Table of Contents Acronyms 5

List of Tables 6

List of Figures 7

Executive Summary 8

Introduction 14 Women and Agriculture in Egypt 14 She Feeds the World 15 Purpose of the Study 15

Methodology and Study Design 16 Data Collection 16 Quantitative tool 17 Structured Interviews with Potential Beneficiaries 17 Sample 17 Enumerators 18 Data Management 18 Data Analysis 19 Limitations 19

Findings and Discussions 19 Household and Respondents Characteristics 19 SFtW Outcome Area: Women Empowerment and Gender Roles and Attitudes 22 Women Roles and Responsibilities 22 Gender Equitable Attitude 23 Women Status and Community Engagement 28 SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Nutrition in Communities and Households 29 Household Dietary Diversity 29 Production for Household Consumption 34 Women Nutrition during Pregnancy 36 Women Nutrition during Breastfeeding 37 Breastfeeding 39 Complementary Feeding 39 Dietary Diversity 41 SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Access to Healthcare Services for Households 46

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Women Health at Reproductive Age 47 Women’s Work Load 48 Decision Making in Women Health 48 Child Health 49 Decision Making in Child Health 50 SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Access to Markets 51 Marketing Practices 51 SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Access to Finance 53 Household Income Generation 53 Household Savings 55 Household Expenditures 57 Loans 61 Decision Making on Finance and Access to Credit 68 SFtW Outcome Areas: Improving Productivity and Technical Resources 69 Agricultural or Livestock 69 Productivity 71 Storage Practices 72 Livestock Production 74 Agriculture Technical Practice 76 Water Irrigation Practices 77 Access to Inputs, Productive Services, and Extensions 78 Access to Market Information 78 Access to Weather Information 80 Access to Extension Services 82 Access to Productive Capital 83 Participation of Women in Decision Making 85 Access to Property 87 Access to Inputs and Services 88

Conclusion 90

Recommendations 91 Outcome 1: Supporting women’s empowerment 91 Addressing GBV 91 Raising Awareness About GBV 91 Making Available Case Management and Psychosocial Support 92 Empowering Youth as Agents of Change 92

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Engaging Men and Boys 93 Addressing Unpaid Labour 93 Outcome 2: Improving nutrition in communities 93 Outcome 3: Enabling women’s access to inclusive markets 95 Improving Access to Productive Resources to Inclusive Markets / Linking to Private Sector Value Chains 95 Contract Farming 95 Sourcing Livestock and Poultry 97 OVOP 98 Access to Finance 98 VSLAs 99 Outcome 4: Increasing women’s access and control of productive resources 100 Providing Extension Services 100 Collaborating with different partners in the public and private sector 101 Annexes Annex 1 - Project Partners and Consulting Company Brief Annex 2 - Water Irrigation Assessment Annex 3 - Baseline Questionnaire in English Annex 4 - Structured Interview Guide Questions

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Acronyms BBS Beneficiary Based Survey CBOs Community Based Organizations EDHS Egyptian Demographic Health Survey EGP Egyptian Pounds FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FDGs Focus Group Discussions GBV Gender Based Violence GDP Gross Domestic Product HDDS Household Dietary Diversity IYCF Infant and Young Child Feeding GEM Gender Equitable Men KG Kilograms KM Kilometers M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MAD Minimum Acceptable Diet MAPs Medicinal and Aromatic Plants MDD Minimum Dietary Diversity MMF MInimum Meal Frequency MoH Ministry of Health MoSS Ministry of Social Solidarity NCDs Non Communicable Diseases NGOs Non Governmental Organizations PHCC Public Health Care Center SFtW She Feeds the World TCH The Community Hub VSLAs Village Savings and Loans Association WEI Women’s Empowerment Index

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List of Tables Table 1: Respondent Characteristics by Governorate Table 2.1: Women's Mobility Table 2.2: Women's Mobility - Men Table 2.3: Attitudes about Domestic Violence Table 2.4: Women's Perception of Gender Norms Table 2.5: Attitudes towards gender norms (GEM Scale) Table 2.6: Attitudes towards gender norms (GEM Scale) Table 3.1: Household Dietary Diversity Score Table 3.2: % Of households consuming different Food groups by dietary diversity Table 3.4: Women health during pregnancy Table 3.5: Breastfeeding Practices Table 3.6: Foods and liquids consumed by children in the day or night preceding the interview Table 3.7: MAD Score of children who are 6-23 months Table 3.8: Micronutrient intake among children Table 4 : Decision making regarding women’s health and nutrition Table 5.1: Market linkage Table 5.2: Market information Table 6.1: Major Source of Income Table 6.2: Savings Table 6.3: Weekly Expenditures Table 6.4: Monthly Expenditures Table 6.5: Yearly Expenditures Table 6.6: Access to Credit Table 6.7: Purpose of loans Table 7.1: Agricultural or livestock/ aquaculture activities Table 7.2: Cultivated Crops Table 7.3: Improved Storage Techniques Table 7.4: Post Harvest Processing Practices Table 7.5: livestock management practices Table 7.6: livestock Ownership Table 7.7: Agriculture technical practices Table 7.8: Water Irrigation Practices Table 8.1: Source of market information Table 8.2: Source of agricultural finance

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Table 8.3: Record Keeping Table 8.4: Access to Weather Information Table 8.5: Access to early warning before the last drought Table 8.6: Access to Agriculture/livestock extension and support Table 8.7: Access to Productive Capital Table 8.8: Main Assets Ownership Table 8.9: Participation of Women in Decision Making Table 8.10: Women's Decision Making Table 8.11: Awareness of women to their property rights Table 8.12: Access to Inputs and Services

List of Figures Figure 1: % of households who consume at least 5 out of 10 defined food groups Figure 2: Using house products by governorates Figure 3: Using house products by household size Figure 4: Breastfeeding Practices by governorates Figure 5: IYCF indicators on Minimum Acceptable Diet Figure 6: % of women who sought medical advice for themselves by age and household income Figure 7: % of women who sought medical advice for their children by age and household income Figure 8: % of respondents or anyone in their household who sold any of their products Figure 9: % of respondents who have any cash savings by governorates Figure 10: Purpose of Savings Figure 11: Monthly Average Expenditure US$ Figure 12: Yearly Average Expenditure US$ Figure 13: % of participants taken out any loans the last 12 months by gender Figure 14: % of participants taken out any loans the last 12 months by governorates Figure 15: % of participants taken out any loans the last 12 months by number of household members Figure 16: Reasons for not getting loans Figure 17: Source of loan Figure 18: Source of loan by gender Figure 19: Purpose of loans Figure 20: % of Main decision maker about what to do with savings by governorates Figure 21: Agricultural or livestock/ aquaculture activities Figure 22: % of main post-harvest processing practices with the production Figure 23: Source of Agricultural finance

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Figure 24: Type of land Executive Summary This report presents the findings for She Feeds the World (SFtW) Project implemented by Care International in Egypt, on Food and Nutrition Security. The project seeks to address and improve the food security and nutrition of poor rural households, with a strong emphasis on women and youth small-scale producers. The main target of the project is 10,000 households and it will directly reach 65,000 women of reproductive age, men and children under two years of age and indirectly benefit 325,000 individuals in the Beheira, Giza, Beni Suef and Minya Governorates. Funded through the PepsiCo Foundation, SFtW is being implemented in Egypt in the period between 2019 and 2022. The main objectives of the project are to improve access to nutritious food in households and communities with a focus on proper nutrition for infants and women of reproductive age; increase access to resources, technical assistance, and markets and integration of good agricultural practices for small-scale farmers to improve agricultural yields with a focus on increasing women’s capacity and access to knowledge and resources; promote private and public-sector engagement to strengthen systems and services for food security and improved nutrition health outcomes; promote water conservation and replenishment among small-scale farmers in Minya in the community around PepsiCo’s facility.

The baseline study was conducted in the four targeted governorates, in September 2020. The aim of the study was to provide a food security and nutrition baseline/reference data from which to measure and evaluate change over life of the three-year project in order to measure the impact of project intervention on household food security. This report will begin by presenting the methodology used to obtain and analyze the data followed by a description of the outcomes of the baseline segregated by the main themes of the project areas of focus and main objectives for each indicator, and recommendations for the next phase of the project. Data on demographics, current status, access to food and nutrition practices, access to healthcare services of household, women and children, access to inputs, resources, technical assistances, agricultural practices, and markets, access to finance, and gender equity were collected and are presented.

The study employed both quantitative and qualitative tools in order to generate the necessary data and information. Quantitative data was collected through a baseline questionnaire from 545 (164 men and 381 women) respondents from 381 households, and 81 qualitative interviews were conducted with 24 men and 57 women from 10 villages covering the four governorates, both via phone, because the study took place during the prevalence of COVID-19.

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Food security in the targeted areas seems to be driven by underlying global and national economic shocks that affected the households’ income generation, access to markets and access to basic services. Analysis of quantitative data was done through calculating percentages, frequencies and crosstabs between different variables on SPSS, and qualitative data was analyzed through thematic coding, taking into consideration the frequencies of themes. The analysis of the baseline findings for several indicators according to the logical framework of the project are vulnerable areas to the targeted communities and improvement in several areas of the key indicators should increase the level of food and nutrition security by the end project intervention. Attitudes to gender norms were low, with the lowest in Beni Suef, while normalizing and acceptance of violence against women was very high, and even higher in women. To understand respondents’ gender attitudes, the study looked into women’s freedom of mobility, the level of acceptance of domestic violence and women’s leadership. One-third of women responding to the survey reported that they need to ask permission from someone before going to a predetermined place and almost all men mentioned that spouses should seek their husband’s or other family members’ permission for going out. 83% of women of age 15-49 agree that domestic violence is justified in at least one of the specified circumstances in the questionnaire. 59% of men agree that domestic violence is justified in at least one of the specified circumstances. Through the qualitative interviews carried out with women working in agriculture, the most common theme was not having a role model and not seeing leaders in the community. None of the women mentioned a political figure or a woman who broke gender norms as expected. They all described women family members, their mothers or mothers-in-law or any women who struggled to bring up her children or support her husband as their role models.

When it comes to nutrition practices, data suggest that food groups are available but their intake of quantities and frequencies as well as balance cannot be guaranteed, as qualitative data show that households cook twice or once a day, including meat or chicken, specifically in Beni-Suef and Beheira.

When asked about consumption from home production, quantitative and qualitative data reveal that they do not have the skills to utilize an existing resource of livestocks. Households in Giza showed the highest percent of using their own animal production (89%), while Beheira came in second place with 88%, followed by Beni Suef then Minya (83% and 82% respectively). Only 6% of households produced or sold any agricultural or homestead garden crops during the last 12 months, data also indicated that production from homestead was highest in Beheira governorate (12%), followed by Minya (9%) and Giza (3%), while the lowest production was in Beni Suef with only 1%. The data also show that 71% of households used any of the family agricultural production for household nutrient consumption.

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When it comes to women’s health and nutrition during pregnancy, the data revealed that 91% of women who have been pregnant in the past year consulted a doctor or went to a clinic during her current or most recent pregnancy. Among women who have been pregnant or given birth recently, 70% consumed milk or milk products, and 87% ate meat, poultry or fish. 83% of women who have been pregnant or given birth within the past year (including currently pregnant) have breastfed before. Interesting differences were presented by the data when it comes to mothers currently breastfeeding. Although all women with a child 0-6 months in Giza governorate were currently breastfeeding, none of them exclusively breastfed their babies. While 22% of women with a child in age 0-6 months in Beni Suef governorate exclusively breastfed their babies, only 15% in Minya governorate, and 10% in Beheira exclusively breastfed their infant children, 0-6 months.

To understand knowledge and awareness around child nutrition, women were asked when they introduced solid food to their children. The majority started introducing solid food at 6 months, while a few fed them started at 4-5 months or 7-8 months of age. However, negative practices identified with complementary feeding included feeding children food that contain sugar and little other nutrients such as biscuits and cake.

When it comes to women health practices, the data indicates that women were more likely to consult a doctor in a private clinic when the health or nutrition issue was related to their children, regardless of their demographic characteristics.Data from qualitative interviews reveal that all women who are sexually active have received reproductive health services, mostly through PHCCs, which is free. It was also found that doctors decide on the most appropriate method of birth control for the woman. The most common birth control methods include injections, interine uterine devices (IUD), and pills.

Qualitative data show that the most common theme is that women are on track with their children’s vaccination schedules. All children are vaccinated until 1.5 years. All vaccines are taken in the PHCCs available in their village. Yet, women tend to take their children to a pediatrician only when they are really sick.

To understand the respondent’s access to the market, 87% of respondents reported selling their produce during the last 12 months. Women were more likely to report selling their produce (90%). The majority of respondents mentioned that they sold their products individually to traders/collectors (72%) and 34% mentioned that they sold their products individually in the local market.

Employment (formal) is the main source of income for the majority of interviewed respondents (53%). 79% of male respondents reported that they were the main income earner for their households, and 61% of female respondents reported that their spouses were the main income

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earner for their household. However, women were more likely to report that both wife and husband were together the main income earner in the households than men (22%, and 10%, respectively). The same pattern was observed between women and men when they were asked about the primarily responsible for decisions regarding this income in the household.

When it comes to spending and saving, women are more likely to have cash savings than men (27%, and 23%, respectively). The highest mean weekly expenditure shown by the data was on meat (18.06$ (285 EGP). While in the month before the interview was on fees for doctor/ clinic ($20.28; 320 EGP), and in the year before the interview was on Events (marriage/ funeral) ($336.20; 5305 EGP on average).

Looking at access to finance, data show that only 15% of respondents have taken out any loans in the last 12 months, women were more probable to take out a loan than men by 5 percentage points (17%, and 12% respectively). Women who reported taking loans, used it to build a house, repair the kitchen or bathroom, buy a fridge, get things for her children, for her daughter’s marriage, or for her brother’s marriage. less than half of the respondents who took loans within the past 12 months managed to pay off their loan (44%). 7% of respondents who did not take any loans in the past 12 months wanted to borrow or get a loan. Which means that the majority of respondents did not take any loans and did not want to. Nearly a quarter of the women wanted to borrow compared to only 5% of men.

