Dataset Information

The relationship between women's empowerment and household food and nutrition security in Pakistan.

ABSTRACT: Women's empowerment is considered to play a crucial role in food and nutrition security. We aimed to explore the relationship between women's empowerment and food and nutrition security, in rural Pakistan.

Methods

To estimate women's empowerment, we developed a Rural Women Composite Empowerment Index incorporating nine domains. For indicators of food and nutritional data we used data of 1879 rural households from Pakistan Rural Household Panel Survey (PRHPS). Food insecurity was measured through a caloric intake approach; nutrition insecurity was measured through recommended nutrient intake (RNI). Using the Rural Women's Composite Empowerment Index (RWCEI), we employed multi-level mixed-effect regression analysis.

Results

The domains of traveling safely (21%), time allocated to tasks (20%), and (lack of) domestic violence (19%) were the most significant domains in defining empowerment of rural woman. The prevalence of food and nutrition insecurity were 33% and 50% respectively. Regression analysis found a positive and significant relationship between women's empowerment and food and nutrition security-the proportion of household who were food and nutritionally secure in empowered households was 70% and 98% respectively.

Conclusions

Developing programmes and policies to improve the range of domains of women's empowerment requires a focussed policy agenda, bringing together policy makers from a number of different sectors including education, economy, communications, technology and agriculture. Women's empowerment has the potential to make positive changes not only in food and nutrition security, but in all aspects of family health and wellbeing.

SUBMITTER: Ishfaq S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9584378 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The relationship between women's empowerment and household food and nutrition security in Pakistan.

Ishfaq Sidra S Anjum Abedullah A Kouser Shahzad S Nightingale Glenna G Jepson Ruth R

PloS one 20221020 10

Women's empowerment is considered to play a crucial role in food and nutrition security. We aimed to explore the relationship between women's empowerment and food and nutrition security, in rural Pakistan.<h4>Methods</h4>To estimate women's empowerment, we developed a Rural Women Composite Empowerment Index incorporating nine domains. For indicators of food and nutritional data we used data of 1879 rural households from Pakistan Rural Household Panel Survey (PRHPS). Food insecurity was measured ...[more]

PMID: 36264856

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Project description:Abstract Objectives Reducing the gender gap in empowerment within households is associated with indicators of improved diet. This study developed a household-level empowerment measure and then examined its association with food security. Methods This analysis used baseline data from a nutrition-sensitive agriculture intervention in rural Ghana (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03869853). Only 198 of the 330 households with complete paired empowerment data for one female and one male were included. The household empowerment measure was constructed in two stages. First, the individual empowerment score was assessed using the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) with its 12 indicators (e.g., influential group membership, access to financial services). Participants were classified as empowered (≥75%, 9 out of 12 indicators) or disempowered (<75%). Then, the household was categorized as empowered (both members empowered; 50.5%), semi-empowered (only one member empowered; 34.9%) or disempowered (both members not empowered; 14.6%). Two of the pro-WEAI indicators were assessed also at the household level using the same technique. Food security was assessed with the 15-item Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale; a binary variable was created: food secure (0), food insecure (FIS; >0). Cluster-adjusted logistic regression models examined the relationship between FIS and household empowerment. Results Over half (58%) of households were FIS. Empowered compared to disempowered households had a lower odds of being FIS (aOR = 0.50, 95% CI [0.29, 0.86]). The model for influential group membership showed that empowered were less likely than disempowered households to be FIS (aOR = 0.27, 95% CI [0.13, 0.58]) while the model for access to financial services showed the opposite (aOR = 3.15, 95% CI [1.80, 5.51]). Conclusions These results highlight the complexity of empowerment measures and support empowerment approaches that target different members of the household. Funding Sources The Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships (QES) is managed through a unique partnership of Universities Canada, RHF, CFC, and Canadian universities. The QES-AS is made possible with financial support from IDRC and SSHRC.

