1. Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index
(WEAI) and household food security in Ghana
Presented at the International Food Security Dialogue 2014
“Enhancing Food Production, Gender Equity and Nutritional Security in a
Changing World.”
Presentation by: Chris Manyamba
Shery Hendriks
Sponsored By: Hosted By:

2. Objectives
• To establish
– if empowering women particularly in
agriculture will result in achieving
household food security/hunger
reduction.
(Application of the Women Empowerment
in Agriculture Index)
• Draw lessons
– to guide effective nutrition programs
among programmes interventions,
– and in strengthening the case for
channelling resources to effective
interventions.

3. Women’s empowerment and gender
Gender
Social differences that identify the
socially, culturally, politically and
economically determined relations
between women and men (UN,
2011).
Empowerment
• the ability to make decisions and
affect outcomes of importance to
themselves and their families (Sen,
1999; Malhotra, Schuler, and
Boender 2002);
• an ability to make strategic life
choices in a context where this
ability was previously denied
(Kabeer 1999).
• the process by which women take
control and ownership of their lives
through expansion of their choices
(UN, 2011; ECA, 2012).

4. Women, agriculture and food security
• Agriculture is a major driver of economic growth and well-being
(IFAD, 2007; FAO, 2011; World Bank, 2012).
• Women comprise of over 50% of the agricultural labour force in
developing countries (Maertens and Swinnen, 2009; , FAO and
IFAD, 2009; FAO, 2012; UN, 2012; World Bank, 2012).
– In sub-Saharan Africa -highest average agricultural labour force
participation in the world,
– an estimated 62.5%, compared with 36.4% globally (ILO, 2012).

5. • They are marginalised both in agricultural and non-agricultural
activities (Singh, 2003 ;Quimbisung, 2003; Allendorf, 2007; 2007;
FAO, 2011; FAO and IFAD; 2009; Fletschner, 2009; Peterman, et al.,
2009; World Bank, 2012).
• If women had equitable access to productive resources,
– they could increase farm yields by 20–30 per cent
– agricultural output in developing countries could be raised by
2.5–4 %,
– the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by
12–17% (FAO, 2011; UN, 2012)

6. ……… empowering women in agriculture is important
in achieving food security.
There is evidence
For example,
• Schultz 2001;
• Quimbisung, 2003 ;
• Meinzen-Dick and Quisimbing
2010;
• FAO, 2011;
• Alkire et al, 2012;
• World Bank, 2012
.
Limited evidence
For example,
• Meinzen-Dick et al, 2011;
• Doepke and Tertilt, 2011;
• Kabeer, 2012;
• van den Bold et al, 2013.

7. Women’s empowerment has been measured at
national level, using proxies………
• African Gender Development Index-AGDI (Economic Commission for
Africa, 2012);
• the Gender Gap Index-GGI (Hausmann et al., 2011);
• the Social Institutions and Gender Index-SIGI (Overseas Economic
Cooperation Development, 2012);
• Gender Parity Index-GPI (UN, 2013);
• Gender Empowerment Measure-GEM (UN, 2008)
• Innovation of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI)
(Alkire et al., 2012).

8. Time Use
Leadership
Production
Income & Expenditure
Resources
……developed by USAID, IFPRI, and the Oxford Poverty and
Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

9. Domains Indicators and weights
Production
Input in productive decisions [1/10]
Autonomy in production [1/10]
Resources)
Ownership of assets [1/15]
Purchase, sale, or transfer of assets [1/15]
Access to and decisions on credit [1/15]
Income Control over use of income [1/5]
Leadership
Speaking in public [1/10]
Group membership [1/10]
Time
Workload [1/10]
Leisure
WEAI-Indicators
see www.ifpri.org

10. CAADP Framework for African
Food Security
Women’s Empowerment in
Agriculture Index
WEAI
Leadership: Group
membership.
Speaking in public
Time: Workload, leisure
Availability
Resilience
Diet quality
Access
Economic
Environment
Macroeconomic
level
Lending Institutions
5 Domains of Women’s Empowerment in
Agriculture
Improved
agricultural
productivit
y and
Increased
incomes
Socio Cultural
Environment
Policies and
programs
Sustainable
Livelihoods
Improved
Nutrition
and Health
Status
Capacity
and
productivity
Income: Control over use of
income and expenditure
Production: Autonomy in
production (access to land,
water, fertilizer, & seed)
Resources: asset
ownership, purchase, sale, or
transfer of assets, access to
and decisions to credit
Household Food Security
The WEAI-Food security conceptual frameworkv

11. • …….women make over 51% of
agricultural labour force in Ghana
(Ghana Living Standards Survey,
2008)
• Promoting sustainable food security
is a prominent objective in Ghana’s
own national development agenda
(Republic of Ghana, 2010; USAID,
2012).
• Ghana is self-sufficient in the
production of the staple roots, tubers,
plantain and cereals(Republic of
Ghana, 2012).
• One third of children nationwide
are stunted;
• with 10 percent being severely
stunted;
• and 78 percent are anaemic
(Ghana Demographic and
Health Survey, 2008).
• Nationally, 5 percent of
Ghana’s population is
considered food insecure,
(USAID|Ghana, 2012)
Sample area -facts and figures

