In Ethiopia’s Dasenech Woreda, climate change is intensifying droughts, floods and livelihood insecurity, while longstanding gender inequalities continue to limit women’s access to resources, information and decision-making. This inside story from Agri Service Ethiopia explores how Village Economic and Social Associations (VESAs) are helping pastoralist communities build resilience while advancing gender equality and social inclusion.

VESAs combine savings and lending with livelihood support, leadership development, climate information and community dialogue. The evidence suggests that when designed as broader social platforms rather than finance groups alone, VESAs can strengthen adaptive capacity while creating opportunities for women to participate more fully in household and community decision-making.

Key messages

• VESAs supported livelihood diversification through activities such as poultry production, goat fattening, fishing and small businesses, helping households spread climate-related risks and improve income security.
• Women gained greater access to savings, loans, training and leadership opportunities. Women held more than half of VESA leadership positions, contributing to increased confidence, visibility, and participation in decision-making.
• Linking VESAs to climate information, early warning systems and local disaster risk reduction structures improved community preparedness and enabled more informed responses to climate hazards.
• Dialogue with men, community leaders and local institutions helped create a more enabling environment for women’s economic and public participation.
• While important progress was observed, deeper inequalities around asset ownership and power relations persist. The case highlights that gender-transformative change is gradual and requires sustained investment in social norms, local institutions and climate resilience systems.

Read the full inside story here

This is one of several GESI-transformative inside stories that explore practical approaches to advancing social change through climate action. Together, these cases highlight how programmes are challenging unequal power relations, strengthening inclusion and supporting more equitable development outcomes. To learn about other GESI-transformative approaches and experiences, see here:

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