Lived Experiences of Women and Girls in Nongovernmental Organizations’ Income-Generating Activities in Hawella Tula and Tabor sub cites of Hawassa city, Sidama region, Ethiopia

Lived Experiences of Women and Girls in Nongovernmental Organizations’ Income-Generating Activities in Hawella Tula and Tabor sub cites of Hawassa city, Sidama region, Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Lived Experiences of Women and Girls in Nongovernmental Organizations’ Income-Generating Activities in Hawella Tula and Tabor sub cites of Hawassa city, Sidama region, Ethiopia Turufat Tukura, Sibilo Gashure This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7061526/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Women are the most vulnerable population segment to gender-based violence (GBV) due to their economic dependence. A significant number of women (72%) do not participate in non-farming income-generating activities. Therefore; study assesses the experiences of women and girls who are participating in nongovernmental income-generating activities (IGA) in the Hawella Tula sub-city of Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia. The study employed focus group discussions and key informant interviews to assess the lived experiences of women and girls participating in income-generating activities of nongovernmental initiatives. The collected data were transcribed, classified, coded, and thematically analyzed. The findings indicated that there was no market assessment or stakeholder mapping for the technical support of income-generation participants. The participants utilized coping mechanisms such as shifting their primary choice of income-generating activities to alternative activities in response to the risks and challenges they faced. The lack of proper training in local languages, tailored to the understanding of the participants, contributed to the frequent shifting of activities due to limited success. Moreover, the participants could not obtain technical support from local financial institutions, which further roadblocked the success of the initiative. The participants engaged in subsistence activities, which limited their saving capacity, as evidenced by their lack of savings accounts. The study concludes that IGA encounter various shocks and risks that barriers income-generation performance when market system development is not place for mitigation. To improve the success of the initiative, it is necessary to unify the selected beneficiaries and introduce a revolving fund model through a vigorous governance structure to ensure sustainable cycle of financing. Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Economics Health sciences/Health care Income Generation Activities women’s economic empowerment financial institution’s technical support economic gender based violence Figures Figure 1 1. Introduction In Sub-Saharan African countries, poor urban residents engage in various forms of income-generating activities (IGAs) to reduce poverty and increase food security. 35.6% participate in non-farming, 25% in crop production, and 19% engage in other sources, such as remittances, rent, livestock, and pensions (Okon et al, 2016). Moreover; a study conducted in Ethiopia explains that the participation of women income generation activities depends on multifaceted factors. The effective income generation in rural parts of Ethiopia is determined by education status, household size, land size, livestock holding, access to credit, access to training, and access to market information (Yaried & Bullo,2025). To prevent significant economic and social tolls, the government should reduce poverty and food insecurity and work with different nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to transform gender equality and achieve sustainable development (Ministry Women and Social Affairs, 2021). Gender and development are among the fundamental frameworks used by the United Nations to transform gender equality across multiple contexts. Approaches that address the economic problems of women consequently augment gender transformation in various sociocultural context, Women (2016) Income generation activities are among the major areas of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that create opportunities for individuals to actively challenge gender norms, promote positions of social and political influence for women in communities, and address power inequities in various settings. Women are the most vulnerable population segment to gender-based violence (GBV) due to their economic dependence, World Bank (2019 & https://sdgs.un.org/goals ). A significant number of women (72%) do not participate in non-farming income-generating activities. Most (76%) of males in Ethiopia participate in non-farming income-generating activities, which possibly increases the economic dependency of women (Neglo et al,2021). Gender equity contributes to gender transformation, which is ensured by participation in income-generating activities. Income generation activities s are determined by practical business management skills and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. The lack of these soft skills leads to unsuccessful entrepreneurship initiative (Mwangi & Namusonge,2016).). As the consequences, females in rural areas face challenges of economic and social invisibility which associated with lack of education empowerment and social empowerment in agriculture and related work (Vohra & Bahukhandi .2021). The source of working capital for IGAs, the gender of the household head, and being a member of some type of loan-providing institution contribute to sustaining income-generating activities (Kadigi et al, 2021). Income generation activities diversification is influenced by different factors that greatly affect the sustainability of income generation, such as gender, family size, land possession, the number of employed family members, and age. To reduce the prevalence of poverty in a particular community, diversifying economic development funding is imperative (Dharmadasa & Polkotuwa, 2016).). In rural areas, 55% of non-farming income-generating activities focus on service provision (Nmeregini, 2019). A similar study conducted in Ethiopia revealed that different factors affect the participation of women in income-generating activities in rural woredas, such as access to credit, market distance, access to roads, age, family size, and land size (Alemu et al,2022). In urban areas of Ethiopia, adaptive income-generating activities contribute to significant socioeconomic resilience due to the tremendous influx of rural-to-urban populations related to climate change (Tull, 2020). Economic empowerment is one of the pillars of economic development and faces different constraints. These constraints originate from policy instruments and other competencies of individuals engaged in income-generating activities (Zara & Abubakar, 2017). Non-farm income-generating activities determine household income while considering access to credit, literacy, health status, animal ownership, and consumption expenditures (Neglo et al, 2021). Evidence shows that most of the time, NGO-supported development initiatives such as IGAs face sustainability problems after the termination of projects (Legese, 2012). Urban poverty has multiple strands which exacerbated by barriers like gender, literacy and source of fund hinder the efforts of poor to emerge out of poverty. In urban areas to reduce the prevalence of poverty outsiders mostly riches stereotype the nature of poverty by associating with race, class, sex to explain their relative wealth. None-governmental organizations intervening on income generating activities are outsiders who identify poor peoples based on criteria that do not rightly help identify poor peoples. Marxist and Socialist feminist theory argues that gender relation in society determines mode economic status which contribute to gender-based violence. Social relation such as sex, race, religion, in society is associated with mode of production that augments level of wealth. Economy/wealth contributes to gender-based violence in variable contexts. Women are the most vulnerable due to their economic dependence on men particularly those from poor households (Armstrong,2020). Communication and media enhance earning ability of participants of income generating activities. This contributes to problems solving that emerge during IGAS. Furthermore, this empowers women economically, but economic empowerment of women is increased with presence of credit (Aysha et al,2018). In addition to providing income to participants, training on skill of business management is imperative. This initiates entrepreneurial activities as the impact of income generating projects at community level intervention. Engagement in small scale income generating activities gradually upgrades human, social, and financial capitals (Chakravarty et al, 2025). Income generation diversification determines the saving pattern of participants of IGA. Income diversification is also affected by literacy, credit accessibility and family size (Alawode & Adelere, 2021). Engagement of women in IGA improved their decision-making role and production of goods, services which resulted in economic empowerment in both public and private arenas (Mahima ,2020). A case study conducted in Ethiopia showed that the urban IGA like petty trade of vegetables and fruits are significantly affected by climate change. Small scale IGA like vegetable production and coffee service provision are liable to climate change impact. Measures taken to adapt climate change like use of wastewater for irrigation of vegetables production and income generation are constrained by communicable diseases like typhoid and cholera (Tull,2020). Integration of multiple organizations has impact on