Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2018 in Ghent "Global food security and food safety: The role of universities"

Measuring Women's Empowerment in Nutrition-Sensitive Agricultural Development Projects

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), United States of America

Abstract

Many agricultural development projects aim to empower women to improve nutrition, income, or other outcomes. But how do we know which interventions are most effective? The project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) is a new survey-based index for measuring women's empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector. Pro-WEAI is a set of quantitative and qualitative tools that help agricultural development projects assess women's empowerment in a project setting, diagnose areas of women's disempowerment, design strategies to address deficiencies, and monitor project outcomes. Pro-WEAI is being piloted in 13 agricultural development projects in eight countries in Africa and South Asia, including six projects that have piloted pro-WEAI's nutrition- and health-focused add-on modules. This presentation will introduce pro-WEAI and highlight two nutrition-focused projects in Bangladesh and Burkina Faso that are piloting the tool.

Keywords: Nutrition focused projects, women empowerment

Contact Address: Elena Martinez, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), 1201 Eye Street, NW, 20005 Washington , United States of America, e-mail: e.martinezcgiar.org