The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is a survey-based aggregate index (reported at the country/ regional level), based on individual-level data collected by interviewing women and men within the same households.
Developed by:
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Oxford Poverty, Human Development Initiative (OPHI) USAID, Feed the Future
Measure domains:
1) Domains of women's empowerment Agricultural Production (input in productive decisions; autonomy in production) Resources (ownership of assets; purchase, sale or transfer of assets; access to and decisions about credit) Income (control over use of income) Leadership (group member; speaking in public) Time Use (workload; leisure)
2) Gender parity in empowerment within the household
2) Gender parity in empowerment within the household
Items and subscales:
10 items
2 subindices
2 subindices
Outcomes predicted:
Agricultural production
Household food security
Health and nutritional status
Household food security
Health and nutritional status
Study population(s):
Full survey piloted in female-only and dual-adult households in Bangladesh, Guatemala and Uganda.
Self-identified primary members responsible for household decision making over the age of 18 (one woman, one man per household).
Self-identified primary members responsible for household decision making over the age of 18 (one woman, one man per household).
Additional information:
Abbreviated WEAI (A-WEAI) - shorter version of original that can be used in population-based surveys (Malapit et al 2017)
Project WEAI (Pro-WEAI) - adaptation of original to measure women's empowerment within project-specific contexts (changes over the course of a project). 12 indicators organized into 3 domains: instrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with).
A-WEAI- 2014
Pro-WEAI- 2018
WEAI4VC- forthcoming
Project WEAI (Pro-WEAI) - adaptation of original to measure women's empowerment within project-specific contexts (changes over the course of a project). 12 indicators organized into 3 domains: instrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with).
A-WEAI- 2014
Pro-WEAI- 2018
WEAI4VC- forthcoming
Measure validated?:
Y
Link(s) to Validation Study and/or Measure:
Citation of original article
Get citationAlkire, S., Meinzen-Dick, R., Peterman, A., Quisumbing, A.R., Seymour, G., Vaz, Ana. (2013) The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index. OPHI Working Paper No. 58