1. Measuring Progress Toward Empowerment
Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index: Baseline Report
Chiara Kovarik, Senior Research Assistant, IFPRI
Gender and Agriculture: A Focus on Bangladesh
June 18, 2014

2. Overview
• How the WEAI is constructed
• WEAI cross country results
• Examine major constraints to
empowerment
• Compare the WEAI and selected indicators:
– Factors that might affect empowerment
• Income
• Education
– Outcomes that might result from empowerment
• Household hunger score
• Maternal behavior
• Summary

3. How is the Index constructed?
Five domains of
empowerment
(5DE)
A direct measure of
women’s empowerment
in 5 dimensions
Gender parity
Index (GPI)
Women’s
achievement’s relative
to the primary male
in hh
Women’s
Empowerment
in Agriculture
Index
(WEAI)
WEAI is made up of two sub indices
All range from zero to one;
higher values = greater empowerment

4. 5DE, GPI, and WEAI Scores
Country Region 5DE GPI WEAI Ranking
Bangladesh Asia 0.65 0.80 0.66 Low
Cambodia Asia 0.98 0.99 0.98 High
Nepal Asia 0.79 0.89 0.80 Medium
Tajikistan Asia 0.68 0.79 0.69 Low
Haiti Latin America & Caribbean 0.83 0.94 0.85 High
Honduras Latin America & Caribbean 0.74 0.87 0.75 Medium
Kenya East Africa 0.71 0.81 0.72 Low
Rwanda East Africa 0.90 0.96 0.91 High
Uganda East Africa 0.85 0.92 0.86 High
Ghana West Africa 0.70 0.81 0.71 Low
Liberia West Africa 0.66 0.95 0.69 Low
Malawi Southern Africa 0.83 0.91 0.84 Medium
Zambia Southern Africa 0.79 0.89 0.80 Medium

5. Women’s Disempowerment scores (1-5DE)
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
DisempowermentIndex(1-5DE)
Leisure
Workload
Speaking in public
Group member
Control over use of income
Access to and decisions on credit
Purchase, sale, or transfer of assets
Ownership of assets
Autonomy in production
Input in productive decisions

6. #1 Constraint: Access to and decisions on credit
0.49
0.05
0.40
0.73
0.39
0.66
0.63
0.24
0.32
0.60
0.67
0.41
0.53
0.00
0.15
0.30
0.45
0.60
0.75
Proportionofwomennotempoweredandwho
haveinadequateachievement

7. #2 Constraint: Workload
0.26
0.04
0.39
0.13
0.27
0.25
0.42
0.21
0.32
0.34
0.36
0.33
0.52
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
Proportionofwomennotempoweredandwho
haveinadequateachievement

8. #3 Constraint: Group membership
0.58
0.03
0.55 0.56
0.35
0.33
0.27
0.14
0.17
0.26 0.27
0.21
0.23
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
Proportionofwomennotempoweredandwho
haveinadequateachievement

9. Per capita expenditure (US$)
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Ghana
Haiti
Honduras
Kenya
Liberia
Malawi
Nepal
Rwanda
Tajikistan
Uganda
Zambia
0.60
0.65
0.70
0.75
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
0.75 1.25 1.75 2.25 2.75 3.25 3.75 4.25
WEAIScore
per capita expenditure, US$

10. Education:
highest household achievement
Households with no or primary
education
Households with secondary education
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Ghana
Kenya
Malawi
Nepal
Rwanda
Zambia
0.60
0.65
0.70
0.75
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
0 10 20 30 40 50
WEAIScore
Secondary education as highest level, %
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Ghana
Kenya
Malawi
Nepal
Rwanda
Zambia
0.60
0.65
0.70
0.75
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
55 65 75 85 95
WEAIScore
None or primary education as highest level, %
Note: Correlation coefficient is significant (excluding Cambodia).

11. Households with moderate or severe hunger (%)
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Ghana
Haiti
Honduras
Kenya
Liberia
Malawi
Nepal
Rwanda
Tajikistan
Uganda
Zambia
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00
Prevalenceofhouseholdswithmoderateorsevere
hunger,%
WEAI Score

12. Maternal behavior
Minimum Acceptable Diet
Children 6-23 months receiving MAD
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Ghana
Uganda
Honduras
Kenya
HaitiNepal
Rwanda
Tajikistan
MalawiZambia
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Childrenachievingminimumacceptablediet,%
WEAI Score
Exclusive breastfeeding
Children < 6 months exclusively breastfed
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Ghana
Haiti
Honduras
Kenya
MalawiNepal
Rwanda
Tajikistan
Uganda
Zambia
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Prevalenceofexclusivebreastfeeding,%
WEAI Score

13. Summary
• Greatest constraints: Too little credit,
too much work and not enough groups!
• Comparison with men:
– On average women are 2X as
disempowered as men
– Women are almost 2X as
disempowered as men in their ability
to access and make decisions
regarding credit, and over 1.5X as
disempowered with respect to
workload and group membership
– While the magnitude of women’s
disempowerment is greater, men are
also disempowered in these domains
• Geographic patterns: Specific
constraints dominate certain regions
• WEAI and poverty, health and
nutrition outcomes:
– TheWEAI is most strongly
associated with household
educational achievement,income,
and maternal behavior (prevalence
of exclusive breastfeeding and
children receiving a minimum
acceptable diet)

14. WEAI RESOURCE CENTER
http://www.ifpri.org/book-9075/ourwork/program/weai-resource-center
Any questions? Contact:
Chiara Kovarik: c.kovarik@cgiar.org