Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index: Results from Bangladesh

Esha Sraboni Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program

International Food Policy Research Institute

Workshop on The Feed the Future Zone in the South and the Rest of Bangladesh:

A Comparison of Food Security Aspects 16 January 2013

Dhaka

What is Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI)?

• Survey based index designed to measure empowerment and inclusion of women in the agricultural sector

• Commissioned by the US government’s Feed the Future (FtF) initiative to track changes in women’s empowerment as a result of their interventions

• However, it can be used more generally to assess the state of empowerment and gender parity of women in agriculture

• The WEAI was developed by researchers at USAID, IFPRI and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The Index was piloted in Bangladesh, Guatemala and Uganda during the latter half of 2011

• Among 19 Feed the Future countries, Bangladesh is the first to have WEAI data representative of USAID’s Feed the Future Zone of Influence, as well as the entire country

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How is the WEAI constructed?

Five domains of

empowerment (5DE)

Gender parity Index (GPI)

Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture

Index

(WEAI)

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All range from zero to one. Higher

scores mean greater empowerment

The Five Domains of Empowerment (5DE)

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PRODUCTION

RESOURCES

INCOME

TIME

Input in productive decisions

Autonomy in production

Ownership of assets

Purchase, sale, or transfer of assets

Access to and decisions on credit

Control over use of income

Group member

Speaking in public

Leisure

Workload

LEADERSHIP

Gender Parity Index (GPI)

• Reflects the percentage of women who are as empowered as the men in their household

• For households which have not achieved gender parity, the GPI shows the gap that needs to be closed for women to reach the same level of empowerment as men

• In order to calculate the 5DE and GPI, both the primary adult male and female in a household are surveyed using the same set of questions

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Why is the WEAI innovative?

• First index to directly capture women’s empowerment in agriculture. Does not rely on proxies such as income or education

• The domains reveal the areas in which both women and men are more/less empowered

• Shows whether there is an empowerment gap between women and men in the same household

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Data for constructing the WEAI in Bangladesh

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• IFPRI’s Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) was specifically designed to measure the WEAI

• BIHS included modules which asked detailed questions on each of the five domains of empowerment

• The WEAI modules were implemented in the FtF zone as well as the rest of the country

RESULTS

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How many women have gender parity with the primary male in their household?

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35%

50% 48%

46% 45%

35% 34% 33%

42%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

FTF BARISAL RAJSHAHI RANGPUR DHAKA SYLHET KHULNA CHITTAGONG BANGLADESH

How many women are empowered in the 5DE?

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20%

34% 31%

29%

23% 22%

15% 12%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

FTF BARISAL DHAKA RAJSHAHI KHULNA RANGPUR SYLHET CHITTAGONG BANGLADESH

WEAI for All Regions

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0.626

0.738 0.718 0.711 0.678 0.673

0.637

0.574

0.677

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

FTF BARISAL DHAKA RAJSHAHI RANGPUR SYLHET KHULNA CHITTAGONG BANGLADESH

How does women’s empowerment in the 5DE vary with age?

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17%

27% 28%

18%

8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

16-25 26-45 46-55 56-65 >65

AGE GROUP

How does women’s empowerment in the 5DE vary with education?

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23% 25% 24% 26% 29%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Less than primary Primary Secondary Higher secondary University or above

LEVEL OF EDUCATION

How does women’s empowerment in the 5DE vary with income?

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18 24 26 27

25

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1 2 3 4 5

PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE QUINTILE

Which domains contribute most to disempowerment of women?

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INADEQUACY IN

LEADERSHIP 32%

INADEQUACY IN

RESOURCES 21%

INADEQUACY IN INCOME

20%

INADEQUACY IN

PRODUCTION 16%

INADEQUACY IN TIME

12%

FtF Zone

INADEQUACY IN

LEADERSHIP 35%

INADEQUACY IN

RESOURCES 22%

INADEQUACY IN INCOME

15%

INADEQUACY IN

PRODUCTION 15%

INADEQUACY IN TIME

13%

Bangladesh

Which indicators contribute most to disempowerment of women in the FtF zone?

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LEADERSHIP 32%

RESOURCES 21%

INCOME 19%

PRODUCTION 16%

TIME 12%

LACK OF GROUP MEMBERSHIP 17%

Inadequate ownership of assets 5%

LACK OF CONTROL OVER USE OF INCOME 19%

LACK OF INPUT IN PRODUCTIVE DECISIONS 11%

DISCOMFORT IN SPEAKING IN PUBLIC 15%

Dissatisfaction with workload 5%

How do major disempowering factors differ by region? Comparing FtF zone and Rangpur division

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LEADERSHIP 32%

PRODUCTION 16%

INCOME 19%

LEADERSHIP 35%

TIME 16%

INCOME 11%

FTF ZONE RANGPUR Lack of control over use of income 19%

Discomfort in speaking in public 15%

Lack of group membership 17%

Lack of input in productive decisions 11%

Lack of group membership 19%

Lack of control over use of income 11%

Discomfort in speaking in public 16%

Inadequate leisure 11%

Similarities and Differences in disempowering factors among men and women: FtF Zone

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LEADERSHIP 32%

PRODUCTION 16%

INCOME 19%

LEADERSHIP 38%

TIME 25%

RESOURCES 17%

Lack of control over use of income 19%

Lack of input in productive decisions 11%

Discomfort in speaking in public 15%

Lack of group membership 17%

Insufficient access to and decisions on credit 12%

Discomfort in speaking in public 13%

Lack of group membership 25%

Dissatisfaction with workload 13%

WOMEN MEN

Conclusions

• A large proportion of women are disempowered relative to men within their households

• In general, insufficient control of resources, lack of decision making power in production and weak leadership in the community are major factors contributing to lack of women’s empowerment

• However, policymakers must take into account regional differences in factors contributing to lack of empowerment of women

• Different programs and policies will need to be put in place to empower men and women alike

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