Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia

Although women’s empowerment and gender equality are associated with better maternal and child nutrition outcomes, recent systematic reviews find inconclusive evidence. This paper applies a comparable methodology to data on the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), a recent internationall...

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Autores principales: Quisumbing, Agnes R., Sproule, Kathryn, Martinez, Elena M., Malapit, Hazel J.
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143511
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author Quisumbing, Agnes R.
Sproule, Kathryn
Martinez, Elena M.
Malapit, Hazel J.
author_browse Malapit, Hazel J.
Martinez, Elena M.
Quisumbing, Agnes R.
Sproule, Kathryn
author_facet Quisumbing, Agnes R.
Sproule, Kathryn
Martinez, Elena M.
Malapit, Hazel J.
author_sort Quisumbing, Agnes R.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Although women’s empowerment and gender equality are associated with better maternal and child nutrition outcomes, recent systematic reviews find inconclusive evidence. This paper applies a comparable methodology to data on the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), a recent internationally-validated measure based on interviews of women and men within the same household, from six countries in Africa and Asia to identify which dimensions of women’s empowerment are related to household-, women-, and child-level dietary and nutrition outcomes. We examine the relationship between women’s empowerment and household-level food security and dietary diversity; women’s dietary diversity and BMI; and child-related outcomes, controlling for woman, child, and household characteristics. We also test whether women’s empowerment has differential associations for boys and girls. We do not find consistent associations between dimensions of empowerment and food security and nutrition outcomes across countries, but some patterns emerge. Overall empowerment scores are more strongly associated with nutritional outcomes in the South Asian countries in our sample compared to the African ones. Where significant, greater intrahousehold gender equality is associated with better nutritional outcomes. However, different domains have different associations with nutritional outcomes, suggesting that tradeoffs exist: higher workloads are associated with more diverse diets but lower women’s BMI and child anthropometric outcomes. Identifying the overlap between the top contributors to disempowerment and those most strongly related to nutrition outcomes can inform the design and implementation of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs.
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spelling CGSpace1435112025-12-02T21:03:24Z Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia Quisumbing, Agnes R. Sproule, Kathryn Martinez, Elena M. Malapit, Hazel J. maternal and child health gender women's empowerment child nutrition body mass index agriculture empowerment nutrition food security women Although women’s empowerment and gender equality are associated with better maternal and child nutrition outcomes, recent systematic reviews find inconclusive evidence. This paper applies a comparable methodology to data on the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), a recent internationally-validated measure based on interviews of women and men within the same household, from six countries in Africa and Asia to identify which dimensions of women’s empowerment are related to household-, women-, and child-level dietary and nutrition outcomes. We examine the relationship between women’s empowerment and household-level food security and dietary diversity; women’s dietary diversity and BMI; and child-related outcomes, controlling for woman, child, and household characteristics. We also test whether women’s empowerment has differential associations for boys and girls. We do not find consistent associations between dimensions of empowerment and food security and nutrition outcomes across countries, but some patterns emerge. Overall empowerment scores are more strongly associated with nutritional outcomes in the South Asian countries in our sample compared to the African ones. Where significant, greater intrahousehold gender equality is associated with better nutritional outcomes. However, different domains have different associations with nutritional outcomes, suggesting that tradeoffs exist: higher workloads are associated with more diverse diets but lower women’s BMI and child anthropometric outcomes. Identifying the overlap between the top contributors to disempowerment and those most strongly related to nutrition outcomes can inform the design and implementation of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs. 2020-03-01 2024-05-22T12:14:45Z 2024-05-22T12:14:45Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143511 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154140 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153642 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150563 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149529 https://doi.org/10.2499/1024320686 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.102001 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Sproule, Kathryn; Martinez, Elena M.; and Malapit, Hazel J. 2020. Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1930. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133732.
spellingShingle maternal and child health
gender
women's empowerment
child nutrition
body mass index
agriculture
empowerment
nutrition
food security
women
Quisumbing, Agnes R.
Sproule, Kathryn
Martinez, Elena M.
Malapit, Hazel J.
Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia
title Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia
title_full Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia
title_fullStr Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia
title_full_unstemmed Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia
title_short Women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia
title_sort women s empowerment in agriculture and nutritional outcomes evidence from six countries in africa and asia
topic maternal and child health
gender
women's empowerment
child nutrition
body mass index
agriculture
empowerment
nutrition
food security
women
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143511
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AT martinezelenam womensempowermentinagricultureandnutritionaloutcomesevidencefromsixcountriesinafricaandasia
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