What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice

Strategies to empower women in development contexts frequently address their authority to take decisions within their household, including decisions that are taken jointly by couples. Assessing empowerment in joint decision-making has traditionally followed a dichotomous approach: decisions are eith...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Acosta, Mariola, Wessel, Margit van, Bommel, Severine van, Ampaire, Edidah L., Twyman, Jennifer, Jassogne, Laurence T.P., Feindt, Peter
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Informa UK Limited 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103194
_version_ 1855527275378769920
author Acosta, Mariola
Wessel, Margit van
Bommel, Severine van
Ampaire, Edidah L.
Twyman, Jennifer
Jassogne, Laurence T.P.
Feindt, Peter
author_browse Acosta, Mariola
Ampaire, Edidah L.
Bommel, Severine van
Feindt, Peter
Jassogne, Laurence T.P.
Twyman, Jennifer
Wessel, Margit van
author_facet Acosta, Mariola
Wessel, Margit van
Bommel, Severine van
Ampaire, Edidah L.
Twyman, Jennifer
Jassogne, Laurence T.P.
Feindt, Peter
author_sort Acosta, Mariola
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Strategies to empower women in development contexts frequently address their authority to take decisions within their household, including decisions that are taken jointly by couples. Assessing empowerment in joint decision-making has traditionally followed a dichotomous approach: decisions are either joint or not, with the former associated with women’s empowerment. This paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the empowerment effects of joint decision-making, based on case study data from Uganda. We present survey data revealing significant gender differences in perception of decision-making over the adoption of agricultural practices and consumption expenses. Women reported joint decision-making more often than men, who presented themselves more as sole decision makers. We supplement the survey data with an in-depth study in Lodi village, where we reconstruct meanings attached to joint decision-making using focus group discussions, a decision-making game and participant observation. Reported joint decision-making included a range of practices from no conversation among partners to conversations where female spouse’s ideas are considered but the man has the final say. The findings suggest that local interpretations of joint decision-making, in at least this case of a dominantly patriarchal context, can limit its potential for assessing women’s empowerment.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace103194
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher Informa UK Limited
publisherStr Informa UK Limited
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1031942025-12-08T09:54:28Z What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice Acosta, Mariola Wessel, Margit van Bommel, Severine van Ampaire, Edidah L. Twyman, Jennifer Jassogne, Laurence T.P. Feindt, Peter climate change agriculture food security gender Strategies to empower women in development contexts frequently address their authority to take decisions within their household, including decisions that are taken jointly by couples. Assessing empowerment in joint decision-making has traditionally followed a dichotomous approach: decisions are either joint or not, with the former associated with women’s empowerment. This paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the empowerment effects of joint decision-making, based on case study data from Uganda. We present survey data revealing significant gender differences in perception of decision-making over the adoption of agricultural practices and consumption expenses. Women reported joint decision-making more often than men, who presented themselves more as sole decision makers. We supplement the survey data with an in-depth study in Lodi village, where we reconstruct meanings attached to joint decision-making using focus group discussions, a decision-making game and participant observation. Reported joint decision-making included a range of practices from no conversation among partners to conversations where female spouse’s ideas are considered but the man has the final say. The findings suggest that local interpretations of joint decision-making, in at least this case of a dominantly patriarchal context, can limit its potential for assessing women’s empowerment. 2020-06-02 2019-08-14T13:58:44Z 2019-08-14T13:58:44Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103194 en Open Access Informa UK Limited Acosta M, van Wessel M, van Bommel S, Ampaire E, Twyman J, Jassogne L, Feindt PH. 2020. What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice. The Journal of Development Studies 56(6):1210-1229.
spellingShingle climate change
agriculture
food security
gender
Acosta, Mariola
Wessel, Margit van
Bommel, Severine van
Ampaire, Edidah L.
Twyman, Jennifer
Jassogne, Laurence T.P.
Feindt, Peter
What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice
title What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice
title_full What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice
title_fullStr What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice
title_full_unstemmed What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice
title_short What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice
title_sort what does it mean to make a joint decision unpacking intra household decision making in agriculture implications for policy and practice
topic climate change
agriculture
food security
gender
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103194
work_keys_str_mv AT acostamariola whatdoesitmeantomakeajointdecisionunpackingintrahouseholddecisionmakinginagricultureimplicationsforpolicyandpractice
AT wesselmargitvan whatdoesitmeantomakeajointdecisionunpackingintrahouseholddecisionmakinginagricultureimplicationsforpolicyandpractice
AT bommelseverinevan whatdoesitmeantomakeajointdecisionunpackingintrahouseholddecisionmakinginagricultureimplicationsforpolicyandpractice
AT ampaireedidahl whatdoesitmeantomakeajointdecisionunpackingintrahouseholddecisionmakinginagricultureimplicationsforpolicyandpractice
AT twymanjennifer whatdoesitmeantomakeajointdecisionunpackingintrahouseholddecisionmakinginagricultureimplicationsforpolicyandpractice
AT jassognelaurencetp whatdoesitmeantomakeajointdecisionunpackingintrahouseholddecisionmakinginagricultureimplicationsforpolicyandpractice
AT feindtpeter whatdoesitmeantomakeajointdecisionunpackingintrahouseholddecisionmakinginagricultureimplicationsforpolicyandpractice