scholarly journals Feminization of African Agriculture and the Meaning of Decision-Making for Empowerment and Sustainability

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8993
Author(s):  
Ruth Haug ◽  
Dismas L. Mwaseba ◽  
Donald Njarui ◽  
Mokhele Moeletsi ◽  
Mufunanji Magalasi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Women Farmers ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Feminization Of Agriculture

The purpose of this study was to assess women’s decision-making power in small-scale agriculture in six African countries in view of the feminization of agriculture and to discuss the meaning of decision-making in relation to women’s empowerment and sustainability. The data are drawn from a multisite and mixed-method agricultural research and development project in six sub-Saharan countries including two sites in each country. The five domains of empowerment outlined in the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index are used to structure the analysis. The results indicate that in the selected sites in Malawi, Rwanda and South Africa, women farmers tend to dominate agricultural decision-making, while the result is more mixed in the Kenyan sites, and decision-making tends to be dominated by men in the sites in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Despite women participating in agricultural decision-making, the qualitative results show that women small-scale farmers were not perceived to be empowered in any of the country sites. It appears that the feminization of agriculture leads to women playing a more important role in decision-making but also to more responsibilities and heavier workloads without necessarily resulting in improvements in well-being outcomes that would enhance sustainability.

scholarly journals 22A Survey-Based Women's Empowerment Index for Low- and Middle-Income Countries: The SWPER Goes Global

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Ewerling ◽  
Anita Raj ◽  
Cesar G Victora ◽  
Franciele Hellwig ◽  
Carolina VN Coll ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
World Regions ◽  
Country Rankings ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background In 2017, a survey-based women's empowerment index (SWPER) was proposed for African countries, including three domains: social independence, decision making and attitude to violence. We explored the applicability of the SWPER in national health surveys from countries in other world regions. Methods We used data from the latest Demographic and Health Survey for 62 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) since 2000, and adapted the indicator so that it could be used for any LMIC. Adaptations included the exclusion of women's working status and recategorization of the household decision-making related items. We compared the loading patterns obtained from principal components analysis for each country separately with those obtained in a pooled dataset with all countries combined. Country rankings based on the score of each SWPER domain were correlated with their rankings in the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII). Results Most countries presented similar patterns regarding item loadings for the three SWPER empowerment domains. Correlations between the country-specific and global individual-level scores were 0.89 or higher for all countries. Correlations between the country rankings according to SWPER and GDI were, respectively, 0.74, 0.71 and 0.67 for social independence, decision-making, and attitude to violence domains. The correlations were equal to 0.82, 0.67, and 0.44, respectively, with GDI. Conclusions The SWPER global is a suitable common measure of women's empowerment for LMICs, addressing the need for a single consistent survey-based indicator of women's empowerment and allowing wider comparisons across countries and world regions.

Child Support Grants in South Africa: A Pathway to Women's Empowerment and Child Well-being?

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
LEILA PATEL ◽  
TRUDIE KNIJN ◽  
FRITS VAN WEL
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Care Givers

AbstractDespite the growth of cash transfers to reduce poverty, promote child and family well-being and women's empowerment, the gender dynamics and impact of social protection remains poorly understood. We hypothesise that poor female care-givers receiving a cash transfer for their children are better able to contribute to the material and social well-being of their children than female care-givers who do not receive a cash transfer. This paper reports results of a household survey in one of the poorest wards in Johannesburg, South Africa. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse the data. We found that cash transfers increase women's individual income, which is in turn positively associated with increased financial independence, decision-making power over financial resources and decisions about children's well-being. Beneficiaries were more actively engaged in care activities with their children. There are two implications for the insertion of gender and care into social protection policies. First that it is not necessary to attach behavioural change conditions to social protection policies in order to stimulate female care-givers to be more engaged in developmental activities with their children. Second, there is no risk of promoting a maternalistic model of care or ‘maternalism’ in the South African context as the transfer contributes to both women's individual incomes and their financial decision-making power.

