Impact of a homestead food production program on women's empowerment: Pro-WEAI results from the FAARM trial in Bangladesh

Abstract

Nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs have the potential to improve women's and children's nutrition, along with women's empowerment. The project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) aims to standardize the measurement of women's agency and enable the assessment of impact over typical project timelines. Within the Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM) cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Habiganj, Sylhet, Bangladesh, we examined quantitative pro-WEAI data collected from a subsample of trial participants and their husbands (n = 885) approximately four months after the end of the intervention. We evaluated the impact of a three-year homestead food production program on men's and women's agency separately by pro-WEAI domain and indicator, using multilevel logistic and linear regression. We show that women in the FAARM intervention group had levels of agency similar to men and much higher than women in the control group (Odds Ratio [OR] 7.7, p < 0.001), corresponding to better gender equity in intervention areas (OR 3.5, p < 0.001). The higher levels of agency among intervention women were driven by greater intrinsic and collective agency but not by instrumental agency. Compared to controls, more women in the intervention group found intimate partner violence unacceptable (OR 3.5, p < 0.001), had greater ownership of assets (OR 2.6, p = 0.001), better control of income (OR 1.8, p = 0.042), higher levels of group membership (OR 14.0, p < 0.001), and membership in groups they considered influential (OR 166.8, p < 0.001). Self-efficacy was greater in intervention areas for both women (OR 3.2, p < 0.001) and men (OR 2.3, p = 0.002). Our results contribute to the development of benchmarks for interpreting pro-WEAI scores across programs. Our assessment of the impact of a homestead food production program on women's agency provides additional rationale for women-led agricultural projects. We plan to build on these findings by examining the role of improved women's agency on the pathway from the intervention to nutritional impacts.

Keywords: 3DE, Three domains of empowerment; Agency; Agriculture; DHS, Demographic and Health Survey; FAARM, Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition; GAAP2, Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project–Phase 2; GPI, Gender Parity Index; Gender equity; Homestead food production; IFPRI, International Food Policy Research Institute; ODK, Open Data Kit; OR, Odds Ratio; RCT, Randomized controlled trial; SDG, Sustainable Development Goal; Self-efficacy; WEAI, Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index; Women’s groups; pro-WEAI, project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index.

Fig. 1

Density plot of the number of indicators for which empowerment was attained, by sex and FAARM intervention group. The proportion of respondents, by sex and intervention, who achieved empowerment on the number of indicators displayed on the x-axis. Blue is for men and red for women, while the dashed lines are for control group and the solid lines for the intervention group. The vertical green line corresponds to the 0.75 empowerment cutoff on the 3DE scale. The area under the curve to the right of this line corresponds to the proportion of respondents defined as empowered in agency by the pro-WEAI. The FAARM trial was undertaken Habiganj District, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. n = 885. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 2

The indicator- and domain-wise contributions to disempowerment in agency, by sex and FAARM intervention group. For men and women who were disempowered, the figure depicts the absolute contribution of each indicator to disempowerment in agency for men and women. Each bar's depth shows the total disempowerment (1- 3DE), and different colors within show the absolute contribution of each indicator to disempowerment in agency. Indicators are color-coded by domain with shades of green for intrinsic agency, orange for instrumental agency, and purple for collective agency. The FAARM trial was undertaken in Habiganj District, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 3

Empowerment on each 3DE indicator, by sex and FAARM intervention group. The proportion of respondents, by sex and intervention group, categorized as empowered on each indicator. Blue is for men and red for women, while the hatched bars are for the control group and the solid bars for the intervention group. The FAARM trial was undertaken in Habiganj District, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. n = 885. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)