sustainability of IGAs. Local microfinance, NGOs, and project signing stakeholders should develop clear model of IGA for local participants based on practical skill transfer and available resource that consequently sustains the initiatives of IGA (Chitiga-Mabugu et al,2013). Participation of women in income generating activities highly depends on opportunity to fund, capacity building training, access to market, modern techniques to advertise their products to attract customers and family support (Chakravarty et al, 2025). Moreover, basic business skill training and education have the direct implication on women and girls job creation and income generation. Tailored training to women and girls greatly contributes to sustainability and effectiveness of the income generation activities (Nor,2024). The training skill of women improve income generation activities profitability and change in living standard of women. The change in living standard also empowered women with decision making capacity (Pokharel, 2024). However, studies conducted in different parts of Ethiopia on income-generating activities have not considered the experiences of women and girls participating in nongovernmental income-generating activities. Most NGOs operate in areas related to gender transformation through the design of income-generating activities in both urban and rural areas. However, NGOs give priority to rural areas and less to urban areas, where the prevalence of poverty is rampant and much higher than in rural areas. In urban areas, there is a high influx of migrants from rural areas in search of better jobs and income, which results in significant gender-based violence due to economic dependence. This study aims to explore the experiences of women participating in income-generating activities supported by an NGO-led project titled Accelerating and Cementing Change Towards the Total Abandonment of All Forms of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Child, Early, and Forced Marriage (CEFM) in the Hawella Tula sub-city of Hawassa, located in the Sidama region. The project, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), seeks to improve the livelihoods of women and girls at risk of FGM and child marriage by providing economic support through income-generating initiatives, Norwegian Church Aid. (2020). 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Description of the study area Hawella Tula Sub-City is administratively one of the eight sub-cities of Hawassa in the Sidama Region, the capital of Sidama (Fig. 1 ). It is located on the southern outskirts of the city and includes both urban and rural kebeles; thus, it represents a mix of further urbanization and traditional means of livelihood. Recent estimates put the population of Tula Sub-City at about 135,793 people. The area has a combination of settlement zones and farmland, with many people engaged in farming and closely related pursuits. It is administratively under the Hawassa City Administration, and Hawella Tula hosts several government offices that provide essential services to its residents. Some recent infrastructure developments underscore the local government's commitment to enhancing administrative efficiency and service delivery such as the building for the Hawella Tula Sub-City Administration. Economically, this sub-city is undergoing a transition due to urbanization trends in Hawassa. While agriculture continues to be the major livelihood for many people, there is increasing small-scale trade and informal economic activity. Proximity to the Hawassa Industrial Park has also opened up more jobs for the people living there; a good number of tenants in Hawella Tula work in the industrial sector. In terms of culture, Tula hosts different traditions and interesting practices that reflect the diverse backgrounds of its people. The sub-city's rural parts hold on to the traditional way of life, while the urban sections are slowly but surely adopting new ways. 2.2. Data Collection An exploratory descriptive qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences of women and girls participating in income-generating activities related to nongovernmental organizations’ projects Creswell, John W. (2003). This study employed interviews and focus group discussion methods for data collection. 2.2.1. Interview This study used semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interviews were preferred because they enable women to express their experiences in nongovernmental income-generating activities. It is also effective in collecting qualitative data from girls and women who are participating in income-generating activities (IGAs). The ten women who participated in income-generation activities related to gender-based violence programs are given pseudonyms inTable1. Table 1 Profile of the interviewees S.No Respondents Age Gender Education level 1 Abebech 30 F Non educated 2 Zara 32 F Non educated 3 Beleteh 36 F Non educated 4 Birtukan 35 F Non educated 5 Aynalem 32 F Non educated 6 Marta 34 F Non educated 7 Ayelech 31 F Non educated 8 Bethelehem 34 F Non educated 9 Tayech 33 F Non educated 10 Azalech 35 F Non educated 2.2.2. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) The focus group discussion was held with 10 girl students who were participants in the income-generating activity. The FGD was conducted at a convenient time and date suggested by the respondents, in nearby community locations. The discussants were debriefed about the purpose of the discussion, the importance of their participation, their rights, and the ground rules of the discussion. The discussions were held in Amharic, and the contents of the FGD were translated into English. The FGD lasted for two hours. The participants were asked about their experiences participating in income-generating activities, based on the FGD guidelines designed for this study. The FGD enabled participants to speak freely with one another, which encouraged discussion about their experiences. The researchers moderated and took notes during the discussion. A recorder was used with the consent of the participants, in addition to notes taken by the investigators. The FGD discussants are given pseudonyms in Table 2 . Table 2 Information about focused group (FGD) discussants S.No Respondent Age Gender Education level 1 Tarkua 14 F Grade 6 2 Tesfanesh 15 F Grade 5 3 Mahilet 16 F Grade 7 4 Sosina 18 F Grade 10 5 Tsige 17 F Grade 11 6 Million 13 F Grade 9 7 Yeshi 14 F Grade 10 8 Beza 16 F Grade 5 9 Redeat 17 F Grade 7 10 Marriam 14 F Grade 8 2.3. Data analysis and validity The data collected from the interviewees and FGD discussants were translated into English from Amharic. Coding was used to label qualitative data gathered through interviews and FGD. Codes were employed to select and emphasize relevant information. Moreover, coding was also used to eliminate extraneous information and focus on the essential information for the study. It provided a framework for organizing the data. After coding, descriptive labels were used to group issues into themes. Thus, themes were generated from the data. The themes were analyzed manually instead of using software due to the easily manageable nature of the data. The results are presented in three main themes and nine categories. The data obtained from the key informant interviews were triangulated with the focus group discussions. Moreover, member checking (asking some study participants) and peer debriefing were performed to ensure the trustworthiness of their responses. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1. Experience of the Participants in the IGA The participants in income-generating activities have various experiences during their engagement in IGAs, which are categorized into constraints and livelihood opportunities. The study shows that there are multiple constraints on income-generating activities, such as the seasonality of customer preferences, the provision of small startup capital which limits participants’ selection of income-generating activities and a lack of technical support from local government structures. A 34-year-old, Marta, described the constraints as follows: Providing my service to users is a challenging experience. Sometimes I sell, and sometimes I don’t sell. I also lack a place to sell. Nobody has visited us from local administrations to listen to our problems and solve them. Only an NGO project person comes to us and asks about our problems. Despite explaining our problems, the problems could not get solutions. Another woman, Beleteh, also explained their problem as follows: “Despite there being opportunity for those who are poor, I could not sell my fruits—they decay, and I throw them away. Because many people are engaged in it, this made the need for fruits very low. The low demand from customers made me bankrupt. Currently, I am planning to shift to other activities.” The FGD and KII results indicated that the income-generating activity participants had the experience of shifting their activity to other forms due to a lack of business plans and market assessments to identify profitable income-generating activities. The seasonality of production also contributed to a surplus of products in the market. When there is an abundance of a product in the market, the demand for it is reduced. Despite the challenges, the livelihood contribution of the income-generating activity slightly improved the income of the participants. However, livelihood opportunities could not fully address the economic problems of participants. A grade 10 student, Redeat, explained: The demand for coffee and tea was seasonal, which related to construction projects. When a road construction project was available in an area, the demand for tea and coffee was high because of the large number of daily laborers involved in the project. I had no permanent place to deliver my products to customers. I used to provide my services at places where daily laborers or many people were available. The lack of specific sites was a concern for all IGA participants trying to sell their products. Local financial institutions and relevant stakeholders did not provide support to them. The IGA participants experienced a lack of support from any stakeholders, which caused them to poorly manage challenges. The livelihood contribution of the activity could not meet the expectations of the participants. This was reflected in hand-to-mouth activities that did not motivate participants to save. The status of women who participate in income-generating activities has not reached the level of savings, which contributes to capital accumulation. 