Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation
Women’s empowerment is often an important goal of development interventions. This paper explores local perceptions of empowerment in the Upper East Region of Ghana and the pathways through which small-scale irrigation intervention targeted to men and women farmers contributes to women’s empowerment....
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Springer
2022
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141415 |
| _version_ | 1855526529058996224 |
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| author | Bryan, Elizabeth Garner, Elisabeth |
| author_browse | Bryan, Elizabeth Garner, Elisabeth |
| author_facet | Bryan, Elizabeth Garner, Elisabeth |
| author_sort | Bryan, Elizabeth |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Women’s empowerment is often an important goal of development interventions. This paper explores local perceptions of empowerment in the Upper East Region of Ghana and the pathways through which small-scale irrigation intervention targeted to men and women farmers contributes to women’s empowerment. Using qualitative data collected with 144 farmers and traders through 28 individual interviews and 16 focus group discussions, this paper innovates a framework to integrate the linkages between small-scale irrigation and three dimensions of women’s empowerment: resources, agency, and achievements. The relationship between the components of empowerment and small-scale irrigation are placed within a larger context of social change underlying these relationships. This shows that many women face serious constraints to participating in and benefitting from small-scale irrigation, including difficulties accessing land and water and gender norms that limit women’s ability to control farm assets. Despite these constraints, many women do benefit from participating in irrigated farming activities leading to an increase in their agency and well-being achievements. For some women, these benefits are indirect—these women allocate their time to more preferred activities when the household gains access to modern irrigation technology. The result is a new approach to understanding women’s empowerment in relation to irrigation technology. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace141415 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Springer |
| publisherStr | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1414152025-10-26T13:01:28Z Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation Bryan, Elizabeth Garner, Elisabeth gender women's empowerment technology small farming irrigation qualitative analysis women Women’s empowerment is often an important goal of development interventions. This paper explores local perceptions of empowerment in the Upper East Region of Ghana and the pathways through which small-scale irrigation intervention targeted to men and women farmers contributes to women’s empowerment. Using qualitative data collected with 144 farmers and traders through 28 individual interviews and 16 focus group discussions, this paper innovates a framework to integrate the linkages between small-scale irrigation and three dimensions of women’s empowerment: resources, agency, and achievements. The relationship between the components of empowerment and small-scale irrigation are placed within a larger context of social change underlying these relationships. This shows that many women face serious constraints to participating in and benefitting from small-scale irrigation, including difficulties accessing land and water and gender norms that limit women’s ability to control farm assets. Despite these constraints, many women do benefit from participating in irrigated farming activities leading to an increase in their agency and well-being achievements. For some women, these benefits are indirect—these women allocate their time to more preferred activities when the household gains access to modern irrigation technology. The result is a new approach to understanding women’s empowerment in relation to irrigation technology. 2022-09 2024-04-12T13:37:52Z 2024-04-12T13:37:52Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141415 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133596 Open Access Springer Bryan, Elizabeth; and Garner, Elisabeth. Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation. Agriculture and Human Values 39: 905-920. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10291-1 |
| spellingShingle | gender women's empowerment technology small farming irrigation qualitative analysis women Bryan, Elizabeth Garner, Elisabeth Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation |
| title | Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation |
| title_full | Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation |
| title_fullStr | Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation |
| title_short | Understanding the pathways to women’s empowerment in Northern Ghana and the relationship with small-scale irrigation |
| title_sort | understanding the pathways to women s empowerment in northern ghana and the relationship with small scale irrigation |
| topic | gender women's empowerment technology small farming irrigation qualitative analysis women |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141415 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bryanelizabeth understandingthepathwaystowomensempowermentinnorthernghanaandtherelationshipwithsmallscaleirrigation AT garnerelisabeth understandingthepathwaystowomensempowermentinnorthernghanaandtherelationshipwithsmallscaleirrigation |