Presentation by Laurie Starr (TANGO) and Elizabeth Kruger (CARE) at "A Learning Event for the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index," held November 21, 2013 in Washington DC.

1. Women’s Empowerment
Measurement
November 21, 2013
Laurie Starr, TANGO International
Elizabeth Kruger, CARE

2. Pathways: Women in Agriculture Program
The goal of Pathways is to increase poor women
smallholder farmers’ productivity and empowerment in
more equitable agriculture systems at scale.
2

3. 3
December 16, 2013

4. Pathways Baseline - 2012
Malawi Tanzania Ghana
Mali
Bangladesh
India
Total
# of households
surveyed
763
849
175 785
454
923
3949
# of focus groups
36
36
12
40
48
208
36
• Quantitative household surveys with both women and men
• Qualitative research
• Female, male, and mixed focus groups (200 + total)
• Participatory tools
• Seasonal calendars
• 24-hour time allocation analysis
• Decision-making matrices
• Venn diagrams
• Key informant interviews (as many as 50 per country)
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December 16, 2013

5. Rationale for using WEAI
• Need for tested measurement tool to capture
domains that are part of program design
• WEAI closely aligned with program focus, theory
of change levers, and indicators of interest
• Learning opportunity to test WEAI across multiple
countries and contexts and inform MLE systems
• But…knew it would require some adaptations for
use for Pathways program
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December 16, 2013

6. Domain
PRODUCTION
Indicator
Weight
Input in productive decisions
1/10
Sole or joint ownership of assets
1/15
Decision-making control over assets
1/15
Control over household income and expenditures
1/5
Group participation
1/20
Satisfaction with time available for leisure
1/15
(20%)
RESOURCES
(20%)
INCOME
(20%)
LEADERSHIP
&
COMMUNITY
(20%)
TIME/
AUTONOMY
(20%)
Total
100%

7. Domain
PRODUCTION
(20%)
RESOURCES
(20%)
INCOME
(20%)
LEADERSHIP
&
COMMUNITY
Indicator
Weight
Input in productive decisions
1/10
Autonomy in production domains
1/10
Sole or joint ownership of assets
1/15
Decision-making control over assets
1/15
Access to and decisions on credit
1/15
Control over household income and expenditures
1/5
Group participation
1/20
Speaking in public
1/20
Satisfaction with time available for leisure
1/15
(20%)
TIME/
AUTONOMY
(20%)
Total
100%

8. Domain
Indicator
Weight
Input in productive decisions
1/10
Autonomy in production domains
1/10
Sole or joint ownership of assets
1/15
Decision-making control over assets
1/15
Access to and decisions on credit
1/15
Control over household income and expenditures
1/5
Group participation
1/20
Speaking in public
1/20
(20%)
Self-confidence
Political participation
1/20
1/20
TIME/
Satisfaction with time available for leisure
1/15
Mobility
1/15
Attitudes that support gender equitable roles in HH
1/15
PRODUCTION
(20%)
RESOURCES
(20%)
INCOME
(20%)
LEADERSHIP
&
COMMUNITY
AUTONOMY
(20%)
Total
100%

9. Analysis with original thresholds
Extremely high rates of baseline achievement
> 80% of women considered to be empowered
> 90% achievement for individual indicators
What does this mean for project focus?

10. Adjusting indicator thresholds- Malawi
Indicator: Sole or joint control over purchase or sale of assets
Original threshold
Woman has sole or joint
control for at least one
type of asset.*
Adjusted threshold
# of asset types* for which
women have sole or joint
control
____________________________________
# of assets types reported
by household
Must be > .75
Result – 93% achieve
Result – 62% achieve
*except if only poultry or non-mechanized equipment

11. Comparing aggregate index value
Domain
Indicator
With decision-making input for HH productive
PRODUCTION decision domains
With autonomy in HH production domains
With sole or joint ownership of household assets
With sole or joint control over purchase or sale of
household assets
With access to and decisions on credit
With control over household income and
INCOME
expenditures in HH decision-making domains
Participating in formal and informal groups
Confident speaking about gender and other
LEADERSHIP & community issues at the local level
COMMUNITY Demonstrating political participation
RESOURCES
Who express self-confidence
AUTONOMY
Satisfied with the amount of time available for
leisure activities
Achieving a mobility score of 16 or greater
Expressing attitudes that support gender
equitable roles in family life
Bangla
desh
India
5 of 5
2 of 5 1 of 5
3 of 5
1 of 5
1 of 5
1 of 5 1 of 5
1 of 5
≥ 75%
≥ 75%
≥ 75% ≥ 50% ≥ 50% ≥ 50%
≥ 75%
≥ 75%
≥ 75% ≥ 50% ≥ 50% ≥ 80%
N/A
N/A
≥ 60%
≥ 60%
N/A
N/A
N/A
3 of 4
3 of 4
3 of 4
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
5 of 7
5 of 7
5 of 7
5 of 7
--
5 of 7
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Malawi
Tanzania
Mali
5 of 5
5 of 5
1 of 5
N/A
Ghana
N/A
N/A
N/A
≥ 60% ≥ 50% ≥ 60% ≥ 70%
N/A
N/A
2 of 4 2 of 3
N/A
3 of 4

12. Results- Empowerment Index Score
Malawi
% of women achieving
empowerment
Ghana
Mali
Bangladesh
India
.66
.58
.47
.32
.29
.46
23.2*
Empowerment index score
Tanzania
13.1*
1.7*
2.2*
0.0
4.4*
763
819
173
776
454
924
(score of .80 or greater)
n
*Significantly different between male- and female-headed households within individual countries at
p < .05/ India (p < .10)
Empowerment index score = aggregate value of the weighted
average of the 13 indicators

13. Field and Analysis Lessons
Length of survey –
Separate measurement activities?
Field teams – if budget allows, follow IFPRI guidance!
Female/male enumerators & concurrent administration of survey
Measuring joint decision-making –
Response codes for “input to productive decisions” may offer
more precise measurement
Standardizing empowerment

14. Highlighting Country Experience and Expertise
Dr. Pranati Mohanraj, CARE India, presents on measuring women’s empowerment for
Pathways at the American Evaluation Association Conference October 17, 2013.

15. Reflections and Challenges - India
• Seemingly high achievement of empowerment with index
• In reality, it’s not that high and more nuanced
• Gendered rules and norms taken for granted
• Women have no or very little leisure “personal” time (<1 hour), in
spite of this“90% of women were satisfied with leisure time
• Women’s internalization of social status of persons of
lesser value - questions came as a surprise to women:
• Have you ever met with an agricultural extension worker?
• Who makes decisions on crops that are grown/household
expenditures? Taking out loans?
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16. Implications for CARE
1. Multi-dimensional comparisons enable more strategic
discussions and planning
2. Data are making gender issues real for staff/partners
3. Contribute to CARE-wide discussions on WE
measurement
4. Benchmarks give a common vision
5. Inform program monitoring systems:
•
•
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December 16, 2013
Refining decision-making response options not just “jointly” or
“both”
Land access and acquisition

17. Challenges on the Road Ahead
1. Value of calculating index score remains unclear
2. Results can lead to highly unanticipated program design
and change demands
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18. Key Takeaways
• Complimentary qualitative inquiry is a must!
• Context-specific thresholds
• Benefits outweigh the loss of identical metrics across countries
• Consider critical gaps in domains and methodology
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