3.2. Success Factors The success factors under this theme are described as the diversification of income-generating activities, market assessment, and attitudes toward income generation. The income-generating activity participants engaged in a mono income-generating activity. This caused them to face challenges in maximizing profits. A key informant, Zara, explained: “When fruits and vegetables could not sell timely, they decomposed. The decomposed ones are thrown away without any return. I regret my time that was wasted sitting with fruits and vegetables.” The income-generating participants could not engage in diversified activities because of the individual basis of seed money support and a lack of proper guidance. The individual-based, small amount of seed money did not allow participants to engage in diversified income-generating activities. Participants also explained that the engagement of most women in the retailing of fruits and vegetables contributed to surplus supplies of products on the market, resulting in low demand from buyers. In general, the lack of diversification in income-generating activities contributed to the poor effectiveness of economic empowerment. Market assessment is one of the fundamental components of a business plan. However, income-generating participants could not conduct market assessments prior to starting their activities. The participants selected their income-generating activity based on common sense. They indicated the situation as follows: “We selected the income-generating activity without any market assessment. We selected our income-generating activity based on common sense. Consequently, we could not make any profit.” Abebech, the mother of two children, and Aynalem, the mother of three, explained the situation as follows: “Our husbands have no permanent job, which made us face difficulty in fully meeting household consumption. After I started the IGA, we could fairly obtain home consumption provisions for our children. Nevertheless, we could not make a profit to save money.” Thus, the ability to participate in IGAs contributed to improvements in human endowment elements such as the nutritional status of children and the prevention of malnutrition. All participants had the motivation to exert their maximum effort to utilize the NGO initiative, but the local authorities did not provide any support to motivate them. 3.3. Mechanisms for Addressing the Challenges of IGA The IGA participants engaged in various small-scale activities, such as retailing fruits, vegetables, and wood charcoal; distributing injera; and selling cooked potatoes. All IGA participants shifted their primary choice of income-generating activities on their own to cope with the challenges they faced. Goat, sheep, ox, fattening, and poultry production were among the small-scale agriculture-related activities they engaged in after shifting. They chose these activities without any market assessment or business plan. This resulted in repeated changes in activities due to low demand. Moreover, they did not receive technical support from animal health professionals on how to care for animals. Some of the animals died, according to the respondents. In general, most of the participants are currently not engaged in their primary choice activities, indicating that they have shifted their choices to manage problems associated with lack of demand and lack of selling areas. The participant of FGD Mahilet stated that the NGO that provided seed money gave a half-day brief orientation to the IGA participants on the purpose of seed money provision. However, the orientation did not include practical sessions, business plans, cost-benefit analysis, or customer management. The program does not provide supplemental funds for those who cannot make a profit. One key informant, Sosina, explained she has changed her activity from tea and coffee to selling cooked potatoes around hotels. The price of potatoes was mounting, which resulted in good profit. 3.4. Technical Support from Local Financial Institutions The IGA participants explained that since they started their activities, they have not received any technical support from local financial institutions. Similarly, local women and children’s affairs offices did not visit their work areas or encourage them. A focus group discussant stated they have never advertised their products to customers via any local media outlet. Thus, the lack of technical support from local government structures has limited their product access to potential users. Key informant 4 stated the following: “The current project distributes money to individuals without any collateral, which did not force the participants to properly utilize the money. The project distributed 3,200 Birr for each participant without any bidding agreement.” Focus group discussant 9 also explained the situation as follows: “There was no regular monitoring and evaluation of our performance by the program. Networking with suppliers and customers, lack of follow-up from key project stakeholders, business plans, and market assessments were the contributing factors to the poor performance of IGA participants.” In general, the IGA beneficiaries were highly concerned with the small amount of starter capital, which did not consider market assessment. To cope with rising inflation, IGA beneficiaries frequently changed their retail commodities. Almost all beneficiaries changed more than one type of retail commodity. Furthermore, both the key informant interviews and the focus group discussions indicated that the income-generating activity participants could not obtain adequate technical skills from local financial institutions. Practical training for business planning should include basic bookkeeping, market assessment, and income/expense tracking, tailored to the education level and understanding of the participants in simple local languages. Moreover, experience sharing among income-generating activity participants is imperative to increase their skills. Similarly, the small amount of seed money given to participants also contributed to their poor performance. Distributing seed money to each participant individually also played a role in the limited success of the initiative. 4. Discussion This study reveals that there are multiple constraints on income-generating activities, such as the seasonality of customer preferences, the provision of small startup capital—which limits participants’ selection of income-generating activities—and a lack of technical support from local government structures. These findings match those of other similar studies (NIRAULA, 2016). Similarly, customer demand, access to the market, household education, and family size were found to be associated with the IGA performance of participants (Teame,2015). In this study, business skill training, market assessment, and technical support from local financial institutions were the key factors affecting the performance of the participants. This study underscores that the provision of business skill training, market assessment, and livelihood diversification was essential to improve the performance of income-generating activities, which conforms to a previous study (Niraula, 2016). However, in this study, the participants in income-generating activities did not receive basic skills training, support from local authorities, market assessment, or business planning. These factors limited the performance of the participants. Poultry production, goat and sheep rearing, and ox fattening were among the major income-generating activities in which the participants were engaged. These findings match those of a similar study conducted in Bangladesh (Hasan et al,2015). Unlike a study conducted in Nigeria ( Alawode & Adelere,2021), in the study area, the major income sources were the retailing of edible fruits; selling of coffee and tea; distributing injera; and small-scale farming, such as poultry production; sheep, goat, and oxen fattening; and vegetable retailing. Previous studies conducted in Ethiopia and other countries did not discuss the coping mechanisms or risk mitigation strategies used by income-generating activity participants. However, in this study, the IGA participants shifted their primary choice of income-generating activities on their own to cope with the challenges faced. Fattening of goats, sheep, oxen, and poultry production were among the small-scale agriculture-related activities they engaged in after shifting their primary choice of IGA. They chose these activities without any market assessment or business plan, which resulted in a change of activities due to the lack of demand experienced by almost all IGA participants. In this study, the IGA participants believe that technical support from local financial institutions had the potential to contribute to better performance. However, the local financial institutions did not provide any technical support. They did not visit the IGA participants. This lack of technical support may result in poor performance among beneficiaries. 