Project description:Women's empowerment is associated with improved child nutrition, and both underpin the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We examined pathways by which women's empowerment influences child nutritional status. We pooled nationally representative data from Demographic and Health Surveys (2011-2016) collected from married women with children aged 6-24 months in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda (n = 13,780). We operationalized child nutritional status using anemia, height-for-age z-score (HAZ), and weight-for-age z-score (WHZ). We operationalized women's empowerment using a validated measure comprised of three latent domains: social/human assets ("assets"), intrinsic agency (attitudes about intimate partner violence), and instrumental agency (influence in household decision making). We used structural equation models with latent constructs to estimate hypothesized pathways from women's empowerment to child nutritional status with further mediation by maternal body mass index (BMI) and stratification by wealth. Women's empowerment domains were directly and positively associated with maternal BMI (estimate±SE: assets, 0.17 ± 0.03; intrinsic agency, 0.23 ± 0.03; instrumental agency, 0.03 ± 0.01). Maternal BMI was directly and positively associated with child HAZ (0.08 ± 0.04) and child WHZ (0.35 ± 0.03). Assets were indirectly associated with child HAZ and WHZ through intrinsic agency and maternal BMI. In the lowest wealth category, the direct effects from women's empowerment to child nutritional status were significant (assets and instrumental agency were associated with anemia; intrinsic agency associated with HAZ). In the highest wealth category, direct effects from women's empowerment on child nutritional status were significant (intrinsic and instrumental agency associated with WHZ). Improving women's empowerment, especially intrinsic agency, in East Africa could improve child nutrition directly and via improved maternal nutrition. These findings suggest that efforts to realize SDG 5 may have spillover effects on other SDGs. However, strategies to improve nutrition through empowerment approaches may need to also address household resource constraints.

Project description:Food security is a multi-dimensional concept that requires multiple indicators to measure it correctly; however, single food security indicators are often used individually or interchangeably. The misinterpretation of individual food security indicators can have important implications for policy design and implementation. The general objective of this paper is to show the discrepancies that may arise when using two different food security indicators that operate in the same dimension of the food security concept and yield the same outcome (food security status of the household) in three of the scenarios that they might be used: (1) for measuring the prevalence of food insecurity, (2) for understanding its drivers, and (3) for estimating the potential impact of a policy. The specific objectives of this paper are (1) to measure and compare the prevalence of food insecurity in a country using the Latin America Food Security Scale (ELCSA, by its acronym in Spanish) and the household undernourishment indicator, (2) to compare the factors associated with households' food security status using the two indicators, and (3) to assess the potential use of the two indicators for ex ante policy analysis. Data for the study comes from the 2011 Survey of Living Standards from Guatemala, which collected all the data for estimating the ELCSA and the household level data required for calculating the household undernourishment indicator. Our results indicate considerable differences in the estimated prevalence of food insecurity at the national and regional levels using the two alternative indicators, with ELCSA resulting in higher estimates. Logistic regression models estimated to assess and identify household food insecurity drivers also found large differences in both the direction and magnitude of factors affecting food insecurity using the alternative food security indicators. Finally, the magnitude of the simulated impact of a cash transfer policy varied depending on the food indicator used.

Project description:BackgroundWomen in rural Bangladesh face multiple, inter-related challenges including food insecurity, malnutrition, and low levels of empowerment. We aimed to investigate the pathway towards empowerment experienced by women participating in a three-year nutrition-sensitive homestead food production (HFP) program, which was evaluated through the Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM) cluster-randomized controlled trial.MethodsWe conducted 44 in-depth interviews and 12 focus group discussions with men and women in both intervention and control communities of the FAARM study site in rural, north-eastern Bangladesh. Using a modified grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis, we developed a framework to explain the pathway towards empowerment among HFP program participants.ResultsThe analysis and resulting framework identified seven steps towards empowerment: 1) receiving training and materials; 2) establishing home gardens and rearing poultry; 3) experiencing initial success with food production; 4) generating social or financial resources; 5) expanding agency in household decision-making; 6) producing renewable resources (e.g. farm produce) and social resources; and 7) sustaining empowerment. The most meaningful improvements in empowerment occurred among participants who were able to produce food beyond what was needed for household consumption and were able to successfully leverage these surplus resources to gain higher bargaining power in their household. Additionally, women used negotiation skills with their husbands, fostered social support networks with other women, and developed increased self-efficacy and motivation. Meanwhile, the least empowered participants lacked support in critical areas, such as support from their spouses, social support networks, or sufficient space or time to produce enough food to meaningfully increase their contribution and therefore bargaining power within their household.ConclusionsThis study developed a novel framework to describe a pathway to empowerment among female participants in an HFP intervention, as implemented in the FAARM trial. These results have implications for the design of future nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions, which should prioritize opportunities to increase empowerment and mitigate the barriers identified in our study.Trial registrationFAARM is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02505711 ).

Dataset Information

The relationship between women's empowerment and household food and nutrition security in Pakistan.

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The relationship between women's empowerment and household food and nutrition security in Pakistan.

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