Women farmers in Ethiopia face many challenges in their daily lives, such as inequitable access to and control over land and productive assets, as well as high burdens of household domestic labour. For many women, the COVID-19 pandemic made their situation more precarious and significantly increased their caregiving responsibilities. It became harder for them to spend the time they needed on farming, which had a negative impact on farm productivity, family incomes, food availability and nutrition.

In September 2020, Alinea International received additional funding from Global Affairs Canada for a special COVID-19 response and recovery extension to the Agricultural Growth Program-2 Capacity Development Support Facility (CDSF) project. During the extension period, which lasted until June 2021, Alinea’s project team worked with our Ethiopian public sector partners to deliver a set of coordinated interventions to support women small-scale farmers. This holistic approach aimed to redress challenges such as women’s lower access to veterinary services and agricultural extension, lack of access to resources, weak financial literacy, limited business skills, time, poverty, and lack of power and agency. To demonstrate the approach, we worked with over one hundred informal agribusinesses, known locally as Common Interest Groups (CIGs), most of which were led by women, but also some youth-led businesses with mixed male-female membership. All the selected CIGs had livestock-related businesses: poultry, dairy, cattle, or sheep and goats.

Half of the interventions focused on technical issues. Public and private veterinarians and livestock extension providers were trained on zoonotic disease prevention, and they cascaded the training to the women and youth CIGs, building their livestock health skills. Alinea field staff also delivered business skills training and worked with the CIGs to help them create one-year recovery business plans. Each CIG was then provided with COVID-recovery support funds, that were intended to support implementation of their business plans and improvements in animal health and safety.

The other half of the approach focused on the gender equality challenges, specifically women’s time poverty and lack of autonomy. For this, we used the AGP2 Gender Toolkit (GTK) and the Women’s Empowerment Manual – both developed by Alinea during the project.

Eight families from each CIG participated in a GTK training. During this training, couples examined who does what in the household, and discussed whether the distribution of domestic, productive, and community-support tasks is fair for all family members. After this discussion, each family develops its own Household Action Plan that documents what changes husbands and older children (especially boys) are willing to make to better share domestic chores and unpaid care work. With their action plans, the families commit to being a “Gender Model Family”. These eight families were also encouraged to share the Gender Model Family concept with other CIG members. The Gender Model Family approach was developed by SEND West Africa and adapted to the Ethiopian context by Alinea under the Small-Scale and Micro-Irrigation Support Project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Global Affairs Canada.

CDSF staff and interns provided follow-up support across this holistic approach. They regularly checked in with each CIG to ensure they were able to apply their learning and make progress on CIG business plans, improving animal health and safety, and making changes within their households. At the same time, women CIG members came together in weekly discussion groups focused on the stories and exercises in the Women’s Empowerment Manual (WEM), which are designed to build women’s confidence and their skills to advocate for themselves individually and collectively.

Even in a relatively short period of time, about six months, women CIG members reported that meaningful change was happening in their families. When first surveyed, only 17 per cent of women rated their spouse’s involvement in household duties as high or very high, and only 13 per cent felt their spouse had high or very high involvement in caregiving. Six months later, those figures had doubled to 34 per cent for household chores, and more than tripled for caregiving to 44 per cent.

Household gender equality also improved in other ways: 85 per cent of women reported that their own involvement in household financial decision-making had improved and 87 per cent noted an increase in their involvement in non-financial decision-making. Nearly all the women indicated that these household changes were having a positive impact on their Common Interest Group. Encouragingly, most male CIG members agreed that the changes being made through their Household Action Plans were benefitting their agribusinesses.

alinea’s whistleblower policy

1.1 Purpose

The following Whistleblower Policy has been established to provide guidance to Alinea International employees and sub-contractors on how to deal with known or suspected improper conduct within the organization. The objectives of this Policy are to:

Create awareness of the Policy and available whistleblower protections
Act as a reference guide to potential whistleblowers wishing to make a disclosure
Define the structure of the whistleblower system, including reporting and investigation procedures, whistleblower protections, and confidentiality, among others
Improve the communication and transparency in the processes associated with whistleblowing and assure protection against derogatory consequences, namely reprisals and detrimental action
Complement the current communication channels between employees, sub-contractors and immediate managers, and hierarchical channels flowing to the President and Senior Management team
Provide guidance to all parties involved in either whistleblowing or whistleblower protection.