4. Conclusion and policy implications The findings of the study indicate that IGA participants encountered shocks and risks that limited their success in generating income. These constraints stemmed from various sources, such as individual-based seed money support, diminutive seed money amounts, and a limited governance structure for seed money distribution, such as the lack of local financial institutions that impeded the technical guidance needed to empower the participants. Furthermore, a lack of market assessment and non-diversified income-generating activities were among the major constraints limiting the success of the participants. As a consequence, the study recommends providing tailored business skills training, which is pressing for empowering participants of IGA to properly document their expenses and incomes to calculate their net income. Joint technical support from seed money–providing organizations and local financial institutions is also essential to create market system development, such as market analysis, facilitation, and partnership with local market actors. Unifying the selected beneficiaries under the technical guidance of relevant stakeholders to put in place a revolving fund model will create a sustainable cycle of financing to ensure access to financing. Similarly, for the robust economic empowerment of women and girls through income-generating activities, a revolving fund model should be applied to guarantee the sustainability of the initiative and expand outreach to more vulnerable women and girls. Furthermore, policymakers and decision-makers should adopt an integrated development approach that engages multiple local institutions and stakeholders to improve IGA performance and build resilient IGA participants that cope with shocks. Technical guidelines for governance and leadership should also be established to institutionalize the IGA of women and girls in local financial institutions. In particular, the technical support of local financial institutions is imperative for promoting a culture of saving and scaling up the diversification of income-generating activities. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) should conduct comprehensive feasibility studies, including financial, sustainability, market, leadership, and governance components, before initiating income-generating activities. The feasibility study should incorporate feedback from relevant local stakeholders to institutionalize the IGA approach and create sustainable local entrepreneurship. To improve the IGA initiative, regular feedback on the performance of income-generating activities should be in place. In conclusion, individual-based seed money support for income-generating activities aimed at economically empowering women and girls and preventing gender-based violence has a limited effect on economic empowerment. This is evidenced by the lack of saving accounts among the IGA participants and the non-availability of cash for saving. This underlines that robust business skills and diversified income-generating activities build economically strong women and girls who are resilient to gender-based violence that stems from economic dependency. The study has the limitation of focusing on a single area of program implementation, which restricted comparative analysis of IGA participants across other regions supported by the program. Declarations Author contributions TT conceived the idea, collected and analyzed the data, and led the manuscript writing. SG conceived the idea, collected and analyzed the data, edited and led the manuscript writing. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript. Competing interests The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest to declare. Declarations Ethics approval This study received full ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board of Hawassa University's College of Social Sciences and Humanities (Reference: CSSH/310/2022, dated 01/06/2022), confirming compliance with both international and institutional research ethics standards. The research protocol strictly adhered to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and the Hawassa University’s principles and research guidelines. Informed consent Informed consent was obtained orally from all participants, including focus group discussants and key informants, prior to their participation in the study, which was conducted between June 2 and June 30, 2022. The consent process was carried out by the principal investigator and trained local research assistants. All participants were IGA participants residing in the Tabor and Hawella Tulla sub-cites of Hawassa, Sidama Region, Ethiopia. They were provided with clear and comprehensive information about the study’s purpose, the procedures involved, and the potential benefits of their participation. Funding No funding is available for the research Data availability The datasets used to analyze this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. References Armstrong, E. (2020). Marxist and socialist feminisms. Companion to feminist studies. Alawode, O., & Adelere, O. E. (2021). Income diversification and savings pattern among rural women in Oyo State, Nigeria. Alemu, A., Woltamo, T., & Abuto, A. (2022). Determinants of women participation in income generating activities: Evidence from Ethiopia. Aysha, A., Nobaya, A., Mohammad, A. I., Munira, W. W., Dahlia, B. Z., & Mohammad, M. I. (2018). 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(2016). An assessment of income generating activities among urban farm households in South-South Nigeria. Teame, G. T. (2015). Determinants of rural households’ participation in income generating activities in Central Region, Eritrea. Tull, K. (2020). Income-generating activities (IGAs) and climate change vulnerabilities. UN Women. (2016). The economic cost of violence against women. United Nations. World Bank. (2019). Violence against women and girls. Social Sustainability and Inclusion. https://sdgs.un.org/goals: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development YARIED, A. A., & BULLO, M. S. (2025). Determinants of women’s participation in income generating activities in western Ethiopia. Zara M. Abubakar M. (2017). Factors determining the engagement of rural women in income generating activities, in Yobe state, Nigeria. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7061526","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":510415865,"identity":"ceaf72ba-9042-4240-9f21-b56c7322dd20","order_by":0,"name":"Turufat Tukura","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hawassa University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Turufat","middleName":"","lastName":"Tukura","suffix":""},{"id":510415866,"identity":"7b1bd07c-312b-4360-8ea7-988f2f5a29ce","order_by":1,"name":"Sibilo Gashure","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZh4QeYCBH0QlFJCiRbIBpMWAKGugWgwOgGhitMi38x5+8ePPncTN51cnfnhgwCDPL3YAvxaDw3xplr1tzxK33Xi7WQLoMMOZsxMIaGHmMTPgbTgM1HJ2A0hLgsFtAlrkm3nMDP/8OZy4ecbZzT+I0sJwmMf4MQ/b4cQN/L3biLMF5Bdm2bbDxjNu8G6zSDCQIOwX+f6zhz+++XNYtr//7OabPyps5PmlCTmMgYFNAkxJgFVKEFQOAswfwBT/AaJUj4JRMApGwQgEAIyQSgoAWk6rAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Hawassa University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sibilo","middleName":"","lastName":"Gashure","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-07 05:38:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7061526/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7061526/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91085152,"identity":"bc8c6cf9-9228-43d5-8e43-1af3bcb217fa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-11 12:19:29","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":629020,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eStudy area map\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7061526/v1/226bc979cfa6019a757b13c6.png"},{"id":107259793,"identity":"0754c239-504b-4de8-a45d-a3db2a067771","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-19 12:55:44","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":917576,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7061526/v1/80b5b605-6ea5-49a5-9350-e57842187d01.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Lived Experiences of Women and Girls in Nongovernmental Organizations’ Income-Generating Activities in Hawella Tula and Tabor sub cites of Hawassa city, Sidama region, Ethiopia","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn Sub-Saharan African countries, poor urban residents engage in various forms of income-generating activities (IGAs) to reduce poverty and increase food security. 35.6% participate in non-farming, 25% in crop production, and 19% engage in other sources, such as remittances, rent, livestock, and pensions (Okon et al, 2016). Moreover; a study conducted in Ethiopia explains that the participation of women income generation activities depends on multifaceted factors. The effective income generation in rural parts of Ethiopia is determined by education status, household size, land size, livestock holding, access to credit, access to training, and access to market information (Yaried \u0026amp; Bullo,2025).