Creating a More Sustainable and Inclusive Job Market for Women and Youth in Ethiopia
This week, we sat down with Mefthe Tadesse, TechnoServe’s regional director for East Africa, to learn about a program in Ethiopia that aims to increase the wage and self-employment opportunities available to women and youth.
The Ethiopia Livelihoods Improvement for Women and Youth (LIWAY) program is a nine-year initiative implemented by TechnoServe alongside a consortium of partners. By creating a more sustainable and inclusive job market and economy for women and the youth, the program increases the availability of wage and self-employment opportunities. LIWAY supports industries like recycling plants, eCommerce platforms, construction, processing, and manufacturing that could grow and generate jobs for unskilled or semi-skilled women and youth.
The program is funded by Sweden and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN).
What are some of the economic challenges in Ethiopia that led to the creation of the LIWAY program?
Ethiopia, like many countries in East Africa, is experiencing a rapid urban migration of youth toward its major cities, including the capital Addis Ababa. While Addis Ababa is a fast-growing city, it cannot keep pace with youth migration. Jobs are not coming fast enough to absorb the growing youth population. This fundamental challenge has led to the genesis of the LIWAY program. LIWAY’s focus is on generating jobs for women and youth in particular.
How does the LIWAY program address gender inequality and youth unemployment?
LIWAY has been able to design interventions to make market systems more inclusive, particularly for marginalized groups, such as women and youth. By identifying and addressing barriers to their participation, LIWAY ensures that economic growth benefits a broader population segment.
The foundation of our approach to gender inequality and youth unemployment begins with setting our target beneficiaries to 50% women and 75% youth. By identifying the root causes of market failures that deprive low-income women and youth of wage and self-employment opportunities, we catalyze innovative market-based solutions that can impact large numbers of low-income women and youth.
To identify barriers to women’s participation in market systems, we conduct market assessments at the beginning of all our interventions to understand the specific challenges women and youth face in accessing economic opportunities. By collaborating with our implementing partners, we gather insights into the types of support services and training programs that would most benefit women, such as childcare facilities or flexible working hours.
To ensure that our interventions are accessible and beneficial to women, we hold our training and workshops at times and locations convenient for women, ensuring they can attend without compromising their other responsibilities. We also partner with local microfinance institutions to provide women with access to financial resources, enabling them to start or expand their businesses.
To measure the success of our interventions in benefiting women, we also track key performance indicators, such as the number of women who gain employment or start their own businesses as a result of our programs. Then, we adjust our strategies based on this data.
As an implementing partner for the LIWAY program, TechnoServe is working to create more and higher-paying jobs. Can you share how this work is carried out and how it complements the work of other implementing partners?
LIWAY partners with public and private sector actors to create more and higher-paying jobs. Engaging market actors and aligning interventions with their incentives often leads to more efficient and effective solutions. By understanding the incentives and ability of private market actors and public institutions to deliver change within the market, LIWAY created employment opportunities for women and youth.
A prime example of our successful interventions is our waste management initiative. This intervention was meticulously designed to consider the incentives of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and Medium and Large Enterprises (MLEs). By recognizing and leveraging the potential benefits for these enterprises, we fostered a sustainable and scalable solution that addresses waste management issues and generates substantial employment opportunities.
For the MSEs, the primary incentive was generating income by using easily accessible resources such as waste, plastic, and paper. Meanwhile, for the MLEs, the incentive lies in saving effort and costs associated with acquiring foreign exchange and the complex process of importing raw materials. By accessing the raw materials they needed for recycling at a significantly lower price locally, these enterprises found it highly advantageous.
As a result of these incentives, the market functioned effectively, creating more than 20,000 jobs in Addis Ababa. This business model was also replicated in other regions, further expanding job opportunities through market actors who copied it.
The LIWAY Program in Action
Segni Meselei is a 30-year-old leader of a compost MSE. While waiting for the government to give him a plot of land for the business—a process that took two years—Segni studied business administration online and watched YouTube videos about composting. “Composting is an art and a science.”
TechnoServe facilitated a market linkage between Segni and Lem Chaka, a social enterprise producing and selling compost.
Segni currently finds clients through cold-calling and word of mouth. Segni has sold 3,000 kg (30 quintals) of compost to Lem Chaka, at 7 birr / kg (21,000 Birr or $366). He wants to invest the revenue in the business by diversifying their waste inputs and starting new compost windrows. He sees market opportunities for urban agriculture, government beautification efforts, and the local real estate market.
Lem Ckaka has already become a repeat customer. Initially, they only ordered 1,000 kg but eventually increased it to 3,000 kg. Segni hopes this will start a long-lasting business relationship between Lem Chaka and his microenterprise.
Why is it important for development organizations like TechnoServe to prioritize a Market Systems Development approach?
A Market Systems Development (MSD) approach focuses on systemic change rather than isolated outcomes. It helps to transform how markets operate, fostering an environment where all actors can thrive and contribute to the overall development goals. Instead of providing temporary aid, it helps to address the root causes of market failures, ensuring that improvements continue even after the intervention ends.
Creating a sustainable impact requires understanding the capabilities and attitudes of permanent actors in the given market or environment, such as companies and government institutions. Market systems development practitioners need to understand economic, social, and power relationships in addition to the rules and norms governing the behavior of system actors.
Once you have a good grasp of these dynamics, programs such as LIWAY can develop interventions to address these permanent actors’ failures instead of creating artificial actors through the project and distorting the market or creating short-term interventions that could end when a project ends. As a result, a market-based development approach is proven to bring long-lasting sustainability compared to conventional development program approaches.
LIWAY’s Impact in Ethiopia
As of December 2023, the LIWAY program has significantly improved the income of 170,161 beneficiaries, with women making up 56% of this group and 81% being youth. Notably, the MLE system alone has helped increase the income of 29,627 women and young people. The program has been particularly successful in the circular economy by creating a market system that includes over 500 micro and small enterprises (MSEs), providing livelihoods for thousands of waste pickers.
The LIWAY program’s MSD-based approach has increased incomes and fostered sustainable economic development. By empowering women and youth, supporting waste pickers, and enhancing the capabilities of MSEs and MLEs, the program has created a robust ecosystem for growth and resilience. Moving forward, LIWAY aims to expand its interventions, further supporting the economic and social well-being of its beneficiaries and contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
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