Tapping Irrigation’s Potential for Women’s Empowerment: Findings from Ethiopia and Tanzania
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The document discusses the relationship between irrigation and women's empowerment in agriculture in Ethiopia and Tanzania, focusing on five pathways: production, income, water supply, health risks, and empowerment. It highlights findings from a study using the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) to assess impacts on maternal and child nutrition, health, and decision-making. Conclusions indicate that while irrigation can improve agricultural production and potentially benefit women's empowerment, the outcomes vary based on contextual factors and require ongoing investigation.
Tapping Irrigation’s Potential for Women’s Empowerment: Findings from Ethiopia and Tanzania
- 1. Photo Credit Goes Here Photo credit: 2006 Freweni Gebre Mariam/IFPRI Simone Passarelli, International Food Policy Research Institute December 4th, 2015, Dupont Summit, Washington, D.C. Tapping Irrigation’s Potential for Women’s Empowerment: Findings from Ethiopia and Tanzania
- 3. PRESENTATION • Gender-irrigation pathways • Discussion of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) used for this study • Findings from Ethiopia • Findings from Tanzania • Conclusions and next steps
- 4. GENDER-IRRIGATION LINKAGES • There are five main pathways by which we hypothesize gender and irrigation are linked: – Production: Improved maternal and child nutrition through increased diversity and quantity foods – Income: Improved maternal and child nutrition and/or increased household incomes – Water Supply: Improved environmental conditions for better maternal and child health outcomes; reduced time spent collecting water – Empowerment: Improved income generation and decision- making power for women – Health Risks: Reduced health and/or nutritional status through waterborne diseases, pollution/contamination of water sources and environmental conditions See Domenech, 2015 paper in Global Food Security Photo Source: IWMI Flikr
- 5. Potential Pathways through which Irrigation Influences Nutrition and Health Outcomes and Women’s Empowerment Source: Domenech 2015
- 6. 2005-6 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Height-for-Age Z-Scores of children under 3 in India NFHS Data Lokshin and Radyakin 2012 Issue of Seasonality and Climate Change: Potential for irrigation to address these challenges 0.2 is the median impact of complementary feeding interventions
- 7. Irrigated Agricultural Production and Gender • Improvements in production through irrigation may have positive impacts on women through improved health status of themselves and their children • Impact of irrigation on production outcomes depends on who adopts and for what purpose – Gender differences in crop choices: men may plant cash crops while women may focus on homestead gardens/consumption crops – Cash crops have potential nutrition linkages through income effect – Direct potential for irrigated homestead garden production to improve nutrition outcomes (Olney et al. 2009; Iannotti et al. 2009) The role of gender is highly contextual Photo Source: IWMI, Ethiopia
- 8. Improved Water Supply and Gender • Irrigation water may be used for other purposes such as drinking, washing, bathing or other productive purposes (e.g. livestock watering, aquaculture) • Multiple uses of irrigation water may be unplanned or by design (van Koppen et al. 2009) • Greater water for domestic purposes as a result of irrigation resulted in lower diarrhea and stunting in Pakistan (Van der Hoel et al. 2002) • Time savings from water collection; women can spend up to 3 hours per day on water collection depending on context (James 2002) • Water, sanitation and hygiene may play a significant role in chronic undernutrition (Humphrey 2009) *The extent to which women are involved in the design of irrigation systems may encourage more multiple uses of irrigation water
- 9. Health Risks Pathway • Increased risk of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue – Microdam construction in Ethiopia led to more malaria (Ghebreyesus et al. 1999; Ersado 2005) – Ijumba and Lindsay (2001) find irrigation does not increase malaria, except in areas of unstable transmission – Relationship depends on many factors: socioeconomic status, vector control programs, presence of cattle • Negative health outcomes from increased pollution (especially pesticides) – Clarke et al. 1997 found greater symptoms of headache, blurred vision, nausea/vomiting among irrigation workers in Ghana *Any gender-differentiated outcomes depend on gender distribution of labor
- 10. ABOUT THE ILSSI PROJECT • The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small- Scale Irrigation, a project of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future Initiative, is a five- year project in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania aimed at benefiting the region’s farmers by improving effective use of scarce water supplies through interventions in small-scale irrigation • Activities include field interventions with water management technologies, capacity building, research on irrigation-nutrition-gender linkages, and provision of data and analysis of empirical models of irrigation impacts (IDSS)