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo prevent significant economic and social tolls, the government should reduce poverty and food insecurity and work with different nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to transform gender equality and achieve sustainable development (Ministry Women and Social Affairs, 2021). Gender and development are among the fundamental frameworks used by the United Nations to transform gender equality across multiple contexts. Approaches that address the economic problems of women consequently augment gender transformation in various sociocultural context, Women (2016)\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncome generation activities are among the major areas of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that create opportunities for individuals to actively challenge gender norms, promote positions of social and political influence for women in communities, and address power inequities in various settings. Women are the most vulnerable population segment to gender-based violence (GBV) due to their economic dependence, World Bank (2019 \u0026amp; \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://sdgs.un.org/goals\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://sdgs.un.org/goals\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e). A significant number of women (72%) do not participate in non-farming income-generating activities. Most (76%) of males in Ethiopia participate in non-farming income-generating activities, which possibly increases the economic dependency of women (Neglo et al,2021). Gender equity contributes to gender transformation, which is ensured by participation in income-generating activities. Income generation activities s are determined by practical business management skills and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. The lack of these soft skills leads to unsuccessful entrepreneurship initiative (Mwangi \u0026amp; Namusonge,2016).).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the consequences, females in rural areas face challenges of economic and social invisibility which associated with lack of education empowerment and social empowerment in agriculture and related work (Vohra \u0026amp; Bahukhandi .2021). The source of working capital for IGAs, the gender of the household head, and being a member of some type of loan-providing institution contribute to sustaining income-generating activities (Kadigi et al, 2021). Income generation activities diversification is influenced by different factors that greatly affect the sustainability of income generation, such as gender, family size, land possession, the number of employed family members, and age. To reduce the prevalence of poverty in a particular community, diversifying economic development funding is imperative (Dharmadasa \u0026amp; Polkotuwa, 2016).). In rural areas, 55% of non-farming income-generating activities focus on service provision (Nmeregini, 2019). A similar study conducted in Ethiopia revealed that different factors affect the participation of women in income-generating activities in rural woredas, such as access to credit, market distance, access to roads, age, family size, and land size (Alemu et al,2022). In urban areas of Ethiopia, adaptive income-generating activities contribute to significant socioeconomic resilience due to the tremendous influx of rural-to-urban populations related to climate change (Tull, 2020). Economic empowerment is one of the pillars of economic development and faces different constraints. These constraints originate from policy instruments and other competencies of individuals engaged in income-generating activities (Zara \u0026amp; Abubakar, 2017). Non-farm income-generating activities determine household income while considering access to credit, literacy, health status, animal ownership, and consumption expenditures (Neglo et al, 2021). Evidence shows that most of the time, NGO-supported development initiatives such as IGAs face sustainability problems after the termination of projects (Legese, 2012).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUrban poverty has multiple strands which exacerbated by barriers like gender, literacy and source of fund hinder the efforts of poor to emerge out of poverty. In urban areas to reduce the prevalence of poverty outsiders mostly riches stereotype the nature of poverty by associating with race, class, sex to explain their relative wealth. None-governmental organizations intervening on income generating activities are outsiders who identify poor peoples based on criteria that do not rightly help identify poor peoples. Marxist and Socialist feminist theory argues that gender relation in society determines mode economic status which contribute to gender-based violence. Social relation such as sex, race, religion, in society is associated with mode of production that augments level of wealth. Economy/wealth contributes to gender-based violence in variable contexts. Women are the most vulnerable due to their economic dependence on men particularly those from poor households (Armstrong,2020). Communication and media enhance earning ability of participants of income generating activities. This contributes to problems solving that emerge during IGAS. Furthermore, this empowers women economically, but economic empowerment of women is increased with presence of credit (Aysha et al,2018). In addition to providing income to participants, training on skill of business management is imperative. This initiates entrepreneurial activities as the impact of income generating projects at community level intervention. Engagement in small scale income generating activities gradually upgrades human, social, and financial capitals (Chakravarty et al, 2025). Income generation diversification determines the saving pattern of participants of IGA. Income diversification is also affected by literacy, credit accessibility and family size (Alawode \u0026amp; Adelere, 2021).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEngagement of women in IGA improved their decision-making role and production of goods, services which resulted in economic empowerment in both public and private arenas (Mahima ,2020). A case study conducted in Ethiopia showed that the urban IGA like petty trade of vegetables and fruits are significantly affected by climate change. Small scale IGA like vegetable\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eproduction and coffee service provision are liable to climate change impact. Measures taken to adapt climate change like use of wastewater for irrigation of vegetables production and income generation are constrained by communicable diseases like typhoid and cholera (Tull,2020).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntegration of multiple organizations has impact on sustainability of IGAs. Local microfinance, NGOs, and project signing stakeholders should develop clear model of IGA for local participants\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebased on practical skill transfer and available resource that consequently sustains the initiatives of IGA (Chitiga-Mabugu et al,2013). Participation of women in income generating activities highly depends on opportunity to fund, capacity building training, access to market, modern techniques to advertise their products to attract customers and family support (Chakravarty et al, 2025). Moreover, basic business skill training and education have the direct implication on women and girls job creation and income generation. Tailored training to women and girls greatly contributes to sustainability and effectiveness of the income generation activities (Nor,2024). The training skill of women improve income generation activities profitability and change in living standard of women. The change in living standard also empowered women with decision making capacity (Pokharel, 2024).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever, studies conducted in different parts of Ethiopia on income-generating activities have not considered the experiences of women and girls participating in nongovernmental income-generating activities. Most NGOs operate in areas related to gender transformation through the design of income-generating activities in both urban and rural areas. However, NGOs give priority to rural areas and less to urban areas, where the prevalence of poverty is rampant and much higher than in rural areas. In urban areas, there is a high influx of migrants from rural areas in search of better jobs and income, which results in significant gender-based violence due to economic dependence. This study aims to explore the experiences of women participating in income-generating activities supported by an NGO-led project titled Accelerating and Cementing Change Towards the Total Abandonment of All Forms of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Child, Early, and Forced Marriage (CEFM) in the Hawella Tula sub-city of Hawassa, located in the Sidama region. The project, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), seeks to improve the livelihoods of women and girls at risk of FGM and child marriage by providing economic support through income-generating initiatives, Norwegian Church Aid. (2020).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.1. Description of the study area\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHawella Tula Sub-City is administratively one of the eight sub-cities of Hawassa in the Sidama Region, the capital of Sidama (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). It is located on the southern outskirts of the city and includes both urban and rural kebeles; thus, it represents a mix of further urbanization and traditional means of livelihood. Recent estimates put the population of Tula Sub-City at about 135,793 people. The area has a combination of settlement zones and farmland, with many people engaged in farming and closely related pursuits. It is administratively under the Hawassa City Administration, and Hawella Tula hosts several government offices that provide essential services to its residents. Some recent infrastructure developments underscore the local government's commitment to enhancing administrative efficiency and service delivery such as the building for the Hawella Tula Sub-City Administration. Economically, this sub-city is undergoing a transition due to urbanization trends in Hawassa. While agriculture continues to be the major livelihood for many people, there is increasing small-scale trade and informal economic activity. Proximity to the Hawassa Industrial Park has also opened up more jobs for the people living there; a good number of tenants in Hawella Tula work in the industrial sector. In terms of culture, Tula hosts different traditions and interesting practices that reflect the diverse backgrounds of its people. The sub-city's rural parts hold on to the traditional way of life, while the urban sections are slowly but surely adopting new ways.