Wheat and maize were the most cultivated crops (grown by 22% of households). Followed by alfalfa (18.9%) and potato (13.7%).

To understand irrigation practices, respondents were asked about the sources of irrigation and irrigation methods used in the last 12 months. Table 19 indicates that the Nile River was the main source of irrigation for farmers (79%), followed by groundwater (14%).

Concerning agricultural services and information, almost one-third of respondents (32%) did not receive any information about the market. In addition, a very low percent of respondents met an agricultural extension worker (15%) over the past 12 months period. Respondents were also asked about if they could access any agricultural finance during the most recent agricultural season, and the source of their agricultural finance. 48% of respondents could not reach any source of agricultural finance during the most recent agricultural season. 53% of respondents reported that they have access to weather information, women were more likely to access weather information than male respondents (55% and 48%, respectively). 38% of respondents did not access any inputs. Among those who accessed inputs, 30% mentioned availing it from agro dealer/input supplier within 5 km’ and 29% from ’cooperative or producer group

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Baseline findings indicate that 27% of the respondents owned the land that they worked on or the one who does agricultural activity in their family, 47% respondents reported renting it and 26% of the respondents reported that they don’t neither own nor rent a land. 19% of the interviewed women owned property, this percent was highest in Beni Suef (49%) and lowest in Giza (1%). Among women who owned property, 88% own houses and 15% own land. 10 women owning property have access to her property documents.

The following are the key recommendations: Outcome 1: Supporting women’s empowerment. The project should open discussions around psychological and physical wellbeing, gender roles inside the house and ending gender based violence. The available interventions need to build on these perceptions of a woman leader mentioned by the participants related to women’s leadership and open discussions on girls’ education, early marriage, gender roles inside the house, creating a house free of violence and harmful masculinity. Provide psychosocial support and ensure that mechanisms of reporting, support and case management are available and women are aware of them and able to access them. The project should also work on Engaging young men and women from the targeted community and supporting youth-led campaigns and activities to promote gender equality.

Outcome 2: Improving nutrition in communities. It is recommended to have nutrition awareness activities for women, given their responsibilities in addressing household nutrition, their role as caregivers, and the importance of their own health and nutritional status, especially when pregnant and lactating, making sure that the activities and suggested diet do not burden them as caregivers and does not have an influence on their income. In addition, building the capacities and training medical practitioners and nurses and especially practitioners in health clinics, on issues of breastfeeding and on counseling. Collaboration with the Ministry of Health is necessary and would enable lobbying for integrating breastfeeding counseling into medical schools curriculum and recognizing and certifying lactation consultants.

Outcome 3: Enabling women’s access to inclusive markets. The project should promote contract farming is one of the opportunities available in local markets and export value chains. While the project has assessed the value chains of the top crops in the four governorates, livestock is also another asset that is worth exploring, as they are controlled by women and have a high chance of women inclusion in their value chain . A Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVA) could be implemented to identify areas of opportunities and potential barriers for women farmers in the value chains of the selected products (poultry and livestock outcomes). In addition, more research could be done to suggest innovative solutions to one of the main challenges facing women in growing their projects when it comes to livestock, which is space. To ensure gender inclusivity, the project could train and support a cohort of female village livestock vaccinators

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and extension workers. SFtW can also follow the One Village One Product model or sourcing from clusters of local farmers based on their available knowledge, experience and resources. Based on the market analysis previously performed, some crops were identified as strategic crops for specific areas, for example: aromatic plants in Beni Sueif and Minya, or artichoke and strawberries in Beheira.

It is recommended to work on raising awareness about the available resources when it comes to access to finance and loans by governmental entities and utilize the available political will to support small farmers. For example, Small and Medium Enterprises Development fund and the Central Bank initiative providing soft loans for small framers. Another opportunity on the policy level that the project should tap into and support is the formalizing and digitalizing of VSLAs by investing ($2,534,854.25 40 million EGP) to reach 100,000 women . Supporting the digitalization of VSLAs by the government can also provide an alternative option to physical meetings, cash handling and contribute to emergency response during crises, like the COVID-19 crisis. It is also recommended to modify the current model of VSLAs to ensure safety and prevent transmission during the COVID-19 crisis.

Outcome 4: Increasing women’s access and control of productive resources. Promoting alternatives to current forms of extension services is essential. Both the private sector and civil society have potential to provide alternative extension services for agriculture and livestock. Providing extension services by the private sector through contract farming is a win-win situation, as these services provide support to farmers and in return, allow them to produce more efficiency and with higher quality .One of the main factors that will accelerate the change process and multiple impact, is collaborating with the private and public sectors. Collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS), and other private sector entities represented in PEPSICO to create value chains for production of potatoes. It is recommended that partnership is created with Schaduf, a social business working on rooftop farming and linking households to the market.

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Introduction Agriculture is a major component of the Egyptian economy, contributing 11.3% of the country’s GDP. The agricultural sector accounts for 28% of all jobs, and over 55% of employment in Upper Egypt is agriculture-related. Egypt’s agriculture sector is dominated by small-scale farmers using traditional practices that do not meet international standards.1

Egypt remains one of the 36 countries, where 90% of the global burden of malnutrition falls.2 Two-thirds of under-five mortality is associated with malnutrition as the country grapples with the double burden of malnutrition (as overweight/obesity and stunting co-exist). Overweight leads to increased risk of obesity and non- communicable diseases (NCDs) including heart conditions, and diabetes. NCDs are on the rise in Egypt and are one of the leading causes of death.3 Stunting is known to impair child growth and cognitive development and anemia affects large numbers of children, adolescent girls and women of reproductive age.

Women and Agriculture in Egypt Women percentage in Egypt as per the CAPMAS statistics has reached 47.5 million of Egypt’s population in January 2019 compared to 50.5 million males; this beside the increase in the education among women changed the standards of the workforce in Egypt within all the industries and strengthens the equalization concept between males and females4. Women aren’t restricted anymore to work in the handmade industries they became more aware of the nutrition and communities aspects which made them a fertile ore to work in all fields such as agriculture, trade, education, health and judiciary.

Women are playing a critical role in the Egyptian agriculture especially the rural women. Over 50% of the total women labor is engaged in agriculture. According to official statistics women contribute 20% of the active population in the Egyptian agriculture industry.5

1 Agriculture and Food Security, USAID https://www.usaid.gov/egypt/agriculture-and-food-security 2 UNICEF Egypt: Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/egypt/nutrition 3 Egypt Health Issues Survey (EHIS) 2015 https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR313/FR313.pdf 4 47.5 million of Egypt's population are females: CAPMAS http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/0/327816/Egypt/0/-million-of-Egypts-population-are-females- CAPMAS.aspx#:~:text=Egypt's%20population%20has%20reached%2098,while%20males%20represente d%2079.1%20percent 5 The Role of Women in Egyptian Agriculture by Korany Ismail. Abdel-Gawad, Emeritus Professor of Agronomy, Faculty of agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt.

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She Feeds the World She Feeds the World (SFtW) is a CARE initiative that seeks to address and improve the food security and nutrition of poor rural households, with a strong emphasis on women and youth small-scale producers. SFtW aims to improve the economic condition of men and women living below the poverty line and improve the food security and nutritional well-being of 10,000 small- scale producer households. It will directly reach 65,000 women of reproductive age, men and children under two years of age and indirectly benefit 325,000 individuals in the Beheira, Giza, Beni Suef and Minya Governorates. Funded through the PepsiCo Foundation, SFtW is being implemented in Egypt in the period between 2019 and 2022.

The project aims to achieve that goal through 4 main objectives: Objective 1: Improve access to nutritious food in households and communities with a focus on proper nutrition for infants and women of reproductive age. Objective 2: Increase access to resources, technical assistance, and markets and integration of good agricultural practices for small-scale farmers to improve agricultural yields with a focus on increasing women’s capacity and access to knowledge and resources. Objective 3: Promote private and public-sector engagement to strengthen systems and services for food security and improved nutrition health outcomes. Objective 4: Promote water conservation and replenishment among small-scale farmers in Minya in the community around PepsiCo’s facility.

Purpose of the Study

This report presents baseline values calculated from primary data for the SFtW indicators collected in the four governorates as per the project logical framework. This report will begin by presenting the methodology used to obtain and analyze the data followed by a description of the outcomes of the baseline segregated by the main themes of the project areas of focus and main objectives for each indicator, and recommendations for the next phase of the project. A brief about project partners and the consulting company that implemented the baseline is compiled (Please see Annex 1).

The purpose of the baseline study was to generate information on the status of food and nutrition security and income of the targeted populations. The results of the baseline study will inform the planning and strategy of the SFtW project and a midterm and outcome evaluation, where results will be compared with the baseline study outcomes to measure change intended and unintended outcomes, as a result of the project implementation.

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An asset-based and participatory baseline assessment was conducted that aimed to ensure utilization of existing resources in the community. It also conducted a gender analysis to identify key issues around gender inequality, in regard to access to markets and resources, decision- making and body autonomy with a focus on food and nutrition security. The main purpose of the study was to:

● Understand the current situation of food and nutrition security in the targeted population - targeting women, children and household dietary diversity, as well as access to healthcare services. ● Understand women’s access to services, resources, markets, level of participation and decision-making power & assess the current gender division of labour in agriculture. ● Assessing Water Irrigation status in Minya where the water component will be implemented. This was assessed in a separate study (See Annex 2). ● Provide recommendations on utilizing assets available in the community and key areas of improvement to efficiently achieve project objectives.

Methodology and Study Design

The study started by a desk review of project documents, which helped to understand the scope of work, logical framework, theory of change, and assess all planned indicators. This was followed by a design of a data collection, data analysis and data quality assurance to guide the implementation of the study. Outcomes from the baseline will guide the implementation of the project and be a reference to the endline study of the project.

Data Collection Mixed methods were used to gather data through a structured questionnaire and structured interview guide. included men and women heads of households who live in one of the four governorates where SFtW is working implemented, women of reproductive age, and men and women agriculture community members. Data collection took place in August 2020. The questionnaire was administered through KoBo6 to reduce the risk of error from data entry and to manage the time more efficiently. Both the questionnaire and the interviews were conducted via phone due to safety precautions to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19. The questionnaire was designed to take an average of one hour. A total of 545 questionnaires were administered (164 men and 381 women) and a total of 81 interviews were conducted (24 men and 57 women) covering all the four governorates.

6 https://www.kobotoolbox.org/

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Quantitative tool The baseline questionnaire was adapted to the Egyptian context from CARE’s Global SFtW Monitoring and Evaluation Framework by removing culturally sensitive questions. The survey tool was beneficiary-based and descriptive with a primary aim of producing estimates of indicators to provide a snapshot of the situation at a single point in time. This allowed for direct measurements to be taken on key data points, which result in high quality data. The Global questionnaire incorporated aspects of the Women's Empowerment Index (WEI), which is an index designed to measure progress in the multi-dimensional aspects of women's empowerment, taking into consideration women’s achievements as well as gender parity with men. The baseline questionnaire was adapted in English and then translated to Arabic (see annex 3). The data collectors used the simple Arabic language version of the tool to standardize the way questions are asked and ensure quality control. The questionnaire was also approved by the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS).

Structured Interviews with Potential Beneficiaries It was originally proposed to hold in-person Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in each of the four governorates. However, due to the risks associated with COVID-19 and movement restrictions, the plan was changed to structured phone interviews. Further, the tool was divided into two parts (one on agriculture and the other on empowerment, which included all other sections of the focus group guide with some questions for women only) (see annex 4). Dividing the tools in two parts made it easier to generate a wide range of data over the interviews, making it more efficient in terms of quality of data.

Sample Sample Target: The sample target of the questionnaire was 348 households. While the rule of thumb in this case for a perfectly representative sample is 1,000 (The maximum 10% of the population that doesn't exceed 1,000). However, for most basic surveys, time and money are often limiting factors. A sample of 348 still allows a representative sample with a margin of error of no more than ±5% of its true value. Using the formula n = N/1+ (N*(d) 2), where n = the sample size required and which is statistically representative. N = the target population size and d = confidence level (0.05). The following criteria were used for deriving the sample size: - Level of significance of 5% - Power level of 80%

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Thirty-three more households were added taking the sample size to 381 households. The additional households increased the number of male respondents by 12 percentage points which was important for understanding gender parity. Survey participants were randomly selected from a list of targeted beneficiaries for the project. CARE worked with the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) to coordinate the data collection with women members of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), who are the main target beneficiaries for SFtW project.

CARE availed the list of 5,434 households from the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS), local organizations, and a small number were also obtained from referral of some of the rural women leaders. The study sample was drawn from this list of households considering the selected household has a contact phone number and both men and women adult members, including single women who are divorced or widowed. These households were contacted over the telephone to conduct the interview.

Enumerators Twenty-seven professional researchers were selected to conduct the structured phone interviews and the questionnaire. The research teams included both women and men members so that women could administer the questionnaire to women and men administer the questionnaire to men, to be sensitive to cultural and gender norms for the target participants. Prior to the data collection, enumerators and field supervisors were trained through online platforms, on how to use the tool, ethical considerations and guidelines, and specific tasks. This helped to reduce bias (e.g. inappropriate prompting for answers during interviews) or errors (e.g. misunderstanding which program elements need to be observed) in the data obtained. Training was done for both quantitative and qualitative data collectors via Zoom platform. Both the quantitative and the qualitative tools were field tested by the enumerators and the researchers as part of the training process. Feedback received from this process were incorporated in the tools and the interview guidance manuals to support data collection.

Data Management Reliability check was conducted as a quality control tool using a shorter version of the questionnaire for about 5% of the sample. The results of the reliability check were compared to the responses in the original interviews and any errors were corrected and discussed with the interviewer. Comparison between the main data collection and the quality control showed less than 3% difference. Data cleaning was completed by the evaluation team after the completion of data collection and before the beginning of the data analysis. Data cleaning included creating new variables for use during analysis and coding “other” responses.

