Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining

Restoration of degraded land is key to enhancing land productivity and farmers' wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa. Evidence shows that the benefits of land restoration are tremendous, ranging from biophysical benefits in soil health, agricultural productivity, ecosystem services, to socio-economic dim...

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Main Authors: Abera, Wuletawu, Tamene, Lulseged D., Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework, Estrada-Carmona, Natalia, Elias, Marlène, Joshi, Deepa, Aynekulu, Ermias
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129817
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author Abera, Wuletawu
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Estrada-Carmona, Natalia
Elias, Marlène
Joshi, Deepa
Aynekulu, Ermias
author_browse Abera, Wuletawu
Aynekulu, Ermias
Elias, Marlène
Estrada-Carmona, Natalia
Joshi, Deepa
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Tamene, Lulseged D.
author_facet Abera, Wuletawu
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Estrada-Carmona, Natalia
Elias, Marlène
Joshi, Deepa
Aynekulu, Ermias
author_sort Abera, Wuletawu
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Restoration of degraded land is key to enhancing land productivity and farmers' wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa. Evidence shows that the benefits of land restoration are tremendous, ranging from biophysical benefits in soil health, agricultural productivity, ecosystem services, to socio-economic dimensions such as improving farmers’ income and livelihoods. Yet one issue that is rarely considered is how the outcomes of restoration initiatives affect different social groups, specifically women, men, and the marginalized. Our study aims to understand the extent of gender and social inclusion in land restoration studies in Ethiopia. Through analyzing 314 peer-reviewed scientific articles on land restoration initiatives and studies for Ethiopia published between 1985 and 2020, we aimed to: i) develop a novel approach that would allow for the semi-automatization of analyzing gender aspects in a large set of scientific documents using machine learning techniques, ii) assessed the current evidence on gender integration in peer-reviewed studies related to RDL, and iii) identified what gender issues are discussed in RDL literature. We employed text mining techniques to analyze the literature for keywords and to classify articles into three main classes: gender blind, gender sensitive, and gender transformative, based on the extent to which gender and social inclusion keywords appeared in the studies. Our analysis showed that gender and social inclusion are rarely considered in landscape restoration studies in Ethiopia, as most studies and interventions are heavily focused on the biophysical and environmental aspects of restoration. Despite an exponential increase in the use of gender and social inclusion keywords after 2005, most of the research (58 percent of articles) remains gender blind. The most frequently used related terms remained generic, e.g. community, access, participatory, and tenure. Only 38% of the studies could be classified as gender sensitive to a certain degree, and a strikingly low number of articles (4 percent) ― which consider the systematic challenges women face ― could be defined as gender transformative. This implies that scientific evidence about how land restoration has benefited men and women, and to what extent it could transform gender and power dynamics, is lacking. Our findings demonstrate the urgent need to consider gender and social inclusion to ensure associated benefits of land restoration practices.
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spelling CGSpace1298172025-12-08T09:54:28Z Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining Abera, Wuletawu Tamene, Lulseged D. Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework Estrada-Carmona, Natalia Elias, Marlène Joshi, Deepa Aynekulu, Ermias social inclusion gender equality land restoration text mining Restoration of degraded land is key to enhancing land productivity and farmers' wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa. Evidence shows that the benefits of land restoration are tremendous, ranging from biophysical benefits in soil health, agricultural productivity, ecosystem services, to socio-economic dimensions such as improving farmers’ income and livelihoods. Yet one issue that is rarely considered is how the outcomes of restoration initiatives affect different social groups, specifically women, men, and the marginalized. Our study aims to understand the extent of gender and social inclusion in land restoration studies in Ethiopia. Through analyzing 314 peer-reviewed scientific articles on land restoration initiatives and studies for Ethiopia published between 1985 and 2020, we aimed to: i) develop a novel approach that would allow for the semi-automatization of analyzing gender aspects in a large set of scientific documents using machine learning techniques, ii) assessed the current evidence on gender integration in peer-reviewed studies related to RDL, and iii) identified what gender issues are discussed in RDL literature. We employed text mining techniques to analyze the literature for keywords and to classify articles into three main classes: gender blind, gender sensitive, and gender transformative, based on the extent to which gender and social inclusion keywords appeared in the studies. Our analysis showed that gender and social inclusion are rarely considered in landscape restoration studies in Ethiopia, as most studies and interventions are heavily focused on the biophysical and environmental aspects of restoration. Despite an exponential increase in the use of gender and social inclusion keywords after 2005, most of the research (58 percent of articles) remains gender blind. The most frequently used related terms remained generic, e.g. community, access, participatory, and tenure. Only 38% of the studies could be classified as gender sensitive to a certain degree, and a strikingly low number of articles (4 percent) ― which consider the systematic challenges women face ― could be defined as gender transformative. This implies that scientific evidence about how land restoration has benefited men and women, and to what extent it could transform gender and power dynamics, is lacking. Our findings demonstrate the urgent need to consider gender and social inclusion to ensure associated benefits of land restoration practices. 2023-06 2023-03-31T09:48:50Z 2023-03-31T09:48:50Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129817 en Open Access application/pdf Elsevier Abera, W.; Tamene, L.; Mekonnen, D.; Estrada Carmona, N.; Elias, M.; Joshi, D.; Aynekulu, E. (2023) Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining. Environmental Development 46: 100854. ISSN: 2211-4645
spellingShingle social inclusion
gender equality
land restoration
text mining
Abera, Wuletawu
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Estrada-Carmona, Natalia
Elias, Marlène
Joshi, Deepa
Aynekulu, Ermias
Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining
title Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining
title_full Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining
title_fullStr Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining
title_short Assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in Ethiopia using text mining
title_sort assessing the application of gender perspectives in land restoration studies in ethiopia using text mining
topic social inclusion
gender equality
land restoration
text mining
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129817
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