Journal of Culture, Society and Development www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8400 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.35, 2017 9 The Role of Women in the Traditional Cattle Fattening and Marketing Activities in West Hararghe Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia Daniel Taddesse 1 Gebeyehu Goshu 2 Mengistu Urge 3 Zemelak Goraga 4 1.Department of Dairy and Meat Technology, Oda Bultum University, Chiro, P.O.Box 226, Ethiopia 2.College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Addis Ababa University, Bishoftu, P.O.Box 34, Ethiopia 3.Haramaya University, School of Animal & Range Sciences, Dire Dewa, P.O.Box 138, Ethiopia 4.Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, P.O.Box 32853 Abstract The objective of this study is to evaluate the involvement of women in the traditional cattle fattening and marketing in West Hararghe, four selected districts, namely Habro, Gemechis, Chiro and Tullo. For the purpose of this study, two kebeles (the smallest administrative unit) per district were selected. Data was collected with the help of structured questioner, focus group discussion (FGD), key informant interview (KII) and personal observation. Woredas and kebeles were selected purposively while 160 respondents were selected using systematic sampling and these respondents were directly involved in the structured interview. The result of this assessment showed that only 2.5% of 160 households who participated in the survey were females. However, the involvement of women in the routine management activities had a paramount importance in the study areas. Educating females so that they can understand gender equity and easily adopt to new agricultural technologies and organizing them in saving and credit associations and assisting them with financial credit services is recommended. Keywords: Fattening, women, cattle fattening 1. Introduction 1.1. Background and justification Over 85 per cent of Ethiopian women reside in rural areas, where peasant families are engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture. Ethiopian women traditionally have suffered sociocultural and economic discrimination and have had fewer opportunities than men for personal growth, education, and employment (Lemlem et al., 2011). A common perception in the developing countries is that women are more likely to own small stock, such as chickens, sheep and goats, than larger animals, such as cattle, water buffaloes and camels although this custom differs from region to region (Kristjanson et al., 2010). In mixed crop-livestock and pastoral production systems women play a significant role in livestock production (Asfaw et al., 2011). Cattle are regarded as being largely in the male domain, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Undoubtedly, in sub-Saharan Africa, among the cultures that form the cattle complex, men are owners and decision-makers with regards to cattle, although widows also own and manage cattle. In mixed crop–livestock systems in Ethiopia, men and women both own cattle, goats and sheep, though men own more (Yisehak, 2008). Although women have no or limited access to agricultural resources, they make significant contribution to the agricultural sector (Lemlem et al., 2011). Ownership of fattening cattle for women is uncommon in West Hararghe situation (Tsigereda et al., 2016). About half of the population number in West Hararghe are women, most of them residing in the rural areas (WHZFEDO, 2013). The rural women in West Hararghe play a significant role in cattle fattening routines. They are highly involved with feeding and watering and cleaning the shade. In addition to these, they also share activities such as health care and marketing to some extent with their spouse. However, the majority of the marketing activity is solely kept by their husbands. This eventually has made them to be dependent on the income which men has to bring from the sale of fattened cattle. Todd (1998) reported that women given credit for investing on poultry were able to capitalize on and move to goats and eventually to milking cows. According to Kristjanson et al. (2010), in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, most of the urban cattle farmers were women. Capacity building training and Micro-finance institutions providing credit for women play a good role in creation of assets and income generation. 1.2. Objective To assess the women’s role in fattening and marketing of cattle. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Study Area The study was conducted in four districts of West Hararghe zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia in 2015. The data was collected from 160 respondents who were directly involved in cattle fattening. Detailed physical description of each study district was illustrated in Table 1. Personal observation, focus group discussion (FGD) of relevant individuals of the community and Key informant interview (KII) was conducted. West Hararghe has 14 districts