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Data Analysis Qualitative data, collected via structured interviews were analyzed through thematic content analysis by extracting themes from the interview transcriptions and coding them according to the indicators of the project, while considering the frequency of themes, referred to as (f) through out the report. Qualitative data from the structured interviews and the discussion groups provided deeper understanding of the quantitative data resulting from the baseline questionnaire. Quantitative data analysis carried out using SPSS v.23 software after the data was extracted from Kobo. Limitations - The main challenge was COVID-19 and the shift from in person fieldwork to online and remote processes. Data collection, analysis and other parts of the survey were all done remotely. Questionnaire and structured interviews were done over the phone, which limited the establishment of rapport between the researchers and the participants. Typically, rapport developed in-person eases the process, especially for longer interviews (one hour or more) with diverse and sensitive topics. - The sample list of respondents included households who were not farmers, and some of the phone numbers provided were wrong. Finding the right respondent from that list was time-consuming. Only 20% of participants were reached per list. Contacts were called at least three times for the no answer, unavailable or switched off contact to be excluded from the sample. - The timeframe of conducting the study was limited due to restrictions of the COVID-19 lockdown, which resulted in not being able to triangulate the data and validate the findings by key informants and stakeholders of the project.

Findings and Discussions

1. Household and Respondents Characteristics

A total of 545 (164 men and 381 women) respondents from 381 households participated in the quantitative survey. The gender distribution of respondents across governorates: more than two thirds of respondents were women (70%), with highest percent (78%) was observed in Giza governorate, while lowest (66%) was in Beni Suef governorate. 21.8% of the respondents are between the age of 35-39, and 20.4% are between the age of 30-34. Approximately 97% of the sample is married while only 2% are divorced or widowed and 1% are single. In terms of

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education, 37.4% do not have a higher education degree but can read and write, 28.3% have bachelor or higher degrees, and 5.7% have not received any kind of education.

A total of 81 qualitative interviews were conducted with 29.6% men and 70.4% women from 10 villages covering the four governorates. The majority of men who participated in the qualitative study are between the age of 20 to 35 by 37.5%; 91% married, 4.5% widowed, and 4.5% single, and almost half of them stated that they have 3 children. The majority of the women (45%) were in the age group of 26-35 year, 77% married,16% widowed, and 7% divorced. The largest number of them (45%) stated that they have 4 children.

From respondents who participated in the quantitative survey, 51.4% identified themselves as housewives, while 31% of the respondents stated that they are wage laborers in agriculture, and only 4.8% stated that they are business owners in agriculture. Among women, 73% were not working, they reported that they were housewives, 12% were waged agricultural labour, and 6% were waged non-agricultural labour. Among men, 75 % reported that they were waged agricultural labour, 10 % reported that they were waged non-agricultural labour, and 9% were small agricultural business owners. It is worth mentioning that several respondents chose more than one option when asked this question. As a result, a woman identifying herself as a housewife may also be involved in agriculture by helping her husband in his own or rented land.

This was also revealed from the qualitative data where almost half of the women interviewed were involved in livestock rearing such as poultry (birds, chickens or ducks), cows, and buffalo.rearing. Three respondents said that they share the animals with someone - such as an uncle or someone they know – and do not own them. They take care of the livestock and grow it and, when it is sold, they share the profit together. Being involved in farming was also mentioned 32 times; either through harvesting or collection of crops, through working in neighbouring farms by daily wage (f=5), or to help their husbands (f=4) or fathers (f=3). Two women said that when she goes to work by daily wage, the farmer might not always pay her money. For example, she may be paid in meat during the Islamic Eid instead or other produce.

Women are not only involved in farming and selling livestock animals, three mentioned that they are selling vegetables and food for birds called “deshisha”, which is made at home of leftover bread and crushed corn. Only 2 women had additional jobs like selling slippers, working as a hairdresser from their homes, and selling clothes “galabeya”.

All men interviewed qualitatively identified themselves as farmers and they work in agriculture; more than half of them reported beginning to farm at a very young age (10 to 15 years), and that they inherited this occupation from their parents and grandparents. Only one mentioned that he wanted to be a carpenter and his father didn’t allow him, but the majority stated they were proud to inherit it from their parents. One of them mentioned that even when he travelled to work

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abroad, he worked as a farmer. Some mentioned that they farm on their own land or their father’s land, some in a rented land by them or their fathers, and some just stated that they farm but did not mention where they farm. Seven of the men interviewed farm by daily wage in neighboring farms, in addition to farming their own plots. Only four had additional jobs outside of agriculture like loading things off and on trucks, working in the health sector, and as a builder.

Table 1: Respondent Characteristics by Governorate Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total Gender Men 33.5 32.9 21.8 28.8 30.1 Women 66.5 67.1 78.2 71.2 69.9

Age 18-24 13.2 9.8 10.0 3.8 9.7 25-29 13.2 27.4 11.8 18.3 18.2 30-34 17.4 18.3 24.5 24.0 20.4 35-39 23.4 14.6 21.8 30.8 21.8 40-44 13.2 17.1 20.0 15.4 16.1 45-50 19.8 12.8 11.8 7.7 13.8

Marital Status Never married 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 .4 Currently married 94.0 99.4 98.2 96.2 96.9 Ever married (Widowed or Divorced) 4.8 .6 1.8 3.8 2.8

Education No education 9.6 6.7 2.7 1.0 5.7 Can read and write 40.7 30.5 42.7 37.5 37.4 Primary 4.2 3.0 1.8 2.9 3.1 Preparatory 6.0 3.0 6.4 8.7 5.7 Secondary 5.4 3.0 22.7 14.4 9.9 Vocational / Upper intermediate 10.8 16.5 5.5 2.9 9.9 Bachelor / Higher 23.4 37.2 18.2 32.7 28.3

Occupation Self Employed (skilled labour) 3.0 1.2 1.8 0.0 1.7 Employed 1.2 5.5 3.6 1.9 3.1 Small Business Owner (Agriculture) 6.0 2.4 7.3 3.8 4.8 Small Business Owner (Non- .6 .6 0.0 1.9 .7 agricultural) Wage Labour (Agriculture) 43.7 24.4 22.7 29.8 31.0 Wage Labour (Non-agricultural) 3.0 9.1 10.9 5.8 7.0 Unemployed 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 .4 Housewife 42.5 55.5 53.6 56.7 51.4

Number of HH members 1-3 8.4 51.2 19.1 16.3 25.0 4-6 64.7 38.4 53.6 61.5 53.9

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7+ 26.9 10.4 27.3 22.1 21.1

Mean number of HH members 6 4 5 5 5

Total 167 164 110 104 545 -

2. SFtW Outcome Area: Women Empowerment and Gender Roles and Attitudes

Women Roles and Responsibilities

Women’s and men’s daily responsibilities are different. All women reported their main responsibilities to be managing the household (i.e. cleaning, laundry, cooking, and taking care of children) in addition to taking care of animals in the household. Some women are engaged in farms based on daily wage upon needs of farmers or help their husbands or families during harvesting, going to the market to sell vegetables or produce, or staying in the store or kiosk to sell products. Themes on additional responsibilities included family visits (f=24), social commitments (f=14) such as attending weddings, funerals, visiting a sick relative or neighbors, followed by taking care of elderly family (f=9), taking care of a sick family member (f=5), and taking care of a child with special needs (f=2). over the course of the day.

The main responsibility of the men was reported as farming. Men’s daily routine includes waking up at dawn and spending most of the day in the field while the evenings are spent with family. Additional responsibilities include family visits (f=6) and taking care of their children (f=5), attending social events (f=3), buying inputs for the land (f=2), and taking care of their parents (f=2). Surveyed female respondents indicate they have approximately 1.9 hours available each day for leisure activities, such as visiting neighbors, listening to the radio, or playing sports or games. The majority women report they are satisfied with the amount of leisure time available (85.8%).

Qualitative interviews show that most women receive help from another woman in the family such as their daughters (f=22), other family members (f=11) such as mother in law, mother, sister, or sister in-law. Only one woman mentioned that her husband helps her with the household responsibilities. For women that don’t get support from others on taking care of the children, they are left with few good options if they must leave home to work. In some cases, women mentioned bringing their children to the field with them and another woman mentioned responsibilities. Caregiving issues came up that resulted without childcare; as she turns off the gas and locks them in the house until she is back.

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Gender Equitable Attitude

Women and men were asked a series of questions (separately) in order to measure women’s mobility, attitudes about domestic violence, and perception of gender norms - gender equitable attitude toward gender norms in intimate relationships or differing social expectations for men and women, boys and girls.

Table 2.1 shows around one-third of women responding to the survey reported that they need to ask permission from someone before going to a predetermined place. Women in Beni Suef showed the highest (46%), while women in Beheira were the lowest (18%). Sixty-one % of women reported that women can go to the market every day or once a week, 54% reported visiting family or relatives, 49% reported visiting a friend / neighbor’s house. However, only 0.3% of women reported that women can go to youth centers every day or once a week; this shows the restriction of women mobility within their village.

Women were also asked about circumstances under which they can go out alone. Data indicated that women are not allowed to go anywhere alone, they always are expected to be accompanied by a family member (relatives, children) and need to be dressed in an acceptable manner while going out of the house.

Table 2.1: Women's Mobility Governorates

Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of women who have to take permission from someone else before going to the 45.9 34.5 25.6 17.6 32.5 following places

% of women who can go to the following

places (every day or once a week) Youth centre 0.0 0.0 1.2 0.0 .3 Market 85.6 17.3 79.1 66.7 60.7 Visit family or relatives 52.7 69.1 64.7 18.9 53.6 Visit a friend / neighbour’s house 56.0 50.9 28.6 60.3 49.2 Hospital / clinic / doctor 4.6 3.6 0.0 5.5 3.5 Community meeting / training for NGO or 2.7 45.0 3.5 0.0 14.6 programs Total 111 110 86 74 381

-

Table 2.2 shows attitudes of men towards women's mobility. Almost all men mentioned that spouses should seek their husband’s or other family members’ permission to go to all predetermined places with percent range from 70% (church or mosque) to 96% (an association

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of which she is a member). This pattern was also observed between men in different governorates.

Table 2.2: Women's Mobility - Men Governorates

Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of Men who said that spouse have to seek his permission or another family member’s permission to go to the following Market 61.4 100.0 66.7 79.3 77.8 Friend’s house 93.0 100.0 100.0 86.7 95.0 House of a member of her family 87.7 98.1 100.0 93.3 93.9 Church or mosque 31.6 92.3 95.8 82.8 69.8 Public village meeting 96.4 98.1 100.0 76.7 93.8 Meet any association of which she is 98.2 100.0 100.0 76.9 95.6 member Outside village 98.2 100.0 95.8 80.0 95.1 Undertake revenue generating activities 57.1 100.0 100.0 93.1 83.9 Local social event (fair, festival, etc.) 98.2 100.0 100.0 80.0 95.7 Health care provider 59.6 98.1 100.0 83.3 82.1

Total 56 54 24 30 164 -

Another indicator of women’s status in a society is the level of acceptance of domestic violence. The survey assessed women’s acceptance of domestic violence by asking respondents if a husband was justified in hitting or beating his wife in the following situations: she goes out without telling him, neglects the children, argues with him, or burns the food. Information on women’s attitudes toward domestic violence is presented in Table 14.3 by governorate.

Qualitative data shows that women and men did not know of any cases of violence against women in their village (f=10) and (f=7). However, nine of the women and three men indicated knowing someone in their neighborhood or family who have experienced violence. Respondents from Minya said domestic violence was not prevalent there because the cultural norm is that they marry among themselves and any violence would be considered unacceptable. Prevalence of the incidents of violence against women were more frequent in Giza and Beni Suef. Moreover, there was no report of services that they seek when exposed to violence, except for police or pharmacy stations and the PHCC. The most likely outcome is that a woman goes to her parent’s house and stays there until her husband or their parents come to apologize, or a conciliation meeting is organized by a community leader reconciliation led One of the women being abused said “God gave me the power to tolerate, and my family -who witnessed everything he did- used

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to tell me tolerate and be patient, do it for your kids. What can I do? I thank god”. A man participant working at the PHCC in Minya stated that he sees women coming to the PHCC to seek help from abuse from her husband but they are usually women from other villages; they come to neighboring villages because no one knows them here.

Table 2.3 shows that 83% of women of age 15-49 agree that domestic violence is justified in at least one of the specified circumstances. Women are most likely to accept domestic violence if a woman neglects the children. Seven in 10 women think that a husband is justified to hit or beat his wife in this situation.

On the other hand, men were less likely to agree with hitting his wife, 59% of men agree that domestic violence is justified in at least one of the specified circumstances. Men are most likely to say that domestic violence is justified, if a woman goes out without telling him or neglects the children. Five in 10 men think that a husband is justified to hit or beat his wife in these situations.

Data from qualitative interviews show that even when men and women state that violence is unacceptable, women tend to normalize the abuse by giving excuses like men are short tempered, or life has become stressful so it pushes the husband to beat his wife. They also tend to put the blame on women that they force their husbands to beat them. One of the women said “I may have been harsh with my husband, made something wrong, didn't tolerate him when he was angry, or fought with his mum and he didn’t tolerate this so he beat me to satisfy his family. This is how it normally goes”. Another one said: “In principle, it is a wrong act but it depends on the situation, if she does something wrong he is forced to do so”. Other reasons given by men and women were related to the man being addicted to drugs and resulting in violence.

Table 2.3: Attitudes about Domestic Violence Women Men Beni- Beni- Suef Minya Giza Behira Total Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Situations If she goes out without 72.1 50.9 60.0 61.6 61.2 80.7 11.5 70.8 40.0 49.7 telling him If she neglects the 68.5 69.1 78.8 58.9 69.1 78.6 11.3 66.7 30.0 46.0 children If she argues with him 74.5 63.6 51.8 50.7 61.6 29.6 27.5 41.7 33.3 31.4 If she burns the food 38.7 32.1 47.1 27.4 36.5 6.0 1.9 0.0 0.0 2.5

% who agree with at least 88.2 82.6 81.2 75.3 82.5 86.7 26.9 87.5 50.0 58.9 one specified reason

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Total 111 110 86 74 381 56 54 24 30 164 -

Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with a few statements that reflect men’s and women’s roles in family life. Data in Table 2.4 show that in some areas, patriarchal attitudes about family life are held not only by men, but are ingrained in women’s opinions of their own role in family life.