- 11. THE ILSSI SURVEY • IFPRI’s activities include collection of survey data in all three countries, as well as analysis of irrigation linkages with gender, nutrition and health • IFPRI is conducting household surveys in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana at the baseline and endline of the ILSSI project • Topics of the survey include: – Crop & livestock inputs, production and practices – Household and women’s dietary diversity – Child health, diet, feeding and anthropometry – Household shocks, assets, credit – Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI)
- 12. THE WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN AGRICULTURE INDEX • The WEAI measures the empowerment, agency and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector using the 5 domains of empowerment (5DE) to the right and the Gender Parity Index • Both of these scores are weighted and aggregated to create the WEAI • WEAI is on a scale from zero to one, with higher values = greater empowerment
- 13. Initial WEAI Results from Ethiopia and Tanzania WEAI Irrigators Gender Parity Index Non- irrigators Gender Parity Index Contributors to disempowerment Ethiopia 0.82 .9 0.85 .91 • Group membership • Leisure time • Speaking in public • Credit access • Control over use of income Tanzania 0.88 .96 0.86 .92 • Group membership • Credit access • Leisure time • Speaking in public • Autonomy in production
- 14. HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION Ethiopia Tanzania Non- irrigators n=185 Irrigators n=284 p-value of two-sided ttest Non- irrigators n=224 Irrigators n=227 p-value of two-sided ttest Mean Mean Mean Mean Household food insecurity access scale 5.78 4.04 0.000 3.92 2.58 0.0004 Female dietary diversity score 3.69 3.58 0.293 3.71 4.20 0.0010 Household dietary diversity 5.69 6.06 0.002 4.88 5.63 0.0002
- 15. IRRIGATION, GENDER AND DECISIONMAKING IN ETHIOPIA Major decision maker on plot Is the plot irrigated? Yes No Husband 27% 32% Wife 6% 5% Joint Husband and Wife 60% 48% Wife and adult children 2% 2% Husband and brothers 1% 1% Husband and tenant 3% 10% Total 98% 98% Total irrigated plots in sample = 23%
- 16. CROP CHOICE AND DECISION MAKING IN ETHIOPIA Plot Decision-Making for Irrigators Plot Decision-Making for Non-Irrigators Starch Pulse Veget. Fruit Cash crop, ined. Total Starch Pulse Veget. Fruit Cash crop, ined. Total Husband 28% 29% 37% 26% 23% 240 Husband 31% 33% 31% 39% 33% 910 Wife 5% 6% 5% 4% 8% 58 Wife 5% 4% 2% 1% 6% 144 Joint Husband and Wife 59% 59% 51% 68% 62% 538 Joint Husband and Wife 45% 46% 63% 55% 53% 1413 Adult children 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1 Adult children 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 8 Husband and parent 1% 0% 0% 0% 2% 11 Husband and parent 2% 3% 1% 2% 2% 54 Husband and tenant 5% 6% 4% 0% 2% 24 Husband and tenant 14% 11% 1% 0% 2% 289 Total 100% 100% 98% 98% 97% 872 Total 96% 97% 99% 97% 97% 2818
- 17. DECISIONMAKING ON IRRIGATION IN ETHIOPIA Women’s Responses: Ethiopia How much input did you have in making decisions about… How much input did you have in decisions on the use of income generated from… Irrigated food crop farming Irrigated cash crop farming Irrigated food crop farming Irrigated cash crop farming No Input 0% 2% 0% 1% Input into very few decisions 14% 15% 13% 16% Input into some decisions 52% 53% 51% 53% Input into most decisions 23% 16% 23% 15% Input into all decisions 11% 15% 13% 15% Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
- 18. DECISIONMAKING ON IRRIGATION IN TANZANIA Women’s Responses: Tanzania How much input did you have in making decisions about… How much input did you have in decisions on the use of income generated from… Irrigated food crop farming Irrigated cash crop farming Irrigated food crop farming Irrigated cash crop farming No input 0% 0% 1% 0% Input into very few decisions 9% 11% 11% 14% Input into some decisions 23% 31% 26% 30% Input into most decisions 30% 24% 29% 23% Input into all decisions 37% 34% 34% 34% Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
- 19. CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS • Irrigation and gender seem to indeed be linked: however, whether this relationship is beneficial or not remains inconclusive • The ILSSI survey has provided a baseline that will allow us to monitor these relationships over time (especially in Ghana) • The relationship between irrigation and gender likely depends on a multitude of factors, such as crop type, household structure, local extension system biases, and existing intra-household decisionmaking structures that are difficult to tease out with our sample size
- 20. NEXT STEPS • Look at the different domains of the WEAI to observe their relationship with irrigation • Continue crop level analysis, to see whether empowerment has a relationship with crop choice (fruits, vegetables, cash crops, cereals etc.) • We are currently preparing a paper on the relationship between irrigation and maternal and child nutrition • We plan to investigate these linkages further and welcome your feedback and suggestions for research directions
- 21. THANK YOU!
