Gender and Livelihoods: Women Empowerment and Food Security in Ghana
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Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and household food security in Ghana
Presented at the International Food Security Dialogue 2014
“Enhancing Food Production, Gender Equity and Nutritional Security in a Changing World.”
Presentation by: Chris Manyamba
Shery HendriksSponsored By: Hosted By:
Objectives
• To establish– if empowering women particularly in
agriculture will result in achieving household food security/hunger reduction.
(Application of the Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index)
• Draw lessons– to guide effective nutrition programs
among programmes interventions,– and in strengthening the case for
channelling resources to effective interventions.
Women’s empowerment and gender
Gender
Social differences that identify the socially, culturally, politically and economically determined relations between women and men (UN, 2011).
Empowerment • the ability to make decisions and
affect outcomes of importance to themselves and their families (Sen, 1999; Malhotra, Schuler, and Boender 2002);
• an ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied (Kabeer 1999).
• the process by which women take control and ownership of their lives through expansion of their choices (UN, 2011; ECA, 2012).
The terms that most often
overlap across various
definitions refer to choice,
power, options, control, and
agency (van den Bold et al.,
2013).
Women, agriculture and food security
• Agriculture is a major driver of economic growth and well-being (IFAD, 2007; FAO, 2011; World Bank, 2012).
• Women comprise of over 50% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries (Maertens and Swinnen, 2009; , FAO and IFAD, 2009; FAO, 2012; UN, 2012; World Bank, 2012). – In sub-Saharan Africa -highest average agricultural labour force
participation in the world, – an estimated 62.5%, compared with 36.4% globally (ILO, 2012).
• They are marginalised both in agricultural and non-agricultural activities (Singh, 2003 ;Quimbisung, 2003; Allendorf, 2007; 2007; FAO, 2011; FAO and IFAD; 2009; Fletschner, 2009; Peterman, et al., 2009; World Bank, 2012).
• If women had equitable access to productive resources, – they could increase farm yields by 20–30 per cent – agricultural output in developing countries could be raised by
2.5–4 %, – the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by
12–17% (FAO, 2011; UN, 2012)
……… empowering women in agriculture is important in achieving food security.
There is evidence For example,• Schultz 2001; • Quimbisung, 2003 ; • Meinzen-Dick and Quisimbing
2010;• FAO, 2011;• Alkire et al, 2012; • World Bank, 2012
.
Limited evidenceFor example, • Meinzen-Dick et al, 2011;• Doepke and Tertilt, 2011;• Kabeer, 2012;• van den Bold et al, 2013.
Results are mixed=iinformation gap
Women’s empowerment has been measured at national level, using proxies………• African Gender Development Index-AGDI (Economic Commission for
Africa, 2012);• the Gender Gap Index-GGI (Hausmann et al., 2011); • the Social Institutions and Gender Index-SIGI (Overseas Economic
Cooperation Development, 2012);• Gender Parity Index-GPI (UN, 2013);• Gender Empowerment Measure-GEM (UN, 2008)
• Innovation of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) (Alkire et al., 2012).
No direct measures for women’s empowerment in
agriculture as experienced by individuals=information gap
Time Use
Leadership
Production
Income & Expenditure
Resources
……developed by USAID, IFPRI, and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
Domains Indicators and weights
Production
Input in productive decisions [1/10]
Autonomy in production [1/10]
Resources)
Ownership of assets [1/15]
Purchase, sale, or transfer of assets [1/15]
Access to and decisions on credit [1/15]
Income Control over use of income [1/5]
Leadership
Speaking in public [1/10]
Group membership [1/10]
Time
Workload [1/10]
Leisure
WEAI-Indicators
see www.ifpri.org
CAADP Framework for African Food Security
Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index
WEAI
Leadership: Group membership. Speaking in public
Time: Workload, leisure
Availability
Resilience
Diet quality
Access
Economic EnvironmentMacroeconomic levelLending Institutions
5 Domains of Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture
Improved agricultural productivity and Increased incomes
Socio Cultural Environment
Policies and programs
Sustainable Livelihoods Improved Nutrition and Health Status Capacity and productivity
Income: Control over use of income and expenditure
Production: Autonomy in production (access to land, water, fertilizer, & seed)
Resources: asset ownership, purchase, sale, or transfer of assets, access to and decisions to credit
Household Food Security
The WEAI-Food security conceptual frameworkv
• …….women make over 51% of agricultural labour force in Ghana (Ghana Living Standards Survey, 2008)
• Promoting sustainable food security is a prominent objective in Ghana’s own national development agenda (Republic of Ghana, 2010; USAID,
2012). • Ghana is self-sufficient in the
production of the staple roots, tubers, plantain and cereals(Republic of
Ghana, 2012).
• One third of children nationwide are stunted;
• with 10 percent being severely stunted;
• and 78 percent are anaemic (Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, 2008).
