EVOLVING MARKETS, RURAL LIVELIHOODS, AND GENDER RELATIONS: THE VIEW FROM A MILK-SELLING COOPERATIVE IN THE KOFALE DISTRICT OF WEST ARSII, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The study area for this research was the Kofale District of West Arsii, Ethiopia. The people living in villages in this area depend on their own agricultural products for their livelihoods. This self-reliance is now being supplemented through some exposure to local food markets. Their interactions with local markets, however, are selective. They reserve some products primarily for home consumption, while others are intended partly or mainly for sale. Recently, however, people's market interactions have become more intense, as a consequence of market-oriented government development strategies, and infrastructure improvements resulting in easier access to markets. These external influences have led to a change in the types of items made available for sale. Milk, which has been used by the Arsii Oromo primarily for home consumption, is now being commercialized in the research area. Milk has always constituted a major component of the Arsii Oromo's diet and food culture, and it is one of their most ritually, and nutritionally important food items. Responsibility for milk has traditionally been in the women's domain, and women largely control decisions over its distribution for consumption, transfer as gifts, and accumulation for making butter. These patterns of behavior, however, are apparently changing, owing to rural people's exposure (or access) to emerging markets (particularly via cooperatives), and the market's modus operandi. Based on in-depth interviews, and a number of case studies including one of a market-oriented milk cooperative, this paper explores how these evolving markets are affecting the Arsii Oromo's traditional relationship with milk, and how they are affecting rural livelihoods and gender relations in the Kofale District.