scholarly journals The Effect of “Women’s Empowerment” on Child Nutritional Status in Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (22) ◽  
pp. 4499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awaisra Shafiq ◽  
Abid Hussain ◽  
Muhammad Asif ◽  
Jinsoo Hwang ◽  
Arif Jameel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Wealth Index ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Household Size ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Child Malnutrition

Women’s empowerment in terms of both involvements in employment activities and with decision-making about household activities is the most evident factors that can affect the nutritional and health status of their children. This paper investigates the effect of women’s empowerment (WE) on children’s nutritional (CN) status in Pakistan. The Pakistan demographic health survey (PDHS 2012-13) cross-sectional data was used to analyze the impacts of WE on child malnutrition. The composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) was used as a dependent variable to measure the children’s nutritional status, and the wealth index household size. The number of children in a house and indicators of women empowerment, which included the mother’s education, employment status, and the household decision-making, were used as the independent variables. The method of binary logistic regression with marginal effects was used for the empirical analysis of the results. The results of the study showed the indicators of women’s empowerment, such as the education of the mother and employment status had a negative relationship with child malnutrition. Women’s decision-making about the visits to family, which is an indicator of WE, had an insignificant effect on CN. Similarly, socioeconomic status, which included the wealth index, also caused a reduction in child malnutrition. In addition, an increase in household size had a positive and significant relation to child malnutrition. Women are the primary caretakers of children in the household, and their intra-household dynamics affect the well-being of individuals. The empowerment of women acts as a means to enhance children’s nutritional status, which causes important developmental outcomes.

scholarly journals SWPER Global: A survey-based women’s empowerment index expanded from Africa to all low- and middle-income countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Ewerling ◽  
Anita Raj ◽  
Cesar G. Victora ◽  
Franciele Hellwig ◽  
Carolina V. N. Coll ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
List Type ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
World Regions ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Low And Middle Income

AbstractIntroductionIn 2017, a survey-based women’s empowerment index (SWPER) was proposed for African countries, including three domains: social independence, decision making and attitude to violence. External validity and predictive value of the SWPER has been demonstrated in terms of coverage of maternal and child interventions and use of modern contraception. To determine its value for global monitoring, we explored the applicability of the SWPER in national health surveys from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in other world regions.MethodsWe used data from the latest Demographic and Health Survey for 62 LMICs since 2000. 14 pre-selected questions (items) were considered during the validation process. Content adaptations included the exclusion of women’s working status and recategorization of the decision-making related items. We compared the loading patterns obtained from principal components analysis performed for each country separately with those obtained in a pooled dataset with all countries combined. Country rankings based on the score of each SWPER domain were correlated with their rankings in the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII) for external validation.ResultsConsistency regarding item loadings for the three SWPER empowerment domains was observed for most countries. Correlations between the scores generated for each country and global score obtained from the combined data were 0.89 or higher for all countries. Correlations between the country rankings according to SWPER and GDI were, respectively, 0.74, 0.72 and 0.67 for social independence, decision-making, and attitude to violence domains. The correlations were equal to 0.81, 0.67, and 0.44, respectively, with GII.ConclusionThe indicator we propose, named SWPER Global, is a suitable common measure of women’s empowerment for LMICs, addressing the need for a single consistent survey-based indicator of women’s empowerment that allows for tracking of progress over time and across countries at the individual and country levels.SummaryWhat is already known?Although survey-based women’s empowerment indicators have been used in the literature, until 2017 there was no indicator proposed for use in a large set of countries that would be comparable between and within countries.In 2017, we proposed the Survey-based Women’s emPowERment indicator (SWPER, pronounced as “super”), to be used in African countries, that encompasses three wellrecognized domains of women’s empowerment (attitude to violence, social independenceand decision making).The external validity and predictive value of the SWPER has been demonstrated in terms of coverage of maternal and child interventions and use of modern contraception.Validation of the index was restricted to African countries, and a common measure to allow comparisons across low and middle-income countries (LMICs) from all world regions was still lacking.What are the new findings?We show that the SWPER Global may serve as a valid common measure of women’s empowerment among LMICs, as consistent patterns were obtained for most countries and world regions.The SWPER Global index addresses the need for a single cross-cultural standardized survey-based indicator of women’s empowerment in the context of LMICs that enables comparability between countries and over time and subgroup analyses, extending previously proposed indicators such as the Gender Development Index which is limited to the country-levelWhat do the new findings imply?The SWPER Global index enables the study of how women’s empowerment is linked to developmental and health outcomes, allowing for broad comparisons across countries and world regions.As a comprehensive cross-cultural standard tool, it also contributes to the monitoring and accountability of country progress over time in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.The new tool may help target and prioritize policy and advocacy efforts toward SDG 5 (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) at the regional and country levels.

