Piloting and Development of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index

Purpose Design, develop, and test an index to measure the greater inclusion of women in agricultural sector growth that has occurred as a result of US Government intervention under the Feed the Future Initiative – To be used to assess the impact of Feed the Future’s impact in 19 countries Possible applications to understand key areas for attention in designing programs or assess impact of NGO, other agricultural programs

What is new about the WEAI? An aggregate index in two parts: – Five domains of empowerment (5DE): assesses whether women are empowered in the 5 domains of empowerment in agriculture – Gender Parity Index (GPI): reflects the percentage of women who are as empowered as the men in their households It is a survey-based index, not based on aggregate statistics or secondary data, constructed using interviews of the primary male and primary female adults in the same household

Scope of the WEAI Focus is strictly on empowerment in agriculture, distinct from: – Economic status – Education – Empowerment in other domains This enables clear analysis of external determinates of empowerment in agriculture. WEAI is international; Local adaptation possible.

How is the Index constructed? Five domains of empowerment (5DE) A direct measure of women’s empowerment in 5 dimensions Gender parity Index (GPI) Women’s achievement’s relative to the primary male in hh Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) WEAI is made up of two sub indices All range from zero to one; higher values = greater empowerment

Five Domains of Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture

The reality of the pilot Tested feasibility in a real-world setting before scale-up New survey instrument was piloted in 3 countries (Bangladesh, Guatemala, Uganda), with ~350 households/625 individuals each, focusing on the Feed the Future zones of influence Representative of the zone of influence (not nationally) An innovation in the measurement and monitoring of women’s empowerment in agriculture—not the final word on it!

Innovations in survey design and implementation Index components designed to be applicable across countries and cultures Men and women from the same household are interviewed The survey questionnaire modules focus on men’s and women’s empowerment in agriculture The index applies to women in households with male adults--as well as those with only female adults.

Case studies Case studies consisted of interviews on five domains with narratives to explain answers, describe “life stories,” and get concepts of empowerment from men and women themselves “Being empowered, it means that the woman can do things too, not just the man” ~ Woman, Guatemala aged 63

Five domains of empowerment A woman’s empowerment score shows her own achievements

Who is empowered? A woman who has achieved ‘adequacy’ in 80% or more of the weighted indicators is empowered

The 5DE is based on the Alkire Foster methodology and reflects: – Incidence of Empowerment - The percentage of women who are empowered – Adequacy among the Disempowered - The weighted share of indicators in which disempowered women enjoy adequate achievements Based on each woman’s empowerment profile Identifies who is empowered Shows how women are disempowered Rigorous properties 5DE Methodology Alkire and Foster J of Public Economics.

Gender Parity Index (GPI) Reflects two things: 1. The percentage of women who enjoy gender parity. A woman enjoys gender parity if – she is empowered or – if her empowerment score is equal to or greater than the empowerment score of the primary male in her household. 2. The empowerment gap - the average percentage shortfall that a woman without parity experiences relative to the male in her household. The GPI adapts the Foster Greer Thorbecke Poverty Gap measure to reflect gender parity.

5DE = H e + H d A e H e is the percentage of empowered women H d is the percentage of disempowered women A is the average absolute empowerment score among the disempowered GPI = H p + H w R p H p is percentage of women with gender parity H d is the percentage of women without gender parity R is the women’s relative parity score compared to men H e + H d = 100% H p + H w = 100% Formula

Lilian, Uganda (Empowerment Score 83%) Has parity with her husband Wilson

Seema is Disempowered (Empowerment Score = 64%) She has not achieved parity with her husband

31.9% of women are empowered Disempowered women have adequate achievements in 60.7% of domains 59.8% of women enjoy gender parity Households without gender parity have a 25.2% empowerment gap between the woman and man Bangladesh Pilot results Overall, the WEAI score is 0.749

Bangladesh: How to increase empowerment?

Contribution of each indicator to disempower- ment of women and men

22.8% of women are empowered Disempowered women have adequate achievements in 58.3% of domains 35.8% of women have gender parity 29.1% empowerment gap Guatemala Pilot results Overall, the WEAI score is 0.692

Guatemala: How to increase empowerment?

37.3% of women are empowered Disempowered women have adequate achievements in 64.4% of domains 54.4% of women have gender parity 22.4% empowerment gap Uganda Pilot results Overall, the WEAI score is 0.789

Uganda: How to increase empowerment?

Empowerment, wealth and education Wealth – clear association with empowerment in Uganda, but an imperfect proxy in Bangladesh and Guatemala: – 76% in top three quintiles are disempowered in Guatemala Education – significant influence in Guatemala and Uganda but insignificant for men and women in Bangladesh: – In Uganda, 35% of women with less than primary schooling are empowered vs. 45% with primary education – 31% of women with less than primary education were empowered in Bangladesh vs. 33% with primary schooling

Innovations in the Index 1) Captures empowerment directly: – Not through proxies – education, income etc. – The results show what has been missing from our view of empowerment to date 2) Three ways to change it: – Empower women – Increase the adequacy among disempowered women – Increase gender parity

The WEAI can be used to: 1)Understand major areas of disempowerment 2)Show how to increase women’s empowerment 3)Track changes over time in H e and A e 4)Monitor progress toward gender equality