Table 2.4: Women's Perception of Gender Norms Women Men Beni- Beni- Suef Minya Giza Behira Total Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Statements: Personally, I think that most household decisions should be 68.5 30.9 46.5 65.8 52.1 29.8 58.5 58.3 80.0 52.4 made by the man Personally, I. think that there is men’s work and women’s work 68.5 66.1 50.0 87.5 67.2 39.3 67.3 87.0 70.0 60.9 and the one shouldn’t ever do the work of the other Personally, I think that if a woman works outside the home, 98.2 64.8 83.5 79.5 81.7 82.1 82.7 95.8 83.3 84.6 her husband should help with child care and household chores. Personally, I think that a husband should spend his free time with 93.6 97.2 94.0 90.4 94.1 NA NA NA NA NA his wife and children. Personally, I think a husband and wife should decide together 97.3 98.2 94.2 98.6 97.1 NA NA NA NA NA about what kind of family planning to use Personally, I think a woman must tolerate violence in order to 93.7 80.4 76.7 86.1 84.6 82.1 23.1 82.6 33.3 54.0 maintain stability in the family

Mean hours women have available for leisure activity each 1.7 2.1 1.7 2.1 1.9 NA NA NA NA NA day

% of women who are satisfied 91.9 88.2 76.7 83.8 85.8 NA NA NA NA NA with leisure time

Total 111 110 86 73 381 57 53 24 30 164

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-

NA means that this question is not asked for either men or women -

Attitudes toward gender norms in intimate relationships or differing social expectations for men and women, boys and girls, using the Gender-Equitable Men (GEM) scale7. The combined or individual subscale scores can be used as a continuous variable or categorized as: Low Equity, Moderate Equity, and High Equity.

Table 2.5: Attitudes towards gender norms (GEM Scale) Women Men

Governorates Beni-Suef 12.2 12.7 Minya 13.5 14.4 Giza 13.0 12.2 Behira 12.8 14.2

Overall Average of score 12.9 13.5 Total number 381 164

Data presented in Tables 2.5 and 2.6 indicate that men have higher scores for greater gender equality than women with average score (13.5) for men, and (12.9) for women; with Beni-Suef having the lowest attitudes towards gender norms in women (62) and Giza having the lowest score (70) in men.

Table 2.6: Attitudes towards gender norms (GEM Scale) Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Women GEM-scale Low 62.0 35.2 48.6 41.7 48.3 Medium 31.0 47.7 37.1 52.8 40.1 High 7.0 17.0 14.3 5.6 11.6

Men GEM-scale Low 38.1 15.6 70.0 30.8 33.8 Medium 59.5 55.6 25.0 34.6 48.1

7 The GEM scale includes 24 items in two subscales. The 17 items in Subscale 1 measure ‘inequitable’ gender norms (e.g., ‘It is the man who decides what type of sex to have’) and the 7 items in Subscale 2 measure ‘equitable’ gender norms (e.g., ‘A couple should decide together if they want to have children’). Responses are scaled as: Agree =1; Partially Agree =2; and Do Not Agree=3 for the inequitable subscale and scores are inverted for the equitable subscale, resulting in a higher score for greater gender equality.

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High 2.4 28.9 5.0 34.6 18.0

Women Status and Community Engagement

Qualitative data show that women’s engagement in community level activities are limited to attending a religious event or an NGO-led event. Most NGO-led events are related to nutrition, agriculture and farming, and children wellbeing. In addition to SFtW, the NGO PLAN works in the area delivering health and wellbeing programs. Almost half of the women interviewed stated that they do not know of any sessions or activities and that they do not have time to attend. It is also worth mentioning that these activities have stopped recently due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Men and women were asked about the status of women in their community. Men’s view of women’s status is positive, as many of them stated in the interviews that women and men are equal because they both strive together and work hard for their children, or see that their status is good but they need financing to be able to have a project. As one of them stated, “Nowadays women’s roles have increased and it is no less than men’s roles. She can now raise and educate her children, take care of her husband and her house, endure with her husband a lot of things, struggle together to raise their kids properly”.

Men see that a woman's jobs can either be projects they can do at home or going to farms to help their husbands. Men consider men’s jobs as outside of the house whereas women are inside the house. Men also see women’s role models to be either their mothers because they supported their fathers and tolerated and survived life’s tough circumstances, or widowed or divorced women, for the same reason. Only once was a wife mentioned as a role model but for the same reason of supporting him. Men listed women qualities to be patient, enduring life stressors, striving, satisfied and fighters.

Women’s interviews suggested a different perspective from women. The most common theme was not having a role model and not seeing leaders in the community (f=11). They see themselves are all the same and as one of the women stated “Honestly there is none, all are average. There is no experienced woman that we can ask for opinion or consider her as an idol”. Some women expressed that their mothers or mothers-in-law or any women who struggled to bring up her children or support her husband as their role models (f=11). One woman believes that she was her own role model and that she is strong and can do anything. Women listed qualities in addition to the one men mentioned; being responsible was the most frequent, followed by strong, decision maker, wise, and then smart, helpful, nice to people, manages time efficiently, and committed. However, themes on their status in the community were divided into negative views and needs to be changed (f=13); they see themselves as staying at home and that needs to

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change because they need to go to work, more financial support to have their own projects, to be able to communicate with their husbands more, and that men need to be involved more in activities because they are the ones who approve that women work and where to go for work.

Some positive views were seen by women that they are decision makers and have rights, that they are stronger and better than before, and that women who are supported by their husbands are the ones who are able to work, take decisions, and have a good status in the community.

3. SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Nutrition in Communities and Households

Household Dietary Diversity

Dietary diversity is a commonly used proxy to assess dietary quality of households. The quality of diets has been shown to be directly related to dietary diversity and inversely related to malnutrition (growth faltering in children, micro-nutrient deficiencies and overweight/obesity linked to the the risk of non-communicable and chronic diseases8.Household dietary diversity score is an index measuring the number of food groups consumed by members of a household over a specific period of time in order to measure food access.

The nutrition module in the present study was designed to assess the dietary diversity among households and women of reproductive age in four governorates. 24-hour dietary recall was included in the survey to obtain information on households’ food intake. Respondents were asked to recall all foods eaten and beverages taken by household members in the previous twenty-four hours prior to the interview. Using information collected from the 24-hour dietary recall, the dietary diversity scores were derived using the FAO guidelines for measuring household and individual dietary diversity. Dietary diversity was assessed based on the number of food groups consumed over the immediate past 24 hours. A point was awarded to each food group consumed over the reference period, and the sums of all points were calculated for the dietary diversity score for each household. Dietary Diversity tertiles were derived from the 10 food groups, with an extra group for other kinds of food. in households into: low, medium and high dietary diversity tertiles.

When interpreting the household dietary diversity score, it is important to keep in mind that:

● The dietary diversity score does not indicate the quantity of food consumed. ● Diet varies across seasons, so there can be variation in dietary diversity scores based on when in the year a survey was conducted.

8 Azadbakht L, Mirmiran P, Azizi F. (2005). Variety Scores of food groups contribute to the specific nutrient adequacy in Tehranian men. European Journal of clinical Nutrition 59 (11): 1233 – 40.

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● HDDS does not include food not prepared in the home. Excludes food purchased from outside.

Table 3.1 shows mean dietary diversity score (HDDS) according to the governorate. The overall mean HDD score is 5.9. The mean HDDS in the four governorates was high ranged from 6.8 in Giza governorate to 5.7 in Beni Suef governorate.

Table 3.1: Household Dietary Diversity Score Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Mean Household Dietary Diversity 5.7 5.8 6.8 5.8 5.9 Score

Total 167 164 110 104 545

In addition to calculating mean dietary diversity scores, it is also important to know which food groups are typically consumed by households at different levels of dietary diversity. This provides information on the foods that are eaten by those with the lowest dietary diversity, and which foods are added by those with a higher score. One of the methods employed in defining cutoff points for assessing varying levels of dietary diversity in populations is to create terciles based on the number of food groups consumed. Dietary diversity groups were adopted in this study to determine the proportion of households scoring low (≤ 4 food groups), medium (5-8 food groups), and high (≥ 9 food groups) on the dietary diversity scale.

Table 3.2 indicates that the predominant food groups in the diet were: cereal/grains (69%), vegetables (67%), oil and fats (65%), and white tuber and roots (65%). The majority of households consumed legumes (55%) and milk (59%). Two thirds of households consumed meat (64%), and fruits (61%). Six in 10 households consumed eggs, and a very low percentage consumed fish (31%). The same trend was observed among all governorates.

Table 3.2: % Of households consuming different Food groups by dietary diversity Household Dietary Diversity Lowest dietary Medium High dietary diversity (≤ 4 dietary diversity (≥9 food groups) diversity (5-8 food groups) food groups)

Food groups:

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Cereals 3.0 98.0 99.1 White tuber and roots 1.8 85.6 98.7 Vegetables 1.8 93.5 98.7 Fruits 0.0 74.5 97.8 Meat 1.2 83.0 99.6 Eggs 0.0 61.4 98.2 Fish and other seafood .6 17.0 62.8 Legumes, nuts and seeds 0.0 58.8 94.6 Milk and milk products 0.0 69.9 96.9 Oil and fats 2.4 86.3 97.3 Other (sweets,…) 3.0 97.4 97.8

Governorates Beni-Suef 33.1 27.5 30.9 Minya 33.1 28.1 29.1 Giza 14.8 18.3 25.6 Behira 18.9 26.1 14.3

Average family monthly income Low 40.2 47.7 36.8 Medium 37.3 35.3 48.4 High 22.5 17.0 14.8

Total 153 169 223 -

Table 3.2 presents the percentage of households consuming different food groups per dietary diversity group. Data showed a low number (153) of households in the lowest tercile was low (153) compared to the number of households in the medium and highest terciles (169 and 223 respectively).

The data also revealed that food groups in the lowest tercile were mostly energy foods (cereals, oils and fats, and others including sweets). Protein rich food groups increased progressively with the tercile level, the medium tercile included 3 protein rich food groups where the highest tercile level included 4 protein rich food groups (meat, egg, legumes, and milk).

Among households with lowest dietary diversity (≤ 4 food groups), 33% each were in Beni Suef and Minya, while only 15% were in Giza. Households with medium dietary diversity (5-8 food groups) most likely to be with low average household monthly income (48%), while the majority of households with high dietary diversity (≥9 food groups) were more likely to be with medium average household monthly income (48%).

Data from the qualitative interviews showed the distribution of the different food groups in the different meals of the day. Women reported beans, falafel, egg, cheese, and milk as the most common breakfast for the whole household. Others mentioned eating eggplant, onion, tomatoes, potatoes, lentils, vermicelli, and honey for breakfast. For lunch, cooked vegetables

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(stuffed or fried), including zucchini, potatoes, molokhia (traditional green leaves dish), eggplants, okra, Keshk (another traditional dish made with flour, yogurt, and butter), black eyed beans, green beans, peas, with pasta or pasta bechamel or rice, with chicken or beef were consumed.

Four women from Giza and Beni Suef reported cooking this full meal only once a week, and 4 other women from Giza and Beni Suef reported cooking it twice a week, and the rest of the days eating for lunch the same as breakfast. Only two women from Beheira stated that they eat fish because it is not very expensive there when they buy it directly from fishermen. Beheira is located on the coast and so fish markets are more accessible than in other governorates. Finally, for dinner, they listed fruits such as apple, melon, watermelon, grapes, or cheese with watermelon, cheese with Chipsy, or cheese with milk. Chipsy is the PEPSICO brand of potato chips in Egypt, and it is widely known, so people call any other potato chips brand “Chipsy”.

Family members usually eat meals together and the majority stated that there is therefore no priority given to any member of the family regarding particular foods.. However, one woman stated that she gives priority to her elderly parents who live with her as they need more nutrients. Some other women mentioned that they set aside extra money to buy beef or chicken because their children like it, and this is the most expensive item that they spend on food. Some of them rear chicken so it’s more accessible than beef. Finally, whenever they buy fruits, children like it more than adults in the family.

Data suggest that food groups are available but their intake of quantities and frequencies as well as balance cannot be guaranteed, as qualitative data show that households cook twice or once a day, including meat or chicken, specifically in Beni-Suef and Beheira. The following conclusions may be drawn from the above results:

- Main food groups consumed in the household were energy foods mostly, cereals, fat and oil, and sweets. Percentage consumption of fish was very small compared to other food groups. - The mean Household Dietary Diversity Score was high, indicating that around 60 % of household population are consuming more than 9 food groups. - The data on percentage households consumed different food groups by dietary diversity tercile provided more pronounced details. The number of households in the lowest tercile (the poor group) was small and completely dependent on consumption of energy food groups. - Protein rich food groups increased progressively with the tercile level, the medium tercile included 3 protein rich food groups where the highest tercile level included 4 protein rich food.

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- Percentage of daily consumption of vegetables and fruits was high among the total household population; however, it was not included in the food groups of the lowest tercile and markedly high in the medium and high terciles, indicating that vitamins and minerals deficiency could be considered as a nutrition problem among the lowest tercile of the selected sample.

Thus, the lowest number of households is at the lowest level of dietary diversity, which is a good indicator to a good nutritional status to the larger number of households. However, there remains variation between different villages, and food consumption is not on the regular intake level, but rather according to availability. It is also not on a daily basis, and households at the highest level of dietary diversity with high protein intake, and meals with balanced nutrients are only once or twice a week. It is also worth mentioning that many women do not have the knowledge of how to have balanced affordable meals.

Table 1.3: Nutrition Consumption of Households % of households who consume at least 5 out of 10 defined food groups

Age 18-24 96.2 25-29 77.8 30-34 67.6 35-39 63.9 40-44 69.3 45-50 48.0 Total % 69.0 Total number 545

Women cook the vegetables including zucchini, potatoes, molokhia (traditional green leaves dish), eggplants, okra, black eyed beans, green beans, and peas in tomato and onion and garlic

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with spices. As mentioned by many women, cooking is not on daily basis, and can be only once or twice a week. They refer to it as the common or normal recipe that everyone does, which they call “tasbeekah” and throw the vegetables in it to be cooked. The majority of women respondents (f=17) said they learned to cook mainly from family members (i.e. mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and mothers in-law). Other sources of learning include television programs (f=7) on CBC and MBC channels, friends or neighbors (f=5), and the internet (f=3). One woman mentioned that the recipes she sees on TV are using ingredients that are not accessible to her or they use big quantities that she cannot afford. Four women mentioned learning new dessert recipes although they have not mentioned them when they were asked what kinds of food the family eats so it is not a regular intake for the family. Data indicated that 56% of the respondents can take decisions related to foods (available in the house) they can eat and 55% mentioned they decide what food to prepare on a daily basis.

