 I am Namusha Alemna, I work at INRI, we're back at scale program, and a capacity development expert. How many of you are born in rural areas? Show me your hand. Yes, in villages, rural areas. Thank you. Like some of you here, I was born in a rural village in Ethiopia, some 200 kilometers north of Addis Ababa. I was among the first born boys in my family. The first born was all boys. I grew up sharing domestic and farm activities, as you can imagine. They are all boys, and it is our responsibility to share all the domestic work, including fetching water, fetching firewood, and except making injera, that's just a taboo. Except making injera, I do all the other domestic activities. In my school age, I walk to school barefoot, you can imagine. Barefoot on a rocky and rough road, and in a cold and windy weather. And the hardship of rural life makes me work hard in school, and to be very resourceful in my studies. Actually, my hard work in school gives proof, and after graduation, I get my first job in the northern part of Ethiopia. I get married there, and have three wonderful children. As I have done in my home village, I share domestic responsibilities, domestic work, with my wife. Cleaning the dishes, and souping the floor, all other activities. And she enjoys my company, especially in the kitchen. She loves when I just accompany her, attend her, when we prepare food together in the kitchen. But she does not want our neighbors to know that I do domestic work, especially in the kitchen. I don't take it seriously until a shocking event happens at home, which actually makes me think about men sharing domestic work. It is a Sunday morning, it was a very bright, beautiful morning, and I am cleaning, sweeping the floor, while my wife is preparing a delicious breakfast in the kitchen. My dear, someone is knocking at the door, my wife says. Soon after, a lover, who is actually a woman, enters our house through the bathroom, and on seeing me, sweeping the floor, she screams. She immediately goes back. Honestly, I was shocked by what I see, and I remain speechless for a moment, not knowing what wrong did I do, and what actually makes a woman behave like that. I ask my wife about the situation, why the woman is just reacting like that. Looking at me and smiling, my wife invites me to take a seat. I sat down, and we have a conversation about the situation. In that conversation, I learned that part of the country is culturally unwelcome for men to take part in domestic work. That event was a turning point for me, it was a defining moment for me. Since that time, I started to think about how culture matters, how cultural differences matter, how social norms and values really determine what is expected of men and women in society. Gradually, I grew interest in social issues and decided to study social sciences. I did my master's in rural social development at Reading University in UK. Upon return to my home country, I teach courses in rural physiology, extension education, and do research in local knowledge systems, farm renovations, particularly women farm renovators. In my research, I learned that women actually innovate. They are resourceful, they are knowledgeable, they are innovative, but the point is, men, their husbands, speak about women's innovations. That was also another fact. Women face cultural resistance to innovate and improve their livelihoods. They are seen as troublemakers and illusionists. I remember one woman innovator in Tigray region where I worked during that time, her name is just Lata Brahman, and she was a widow and she leads her own family. One of the challenges women face is lack of male labor. So she let her farm out through a chair cropping arrangement. She decided to plow herself. So plowing is a tapu in Ethiopia, as is cooking for a man. So she starts to plow herself and she hides herself when she sees men coming from a distance. She looks at the auction there, so she hides herself, because just to avoid ridiculing and criticism from the society. So you can see the kind of challenges women face and under what conditions do they really innovate. Re-cognizing and empowering women in general, women innovators, it requires consultations, engagements with local leaders, institutions and community members through community-based participatory processes. And it is only so often an active dialogue with community members and local leaders that social culture norms which restrict women from taking part in development in decision-making can be addressed. At Illy, I see my role as a knowledge broker and community organizer. I contribute to Illy's mission by helping supporting Illy research programs, put knowledge to use and get the science right, particularly to the partners and pastoralists. I help scientists translate research knowledge into learning and extension materials and communicating, sharing knowledge with communities and development partners to have impact at scale. Thank you for your attention.