- 22. IRRIGATION AND CROP CHOICE Is the plot irrigated? Yes No Starch 8% 58% Pulse 2% 9% Vegetable 24% 3% Fruit 14% 6% Cashcrop, inedible 52% 15% Fallow/cover 1% 6% Oilcrop 0% 2% Total 100% 100%
- 23. Production Pathway • Higher yields due to use with improved varieties & complementary inputs (e.g. Burney et al 2010: microirrigation yield gains, Benin) • Growing in the lean season (e.g. Aseyehen et al 2012: crops planted 2-3 times compared to rainfed production in Ethiopia) • Some evidence that greater production/more crop diversity as a result of irrigation leads to greater intake or improved diets: – Consumption of more vegetables among irrigating HH in the Sudano-Sahel led to less food insecurity (Burney et al. 2010) – HH in Mali with irrigation had greater calorie intake (Dillon 2008) – Greater crop diversity? (Namara et al. 2005, India) – No difference? (Namara et al. 2011, Ghana) – More monocropping? (Hossain et al. 2005, Bangladesh) – Production diversity does not always led to dietary diversity (Sibhatu et al. 2015) – More production of vegetables and fruits (Fraiture and Giordano 2014) and cash crops (Burney et al 2013; Nkonya et al 2011) Irrigation may increase agricultural production, and potentially nutritional outcomes for women and children
- 24. Potential increase in gross revenue per hectare from small-scale irrigation Source: IFPRI (2010)
- 25. Irrigation can impact millions in Africa SSA: motor pumps • 185 million potential rural beneficiaries • Net revenues up to US$22 billion/yr Tanzania: motor pumps could benefit 2-4 million people (8-12% of rural households) Crop Low-input, rainfed yield (t/ha) High input, irrigated yield increase (%) Maize 1.0 141-195 Paddy 0.9 270-283 Groundnuts 0.7 238-251 SSA: Potential yield improvements from AWM investments Source: http://awm-solutions.iwmi.org
- 26. Income Pathway • Irrigation as a source of income through market sales of surplus – Food expenditures higher among irrigating HH in South Africa (Sinyolo et al. 2014) – Greater health spending (e.g. malaria treatment and prevention) – Market access/infrastructure is key (Chazovachiii 2012—lack of market access limits income generation potential of irrigation, Zimbabwe) • Employment generation due to increased productivity and expanded production calendar • Again, gender is key—who controls the income from sale of crops and from ag employment will influence health and nutrition outcomes
- 27. Potential Pathways through which Irrigation Influences Nutrition and Health Outcomes and Women’s Empowerment Production pathway* Income pathway* Water supply pathway* Health risks pathway* Women’s empowerment pathway* *Gender plays a key role in all pathways Source: Domenech 2015
Editor's Notes
- #2: To insert your implementing partner institutional logo, go to View >> Slide Master, and replace the gray box with your logo, placing it to the right of the USAID logo at the bottom. No text or partner logos can be placed within the upper blue banner.