scholarly journals Public Policies for Agricultural Diversification: Implications for Gender Equity

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Valencia ◽  
Hannah Wittman ◽  
Andrew D. Jones ◽  
Jennifer Blesh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Food Procurement

Gender equity is recognized as central to sustainable development, but women still face significant constraints in accessing and controlling productive resources important for agricultural livelihoods. Identifying mechanisms (e.g., policies and interventions) in agriculture that enhance women's empowerment—a critical aspect of gender equity—is of paramount importance for sustainable development. In this study, we investigate how Brazil's flagship targeted public food procurement program, the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), influences women's empowerment in southern Brazil. We conducted household surveys on farm characteristics and practices, women's empowerment (e.g., participation in farm decision-making and control over income), and women's participation in social movements, with farmers (n = 75) who do and do not participate in the PNAE. We found that women were more empowered in households participating in the PNAE, and that this empowerment was associated with diversified farming systems. When women had greater levels of participation in farm management decisions, agrobiodiversity and use of agroecological practices were higher. We also show that women's participation in agroecological social movements was associated with significantly higher empowerment (both in control over income and greater participation in decision-making). This study identifies targeted public food procurement as a promising policy instrument with potential to link cross-sectoral Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to sustainably increase food production (SDG 2), provide economic opportunities for small-scale farmers (SDG 1), and create an economic space that women in agriculture can more easily access (SDG 5).

The Feminization of Agriculture

2019 ◽  
pp. 267-284
Author(s):  
Vanya Slavchevska ◽  
Susan Kaaria ◽  
Sanna Liisa Taivalmaa
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Agricultural Employment ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Feminization Of Agriculture

Male outmigration from rural, primary agricultural areas and the globalization of agri-food systems have both been linked to a significant increase in women’s work and responsibilities in agriculture, a phenomenon referred to as the ‘feminization of agriculture’. While the term has been broadly used to bring attention to the increasing number of women, relative to men, in agricultural employment, little attention has been paid to what the ‘feminization of agriculture’ means for women’s empowerment and their roles in agriculture more generally. Similarly, there is no clear understanding of how this will impact the agricultural sector and what the consequences for food and water security are. This chapter reviews the global evidence surrounding the “feminization of agriculture” and provides a critical discussion of the implications for women’s empowerment and for food and water security.

scholarly journals Deconstructing leisure time and workload: case of women bean producers in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Bogweh Nchanji ◽  
Mercy Mutua ◽  
Collins Odhiambo ◽  
Yvonne Kiki Nchanji ◽  
David Karanja
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women Farmers ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Income Poverty ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Second Shift