Production for Household Consumption

Consuming from household production can influence how the food is processed and accordingly influence the quality of meals. Figure 2 shows that only 6% of households produced or sold any agricultural or homestead garden crops during the last 12 months, data also indicated that production from homestead was highest in Beheira governorate (12%), followed by Minya (9%) and Giza (3%), while the lowest production was in Beni Suef with only 1%. The same pattern was observed between households who produced or sold any agricultural crops or crops cultivated by the household during the past 12 months.

Concerning using any of family agricultural production for household consumption, data showed that 71% of households used any of the family agricultural production for household nutrient consumption, this percent was higher between households whose head was older (45-50 years). Moreover, Giza and Minya governorates had the highest use of their family agricultural production (86% and 84% respectively), while lowest was in Beheira (60%).

Slightly different pattern was observed between households in different governorates in consuming their family animal production which is not for sale. Households in Giza showed the highest percent of using their own animal production (89%), while Beheira came in second place with 88%, followed by Beni Suef then Minya (83% and 82% respectively).

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Data presented in figure 3 showed a weak direct relationship between percent of households who use any of the family agricultural production and size of household, while indicating a weak negative relationship between percent of households who use any of the family animal production (production not for sale) and the size.

Qualitative interviews revealed inconsistent or lack of planned decisions on what is to be sold and what is to be used at home. Men typically make decisions on produce from the farm including when, where, and who to sell it to whilst women make more decisions about household consumption needs, especially around small animals and birds. Consumption varies from one

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household to the other, but factors such as needing money to cover a social commitment, weddings or baby showers, for example, can influence the decision on what to sell and what to consume. Social commitments are deemed critical as it tarnishes a family’s reputation (if not fulfilled). This is why there was no significant relationship between the size of the household and the use of produce. The use of produce is not dependent on household size but can be based on what produce is marketable as per the qualitative data. In addition, animal rearing is a very common practice for women in all villages; however, qualitative data show that very few women depend on it as an income generating activity. These women got a micro loan from another project and learned the skills to manage the finances of the project. Finally, although livestock production is a common practice and existing asset in communities, especially for women, one of the challenges revealed by women in Beni Suef is limited land/space around the house to grow bird production business, which explains the low percentage of households engaged in home- based vegetable and animal production. Quantitative and qualitative data reveal that they do not have the skills to utilize an existing resource of livestocks.

Women Nutrition during Pregnancy Table 3.4 shows that 18% of women out of 381 have been pregnant or given birth within the past one year (including currently pregnant) and 91% of them consulted a doctor or went to a clinic during her current or most recent pregnancy. Seventy percent of women who have been pregnant or given birth within the past one year (including currently pregnant) ate eggs during her current or most recent pregnancy. Data also showed that among women who have been pregnant or given birth recently, 70% consumed milk or milk products, and 87% ate meat, poultry or fish.

Table 3.4: Women health during pregnancy % of women who % of women have been % of women who % of women % of women who who ate meat, pregnant or given consult a doctor who ate eggs consumed milk or poultry or fish birth within the or went to a clinic during her milk products during her past 1 year during her current current or during her current current or most Includes currently or most recent most recent or most recent recent pregnant pregnancy pregnancy pregnancy pregnancy

Governorates Beni-Suef 24.3 88.9 66.7 70.4 81.5 Minya 24.5 96.3 66.7 70.4 88.9 Giza 5.8 100.0 80.0 80.0 80.0 Behira 14.9 81.8 81.8 63.6 100.0

Average family

monthly income (EGP)

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Low 20.8 87.9 66.7 60.6 84.8 Medium 16.7 96.3 74.1 81.5 88.9 High 16.7 90.0 70.0 70.0 90.0

Total % 18.4 91.4 70.0 70.0 87.1 Total number 381 70 70 70 70 -

Data from the qualitative interviews show that the majority of women interviewed (f=13) who were pregnant before did not change their diet during pregnancy. Four women mentioned that they lost their appetite while pregnant and they refused to eat beef, and one of them needed vitamins during pregnancy, which was prescribed by a doctor. Only two mentioned that they do not have the luxury to choose what to eat, stating that they used to eat cheese and bread or cheese and lettuce because that was the only thing available. Another two had anemia during pregnancy and they were advised by their doctor to eat food that contains iron such as eggplants, meat, molasses, liver and fish. Common food mentioned that they used to eat during pregnancy were apple, yogurt, milk, cheese, egg, fruits, vegetables, juice, chocolate and sugar. Data show that pregnant women eat dairy products and have protein intake but eat foods low in micronutrients, such as iron, which can affect their health. Low levels of nutrition knowledge among women may be explained by low and inconsistent antenatal visits during pregnancy to access relevant information and services that could potentially detect and treat micronutrient deficiencies and complications.

Women Nutrition during Breastfeeding Data also indicated that 83% of women who have been pregnant or given birth within the past year (including currently pregnant) have breastfed before, with an overall average of 15 months of breastfeeding with the last baby. This average varies a lot between governorates where women in Beni Suef showed an average of 20 months, while women in Beheira reported an average of 9 months of breastfeed with the last baby. 83% of women who ate eggs when her youngest child was being breastfed, while 75% of women who have been pregnant or given birth within the past one year including currently pregnant consumed milk or milk products, 92% ate meat, poultry or fish when her youngest child was being breastfed.

Women who were interviewed reported eating tahini, watercress and green leaves, vegetables, Halawa which is a sweet spread of blocks made from tahini but is high in sugar, molasses, milk, egg, dates, fish, radish and vegetables, and sugar and sweets, while a few of them said they avoid onion, garlic, and spicy and salty food. Only four of the women mentioned no change in their diet during pregnancy, one of which said she does not have the luxury to eat certain things, stating sarcastically, “No, because there is no food variety available for me that I can choose from what

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to eat, I eat anything that is available”. Although women interviewed appeared to have some knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding they lack detailed information around this. The main three benefits women mentioned were, ‘breast milk is an immunity booster’ (f=11); ‘it is cleaner than formula milk because it is not exposed to air while bottles can get infected’ (f=9); and ‘it has more nutrients’ (f=5). Only one participant mentioned calcium benefit. Women (f=4) are also aware of the disadvantages of formula milk such as it bloats the babies and causes diarrhea. Some of the cognitive benefits (f=3) stated were having higher IQs and developing the nervous system, and helps with understanding and behavioral benefits (f=2) such as being calmer and being an obedient and calm child. Two of the mothers stated that one of the benefits of breastfeeding is that no one knows how much the child eats and this is a cultural belief to protect their children from evil eyes that they never say how much a child eats. This is considered a benefit for the mother, culturally, while in fact it does not allow her to know if the child is underfed or overfed specially, if there is little awareness and limited follow up with doctors on child weight and growth.

More benefits were listed by different women such as being a cheaper and easier option than having to wake up at night, wash bottles and prepare formulas, and pay money for the formula. Protection from breast cancer of the mother and developing a connection between mother and child were mentioned once each.

Women prefer breastfeeding than formula and stated that it has more benefits; one stated: “As they say in our own language, there are three holes; one for food, one for water and one for fruits”. This is how she explained the benefits of breast milk. While this is a good thing that women know some of the benefits but it also puts pressure on the mother who doesn’t breastfeed as one stated, “In our communities, the mum that doesn’t have breast milk, and who is unable to breastfeed and buys formula, cries her eyes out from the oppression she faces”. Only three women explained these challenges they went through during breastfeeding and they were not having enough milk so she only breastfed for 3 months, having to go through surgery (it seemed to be nipple inversion from her explanation) to be able to breastfeed, and finally, feeling dizzy and tired because she used to breastfeed her child all day and night with no timings; the baby was always on her breast. While there is some knowledge on the benefits of breastfeeding and the kind of food to consume during breastfeeding, there seem to be some misconceptions such as eating sugar will increase milk and feeding the child all the time - which is not responsive feeding as she said, “I feel dizzy because my son is always on my breast, day and night” . There also seems to be a high level of persistence to breastfeed children.

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Breastfeeding

As mentioned before only 70 women out of 381 (18%) have been pregnant or given birth within the past year including currently pregnancy. Out of these 70 women, 68 had a child 0-6 months during the survey. Among them, 77% were currently breastfeeding, 19% fed their baby formula milk, and only 16% have exclusively breastfed their babies.

Although all women with a child 0-6 months in Giza governorate were currently breastfeeding, none of them exclusively breastfed their babies. While 22% of women with a child in age 0-6 months in Beni Suef governorate exclusively breastfed their babies, only 15% in Minya governorate, and 10% in Beheira exclusively breastfed their infant children, 0-6 months.

Complementary Feeding

Qualitative data was used to identify complementary feeding practices. It is worth mentioning that not all women interviewed were breastfeeding or had children under the age of two, but almost all of them had had children and were asked about feeding practices before their children turned 2 years. The majority started introducing solid food at 6 months, while a few fed them started at 4-5 months or 7-8 months of age. Few of the mothers (f=3) exclusively breastfed their children till the age of 1.5 or 2 years because their baby continued to explain the reasons of delayed food as either pneumonia or because they refused to eat, or because the mother thought it was sufficient for them. The most common food that mothers introduced were yogurt, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, steamed rice, pasta, egg, milk, steamed vegetables like carrots and zucchini, fruits, Nestle Cerelac , and letting them taste (putting food on the tip of their fingers and making the babies try it) from family meals.

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Negative practices identified with complementary feeding included feeding children food that contain sugar and little other nutrients such as biscuits and cake.

Most women get their information from an elder in the family (f=5), others get it from doctors (f=5), some from the PHCCs (f=3) when they visit for vaccines, they give them instructions on what to feed their children relevant to the age, and finally only two women attended sessions by doctors in an organization and in a church (f=2), where they talk to them about children’s nutrition and wellbeing, and equally (f=2) from TV programs.

Table 3.5: Breastfeeding Practices % of women % of women who % of women who currently Fed their baby Exclusively breastfed breastfeeding formula milk their babies

Governorates Beni-Suef 80.0 9.5 22.2 Minya 66.7 27.8 15.4 Giza 100.0 20.0 0.0 Behira 75.0 22.2 10.0

Total % 76.5 18.9 16.2 Total number of women 68 68 68 with infants (0-5 months)

Appropriate nutrition includes feeding children a variety of foods to ensure that nutrient requirements are met. Vitamin-A rich fruits and vegetables should be consumed daily. Although eating a range of fruits and vegetables, especially those rich in vitamin A is important, studies have shown that plant-based complementary foods by themselves are insufficient to meet the needs for certain micronutrients9. Therefore, it is recommended that meat, poultry, fish or eggs should be eaten daily, or as often as possible. Fat also is important in the diets of infants and young children because it provides essential fatty acids, facilitates absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamin A), and enhances dietary energy density and palatability.

Table 3.6 provides information on foods and liquids consumed over 24-hours prior to the survey by their youngest child under age 2. Children who are still breastfed are less likely to consume

9 World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF). 1998. Complementary Feeding of Young Children in Developing Countries: A Review of Current Scientific Knowledge. Geneva: World Health Organization.

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various types of foods than children who are not being breastfed. In general, the most frequently consumed foods among breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding children were foods made from grains, made from vitamin-A rich fruits and vegetables foods, Animal source/ flesh foods, and Fat and Oil.

Table 3.6: Foods and liquids consumed by children in the day or night preceding the interview Food groups: Vitamin-A Animal rich fruits Any

source/ Fat and Other solid or Grains, Legumes Dairy flesh and vegetable vegetable semisolid Staples and nuts products foods Oil s s food

All CHILDREN (Total)

Age of children 6-8 months 25.0 0.0 33.3 16.7 33.3 16.7 16.7 16.7 9-23 months 88.1 28.6 64.3 76.2 69.0 76.2 64.3 26.2

Total 74.1 22.2 57.4 63.0 61.1 63.0 53.7 24.1

BREASTFEEDING CHILDREN

Age of children 6-8 months 27.3 0.0 36.4 18.2 36.4 18.2 18.2 18.2 9-23 months 82.1 28.6 60.7 67.9 64.3 75.0 53.6 32.1

Total 66.7 20.5 53.8 53.8 56.4 59.0 43.6 28.2

NON-BREASTFEEDING CHILDREN

Age of children 6-8 months 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9-23 months 100.0 28.6 71.4 92.9 78.6 78.6 85.7 14.3

Total 93.3 26.7 66.7 86.7 73.3 73.3 80.0 13.3

Dietary Diversity

Appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices include the timely initiation of feeding solid/semi-solid foods from age six months and increasing the amount of foods and frequency of feeding as the child gets older while maintaining frequent breastfeeding. Guidelines have been

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established with respect to appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices for children aged 6-23 months10.

Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD) is one of 8 infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicators. It is a composite indicator of Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) and Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF). Therefore, minimum acceptable diet measures minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency as follows:

● MAD = MDD + MMF

MDD measures the diversity of foods a child between 6-23 months had the previous day. It is recommended that a child 6-23 months should have food from at least 4 of the 7 food groups. So, the question asked to mothers and caregivers was what foods were fed to the child the previous day (day before the interview). MMF measures the minimum number of times a child was fed the previous day. The 6-23 month of child should be fed the minimum times per age or more as follows;

● 6-8-month-old breastfeeding child – 2 times plus breastfeeding ● 9-23-month-old breastfeeding child – 3 times plus breastfeeding ● 6-23-month-old non-breastfeeding child – 4 times a day

Table 3.7 presents summary indicators of appropriate feeding practices that are useful in assessing the quality of infant and young child feeding practices (IYCF). The indicators show the percentages of children for whom feeding practices meet minimum standards with respect to both food diversity (i.e., the number of food groups consumed) and feeding frequency (i.e., the number of times the child was fed). Breastfed children are considered as being fed appropriately if they consume at least four food groups and receive food or liquids other than breast milk at least twice per day in the case of infants 6-8 months and at least three times in the case of children 9-23 months. Non-breastfed children are considered to be fed appropriately if they consumed solid or semi-solid foods from at least four foods.

