Measuring gender equality and women’s empowerment in nutrition-sensitive programmes

Existing approaches for measuring women’s empowerment in nutrition-sensitive programmes (such as pro-WEAI, A-WENI, etc.) require high-level research and statistical skills and resources. Those are generally not adequately available within the program implementation in low- and middle-income settings.
A simplified approach is thus needed, that can be easily integrated within the M&E system of programmes. This was the purpose of this study.
A simplified method was developed, relying on both qualitative and quantitative data, for the EU SANOI programme (Food and Nutritional Security in the Indian Ocean, implemented in four countries: Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles).
A quantitative survey comprising 42 questions was developed and tested. The data collected allowed to assess the relative importance of each question in the women empowerment score. Based on rigorous statistical tests, the number of questions could be reduced to 25, without altering the overall analysis of women empowerment across four domains: (i) decision-making, (ii) access and control of resources, (iii) participation and leadership, (iv) role, responsibility and mobility.

The Nutrition Research Facility (NRF) conducted a series of consultations with decision-makers in EU Member States, EU partner countries, within Delegations of the EU in partner countries and within the European Commission, in order to identify their current concerns in relation to nutrition issues in development contexts. This question arose from the EU Delegation in Mauritius and Seychelles.

The initial methodology for measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture, food, and nutrition projects used a conceptual framework with four domains: decision-making, roles and responsibilities (including mobility), participation and leadership, and access to and control of resources. Data were collected through household surveys, semi-structured interviews, and separate women and men focus group discussions.
The household survey comprised 42 questions adapted from indices like WEAI and WENI, targeting women aged 15-49. A scoring system combined domain-specific scores into a global empowerment score, with data collected from 1,609 households using KOBO tools.

Following pilot testing of the initial questionnaire, the method was streamlined to 25 questions by removing less impactful ones. Statistical analyses, including Cronbach’s alpha and regression tests, confirmed the simplified version with 25 questions retained the same assessment quality as the original, with 92.4% consistency. The simplified method allows faster, cost-effective data collection for measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture and nutrition contexts.

The study shows that integrating women’s empowerment questions into existing M&E frameworks is both feasible and effective. Using a simplified approach with four domains and 25 questions, complemented by short focus group discussions, allows for rigorous and robust assessment of this complex phenomenon. This adaptable approach can be replicated, with adjustments, in nutrition-sensitive agriculture and other multi-sectoral programmes.

The effectiveness of the simplified approach in detecting changes in women’s empowerment will be further tested in SANOI’s endline evaluation. However, broader validation in diverse, nutrition-sensitive, and multi-sectoral contexts is needed to establish it as a reliable and adaptable M&E tool.

This study provides a practical solution for integrating gender-sensitive metrics into programme M&E systems. Better consideration of gender issues and women’s empowerment are powerful drivers of wealthier and more equitable societies.

Main contact: Ravinder Kumar

Organisation: Natural Resources Institute - University of Greenwich

Email address: R.Kumar@greenwich.ac.uk