presented by Prof. Cheryl R. Doss, University of Oxford

1. Women’s Control Over Income
Professor Cheryl R. Doss, University of Oxford
Jemimah Njuki, International Development Research Centre

2. How do we ensure that women benefit
from rural transformation?
1) Ensure that women are remunerated for their labor
2) Ensure that women control some of the money within the
household.

3. Why is women’s control over income
important?
• It benefits the women themselves; controlling income is a
source of empowerment and agency
• It benefits children and families
• It increases women’s stake in the agricultural sector and
increases their investments

4. Empirical Analysis
• Which women control income – and from which sources – using
the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index from Ghana,
Mozambique and Rwanda.
• Does it vary by source of income? Analyses control over income
from food cropping, cash cropping, livestock, nonfarm enterprises
and wage income.
• We compare those who have at least some input into decisions
about how to spend the income from these sources, with those who
have little or no input.
• Characteristics of crops and markets from review of the literature.

5. Which women are more likely to control
income?
Consistent across countries and sources of income
• Older women more likely to control income than younger
women
• More educated women
• Those with control over livestock and land
Other factors, such as access to credit and membership in
groups, varies across source of income and countries.

6. By Source of Income:
• Varies across countries
• Women have say in all or most decisions regarding income
from:
• Ghana: Wage and nonfarm enterprises
• Mozambique: food crops and nonfarm enterprises
• Rwanda: all forms of income

7. Characteristics of Crops
• Some crops and livestock seen as more appropriate for women
to control the income
• Women tend to grow crops that are grown on a smaller scale,
often around the homestead, and are less valuable
• Often, women prefer products that have smaller but more
frequent stream of income
• Women are more likely to control the income from the sale of
small livestock and poultry and livestock products

8. Characteristics of Markets
• Not necessarily the case that the person who goes to market is
the one who controls the income
• Some markets are seen as men’s spaces; women would need
to use a broker
• Women are more likely to sell in local markets or at farmgate
• Some examples where when a crop becomes commercialized,
men take over

9. What works to ensure that women control
the income?
• Interventions in value chains
• Engaging men and women and paying each for their labor
• Payment systems such as mobile banking; ensuring that women have
access to banks if needed for payment
• Interventions in commercial agriculture
• Direct contracts with women
• Joint contracts with men and women
• Ensure land rights for men and women so they can participate

10. What else works to ensure that women
control the income?
• Interventions to change household
and community gender relations
• Programs to promote cooperation
• Training spouses together
• Engagement with women and men

11. Conclusion
• For women to participate in the processes of transformation and
benefit from the changes, they must be able to participate in
productive activities, receive the income, and have some control
over how it is spent.