1.2 Scope

Alinea requires all employees and sub-contractors to observe high standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. All employees and sub-contractors of Alinea are required to comply with applicable laws and regulations of Canada and the countries where we operate. Any allegations of known or suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources will be dealt with in accordance with this Policy, and reasonable steps will be taken to protect those who come forward with allegations. Alinea’s Whistleblower Policy covers both internal and external whistleblowing, and establishes the controls and procedures for dealing with allegations of malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. This Policy is intended to encourage employees and sub-contractors to report known or suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources and to enable Alinea’s Senior Management team to address and correct inappropriate action. It is the responsibility of all Board of Directors’ members, the Senior Management team, employees and sub-contractors to report concerns about known or suspected malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. This Policy is applicable to all employees and sub-contractors of Alinea International.

1.3 Reporting Procedures

Alinea recognizes the value of transparency and accountability in its administrative and management practices and supports the making of disclosures that reveal improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources. Our internal controls and operating procedures are intended to detect and prevent malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. As detailed in Alinea’s Employee Policy and Onboarding manuals, employees and sub-contractors are encouraged to share complaints and/or concerns regarding ethical or legal violations with their immediate managers. If the employee or sub-contractor is not comfortable speaking with their immediate manager or is not satisfied with the response, they are encouraged to speak with the Gatineau or Calgary Office Managers, the Vice Presidents or, as required, the Chief Financial Officer. All members of the Senior Management team are required to report complaints and/or concerns about suspected ethical or legal violations in writing to Alinea’s Ethics Committee who has the responsibility to investigate all reported complaints and/or concerns. In the event that the complaint and/or concern is about the President, it should be raised by the employee or sub-contractor to their immediate manager or the Ethics Committee who will determine how the investigation will proceed. All reports will be promptly investigated and appropriate corrective measures will be taken if warranted by the investigation. Alinea’s Ethics Committee is responsible for acknowledging receipt of the suspected violation and notifying the whistleblower of the outcome of the investigation. Anyone filing a written complaint concerning suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources must be acting in good faith and have reasonable grounds for believing the information disclosed indicates a violation. Personal grievances or complaints related to employment are not covered under Alinea’s Whistleblowing Policy. For cases such as this, employees and sub-contractors are advised to first refer to Alineas Employee Policy and Onboarding manuals when considering a disclosure under the Whistleblowing Policy. Any allegations that prove not to be substantiated and which prove to have been made maliciously or knowingly to be false will be viewed as a serious disciplinary offense.

1.4 Confidentiality

Maintaining confidentiality is crucial to ensure reprisals are not made against the whistleblower. Alinea is committed to safeguarding the identity of the whistleblower and to protecting the whistleblower against detrimental action taken in reprisal for allegations of suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources. The Ethics Committee is responsible for ensuring whistleblowers are protected from direct and indirect detrimental action, and that the culture of the workplace is supportive of suspected allegations being made. Any employee who retaliates against someone who has reported a violation in good faith is subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment.

1.5 Review

Alinea is committed to implementing ‘best practice’ policies and procedures for dealing with allegations of suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources (as defined by this Policy) and the management and protection of whistleblowers making allegation(s). This Policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure it meets the objectives of relevant legislation and remains effective for Alinea, and may be changed at the discretion of the Board of Directors at any time. For allegations of fraud, securities law, or human rights concerns, or when you are not satisfied or uncomfortable with following the Company’s open door policy, individuals should contact the Company’s Ethics Committee directly.

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Gender Equality Week: Transformative Change in Rural Ethiopia

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