Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa
Over the last decade, social safety nets (SSNs) have rapidly expanded in Africa, becoming a core strategy for addressing poverty, responding to shocks, increasing productivity and investing in human capital. Poverty, vulnerability and well-being have inherent gender dimensions, yet only recently has...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2019
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145990 |
| _version_ | 1855524707470671872 |
|---|---|
| author | Peterman, Amber Kumar, Neha Pereira, Audrey Gilligan, Daniel O. |
| author_browse | Gilligan, Daniel O. Kumar, Neha Pereira, Audrey Peterman, Amber |
| author_facet | Peterman, Amber Kumar, Neha Pereira, Audrey Gilligan, Daniel O. |
| author_sort | Peterman, Amber |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Over the last decade, social safety nets (SSNs) have rapidly expanded in Africa, becoming a core strategy for addressing poverty, responding to shocks, increasing productivity and investing in human capital. Poverty, vulnerability and well-being have inherent gender dimensions, yet only recently has gender equality been considered as a potential program objective. This study reviews the evidence on the impact of SSNs on women’s wellbeing in Africa, while contributing to an understanding of how SSNs affect gender equality. We first motivate and take stock of how gender shapes the design and effectiveness of SSNs in Africa. We then summarize evidence from rigorous impact evaluations of SSNs on women’s wellbeing across five key domains from 38 studies on 28 SSN programs across 17 countries. We find substantial evidence that, in many instances, SSNs decrease intimate partner violence and increase psychological wellbeing for women, as well as moderate evidence that SSNs increase dietary diversity and economic standing. We find minimal evidence that SSNs improve women’s food security and nutrition; however, few studies measure these outcomes for women. Finally, a substantial body of evidence reports on the impact of SSNs on women’s empowerment and intra-household bargaining power, however, with weak and mixed results. Our findings are generally promising, since most SSNs are not designed specifically to increase women’s wellbeing. However, the results show that household-level impacts do not automatically imply individual women benefit, and further that conclusions from global evidence reviews do not necessarily apply in Africa. There is little research that rigorously identifies the design features and impact pathways from SSNs to gender equality and women’s wellbeing, suggesting a priority for future research. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace145990 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1459902025-11-06T06:10:00Z Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa Peterman, Amber Kumar, Neha Pereira, Audrey Gilligan, Daniel O. gender gender equality empowerment nutrition literature reviews food security public services poverty social safety nets women Over the last decade, social safety nets (SSNs) have rapidly expanded in Africa, becoming a core strategy for addressing poverty, responding to shocks, increasing productivity and investing in human capital. Poverty, vulnerability and well-being have inherent gender dimensions, yet only recently has gender equality been considered as a potential program objective. This study reviews the evidence on the impact of SSNs on women’s wellbeing in Africa, while contributing to an understanding of how SSNs affect gender equality. We first motivate and take stock of how gender shapes the design and effectiveness of SSNs in Africa. We then summarize evidence from rigorous impact evaluations of SSNs on women’s wellbeing across five key domains from 38 studies on 28 SSN programs across 17 countries. We find substantial evidence that, in many instances, SSNs decrease intimate partner violence and increase psychological wellbeing for women, as well as moderate evidence that SSNs increase dietary diversity and economic standing. We find minimal evidence that SSNs improve women’s food security and nutrition; however, few studies measure these outcomes for women. Finally, a substantial body of evidence reports on the impact of SSNs on women’s empowerment and intra-household bargaining power, however, with weak and mixed results. Our findings are generally promising, since most SSNs are not designed specifically to increase women’s wellbeing. However, the results show that household-level impacts do not automatically imply individual women benefit, and further that conclusions from global evidence reviews do not necessarily apply in Africa. There is little research that rigorously identifies the design features and impact pathways from SSNs to gender equality and women’s wellbeing, suggesting a priority for future research. 2019-12-31 2024-06-21T09:05:30Z 2024-06-21T09:05:30Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145990 en https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293649 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149430 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149844 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153621 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147205 https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293793 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Peterman, Amber; Kumar, Neha; Pereira, Audrey; and Gilligan, Daniel O. 2019. Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1903. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145990 |
| spellingShingle | gender gender equality empowerment nutrition literature reviews food security public services poverty social safety nets women Peterman, Amber Kumar, Neha Pereira, Audrey Gilligan, Daniel O. Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa |
| title | Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa |
| title_full | Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa |
| title_short | Towards gender equality: A review of evidence on social safety nets in Africa |
| title_sort | towards gender equality a review of evidence on social safety nets in africa |
| topic | gender gender equality empowerment nutrition literature reviews food security public services poverty social safety nets women |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145990 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT petermanamber towardsgenderequalityareviewofevidenceonsocialsafetynetsinafrica AT kumarneha towardsgenderequalityareviewofevidenceonsocialsafetynetsinafrica AT pereiraaudrey towardsgenderequalityareviewofevidenceonsocialsafetynetsinafrica AT gilligandanielo towardsgenderequalityareviewofevidenceonsocialsafetynetsinafrica |