Clapping with Two Hands: Transforming Gender Relations and Zoonotic Disease Risks through Community Conversations in Rural Ethiopia

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.

Knowledge, attitude, and practices to zoonotic disease risks from livestock birth products among smallholder communities in Ethiopia

“…Appropriately prepared targeted public information materials such as pamphlets and posters can be used to communicate information on diseases to local communities and to encourage them to adopt better risk management practices [ 27 ]. More promising to achieve lasting practice change, however, would be discussions with communities to clarify myths and find context-specific solutions that are accepted by the communities [ 38 , 41 ]. Moreover, the utilization of local mass media such as a radio to disseminate public information also plays a key role in continued efforts to prevent and control zoonotic diseases and promoting zoonotic control interventions [ 1 , 59 , 65 ].…”

A qualitative process evaluation of a community conversation intervention to reduce stigma related to lower limb lymphoedema in Northern Ethiopia

“…The literature provides mixed evidence regarding the optimum number of days for CC training workshops. According to Lemma and colleagues, a complete grasp of the training content will take three days of training time [ 37 ]. In another study, a CC training workshop was extended to 10 days [ 38 ].…”

“…Morever, the lack of objective indicators in the facilitation guide limited our understanding of signs of change due to the intervention. In addition to the facilitation guide, the use of tools like posters, pictures, and a pre-post test question template with objective indicators of change could also have assisted the CC facilitators to properly conduct the CC sessions, as suggested by other studies [ 37 ].…”

“…They faced difficulties following the procedures and principles in the facilitation guide, and promoting the acceptability and practice of recommended preventive behaviors. As the monitoring and performance evaluation tools were not adequately utilized in each session, it was difficult to objectively assess the early signs of change observed among participants, which would have enabled more objective judgement of the outcomes of CC [ 37 ].…”

The Role of Household Structure and Composition in Influencing Complementary Feeding Practices in Ethiopia

“…The consequence of high constraint is that the women potentially invest substantial time and effort in the children and other household members. In context, Ethiopian women are primarily responsible for domestic activities imposed by gender relations [ 36 ], which might have multiple positive and negative child-feeding implications, as discussed below.…”