• Nationally, 5 percent of Ghana’s population is considered food insecure, (USAID|Ghana, 2012)
Sample area -facts and figures
Sample and data
• Study conducted in 2012 in Ghana Feed the Future Zone of Influence
• A two-stage probability sampling approach was used in drawing the survey sample. – the selection of enumeration areas (EAs) using the probability
proportional to size (PPS) method.
– a systematic sampling approach to select households in each sampled EA.
• WEAI relies on information collected from both primary male
and female adults in the household.• The final dataset is representative (N=4398), quantitative, in
STATA software
Model specification
• Multinomial regression written as:
Pr. Y= exp. (α+ β₁X₁+ β₂X₂+……………… β₅X₅)
1+exp (exp. (α+ β₁X₁+ β₂X₂+………..β₅X₅)
– where X₁ - X₅ are WEAI indicators of production, resources, income, leadership and time.
and, – Pr.y =the probability of the outcome of food security measure
(categorical)– β is the regression coefficient – α is the Y intercept
Respondents' profile
Respondents characteristics N=784
N=3614
Female MaleGender 17.82 82.18Age group ≤35 years 35.62 37.22
Above 35 years 64.38 62.78Mean 38.8 44.5
Literacy No education 21.6 (22.6*) 21.8 (11.3*)Marital status Living together 55.16 86.03
Divorced or married
9.43 2.18
Widowed 28.28 3.23Single or never married
7.13 8.56
Household size 5.6 5.6
Household Hunger Scale Female Male
Freq. Percent Freq. Percent
Food secure Little to no hunger 470 59.95 2254 62.37
Food insecureModerate hunger 305 38.9 1635 36.8
Severe hunger 9 1.15 39 0.83
Total 784 100 3614 100
Food insecurity......over 1 in 3 households reported being food insecure
The indicators...........results indicate inadequacy
The Women Empowerment Index Females Dimension Indicators Adequate Inadequate 5DE
Production Autonomy in production: has least autonomy on one production activity
20.45 79.55 17.2
Input in productive decisions regarding food crops 5.85 94.15
Input in productive decisions regarding cash crop 5.31 94.69
Has some input in decisions or feels can make decisions in at least two domains in production
7.51 92.49
Resources Jointly has at least one right in at least one household asset
62.83 37.17 36.0
Jointly has at least one right in at least one agricultural asset
52.1 49.9
Access to and decisions on credit: jointly makes at least one decision regarding
73.15 26.85
Has some input and decisions on major income and expenditure
32.18 67.82
Leadership Speaking in public 23.49 76.51 17.7
Group Membership 24.92 75.08 Time satisfaction Leisure time 14.48 85.52 15.6
Satisfaction with time (inadequate) 27.72 72.28
Ghana WEAI, Feed the Future Zone of Influence (ZOI)
Women Men
Disempowered Headcount (H) 72.1%
23.8%
Empowered Headcount (1-H) 27.9%
76.2%
5DE Index (1-M0) 0.705
0.925
N 2160 2350
Gender Parity Index 0.807
WEAI (0.9 x 5DE + 0.1 x GPI) 0.716
Multivariate analysis Females
(n=784)
Base outcome=household food insecurity RRR P>z Std. error
Production Autonomy in production (inadequate) 0.48 0.002 0.11
Input in productive decisions (inadequate) 0.92 0.819 0.33
Resources Joint ownership (inadequate) 0.42 *0.003 0.09 Access to decisions on credit (inadequate) 0.61 *0.027 0.14
Leadership Public speaking (inadequate) 0.74 0.224 0.34Group Membership (inadequate) 0.69 **0.101 0.23
Time satisfaction Leisure (inadequate) 1.84 *0.097 0.18 Satisfaction with time (inadequate) 2.00 *0.020 0.16
Demographics Household size (>5) 0.72 *0.097 0.67 Household head age group (35 and above) 0.58 *0.008 0.60
Region (northern) 1.78 *0.004 0.14 Marital status (married) 1.38 **0.108 0.12 Marital status (single or never married) 0.57 0.978
Ever been to school (yes) 1.48 0.122 0.12
Conclusion: Overall women in Ghana reported inadequacy
(disempowerment) in all (8) indicators measured…….
• Autonomy in production,• joint asset ownership • and decision making on credit are statistical
significant predictors of food security. • They have potential to reduce food insecurity.
Time use and allocation -statistically significant; twice less potential to reduce food security.
• Group membership and leisure are time less impact compared to the other indicators while;
• Public speaking and input in decsions pertaning to production are not statistically significant
Key messeges............
• Autonomyin production, joint asset ownership and decision making, and joint decisions on credit =areas of priority intervention.
• The study also recommends WEAI as a tool for Researchers to measure food security and nutrition.
For more on the WEAI visit http://www.ifpri.org/book-9075/ourwork/program/weai-resource-center
Thank you
Christopher Manyamba
WEAI PhD Research Fellow
Christopher.Manyamba@up.ac.za
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