The Associational Patterns of Farming Women and Men: A case study from Ethiopia

Despite acknowledgments that social capital has an unequal distribution more empiric evidence knowledge is needed on how sociability acts different for women and men. Given the established connection between sociability and wealth, differential access to social resources could enlighten the gender asset gap (Deere and Doss 2006) in access to resources. This article uses data from a formal survey undertaken in 2006 in rural Ethiopia, to study the gendered patterns of sociability covering a probability sample comprising 464 farming women and men residing in four different communities. Ethnography is further used to assist in the analysis. The empirical analysis focuses on women’s and men’s access to local forms of sociability, using descriptive statistics, and a specific analytical eye focuses on those women who head their own households. The results show that there are variations in associational patterns that can be attributed to gender, and that a significantly larger proportion of men than women are members in government organizations, productive organizations and NGO:s. Men are also both more organized and connected than women are, and significantly more often than women lead local organizations. Women who head their own households are least involved of all in local forms of sociability, contributing to the specific vulnerability of this group.