12. Sample and data
• Study conducted in 2012 in Ghana Feed the Future Zone of
Influence
• A two-stage probability sampling approach was used in
drawing the survey sample.
– the selection of enumeration areas (EAs) using the probability
proportional to size (PPS) method.
– a systematic sampling approach to select households in each sampled
EA.
• WEAI relies on information collected from both primary male
and female adults in the household.
• The final dataset is representative (N=4398), quantitative, in
STATA software

13. Model specification
• Multinomial regression written as:
Pr. Y= exp. (α+ β₁X₁+ β₂X₂+……………… β₅X₅)
1+exp (exp. (α+ β₁X₁+ β₂X₂+………..β₅X₅)
– where X₁ - X₅ are WEAI indicators of production, resources,
income, leadership and time.
and,
– Pr.y =the probability of the outcome of food security measure
(categorical)
– β is the regression coefficient
– α is the Y intercept

14. Respondents' profile
Respondents characteristics
N=784 N=3614
Female Male
Gender 17.82 82.18
Age group ≤35 years 35.62 37.22
Above 35 years 64.38 62.78
Mean 38.8 44.5
Literacy No education 21.6 (22.6*) 21.8 (11.3*)
Marital status Living together 55.16 86.03
Divorced or married 9.43 2.18
Widowed 28.28 3.23
Single or never
married
7.13 8.56
Household size 5.6 5.6

15. Household Hunger Scale Female Male
Freq. Percent Freq. Percent
Food secure Little to no hunger 470 59.95 2254 62.37
Food insecure
Moderate hunger 305 38.9 1635 36.8
Severe hunger 9 1.15 39 0.83
Total 784 100 3614 100
Food insecurity......over 1 in 3 households
reported being food insecure

16. The indicators...........results indicate
inadequacyThe Women Empowerment Index Females
Dimension Indicators Adequate Inadequate 5DE
Production Autonomy in production: has least autonomy on one
production activity
20.45 79.55 17.2
Input in productive decisions regarding food crops 5.85 94.15
Input in productive decisions regarding cash crop 5.31 94.69
Has some input in decisions or feels can make decisions
in at least two domains in production
7.51 92.49
Resources Jointly has at least one right in at least one household
asset
62.83 37.17 36.0
Jointly has at least one right in at least one agricultural
asset
52.1 49.9
Access to and decisions on credit: jointly makes at least
one decision regarding
73.15 26.85
Has some input and decisions on major income and
expenditure
32.18 67.82
Leadership Speaking in public 23.49 76.51 17.7
Group Membership 24.92 75.08
Time satisfaction Leisure time 14.48 85.52 15.6
Satisfaction with time (inadequate) 27.72 72.28

17. Ghana WEAI, Feed the Future Zone of Influence (ZOI)
Women Men
Disempowered Headcount (H) 72.1% 23.8%
Empowered Headcount (1-H) 27.9% 76.2%
5DE Index (1-M0) 0.705 0.925
N 2160 2350
Gender Parity Index 0.807
WEAI (0.9 x 5DE + 0.1 x GPI) 0.716

18. Multivariate analysis
Females (n=784)
Base outcome=household food insecurity RRR P>z Std. error
Production Autonomy in production (inadequate) 0.48 0.002 0.11
Input in productive decisions (inadequate) 0.92 0.819 0.33
Resources Joint ownership (inadequate) 0.42 *0.003 0.09
Access to decisions on credit (inadequate) 0.61 *0.027 0.14
Leadership Public speaking (inadequate) 0.74 0.224 0.34
Group Membership (inadequate) 0.69 **0.101 0.23
Time satisfaction Leisure (inadequate) 1.84 *0.097 0.18
Satisfaction with time (inadequate) 2.00 *0.020 0.16
Demographics Household size (>5) 0.72 *0.097 0.67
Household head age group (35 and
above)
0.58 *0.008 0.60
Region (northern) 1.78 *0.004 0.14
Marital status (married) 1.38 **0.108 0.12
Marital status (single or never married) 0.57 0.978
Ever been to school (yes) 1.48 0.122 0.12

19. Conclusion: Overall women in Ghana reported inadequacy
(disempowerment) in all (8) indicators measured…….
• Autonomy in production,
• joint asset ownership
• and decision making on credit are statistical
significant predictors of food security.
• They have potential to reduce food insecurity.
Time use and allocation -statistically significant; twice less potential to
reduce food security.
• Group membership and leisure are time less
impact compared to the other indicators while;
• Public speaking and input in decsions pertaning
to production are not statistically significant

20. Key messeges............
• Autonomyin production, joint asset ownership and decision
making, and joint decisions on credit =areas of priority
intervention.
• The study also recommends WEAI as a tool for
Researchers to measure food security and nutrition.
For more on the WEAI visit http://www.ifpri.org/book-
9075/ourwork/program/weai-resource-center

21. Thank you
Christopher Manyamba
WEAI PhD Research Fellow
Christopher.Manyamba@up.ac.za