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2. Data Collection\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn exploratory descriptive qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences of women and girls participating in income-generating activities related to nongovernmental organizations\u0026rsquo; projects Creswell, John W. (2003). This study employed interviews and focus group discussion methods for data collection.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2.1. Interview\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study used semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interviews were preferred because they enable women to express their experiences in nongovernmental income-generating activities. It is also effective in collecting qualitative data from girls and women who are participating in income-generating activities (IGAs). The ten women who participated in income-generation activities related to gender-based violence programs are given pseudonyms inTable1.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eProfile of the interviewees\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.No\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRespondents\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEducation level\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbebech\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eZara\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeleteh\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBirtukan\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAynalem\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarta\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e34\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAyelech\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBethelehem\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e34\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTayech\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAzalech\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNon educated\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2.2. Focus Group Discussion (FGD)\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe focus group discussion was held with 10 girl students who were participants in the income-generating activity. The FGD was conducted at a convenient time and date suggested by the respondents, in nearby community locations. The discussants were debriefed about the purpose of the discussion, the importance of their participation, their rights, and the ground rules of the discussion. The discussions were held in Amharic, and the contents of the FGD were translated into English. The FGD lasted for two hours. The participants were asked about their experiences participating in income-generating activities, based on the FGD guidelines designed for this study. The FGD enabled participants to speak freely with one another, which encouraged discussion about their experiences. The researchers moderated and took notes during the discussion. A recorder was used with the consent of the participants, in addition to notes taken by the investigators. The FGD discussants are given pseudonyms in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eInformation about focused group (FGD) discussants\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.No\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRespondent\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEducation level\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTarkua\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTesfanesh\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMahilet\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSosina\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTsige\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 11\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMillion\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYeshi\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeza\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRedeat\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarriam\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrade 8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e2.3. Data analysis and validity\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe data collected from the interviewees and FGD discussants were translated into English from Amharic. Coding was used to label qualitative data gathered through interviews and FGD. Codes were employed to select and emphasize relevant information. Moreover, coding was also used to eliminate extraneous information and focus on the essential information for the study. It provided a framework for organizing the data. After coding, descriptive labels were used to group issues into themes. Thus, themes were generated from the data. The themes were analyzed manually instead of using software due to the easily manageable nature of the data. The results are presented in three main themes and nine categories. The data obtained from the key informant interviews were triangulated with the focus group discussions. Moreover, member checking (asking some study participants) and peer debriefing were performed to ensure the trustworthiness of their responses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results and Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.1. Experience of the Participants in the IGA\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe participants in income-generating activities have various experiences during their engagement in IGAs, which are categorized into constraints and livelihood opportunities. The study shows that there are multiple constraints on income-generating activities, such as the seasonality of customer preferences, the provision of small startup capital which limits participants\u0026rsquo; selection of income-generating activities and a lack of technical support from local government structures. A 34-year-old, Marta, described the constraints as follows:\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eProviding my service to users is a challenging experience. Sometimes I sell, and sometimes I don\u0026rsquo;t sell. I also lack a place to sell. Nobody has visited us from local administrations to listen to our problems and solve them. Only an NGO project person comes to us and asks about our problems. Despite explaining our problems, the problems could not get solutions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnother woman, Beleteh, also explained their problem as follows: \u0026ldquo;Despite there being opportunity for those who are poor, I could not sell my fruits\u0026mdash;they decay, and I throw them away. Because many people are engaged in it, this made the need for fruits very low. The low demand from customers made me bankrupt. Currently, I am planning to shift to other activities.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe FGD and KII results indicated that the income-generating activity participants had the experience of shifting their activity to other forms due to a lack of business plans and market assessments to identify profitable income-generating activities. The seasonality of production also contributed to a surplus of products in the market. When there is an abundance of a product in the market, the demand for it is reduced.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite the challenges, the livelihood contribution of the income-generating activity slightly improved the income of the participants. However, livelihood opportunities could not fully address the economic problems of participants. A grade 10 student, Redeat, explained:\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe demand for coffee and tea was seasonal, which related to construction projects. When a road construction project was available in an area, the demand for tea and coffee was high because of the large number of daily laborers involved in the project. I had no permanent place to deliver my products to customers. I used to provide my services at places where daily laborers or many people were available.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe lack of specific sites was a concern for all IGA participants trying to sell their products. Local financial institutions and relevant stakeholders did not provide support to them. The IGA participants experienced a lack of support from any stakeholders, which caused them to poorly manage challenges. The livelihood contribution of the activity could not meet the expectations of the participants. This was reflected in hand-to-mouth activities that did not motivate participants to save. The status of women who participate in income-generating activities has not reached the level of savings, which contributes to capital accumulation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.2. Success Factors\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe success factors under this theme are described as the diversification of income-generating activities, market assessment, and attitudes toward income generation. The income-generating activity participants engaged in a mono income-generating activity. This caused them to face challenges in maximizing profits. A key informant, Zara, explained:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;When fruits and vegetables could not sell timely, they decomposed. The decomposed ones are thrown away without any return. I regret my time that was wasted sitting with fruits and vegetables.