usually passed from one generation to the next along patriarchal lines. However, womens’ work responsibilities often extend beyond the household and include seasonal labor support on family farms, which are used to grow crops for sale and consumption. To address this power imbalance, iDE Ethiopia conducted gender training within households as part of the project. For Kassa and Fufa, this meant gaining the support of their husbands when it came to making key decisions at home and on the farm. Along with the training the women accessed, the support of their husbands has greatly increased their confidence and enabled them to make their own incomes. 

They now say they feel more equal to their male counterparts.  “I am working, I have my income, and I’m growing in my career.” Kassa said. “I wasn't confident enough to speak like this before—now I'm very confident. I have changed.”

Another challenge for Kassa and Fufa was their lack of knowledge around financial literacy. They also had  limited access to critical resources such as irrigation equipment and agricultural infrastructure. And they also had trouble getting the loan.“There was a taboo where a woman doesn't take a loan because her husband and the community fear how she returns that money," said Fufa. “They [the community] don't trust women with money, which is a big challenge.”

But the cooperative that Fufa and Kassa belong to managed to access finance by using a mixture of personal and group savings. Even though local microfinance institutions were at first skeptical, requiring husbands to be present as witnesses, the women repaid their loan in full and were then able to secure a second loan. "Previously, only men could take loans, with women signing as witnesses. Now, women can take loans themselves and sign as witnesses—a complete reversal,” said Kassa.

For many women taking part in the project, gender roles have not only changed when it comes to business, they’ve also changed at home with husbands taking an active role in raising children. “I now collaborate with my husband. When I’m farming, he stays at home and does household work.”Initially focused on potato production, the co-op has diversified into processing wild banana leaves, using machinery provided by another organization and funding from the second loan. Looking ahead, the two women are optimistic about the potato business.

As iDE entrepreneurs, Kassa and Fufa are proud of the work they’re doing and are now teaching other members of their community the skills they need to learn to grow their businesses. Overall, the project is empowering women by facilitating their active participation in decision-making at home and in the community, focusing on providing essential resources for women-led businesses to thrive, removing barriers that prevent them from taking part in the local economy.