Table 3.7: MAD Score of children who are 6-23 months BREASTFEEDING CHILDREN NON-BREASTFEEDING CHILDREN All CHILDREN (Total) # of # of MMF # of MDD1 MMF2 MAD children MDD1 MMF3 MAD children MDD1 4 MAD children

Age of children

10 Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). 2003. Guiding Principles for Complementary Feeding of the Breastfed Child. Washington, D.C./Geneva, Switzerland: PAHO/WHO. World Health Organization (WHO). 2005. Guiding Principles for Feeding Non breastfed Children 6 to 24 Months of Age. Geneva: WHO.

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6-8 months 27.3 0.0 27.3 11 0.0 0.0 0.0 1 25.0 0.0 25.0 12 9-23 months 78.6 3.6 82.1 28 92.9 0.0 92.9 14 83.3 2.4 85.7 42

Total 64.1 2.6 66.7 39 86.7 0.0 86.7 15 70.4 1.9 72.2 54

Note that: MDD: is Minimum Dietary Diversity. MMF: is Minimum Meal Frequency. MAD: Minimum Acceptable Diet is one of 8 infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicators. It is a composite indicator of Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) and Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF). 1 MDD for Breastfeeding children include: A) Grains, Staples, b) Legumes and nuts, c) infant formula, milk other than breast milk, cheese or yogurt or other Dairy products, d) Animal source/ flesh foods, e) Fat and Oil, f) Vitamin-A rich fruits and vegetables, and g) Other vegetables. 2 For breastfed children, the minimum meal frequency is receiving solid or semi-solid food at least twice a day for infants 6-8 months and at least three times a day for children 9-23 months. 3 For non-breastfed children aged 6-23 months, the minimum meal frequency is receiving solid or semi-solid food or milk feeds at least four times a day. 4 Children are fed the minimum recommended number of times per day according to their age and breastfeeding status as described in footnotes 2 and 3.

As shown in Figure 5, non-breastfed children were much less likely to be fed the minimum number of times and somewhat more likely to have received foods from the minimum number of groups compared to breastfed children. Overall, however, breastfed children were less likely than non-breastfed children to have a minimum acceptable diet. With respect to differences in feeding practices by background characteristics, the proportion of children for whom feeding practices complied with minimum standards increased with the child’s age.

N.B: breastmilk was counted and taken into consideration in calculating MDD-score. However, there were some issues regarding children data results:

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First, data includes only 54 child in age 6-23 months, distributed as follows:

- Age: 6-8 months (12 child), 9-23months (42child). - Breastfeeding children (39 child), non-breastfeeding children (15 child).

Only 22% of the children ate any solid, semi-solid, or soft foods . These children ate any solid, semi-solid, or soft foods with the following distribution of meal frequencies: 5 children ate once a day, 5 children ate twice a day and 2 children ate 3 times a day. No children were fed more than 3 times a day.

Second, women were not asked in the Minimum Acceptable Diet section about the number of times non-breastfeeding children ate any milk (tinned, powdered, or fresh), or infant formula, or yogurt. Thus, the number of children who took 2 or more feedings of infant formula, fresh, tinned, or powdered milk, and yogurt could not be calculated.

Third, latest data in Egypt indicated that MDD score among non-breastfeeding children was higher than breastfeeding children (59%, and 34%)11. The number of children in this study has its bad impact on results of Infant and young children feeding practices indicators in general, as these indicators are sensitive regarding number of children, because these indicators are based on recalling data regarding child for day prior interview.

Table 3.8 presents several indicators that are useful for assessing whether young children are receiving an adequate intake of Vitamin A, and iron. They include the percentage of young children less than two years of age who consumed fruits and vegetables rich in Vitamin A, and Percentage of youngest children less than two years of age who consumed foods rich in iron in the last 24 hours.

Table 3.8 indicates that, among young children aged 6-23 months, 7 in 10 children consumed foods rich in Vitamin A and 63% consumed foods rich in iron on a daily basis. Consumption of Vitamin A-rich foods increased with the age of the child and was greater among children in Giza, while consumption of iron-rich foods was higher among children in Beheira.

Table3.8: Micronutrient intake among children Among youngest children age 6-23 months % who consumed foods % who consumed

rich in vitamin A in last 24 foods rich in iron in last # of hours1 24 hours2 children

Age of children 6-8 months 25.0 16.7 12 9-23 months 81.0 76.2 42

11 Ministry of Health and Population [Egypt], El‐Zanaty and Associates [Egypt], and ICF International. 2015. Egypt Demographic and Health Survey 2014. Cairo, Egypt, and Rockville, MD: MOHP and ICF International.

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Age 18-24 50.0 44.4 18 25-29 81.3 75.0 16 30-34 100.0 91.7 12 35-39 50.0 50.0 4 40-44 0.0 0.0 2 45-50 0.0 0.0 1

Governorates Beni-Suef 44.4 38.9 18 Minya 77.8 72.2 18 Giza 85.7 71.4 7 Behira 80.0 80.0 10

Total 68.5 63.0 54

1 Includes meat (and organ meat), fish, poultry, eggs, pumpkin, yellow sweet potatoes or squash, carrots, dark green leafy vegetables, and Vitamin A Rich Fruits as mango. 2 Includes meat (including organ meat), fish, poultry and eggs.

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4. SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Access to Healthcare Services for Households

Concerning access by women to health and nutrition services for themselves or their children, data showed a similar pattern between percent of women who sought a doctor in a private clinic advice for themselves and percent of women who sought a doctor in a private clinic advice for their children. Data presented in Figure 6 and Figure 7 indicated that the highest numbers of women seeking a doctor in a private clinic for advice for themselves or for their children was observed between women aged 18-24 years, followed by women in the age 25-29 group.

Data also indicated that women were more likely to consult a doctor in a private clinic when the health or nutrition issue was related to their children, regardless of their demographic characteristics. Women aged 35-44 years, in Giza and Beheira preferred to visit health clinics when the health or nutrition issue related to themselves.

Qualitative data theme that was most frequently mentioned about women’s access to healthcare services preferred to go to doctors in private clinics, followed by public hospitals available in their villages. There are indications however, of limited access to public hospitals during the recent COVID-19 related restrictions. The next frequently mentioned theme was the Primary Health

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Care Center (PHCC) as a service provider, followed by the least mentioned theme is not going for consultations at all but visited pharmacies for painkillers and over the counter drugs. The key determinant of women’s ability to access health services was mainly financial. One of themes from qualitative data is that women cannot afford the services of private clinics, which ranged from $3.17 to $6.34, depending on the urgency and severity of the condition. Data revealed that women often go to doctors only when they are severely sick, such as having a very bad flu or have a condition like epilepsy or cardiovascular problems (f=7), or when their children or husband is sick (f=3), while preferring to save the money when they themselves have ‘minor illnesses’. The preference is generally for private clinics and over public hospitals and PHCCs as women tend to have more confidence in private clinics because they are able to see a doctor and receive adequate services, while doctors are not available in the PHCCs in most specializations. Women generally access PHCCs for immunization and reproductive health services, which are very important to the health of the women at reproductive age and children.

Women Health at Reproductive Age

Data from qualitative interviews reveal that all women who are sexually active with their husbands receive reproductive health services, mostly through PHCCs, which is free. Only one respondent mentioned that her husband goes with her to a private clinic and there were no indications of who makes decisions on family planning (number of children and when to have them). However, it was found that doctors decide on the most appropriate method of birth control for the woman , which is supported by husbands. Almost all women surveyed have had experiences of methods either not effective or resulting in side effects which have led to changing to other forms of contraceptives. Common birth control methods include injections, interine uterine devices (IUD), and pills. This is consistent with the data from the Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) from 2014 which shows that 59% of married women use contraceptives, with the same 3 methods as the most widely used12. Very few women have stopped using contraceptives due to different reasons like having to abstain from intercourse because her husband has viruses as a result of drug abuse, or due to back surgery, or because theirs have conditions resulting from drug abuse, back surgery, or due to old age. Although fertility rates have decreased to 3.1% in 2018, the spacing between children is still a critical trend that puts the woman’s health at risk during pregnancy and delivery. Women are aware of family planning methods (and they all use it), but there remains to be work on other issues in reproductive health besides which methods to use.

12 https://egypt.unfpa.org/en/node/22543

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Women’s Work Load This need is also clear from the qualitative data reveal that the most themes (f=18) derived from interviews that the majority of women work in the farm or at home (livestock) throughout their pregnancy, in addition to house chores; and (f=11) did not work and were only involved in house chores. Receiving help was not a common theme (f=4) but when it was possible it was from their sister, sister in-law, mother, and mother-in-law. One of the women stated “I gave birth in the afternoon, and I was milking the cow when I came back from labor at night”. Another woman mentioned that the smell of the pumpkin in the farm made her throw up, others mentioned that it was difficult for them to carry heavy things or walk to the farm during different times of their pregnancy. The majority of women do not follow up with doctors during their pregnancy. These examples show significant pressure on women to follow strict gender roles and how they don’t have enough help and support from other family members to allow them to rest after giving birth. The responsibility of care work falls solely on women because if they do not perform it no one else will. In the interviews carried out with female farmers, women mentioned that the only person who could provide them with support when they are unavailable is their daughters, and if the daughters are married, no one else would help them, even if they have several other sons. Several women also expressed feelings of exhaustion and stress from having to take several roles and doing heavy duty physical work and taking care of the house while also taking roles in agriculture and other forms of care work.

Decision Making in Women Health Women were asked about who in the household generally makes decisions related to consulting a doctor or going to a clinic when the respondent is ill, resting time when respondent is ill, having a/another child, foods to prepare every day, and foods (available in the house) the respondent can eat. They were also asked about the extent she feels she could participate in these decisions if she wanted.

Only 7% of women reported that women generally decide regarding having a/another child. While we do not have data to show why the rate of contribution in the decision making is low, data from the Egyptian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS) conducted in 2014 reveal that 16% of births in the five-year prior to the survey were not wanted at the time of conception, while 66% of women believe that their husbands want more children than they do. In addition, data indicated that almost two-thirds of women participated in the baseline survey reported to have participated in making all these decisions except for having a/another child which was reported by 55% of women.

Almost one-third of women participated in the baseline survey reported that women generally make decisions related to consulting a doctor or go to a clinic when she is ill.

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In addition to that, data from the qualitative interviews reveal that women are the primary decision makers when it comes to breastfeeding, with 9 of them mentioning that it is their decision, some mentioned reasons because they are the only ones responsible to wake up at night and wash bottles and prepare formulas so she is to decide if she wants this or breastfeeding. However, some others mentioned that it’s not about the decision, and it’s more about fate, meaning if God wills that the woman has milk or not decides on that because they believe that no woman will refuse to breastfeed if she has sufficient milk. Only one woman stated that it is the doctor’s decision to introduce formula or not. This is linked to the fact that they all consult with mothers or mother in-laws when it comes to breastfeeding. Women’s attitudes toward breastfeeding are more dependent on instinct and basic information about what to eat during breastfeeding, but requires further awareness about breastfeeding and its benefits.

Table 4 : Decision making regarding women’s health and nutrition % of women who generally makes decisions in health and nutrition % of women who Participated in issues making decision1: Beni- Beni- Suef Minya Giza Behira Total Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Decision related to women Consult a doctor or go to a clinic when 19.0 31.3 49.1 34.6 31.7 64.9 66.3 75.5 62.5 67.0 respondent is ill Resting time when respondent is ill 48.8 54.0 52.7 48.1 51.0 64.9 62.0 75.5 69.2 67.0 Having a/another child 4.2 8.0 6.4 10.6 7.0 47.6 63.2 63.6 44.2 54.9 Foods to prepare every day 56.0 50.3 60.0 56.7 55.2 64.9 63.8 71.8 65.4 66.1 Foods (available in the house) respondent 55.4 52.1 65.5 51.9 55.8 65.5 62.6 72.7 67.3 66.4 can eat

Total number 111 110 86 74 381 111 110 86 74 381 -

1 Participated in making decisions include any kind of participation in making decisions even if it is low, medium or high extent. -

Child Health Qualitative data show that the most common theme is that women are on track with their children’s vaccination schedules. All children are vaccinated until 1.5 years, and they receive vaccinations at 1 week, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months and 18 months, which are administered at the PHCC. Most women do not know what the vaccines are and refer to them by the age as a reminder. In addition to these vaccines, there are campaigns by the

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Ministry of Health so when they hear about it, they all go to give it to their children. They usually do this in groups and the neighbors tell each other about the campaign and they go together. All vaccines are taken in the PHCCs available in their village. Children have vaccine cards and the PHCCs announce when there are campaigns or shots available for certain flus or viruses.

In regards to pediatric visits, women tend to take their children to a pediatrician only when they are really sick with a flu or have a certain condition, and they do that either in a public hospital or private clinics. They do not do regular follow-up and -checkup visits for their children because they cannot afford it and because they do not see why they should go to a doctor if there is no condition.

Decision Making in Child Health

Women were also asked about who in the household generally makes decisions related to young child health and nutrition. Questions included whether child is taken to a public health clinic or a private doctor when he/she is sick, Whether child gets vaccinations, Whether child visits the health clinic to see if he/she is growing well, How to feed child when he/she is sick, Who will care for child when respondent needs to go outside the home for an extended period of time, Sending child to school, Whether to breastfeed child, When to stop breastfeeding child, When to start introducing foods and liquids (other than breastmilk) to child, and Whether or not child in age 0- 6 months is fed special foods for children that programs or health workers tell child should be consumed. Data indicated that women were more likely than men to be the main decision makers when the issue was related to their child’s health or nutrition. Data also indicated other members of the household such as Grandparents (parents of mothers or fathers) also participated in decision making. Data showed that almost one third of women participated in the survey reported that they were the main decision maker related to their child health and nutrition, while only 18% of women reported that they are the main decision maker about who will care for a child when respondents need to go outside the home for an extended period of time. In addition, 19% of women reported that they are the main decision maker about sending a child to school. Women reported that men were less likely to be the main decision maker about these topics. However, 28% of women reported that their spouse generally makes decisions about sending a child to school, and 19% reported their spouse was the main decision maker about whether a child is taken to a clinic or a doctor when he/she is sick. In addition, data indicated that almost one third of women reported to have participated in making all these decisions except for “Whether child is taken to a clinic or a doctor when he/she is sick” and “Sending child to school” which was reported by 50% of women. Thus, when it comes

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to child health and access to education and health services, women tend to make joint decisions rather than being the sole decision maker.

5. SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Access to Markets

Marketing Practices

Respondents were asked whether they or anyone in their household sold any of the products from land, animal’s products during the last 12 months. Data presented in Figure 8 show that 26% of respondents sold farming or animal products during the last 12 months by themselves, 24% reported that their husbands sold the produce, 13% report both husband and wife sold produce jointly, and 9% admitted that nothing was sold.

Table 5.1 shows that 87% of respondents reported selling their produce during the last 12 months. Women were more likely to report selling their produce (90%).

Respondents were also asked about marketing practices they adopted. The majority of respondents mentioned that they sold their products individually to traders/collectors (72%) and 34% mentioned that they sold their products individually in the local market.

Table 5.1: Market linkage % of Practices used to sell the produce during the last 12 months: respondent s sold any of Sold in Sold their bulk via through

products Sold Sold farmer's contract during the individually individually / with last 12 in local to trader/ producer formal Contract months1 market collector group sector farming Others Improved2 Traditional3

Gender Men 78.3 35.6 68.9 22.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 73.9 Women 90.3 32.8 73.2 3.6 2.8 .8 2.4 3.2 86.6

Governorates

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Beni-Suef 83.5 10.4 81.3 8.3 0.0 1.0 2.1 .9 79.1 Minya 93.0 35.3 89.5 6.0 5.3 .8 .8 5.6 90.2 Giza 88.0 64.4 32.9 9.6 0.0 0.0 4.1 0.0 83.1 Behira 74.5 26.3 63.2 15.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 70.6

Total % 86.7 33.5 72.1 8.5 2.1 .6 1.8 2.3 82.9 Total number 392 392 392 392 392 392 392 392 392 -

1 % of respondents sold any of their products is calculated if respondent or his/her spouse or both of them report selling any of their products. 2 Improved practice includes: selling through contract with formal sector, or contract farming. 3 Traditional practice includes: Selling individually in local market, Selling individually to trader/collector, or Selling in bulk via farmer's/ producer group, or any other practice. -

Concerning access to market information, Table 5.2 points to the fact that almost 68% of respondents who received information about the market got it from collectors/traders (Middlemen), 13% from agro dealer/input, and 7% government extension agents. This pattern was the same between men and women and between respondents from different governorates.

Table 5.2: Market information Source(s) of market information: Government Collectors/ Input

Phones Extension Other Traders suppliers/ / SMS Radio TV Agents Procedures (Middlemen) Agro dealer NGOs Others

Gender Male 5.6 0.0 6.7 6.7 1.1 67.8 21.1 3.3 6.7 Women 2.8 0.0 4.4 7.2 1.2 68.4 9.6 1.6 6.0

Governorates Beni-Suef 0.0 0.0 6.3 18.8 0.0 56.3 6.3 1.0 10.4 Minya 6.0 0.0 3.8 2.3 1.5 88.7 15.8 3.0 4.5 Giza 2.7 0.0 4.1 2.7 2.7 58.9 12.3 2.7 4.1 Behira 5.3 0.0 7.9 2.6 0.0 44.7 18.4 0.0 5.3

Total % 3.5 0.0 5.0 7.1 1.2 68.2 12.6 2.1 6.2 Total number 392 392 392 392 392 392 392 392 392 -

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6. SFtW Outcome Area: Improving Access to Finance

Household Income Generation

As shown in Table 6.1, employment (formal) is the main source of income for the majority of interviewed respondents (53%). In addition, around one in five of respondents mentioned crop sales (own production, household gardening) as another source of income. Other sources were mentioned such as seed selling (cereals, vegetables, herbs) (10%), sales of livestock and livestock products such as milk and meat (7%).

No significant difference was found among governorates on respondents’ source of income. For example, occupation is the first main source of income in all governorates (29% or more). Growing and selling crops (own production, household gardening) is the second main source of income in all governorates with exception of Minya where the main second source of income is seed selling (cereals, vegetables, herbs) (27%), followed by crop sales (own production, household gardening) (26%).

Table 6.1: Major Source of Income Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Major sources of income Employment 48.8 55.1 64.9 29.4 50.0 75.0 53.2 Pension .6 2.4 0.0 3.1 .9 3.8 1.8 Crop sales (own production, Household 39.6 12.9 18.5 26.4 27.3 9.6 20.9 Gardening) Sales of livestock and livestock products (milk, 2.4 8.4 10.7 6.1 5.5 1.9 6.6 meat, Nursery products (vegetable, fruits/ forest 0.0 1.0 0.0 .6 2.7 0.0 .7 products, seedling) Seed selling (cereals, vegetables, herbs) 3.0 12.3 3.0 27.0 .9 1.9 9.5 Others 5.5 7.9 3.0 7.4 12.7 7.7 7.2

Main income earner Self 79.3 11.3 42.3 27.6 27.3 26.0 31.7 Spouse 4.3 61.2 36.3 44.8 48.2 51.0 44.0 Both 9.8 21.5 18.5 16.0 21.8 16.3 18.0 Children 1.2 0.0 .6 .6 0.0 0.0 .4 Others 5.5 6.0 2.4 11.0 2.7 6.7 5.9

Decisions regarding use of income Self 73.2 11.3 31.0 30.1 26.4 31.7 29.9 Spouse 4.3 40.7 23.8 27.6 36.4 35.6 29.7 Both 19.5 42.5 42.3 32.5 35.5 29.8 35.6 Children 3.0 5.5 3.0 9.8 1.8 2.9 4.8 Others 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

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Average monthly income of US$ 126.05 27.06 68.12 61.03 48.16 41.19 56.84 respondents Average monthly income of US$ 98.73 93.79 84.54 104.56 121.36 70.60 95.31 households

Total 164 381 168 163 110 104 545 -

Data presented in the table also indicated that men were main income earners, since 79% of male respondents reported that they were the main income earner for their households, and 61% of female respondents reported that their spouses were the main income earner for their household. However, women were more likely to report that both wife and husband were together the main income earner in the households than men (22%, and 10%, respectively). The same pattern was observed between women and men when they were asked about the primarily responsible for decisions regarding this income in the household. Qualitative data indicate themes from qualitative interviews show that women face challenges such as working in their families’ farms or in neighboring farms and not getting paid in return. Some women indicated that they don’t get paid adequately for their work/labor through qualitative interviews. Most of the time women were paid in kind (produce or meat during Islamic feast).

The data is consistent with the general trend in Egypt. A study conducted by UNWomen and Promundo in 2017 shows that 86.8 % of Egyptian men believe that a woman’s most basic role is to take care of the home and cook for the family13. Yet, at least 14% of households in Egypt are female headed14 and more importantly, 46% of women are doing unpaid labor for family owned businesses and 83.7 % of these unpaid women work in farming15. Strict and traditional gender roles are hard to be challenged in rural settings in Egypt, making it hard for men to report that their wives or daughters are the main breadwinners for the household, but as shown from the data, that does not mean that they are not contributing if not solely providing for the household’s income. In addition, all the work they do; which is unpaid, to save for the house (food or meat or others) is not considered as a form of breadwinning.

In addition, women face other challenges when trying to market their products and earn an income. As shown by the data, merchants can decide to not buy from them after agreeing, they

13 UNWomen (2017). Understanding Masculinities: International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) - Egypt - Key Findings (2016-2017). Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://egypt.unwomen.org/en/digital- library/publications/2018/04/images-study 14 CAPMAS. (2017). Press Release: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.capmas.gov.eg/Admin/News/PressRelease/20183714230_women2018%20%20nn_e.pdf 15 Masriya, A. (2016, April 09). 'My rights? What rights?' New study sheds light on women's unpaid work in Egypt. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://egyptindependent.com/my-rights-what-rights-new-study-sheds-light- women-s-unpaid-work-egypt/

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might face other security challenges in mobility or in the markets. These are all gender specific challenges, related to having negotiation power, access to a network who would ensure that no one can decide to not pay her for her work, challenges with mobility and accessing public transportation and a lack of a sense of security in public spaces.

Household Savings

Data presented in Table 6.2 showed that more than a quarter of the respondents have cash savings. Women are more likely to have cash savings than men (27%, and 23%, respectively).

Relatives, VSLAs and banks are some of the places where respondents keep their savings. Other places such as home, monthly group saving, and post office are preferred by majority of the respondents (59%). More than three quarters of respondents having cash savings reported that the main purpose of saving was to use in case of emergency, followed by to meet healthcare needs (23%), and meeting expenses for children’s marriage (20%).

Table 6.2: Savings Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of respondents with cash 23.2 27.0 7.7 39.9 40.9 17.3 25.9 savings Number of respondents 164 381 168 163 110 104 545

Main decision maker about

what to do with your savings Self 55.3 35.0 61.5 49.2 17.8 50.0 40.4 Spouse 5.3 8.7 7.7 4.6 8.9 16.7 7.8 Respondent and spouse 34.2 56.3 30.8 44.6 71.1 33.3 50.4 jointly Other household member 5.3 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.2 0.0 1.4

Place of Savings Relative 21.1 35.9 38.5 41.5 24.4 11.1 31.9 VSLAs 0.0 9.7 0.0 7.7 2.2 22.2 7.1 Bank 7.9 1.9 0.0 3.1 4.4 5.6 3.5 Other 71.1 54.4 61.5 47.7 71.1 66.7 58.9

Main purpose of savings In case of emergency 78.9 75.7 84.6 89.2 60.0 66.7 76.6 To purchase assets 7.9 4.9 0.0 4.6 4.4 16.7 5.7 Education 23.7 15.5 7.7 9.2 26.7 33.3 17.7 Health care 31.6 20.4 23.1 12.3 44.4 11.1 23.4 Prepare son/ daughter for 23.7 18.4 7.7 6.2 42.2 22.2 19.9 marriage Invest in small business 21.1 4.9 30.8 4.6 6.7 16.7 9.2

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Others 7.9 8.7 0.0 15.4 4.4 0.0 8.5

Total 38 103 13 65 45 18 141 -

Responses show that men reported having no savings and only one person who used to save before but he hasn’t been able to save since past two years because everything is getting very expensive. This can vary from one household to the other and the effect economic and health issues on it. Reasons for not saving for both men and women were due to limited income that is barely covering the expenses due to the high cost of living. The other common reasons appeared were meeting the medical expenses, having to build a house or having to spend on their daughter‘s marriage, or being in debt paying for her husband’s debt, or paying a loan which leaves them with almost no money to save.

Data from both quantitative and qualitative findings show that respondents from Minya and Giza are able to save, 40% and 41% respectively, as shown in Figure 9. Qualitative data indicates that women save from their own earnings, through investing in assets like buying gold, and putting their savings in thrift and credit groups. All women interviewed mentioned that they do not save in a bank but rather put their money in a gameya (group saving and lending) or save at their home.

This data is also consistent with global patterns that show that women are more likely than men to invest their money on the household and on their families, 90 % versus 35 % respectively, hence, it is important for them to save money to cover those expenses.

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Household Expenditures

Respondents were asked about their household expenditures in the week, month, and year prior the survey. Data in table 6.3 indicated that the highest mean weekly expenditure was on meat (18.06$ (285 EGP). The same patterns of weekly expenditure were observed between men and

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women, and between respondents in different governorates. Women and men were found to be equally involved in making decisions regarding weekly household expenditure (42%, 43% respectively).

Table 6.3: Weekly Expenditures Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total x Mean expenditure1 on: Legumes US$ 0.38 0.19 0.00 0.19 0.57 0.32 0.25 Meat US$ 17.74 18.19 20.47 7.92 32.64 14.70 18.06 Fish US$ 2.60 0.57 0.00 2.85 0.25 1.46 1.20 Vegetables US$ 0.44 1.14 0.44 1.01 1.14 1.46 0.95 Milk/ dairy products US$ 0.00 0.13 0.06 0.19 0.13 0.00 0.06 Fuel US$ 0.95 0.57 0.57 0.51 1.08 0.89 0.70 Other2 US$ 0.38 3.55 1.14 3.42 0.63 5.77 2.60

Main decision maker about

buying Self 42.7 41.5 41.7 52.8 29.1 38.5 41.8 Spouse 16.5 17.6 10.1 15.3 24.5 24.0 17.2 Both 37.2 32.5 45.8 20.2 40.9 28.8 33.9 Others 3.7 8.4 2.4 11.7 5.5 8.7 7.0

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

Note that: Calculation in dollar was based on the exchange rate in 27 September 2020, 1 US$ = 15.78 EGP. 1 mean expenditure was calculated based on week before interview. 2 Other include: oil spices/sugar/salt/biscuits -

Data presented in Table 6.4 shows that average monthly household expenditure of the respondents was $124.40 (1,963 EGP). Data indicated that the highest mean household expenditure in the month before the interview was on fees for doctor/ clinic ($20.28; 320 EGP), followed by rent or mortgage ($10.52; 166 EGP), and medicine ($6.02; 95 EGP). The same patterns of monthly expenditure was observed between respondents in different governorates.

58.5% of the men and only 20% of the women take decisions on the household expenditures. 47% of the women respondents mentioned that they decide jointly with their spouse, whereas 31% of the men do so. Furthermore, 28% of the women indicated that it’s their spouse who makes decisions on household expenditures.

