Measuring Progress Toward EmpowermentWomen’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index: Baseline Report

Chiara Kovarik, Senior Research Assistant, IFPRI

Gender and Agriculture: A Focus on Bangladesh

June 18, 2014

Overview

• How the WEAI is constructed

• WEAI cross country results

• Examine major constraints to empowerment

• Compare the WEAI and selected indicators: – Factors that might affect empowerment

• Income

• Education

– Outcomes that might result from empowerment• Household hunger score

• Maternal behavior

• Summary

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

5DE, GPI, and WEAI Scores

Country Region 5DE GPI WEAI Ranking

Bangladesh Asia 0.65 0.80 0.66 Low

Cambodia Asia 0.98 0.99 0.98 High

Nepal Asia 0.79 0.89 0.80 Medium

Tajikistan Asia 0.68 0.79 0.69 Low

Haiti Latin America & Caribbean 0.83 0.94 0.85 High

Honduras Latin America & Caribbean 0.74 0.87 0.75 Medium

Kenya East Africa 0.71 0.81 0.72 Low

Rwanda East Africa 0.90 0.96 0.91 High

Uganda East Africa 0.85 0.92 0.86 High

Ghana West Africa 0.70 0.81 0.71 Low

Liberia West Africa 0.66 0.95 0.69 Low

Malawi Southern Africa 0.83 0.91 0.84 Medium

Zambia Southern Africa 0.79 0.89 0.80 Medium

Women’s Disempowerment scores (1-5DE)

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Dis

em

po

we

rme

nt

Ind

ex

(1 -

5D

E)

Leisure

Workload

Speaking in public

Group member

Control over use of income

Access to and decisions on credit

Purchase, sale, or transfer of assets

Ownership of assets

Autonomy in production

Input in productive decisions

#1 Constraint: Access to and decisions on credit

0.49

0.05

0.40

0.73

0.39

0.660.63

0.24

0.32

0.60

0.67

0.41

0.53

0.00

0.15

0.30

0.45

0.60

0.75Pro

po

rtio

n o

f w

om

en

no

t e

mp

ow

ere

d a

nd

wh

o

ha

ve in

ad

eq

ua

te a

chie

vem

en

t

#2 Constraint: Workload

0.26

0.04

0.39

0.13

0.270.25

0.42

0.21

0.320.34

0.360.33

0.52

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

Pro

po

rtio

n o

f w

om

en

no

t e

mp

ow

ere

d a

nd

wh

o

ha

ve in

ad

eq

ua

te a

chie

vem

en

t

#3 Constraint: Group membership

0.58

0.03

0.55 0.56

0.350.33

0.27

0.140.17

0.260.27

0.210.23

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Pro

po

rtio

n o

f w

om

en

no

t e

mp

ow

ere

d a

nd

wh

o

ha

ve in

ad

eq

ua

te a

chie

vem

en

t

Per capita expenditure (US$)

Bangladesh

Cambodia

Ghana

Haiti

Honduras

Kenya

Liberia

Malawi

Nepal

Rwanda

Tajikistan

Uganda

Zambia

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

0.95

1.00

0.75 1.25 1.75 2.25 2.75 3.25 3.75 4.25

WE

AI

Sco

re

per capita expenditure, US$

Education:

highest household achievement

Households with no or primary education

Households with secondary education

Bangladesh

Cambodia

GhanaKenya

Malawi

Nepal

Rwanda

Zambia

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

0.95

1.00

0 10 20 30 40 50

WE

AI

Sco

re

Secondary education as highest level, %

Bangladesh

Cambodia

GhanaKenya

Malawi

Nepal

Rwanda

Zambia

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

0.95

1.00

55 65 75 85 95

WE

AI

Sco

re

None or primary education as highest level, %

Note: Correlation coefficient is significant (excluding Cambodia).

Households with moderate or severe hunger (%)

Bangladesh

Cambodia

Ghana

Haiti

Honduras

Kenya

LiberiaMalawi

Nepal

Rwanda

Tajikistan

UgandaZambia

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00

Pre

vale

nce

of

ho

use

ho

lds

wit

h m

od

era

te o

r se

vere

hu

nge

r, %

WEAI Score

Maternal behavior

Minimum Acceptable Diet

Children 6-23 months receiving MAD

Bangladesh

Cambodia

GhanaUganda

Honduras

Kenya

HaitiNepal

Rwanda

Tajikistan

MalawiZambia

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00

Ch

ild

ren

ach

ievi

ng

min

imu

m a

cce

pta

ble

die

t, %

WEAI Score

Exclusive breastfeeding

Children < 6 months exclusively breastfed

Bangladesh

Cambodia

Ghana

Haiti

Honduras

Kenya

MalawiNepal

Rwanda

Tajikistan

Uganda

Zambia

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00

Pre

vale

nce

of

exc

lusi

ve b

rea

stfe

ed

ing

, %

WEAI Score

Summary

• Greatest constraints: Too little credit, too much work and not enough groups!

• Comparison with men:

– On average women are 2X as disempowered as men

– Women are almost 2X as disempowered as men in their ability to access and make decisions regarding credit, and over 1.5X as disempowered with respect to workload and group membership

– While the magnitude of women’s disempowerment is greater, men are also disempowered in these domains

• Geographic patterns: Specific constraints dominate certain regions

• WEAI and poverty, health and nutrition outcomes:

– The WEAI is most strongly associated with household educational achievement, income, and maternal behavior (prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and children receiving a minimum acceptable diet)

WEAI RESOURCE CENTERhttp://www.ifpri.org/book-9075/ourwork/program/weai-resource-center

Any questions? Contact: Chiara Kovarik: c.kovarik@cgiar.org