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe income-generating participants could not engage in diversified activities because of the individual basis of seed money support and a lack of proper guidance. The individual-based, small amount of seed money did not allow participants to engage in diversified income-generating activities. Participants also explained that the engagement of most women in the retailing of fruits and vegetables contributed to surplus supplies of products on the market, resulting in low demand from buyers. In general, the lack of diversification in income-generating activities contributed to the poor effectiveness of economic empowerment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarket assessment is one of the fundamental components of a business plan. However, income-generating participants could not conduct market assessments prior to starting their activities. The participants selected their income-generating activity based on common sense. They indicated the situation as follows: \u0026ldquo;We selected the income-generating activity without any market assessment. We selected our income-generating activity based on common sense. Consequently, we could not make any profit.\u0026rdquo; Abebech, the mother of two children, and Aynalem, the mother of three, explained the situation as follows: \u0026ldquo;Our husbands have no permanent job, which made us face difficulty in fully meeting household consumption. After I started the IGA, we could fairly obtain home consumption provisions for our children. Nevertheless, we could not make a profit to save money.\u0026rdquo; Thus, the ability to participate in IGAs contributed to improvements in human endowment elements such as the nutritional status of children and the prevention of malnutrition. All participants had the motivation to exert their maximum effort to utilize the NGO initiative, but the local authorities did not provide any support to motivate them.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.3. Mechanisms for Addressing the Challenges of IGA\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe IGA participants engaged in various small-scale activities, such as retailing fruits, vegetables, and wood charcoal; distributing injera; and selling cooked potatoes. All IGA participants shifted their primary choice of income-generating activities on their own to cope with the challenges they faced. Goat, sheep, ox, fattening, and poultry production were among the small-scale agriculture-related activities they engaged in after shifting. They chose these activities without any market assessment or business plan. This resulted in repeated changes in activities due to low demand. Moreover, they did not receive technical support from animal health professionals on how to care for animals. Some of the animals died, according to the respondents.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn general, most of the participants are currently not engaged in their primary choice activities, indicating that they have shifted their choices to manage problems associated with lack of demand and lack of selling areas. The participant of FGD Mahilet stated that the NGO that provided seed money gave a half-day brief orientation to the IGA participants on the purpose of seed money provision. However, the orientation did not include practical sessions, business plans, cost-benefit analysis, or customer management. The program does not provide supplemental funds for those who cannot make a profit. One key informant, Sosina, explained she has changed her activity from tea and coffee to selling cooked potatoes around hotels. The price of potatoes was mounting, which resulted in good profit.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.4. Technical Support from Local Financial Institutions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe IGA participants explained that since they started their activities, they have not received any technical support from local financial institutions. Similarly, local women and children\u0026rsquo;s affairs offices did not visit their work areas or encourage them. A focus group discussant stated they have never advertised their products to customers via any local media outlet. Thus, the lack of technical support from local government structures has limited their product access to potential users. Key informant 4 stated the following: \u0026ldquo;The current project distributes money to individuals without any collateral, which did not force the participants to properly utilize the money. The project distributed 3,200 Birr for each participant without any bidding agreement.\u0026rdquo; Focus group discussant 9 also explained the situation as follows: \u0026ldquo;There was no regular monitoring and evaluation of our performance by the program. Networking with suppliers and customers, lack of follow-up from key project stakeholders, business plans, and market assessments were the contributing factors to the poor performance of IGA participants.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn general, the IGA beneficiaries were highly concerned with the small amount of starter capital, which did not consider market assessment. To cope with rising inflation, IGA beneficiaries frequently changed their retail commodities. Almost all beneficiaries changed more than one type of retail commodity. Furthermore, both the key informant interviews and the focus group discussions indicated that the income-generating activity participants could not obtain adequate technical skills from local financial institutions. Practical training for business planning should include basic bookkeeping, market assessment, and income/expense tracking, tailored to the education level and understanding of the participants in simple local languages. Moreover, experience sharing among income-generating activity participants is imperative to increase their skills. Similarly, the small amount of seed money given to participants also contributed to their poor performance. Distributing seed money to each participant individually also played a role in the limited success of the initiative.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study reveals that there are multiple constraints on income-generating activities, such as the seasonality of customer preferences, the provision of small startup capital\u0026mdash;which limits participants\u0026rsquo; selection of income-generating activities\u0026mdash;and a lack of technical support from local government structures. These findings match those of other similar studies (NIRAULA, 2016). Similarly, customer demand, access to the market, household education, and family size were found to be associated with the IGA performance of participants (Teame,2015). In this study, business skill training, market assessment, and technical support from local financial institutions were the key factors affecting the performance of the participants. This study underscores that the provision of business skill training, market assessment, and livelihood diversification was essential to improve the performance of income-generating activities, which conforms to a previous study (Niraula, 2016). However, in this study, the participants in income-generating activities did not receive basic skills training, support from local authorities, market assessment, or business planning. These factors limited the performance of the participants. Poultry production, goat and sheep rearing, and ox fattening were among the major income-generating activities in which the participants were engaged. These findings match those of a similar study conducted in Bangladesh (Hasan et al,2015). Unlike a study conducted in Nigeria ( Alawode \u0026amp; Adelere,2021), in the study area, the major income sources were the retailing of edible fruits; selling of coffee and tea; distributing injera; and small-scale farming, such as poultry production; sheep, goat, and oxen fattening; and vegetable retailing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrevious studies conducted in Ethiopia and other countries did not discuss the coping mechanisms or risk mitigation strategies used by income-generating activity participants. However, in this study, the IGA participants shifted their primary choice of income-generating activities on their own to cope with the challenges faced. Fattening of goats, sheep, oxen, and poultry production were among the small-scale agriculture-related activities they engaged in after shifting their primary choice of IGA. They chose these activities without any market assessment or business plan, which resulted in a change of activities due to the lack of demand experienced by almost all IGA participants. In this study, the IGA participants believe that technical support from local financial institutions had the potential to contribute to better performance. However, the local financial institutions did not provide any technical support. They did not visit the IGA participants. This lack of technical support may result in poor performance among beneficiaries.