Abstract Background The notion of leisure became pronounced more than 20 years ago when women who worked on or out of the farm came home to a “second shift,” which entailed domestic work and childcare. This gap continues today not only between men and women but also among women and men. Women's challenges in terms of their leisure arise out of or are shaped by social norms and different life contexts. Method The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) was conducted to understand women's empowerment and disempowerment status in agricultural activities in five counties in Kenya in 2017. In 2019, focus group discussions were carried out in two of the five counties to understand how men and women farmers define leisure and assess the leisure gap and its effect on women's farm and household activities. We were also interested in understanding how men's and women's workload affects leisure and other productive economic activities, resulting in empowerment and how women’s unpaid work contributes to income poverty. Result The WEAI showed that 28% of disempowerment (5DE) in women farmers is due to lack of time for leisure activities and 18% from being overworked. This means that the time indicator accounts for 46% of disempowerment in Kenyan women bean farmers. Men in Bomet and Narok spent more time than women in raising large livestock and leisure. Women in Bomet spent more time than men in cooking and domestic work (fetching water and collecting fuelwood), while men in Bomet spent more time than women in managing their businesses. Conclusion Work overload is a constraining factor to women's empowerment in bean production and agricultural productivity. What is considered leisure for men and women is embedded in society’s social fabrics, and it is contextual. This paper highlights instances where leisure provides a way for women to embody and/or resist the discourses of gender roles in the bean value chain and households to enhance food security and health.

scholarly journals The Effect of Women’s Empowerment in the Utilisation of Family Planning in Western Ethiopia: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6550
Author(s):  
Muluken Dessalegn Muluneh ◽  
Lyn Francis ◽  
Mhiret Ayele ◽  
Sintayehu Abebe ◽  
Misrak Makonnen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Family Planning ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Contraceptive Use ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Planning Methods ◽  
Western Ethiopia ◽  
Family Planning Methods

This study examines the associations between women’s empowerment and family planning use in Jimma Zone, Western Ethiopia. A total of 746 randomly selected married women of reproductive age were interviewed. The data were employed by structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the complex and multidimensional pathways to show women’s empowerment domains in family planning utilisation. Results of the study revealed that 72% of married women had used family planning. Younger women, having access to information, having access to health facilities and being aware about family planning methods, living in a rural area, having an older partner and increased household decision-making power were associated with using family planning methods. Women’s empowerment is an important determinant of contraceptive use. Women’s empowerment dimensions included increased household decision-making power, socio-demographic variables and having access to information about family planning and accessible health facilities. These were found to be important determinants of contraceptive use. Future interventions should focus on integrating women’s empowerment into family planning programming, particularly in enhancing women’s autonomy in decision making. Further research is warranted on the socio-cultural context of women that influences women’s empowerment and family planning use to establish an in-depth understanding and equity of women in society.

scholarly journals Women’s empowerment for abortion and family planning decision making among marginalized women in Nepal: a mixed method study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heera KC ◽  
Mangala Shrestha ◽  
Nirmala Pokharel ◽  
Surya Raj Niraula ◽  
Prajjwal Pyakurel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Family Planning ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Key Informants ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Modern Contraceptives ◽  
Marginalized Women ◽  
Planning Decision

Abstract Background Women’s empowerment is multidimensional. Women’s education, employment, income, reproductive healthcare decision making, household level decision making and social status are vital for women’s empowerment. Nepal is committed to achieving women empowerment and gender equality, which directly affects the reproductive health issues. This can be achieved by addressing the issues of the poor and marginalized communities. In this context, we aimed to find the association of women’s empowerment with abortion and family planning decision making among marginalized women in Nepal. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted at selected municipalities of Morang district of Nepal from February 2017 to March 2018. A mixed method approach was used, where 316 married marginalized women of reproductive age (15–49 years) and 15 key informant interviews from representative healthcare providers and local leaders were taken. From key informants, data were analysed using the thematic framework method. Findings obtained from two separate analyses were drawn together and meta inferences were made. Results Women’s empowerment was above average, at 50.6%. Current use of modern contraceptives were more among below average empowerment groups (p 0.041, OR 0.593 C.I. 0.36–0.98). We could not find any statistically significant differences among levels of women’s empowerment, including those women with abortion knowledge (p 0.549); family planning knowledge (p 0.495) and women’s decision for future use of modern contraceptives (p 0.977). Most key informants reported that unsafe abortion was practiced. Conclusions Women’s empowerment has no direct role for family planning and abortion decision making at marginalized communities of Morang district of Nepal. However, different governmental and non-governmental organizations influence woman for seeking health care services and family planning in rural community of Nepal irrespective of empowerment status.

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