Sustainability and Gender Dynamics of Coffee Value-Chain Development Intervention: Lessons from Ethiopia

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is a very interesting and well-written paper focusing on a relevant issue such as the study of gender relations across global value chains as those for coffee. The authors are truly able the convey the problem and describe how a coffee related project can encourage or not, or overlook the gender-sensitiveness.

Minor comments:

Please add the entire name before entering abbreviations, sometimes it is very confusing to read. Authors can also improve the layout and readability of all tables.

It would be great if you could also add more interesting statements coming the farmers, you added about two or three (i.e., page 8), just to understand the dynamics and get to know their voices.

Please have a careful look at the journal’s guidelines to write the references in the text and at the end.

Small editing is still needed, this is a very well-written paper.

Congratulations on the great job!

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

It is good to read an ex-post evaluation of a VCD intervention, where medium to longer term impacts can be examined and where a gender analysis can be applied retrospectively. There is scope to elaborate the relationship between gender equality and sustainability from a theoretical perspective in the introduction. 

 

The paper focuses nicely on the continued adoption and adaptation of the technologies that were introduced by the intervention and what the impact has been using the GAM. The methodologies used appear to be comprehensive including participant and non-participant farmers in quantitative and qualitative data collection as well as the KIIs with a range of experts and officials. What is not clear is whether these experts and officials were involved in the VCD intervention and if so, whether they were able to comment on the non-inclusion of gender analysis in the original design.

 

In terms of data collection, it would also be good to know the gender of the experts who conducted the survey and also who facilitated the FGDs.

 

The paper (and literature) suggests that women have less access to extension and opportunities for learning – therefore it would be good to give a disaggregated table for Table 3 on self-assessed knowledge of good practices. There is an implication that knowledge ‘trickled down’ to women/spouses.

 

The paper is well written and follows a logical and coherent narrative.

Author Response

Kindly find attached letter. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf