Urban Informal Sector as a Livelihood Strategy of Women: The Case of ‘Tella’ and ‘Katicala’ Producers and Sellers in Dejen Town, East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State

Afework, Amene (2011) Urban Informal Sector as a Livelihood Strategy of Women: The Case of ‘Tella’ and ‘Katicala’ Producers and Sellers in Dejen Town, East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

Urban poverty and unemployment in many urban centers of Ethiopia has been expanding. These pushed many people particularly the urban poor and other impoverished groups of the society to various incomegenerating activities in the informal sector. Just like other urban centers of the country, the urban poor women in Dejen town are engaged in different informal activities; however, their participation is intense in the processing of ‘Tella’ and ‘Katicala’. These alcoholic drinks were previously prepared for homebased drinks and to colorfully celebrate cultural holidays, but the current economic hardship together with other factors forced women to use it as a commercial item. The purpose of this study is to assess the livelihood conditions of women in the urban informal sector with particular emphasis on ‘Tella’ and ‘Katicala’ producers and sellers in Dejen town. In order to achieve this objective, two types of sampling techniques (purposive and stratified sampling) were used and a sample of 115 women were selected and relevant data were gathered through questionnaire, interviews and observations. The data collected from different sources were analyzed quantitatively (using frequency, percent, mean, median and correlations) and qualitatively. The finding of the study reveals that most of the operators are in the productive age groups, illiterate, migrants and were house wives. The study also found that the reasons for women participation into informal activities were lack of alternatives for living, divorce, insufficient monthly income, school dropouts, family and/or husband death, and presence of large dependents in the households. The study indicated that most of the participants have started the business with small capital, on average 177 birr. The finding further reveals low monthly income of participants i.e. 343 birr on average and is influenced by frequency of selling, way of production and seasonality of customers and inputs. The majority of operators were living and working in rented, old and physically deteriorating houses and these houses lacked basic services and amenities. It was also found that food insecurity is a common shock being faced these women; to tackle the problem women made various adjustments like change in consumption pattern, borrowing items from friends/relatives, diversifying income sources and selling households assets/property. The problem of housing, shortage of working capital, strong competition, lack of institutional and government support, fluctuation in demand and cost of inputs and health problems were reported as major working constraints for these women.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Selom Ghislain
Date Deposited:	15 Aug 2018 12:42
Last Modified:	15 Aug 2018 12:42
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/4738

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