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Conclusion and policy implications","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe findings of the study indicate that IGA participants encountered shocks and risks that limited their success in generating income. These constraints stemmed from various sources, such as individual-based seed money support, diminutive seed money amounts, and a limited governance structure for seed money distribution, such as the lack of local financial institutions that impeded the technical guidance needed to empower the participants. Furthermore, a lack of market assessment and non-diversified income-generating activities were among the major constraints limiting the success of the participants. As a consequence, the study recommends providing tailored business skills training, which is pressing for empowering participants of IGA to properly document their expenses and incomes to calculate their net income. Joint technical support from seed money\u0026ndash;providing organizations and local financial institutions is also essential to create market system development, such as market analysis, facilitation, and partnership with local market actors. Unifying the selected beneficiaries under the technical guidance of relevant stakeholders to put in place a revolving fund model will create a sustainable cycle of financing to ensure access to financing. Similarly, for the robust economic empowerment of women and girls through income-generating activities, a revolving fund model should be applied to guarantee the sustainability of the initiative and expand outreach to more vulnerable women and girls. Furthermore, policymakers and decision-makers should adopt an integrated development approach that engages multiple local institutions and stakeholders to improve IGA performance and build resilient IGA participants that cope with shocks. Technical guidelines for governance and leadership should also be established to institutionalize the IGA of women and girls in local financial institutions. In particular, the technical support of local financial institutions is imperative for promoting a culture of saving and scaling up the diversification of income-generating activities. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) should conduct comprehensive feasibility studies, including financial, sustainability, market, leadership, and governance components, before initiating income-generating activities. The feasibility study should incorporate feedback from relevant local stakeholders to institutionalize the IGA approach and create sustainable local entrepreneurship. To improve the IGA initiative, regular feedback on the performance of income-generating activities should be in place.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, individual-based seed money support for income-generating activities aimed at economically empowering women and girls and preventing gender-based violence has a limited effect on economic empowerment. This is evidenced by the lack of saving accounts among the IGA participants and the non-availability of cash for saving. This underlines that robust business skills and diversified income-generating activities build economically strong women and girls who are resilient to gender-based violence that stems from economic dependency. The study has the limitation of focusing on a single area of program implementation, which restricted comparative analysis of IGA participants across other regions supported by the program.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTT conceived the idea, collected and analyzed the data, and led the manuscript writing. SG conceived the idea, collected and analyzed the data, edited and led the manuscript writing. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest to declare.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDeclarations\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study received full ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board of Hawassa University's College of Social Sciences and Humanities (Reference: CSSH/310/2022, dated 01/06/2022), confirming compliance with both international and institutional research ethics standards. The research protocol strictly adhered to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and the Hawassa University’s principles and research guidelines.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInformed consent\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInformed consent was obtained orally from all participants, including focus group discussants and key informants, prior to their participation in the study, which was conducted between June 2 and June 30, 2022. The consent process was carried out by the principal investigator and trained local research assistants. All participants were IGA participants residing in the Tabor and Hawella Tulla sub-cites of Hawassa, Sidama Region, Ethiopia. They were provided with clear and comprehensive information about the study’s purpose, the procedures involved, and the potential benefits of their participation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo funding is available for the research\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets used to analyze this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eArmstrong, E. (2020). Marxist and socialist feminisms. Companion to feminist studies.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAlawode, O., \u0026amp; Adelere, O. E. (2021). Income diversification and savings pattern among rural women in Oyo State, Nigeria.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAlemu, A., Woltamo, T., \u0026amp; Abuto, A. (2022). 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A., \u0026amp; Okorji, E. C. (2016). An assessment of income generating activities among urban farm households in South-South Nigeria.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eTeame, G. T. (2015). Determinants of rural households\u0026rsquo; participation in income generating activities in Central Region, Eritrea.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eTull, K. (2020). Income-generating activities (IGAs) and climate change vulnerabilities.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eUN Women. (2016). The economic cost of violence against women. United Nations.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWorld Bank. (2019). Violence against women and girls. Social Sustainability and Inclusion.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003ehttps://sdgs.un.org/goals: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eYARIED, A. A., \u0026amp; BULLO, M. S. (2025). Determinants of women\u0026rsquo;s participation in income generating activities in western Ethiopia.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eZara M. Abubakar M. (2017). Factors determining the engagement of rural women in income generating activities, in Yobe state, Nigeria.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Income Generation Activities, women’s economic empowerment, financial institution’s technical support, economic gender based violence","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7061526/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7061526/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWomen are the most vulnerable population segment to gender-based violence (GBV) due to their economic dependence. A significant number of women (72%) do not participate in non-farming income-generating activities. Therefore; study assesses the experiences of women and girls who are participating in nongovernmental income-generating activities (IGA) in the Hawella Tula sub-city of Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia. The study employed focus group discussions and key informant interviews to assess the lived experiences of women and girls participating in income-generating activities of nongovernmental initiatives. The collected data were transcribed, classified, coded, and thematically analyzed. The findings indicated that there was no market assessment or stakeholder mapping for the technical support of income-generation participants. The participants utilized coping mechanisms such as shifting their primary choice of income-generating activities to alternative activities in response to the risks and challenges they faced. The lack of proper training in local languages, tailored to the understanding of the participants, contributed to the frequent shifting of activities due to limited success. Moreover, the participants could not obtain technical support from local financial institutions, which further roadblocked the success of the initiative. The participants engaged in subsistence activities, which limited their saving capacity, as evidenced by their lack of savings accounts. The study concludes that IGA encounter various shocks and risks that barriers income-generation performance when market system development is not place for mitigation. To improve the success of the initiative, it is necessary to unify the selected beneficiaries and introduce a revolving fund model through a vigorous governance structure to ensure sustainable cycle of financing.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Lived Experiences of Women and Girls in Nongovernmental Organizations’ Income-Generating Activities in Hawella Tula and Tabor sub cites of Hawassa city, Sidama region, Ethiopia","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-11 12:19:24","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7061526/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"4e6687e5-05da-4d3c-85cc-3e949d884c14","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 11th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":54218098,"name":"Business and commerce/Economics"},{"id":54218099,"name":"Social science/Economics"},{"id":54218100,"name":"Health sciences/Health care"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-19T12:55:00+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-11 12:19:24","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7061526","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7061526","identity":"rs-7061526","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}