- #3: Please include this slide in your presentation in the appropriate location. Notes: Feed the Future connects U.S. Government efforts targeted at global hunger and food security. Led by USAID, Feed the Future draws on the resources and expertise of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, State and Treasury; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the United States African Development Foundation; the Peace Corps; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation; the Office of the United States Trade Representative; and the U.S. Geological Survey.
- #4: Hypothesized pathways by which gender and irrigation are linked Discuss the WEAI Present some of our findings from Ethiopia and Tanzania I will offer some conclusions and next steps
- #5: These are some of the hypothesized pathways we believe link irrigation and gender. Some of these are more directly related to empowerment (and can be investigated through the WEAI), while others are related to gender and inclusive growth, such as nutrition, though we measure them through other indicators such as women and children’s dietary diversity. [List and discuss] However, not all of these pathways can be achieved automatically by adopting irrigation. For example, we often see irrigation associated with higher value crops, which can become a man’s domain. Therefore, to achieve inclusive growth and maximize benefits of irrigation, it is important to include and target women throughout the process of irrigation development.
- #6: This framework is adapted from a piece out of the Lancet series explaining the causes of undernutrition. Our research examines the relationship between nutrition, health and gender. Although today, I will be looking more into the gender aspect, it is important to note that all of these relationships are linked.
- #8: Improved maternal nutrition leads to reductions in maternal mortality; reductions in iron deficiency anemia can help a woman’s well-being and productivity; improvements in the nutritional status of children can reduce child mortality as well; multitude of benefits for a household, such as reduced child care, economic and psychosocial stress, and reproductive burden
- #9: Time savings from water collection may have positive or negative impacts on health and nutritional status, depending on the substitute
- #10: women’s roles include taking care of sick children, thus adverse effects on time use; their role is also in preventative measures outside agriculture (bednets), could likely be brought into agro-environmental prevention measures (livestock management and water management)
- #11: You can see all partners in the project listed on this slide.
- #13: The WEAI is a survey-based tool, asked of both the main male and female decisionmakers in a household used to determine inclusion of women in domains important to the agricultural sector. There are multiple domains of empowerment. Whereas previous measurements were only able to measure individual domains, the WEAI has the advantage of measuring five domains that are important in the agricultural sector. The five domains of empowerment in the agricultural sector measured in the WEAI include Production decision-making, access to productive resources, control over use of income, community leadership, and time allocation. These are measured through 10 individual indicators in the survey based tool, and weighted using the weighting scheme listed on the right. In addition to the domains, the WEAI calculated score also includes the Gender Parity Index. This component takes into account the male counterpart’s responses to the 10 indicators and calculates a how many women achieve parity with their husband, and for those who do not, how great is the gap of inadequacy.
- #15: We see a statistically significant difference in means for household food insecurity and household dietary diversity for non-irrigators and irrigators. However, the difference in female dietary diversity is not statistically significant in Ethiopia.
- #17: Very exciting finding that there is higher
- #18: To insert your implementing partner institutional logo, go to View >> Slide Master, and replace the gray box with your logo, placing it to the right of the USAID logo at the bottom. No text or partner logos can be placed within the upper blue banner.
- #19: To insert your implementing partner institutional logo, go to View >> Slide Master, and replace the gray box with your logo, placing it to the right of the USAID logo at the bottom. No text or partner logos can be placed within the upper blue banner.
- #20: To insert your implementing partner institutional logo, go to View >> Slide Master, and replace the gray box with your logo, placing it to the right of the USAID logo at the bottom. No text or partner logos can be placed within the upper blue banner.
- #27: Finally, irrigation water use—and the associated value chain—also matters. If irrigation is not used for marketable, highly profitable crops, then farmers either will not adopt or will disadopt the technology quickly.
- #28: Our work on SSI has looked at how irrigation is linked with nutrition and health, but we know that gender plays a key role in nutrition and health. So when we look at the pathways by which nutrition and health are linked with irrigation, we see the importance of gender in each of these pathways, and I will describe these on the next slide