Gender and youth empowerment in horticulture markets (GYEM)

The Gender and Youth Empowerment in Horticulture Markets (GYEM) project aims to enhance women’s and youth’s social and economic power in the horticulture value chains in Ethiopia.

Around 5 million smallholder households in Ethiopia engage in vegetable production but only 17% of vegetable crops produced are sold commercially. Although the sector horticulture is growing, several challenges must be overcome by smallholder farmers to benefit from this growth.

Many Ethiopian women practice irrigated homestead horticulture but they don't see many benefits as a result of low production and productivity, skewed gender relation and low access to good seeds, land, fertilisers, pesticides, pumps, storage, handling, credit, market information, viable sales channels, etc. In addition, young people are increasingly shying away from agriculture as a business; however, horticulture can provide reasonable incomes from small plots, within a short period.

The Gender and Youth Empowerment in Horticulture Markets (GYEM) project is designed to ensure that women's and young people's horticulture businesses are integrated into commercial value chains. The programme will develop women’s and men’s skills and will facilitate access to market information, inputs, and agronomic services. It will also ensure that women are able to take a greater role in decision making both at the household and cooperative level.

A stronger voice will help women to become more professional and successful in business and will create stronger cooperatives. The project will identify ways in which unions and cooperatives can better support the aspirations of women and young people to enter commercial horticulture markets.

The project is financed by Comic Relief and implemented by SNV in partnership with unions in Oromia and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples regions of Ethiopia. It aims to improve the lives of 20,000 households and 500 young people by 2019.