Table 6.4: Monthly Expenditures Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

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Mean monthly expenditure1 US$ 139.35 117.93 129.28 126.68 132.26 104.44 124.40

Mean monthly expenditure on: Rent or mortgage US$ 20.66 6.08 10.96 15.65 5.64 6.78 10.52 Fees for Doctor/ clinic US$ 12.55 23.64 19.90 32.19 6.27 17.17 20.28 Medicine US$ 6.53 5.77 5.39 0.38 7.73 14.01 6.02 Mobile phone US$ 2.03 0.25 0.00 1.14 1.01 1.20 0.76 Toiletries and personal cosmetics US$ 0.32 0.32 0.13 0.63 0.32 0.06 0.32 Transportation US$ 0.00 0.19 0.00 0.19 0.19 0.13 0.13 Loaning money to friends or relatives US$ 1.14 0.19 0.00 0.19 0.32 1.84 0.44 Repayment of loans US$ 1.08 2.66 1.08 0.51 1.96 6.78 2.15 Others US$ 12.29 14.07 11.47 8.87 24.84 12.23 13.50

Main decision maker about buying Self 58.5 20.2 23.8 43.6 26.4 31.7 31.7 Spouse 7.3 27.8 21.4 14.1 33.6 21.2 21.7 Both 31.7 47.0 52.4 33.7 39.1 43.3 42.4

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

1 mean monthly expenditure was calculated based on month before interview. -

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Data presented in Table 6.5 showed that average yearly expenditure on major expenses. Data indicated that the highest mean expenditure in the year before the interview was on Events (marriage/ funeral) ($336.20; 5305 EGP on average), followed by Fertilizers/ seeds/ pesticides/ herbicides ($306.40; 4835 EGP on average), and clothing ($289.30; 1980 EGP on average). The same patterns of yearly expenditure were observed between men and women, and between respondents in different governorates.

Moreover, when it comes to yearly expenditure, data also indicated that both respondents and their spouses were the main decision makers about what to buy (46%), followed by respondents (24%) and spouse (23%).

Table 6.5: Yearly Expenditures Gender Governorates

Male Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Mean yearly expenditure1 on: Animal purchases US$ 121.36 86.63 43.41 188.97 37.77 102.34 97.08 Veterinary fees US$ 27.44 77.82 10.65 165.40 0.13 51.77 62.67 Fertilizers / seeds / pesticides / 253.87 329.02 154.31 627.82 64.20 304.44 306.40 herbicides US$ Irrigation pump/tubing US$ 1.52 1.65 0.00 5.45 0.00 0.00 1.65 Farming equipment/tools US$ 0.00 15.65 17.17 15.53 0.00 5.13 10.90

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Cooking utensils US$ 0.19 9.51 0.00 1.96 0.00 32.00 6.72 Furniture US$ 9.63 39.10 14.45 22.75 18.69 79.85 30.29 Appliances US$ 35.49 38.66 34.28 22.88 28.83 76.05 37.71 Clothing US$ 18.88 171.36 89.10 118.76 21.61 304.75 125.48 Means of transportation (car, 11.85 7.67 0.00 4.75 13.81 24.65 8.94 bike) US$ Paying taxes US$ 0.00 5.96 0.00 0.00 0.00 21.93 4.18 Events (marriage/ funeral) US$ 520.91 256.72 416.29 583.59 110.71 57.67 336.19 School fees US$ 18.44 111.34 121.86 28.26 132.51 55.77 83.40 Books and clothes US$ 22.56 76.30 45.50 12.29 129.59 85.30 60.14 Private lessons US$ 29.15 155.26 118.69 8.56 170.22 229.59 117.30 Purchasing of land US$ 161.91 9.13 15.08 168.76 0.00 0.00 55.13 Other expenses US$ 177.06 337.58 198.99 364.70 348.23 254.56 289.29

Main decision maker about buying Self 62.2 7.6 19.6 30.7 18.2 26.9 24.0 Spouse 5.5 29.9 17.9 24.5 28.2 21.2 22.6 Both 28.0 53.8 60.1 28.2 50.0 47.1 46.1

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

1 mean yearly expenditure was calculated based on year before interview. -

The most common household expenses were on food, followed by health care, children’s education; however, women from Beni Suef and Beheira have reported to spend on electricity, water and gas. Women also reported spending on paying back debts like loans or saving and lending groups “gameya”, while men did not mention this as a line item in spending. Men are also reported to spend on their parent’s medication when they live with them.

Loans

Respondents were asked about their access to credit, whether they took out any loans during the past 12 months, type of loans they took, average value of loans, and percent of respondents managed to pay off the loan. Moreover, they were asked about reasons for taking loans, decision maker, source of loans, and main purpose of loans.

Data show that only 15% of respondents have taken out any loans the last 12 months, women were more probable to

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take out a loan than men by 5 percentage points (17%, and 12% respectively), presented in figure 13.

Qualitative data also show that themes of not taking loans by men was the most common among men, since all men reported to not take loans before, due to fear of not being able to pay back because they don’t have a fixed salary. Being in agriculture makes the income inconsistent, and it would be seen as a scandal among their village if they did not pay back, so they fear getting into trouble. Not willing to be in debt is another common reason why people do not take out loans. The least prevalent The least these response is that taking loan is seen to be forbidden by Islam because of the interest involved. This suggests that perception, religious beliefs and how community views borrowers play a big role in ability for people to borrow money more than availability of money and an ability to meet the lending requirements.Women who did not take loans mentioned the same reasons as their men counterparts. A few women, (f=8), on the contrary, reported having taken loans before, with one person having trouble to pay it back and she got into jail because of that. Among the women who took loans, mentioned that they took loan in their names and share it with a neighbor or a friend or a group of ladies, and every month one of them pays it. Of course, this is without any signing of documents which puts the women at very high risk. . Women who reported taking loans, the loan amount ranged from USD 126 to 634, and they used it to build a house, repair the kitchen or bathroom, buy a fridge, get things for her children, for her daughter’s marriage, or for her brother’s marriage. Only two mentioned taking a loan from an organization to start a project to grow chicken. They also reported taking loans from private sector (company) (f=3), NGOs (f=2), banks (f=2) - [Cairo Bank and Banque Misr, and a lady known in their village. Both men and women agreed that loans are accessible but that more women are taking loans. This data again is consistent with previous patterns showing that women tend to save more to make sure there is money available for their family. Even when they borrow, they are willing to put themselves in debt to cover the family and house expenses.

Percent of respondents in Beni-Suef and Minya governorates were slightly higher respondents in Giza and Behira in taking loans.

Data also indicated that there is a direct positive correlation between participants who took out loans and household size members, where this percent increases by increasing the number of household members.

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Data in table 6.6 also showed that among respondents who reported taking loans in the past 12 months, 98% of them took a cash loan, while only 2% took an in-kind loan, data indicated that these in-kind loans were taken by women in Minya and Behira governorates.

Respondents reported that the average amount of loans was about $871.86 (13758 EGP). Data indicated that the average amount of loans varies between respondents in different governorates, where average of loans in Beni Suef was the highest ($1424.46 ; $/22,478 EGP), while Giza was the lowest ($435.68;$/ 6,875 EGP).

In addition, less than half of the respondents who took loans within the past 12 months managed to pay off their loan (44%). 50% of high average monthly income households took a loan and reported that they managed to pay it off. 70% of men managed to pay back. Highest number of respondents who paid back their loan were from Beni Suef and Giza (57% and 56% respectively).

Table 6.6: Access to Credit % of participants Average value of % of HH Number taken out any Type of Loan loan managed to of HH

loans the last 12 Number pay off the got months of HH Cash In kind US$ EGP loan loans

Gender Men 12.2 164 100.0 0.0 853.93 13475 70.0 20 Women 16.8 381 96.9 3.1 877.50 13847 35.9 64

Governorates Beni-Suef 16.7 168 100.0 0.0 1424.46 22478 57.1 28 Minya 16.6 163 96.3 3.7 572.94 9041 29.6 27 Giza 14.5 110 100.0 0.0 435.68 6875 56.3 16 Behira 12.5 104 92.3 7.7 839.48 13247 30.8 13

Number of HH

members 1-3 11.8 136 100.0 0.0 439.67 6938 56.3 16

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4-6 16.0 294 95.7 4.3 1043.85 16472 44.7 47 7+ 18.3 115 100.0 0.0 816.29 12881 33.3 K

Average family

monthly income Low 12.1 223 96.3 3.7 682.26 10766 40.7 27 Medium 18.2 225 97.6 2.4 669.26 10561 43.9 41 High 16.5 97 100.0 0.0 1711.09 27001 50.0 16

Total 15.4 545 97.6 2.4 871.86 13758 44.0 84 -

Note that: Calculation in dollar was based on the exchange rate in 27 September 2020, 1 US$ = 15.78 EGP. -

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Data showed that only 17% of respondents who did not take any loans in the past 12 months wanted to borrow or get a loan. Which means that the majority of respondents did not take any loans and did not want to.

Data indicated a huge difference between men and women who wanted to borrow or get a loan, as nearly a quarter of the women wanted to borrow compared to only 5% of men.

Figure 16 illustrates that 49% of respondents who wanted to borrow but did not get a loan cite being afraid of their ability to pay back the money or they were uncertain of paying back, while 22% reported that interest rate and other costs were too high.

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Banks were observed to be the most preferred source of getting loans as reported by respondents (27%), followed by MFI (24%) then NGOs (20%). Friends and other community groups were the least reported source of loans.

Data presented in Figure 19 shows the main purpose of loan taken and indicated that purchasing livestock and agricultural inputs or seeds were the two most common mentioned purposes of

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loans (14% each), followed by business capital (13%). Few respondents mentioned that they took a loan for housing (2%) or to repay another loan (4%).

Table 6.7: Purpose of loans Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Main purpose of the loan Business capital 5.0 15.6 3.6 11.1 37.5 7.7 13.1 Purchase agricultural inputs/seed 20.0 12.5 14.3 22.2 12.5 0.0 14.3 Purchase/lease of land for 35.0 4.7 14.3 14.8 0.0 15.4 11.9 agriculture To purchase livestock 30.0 9.4 17.9 11.1 12.5 15.4 14.3 Pay for school expenses 10.0 4.7 14.3 0.0 6.3 0.0 6.0 For medical expenses 5.0 14.1 10.7 7.4 6.3 30.8 11.9 To buy food 5.0 6.3 10.7 3.7 0.0 7.7 6.0 To buy clothing 5.0 6.3 7.1 3.7 6.3 7.7 6.0 Housing 0.0 3.1 3.6 0.0 0.0 7.7 2.4 To repay other loan 10.0 1.6 0.0 7.4 6.3 0.0 3.6 Prepare for son/ daughter marriage 10.0 10.9 17.9 7.4 12.5 0.0 10.7 Others 10.0 39.1 21.4 33.3 37.5 46.2 32.1

Total 20 64 28 27 16 13 84 -

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Decision Making on Finance and Access to Credit

Among respondents reported taking a loan in the past 12 months, data showed the percent distribution of the main decision maker to take out the loan and use of it.

30% of respondents were themselves the main decision maker to take out the loan. 26% of respondents reported that their spouse was the main decision maker to take out the loan. While 39% reported that the decision to take out the loan was made jointly between them and their spouses.

The majority of male respondents (85%) reported that they were the main decision maker to take out the loan, while the remaining 15% reported that they made that decision jointly between them and their spouses.

Unlike men, only 34% of the women respondents reported being the main decision maker to take out the loan, 47% reported that they made that decision jointly with their spouses. Exactly the same pattern of decision making regarding taking loans was observed in decision making on use of the loan.

Data presented in Figure 20 indicated that majority of respondents in Beni Suef and Beheira governorates (62%, and 50%, respectively) were themselves the main decision makers on use of savings, while respondents in Minya governorate were almost equally like to decide themselves

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or with their spouses about what to do with their savings, while respondents in Giza were the most likely to decide what to with saving jointly with their spouses (71%).

Qualitative data reveal that in general, men are the decision makers unless the woman is divorced or widowed, or her husband is very sick and has no economic activity or he doesn’t work or have an income. One woman said, “My husband is frustrated, he was a drug addict, he got viruses and strokes. For me and his children he is dead. His nonexistence is better. I am the man and woman at the same time”. Men see that they are the decision makers when it comes to taking loans because they are the ones responsible for paying back, however, women are more common to take the loan, or is the guarantee for the man when he takes the loan. Men and women see that the man is the decision maker because he is the one who works and is exposed, hence he should decide on savings and spending. Women also expressed their will to be decision makers as one of them said: “I wish I was the choice maker, and I would have done a lot but he is the one who takes the pension so that he controls everything and says what to get and where to spend.” However, women interviews show that (f=9) they take decisions together with their husbands when it comes to finances, all men see that they are the sole decision maker, or the eldest man in the family like their father if he lives with them. Even if they discuss with their women, the decision is for the man. Women who have livestock are able to save from it and decide how the profit is to be spent. They are also decision makers when it comes to spending; their husband gives them the money and they decide how to spend it.

Both men and women see that in order to manage finances, they need to spend on necessities and prioritize their spending. As for women, the most common reason for saving was to invest in a project that would get them profit, and they see this as the most efficient way to manage finances and be able to save. Finally, only two women manage their household finances by putting all their money together, the man and the woman and building trust between them to be able to manage the finances of the household.

7. SFtW Outcome Areas: Improving Productivity and Technical Resources

Agricultural or Livestock

This section discusses respondents participation in agricultural or livestock/aquaculture activities and the extent of their involvement.

Table 7.1 and Figure 21 show that 85% of respondents (men - 92%; women -81%) were engaged in agricultural or livestock/aquaculture activities during the last 12 months . This percent of engaging in agricultural or livestock activities varies by governorates where respondents in

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Beheira governorate were less likely to engage (62%), while 94% of respondents in Beni Suef, 90% in Minya, and 86% in Giza were engaged in agricultural or livestock/aquaculture activities.

Table 7.1: Agricultural or livestock/ aquaculture activities Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of respondents were engaged in agricultural or livestock/ aquaculture activities during the 92.1 81.4 93.5 89.6 85.5 61.5 84.6 last 12 months Number of HH 164 381 167 164 110 104 545

Engaged in Make decisions about types of crops/livestock 64.9 33.9 45.9 56.8 44.7 9.4 44.0 Grow Crops 76.2 45.5 74.5 39.0 41.5 67.2 55.5 Tend Livestock 53.0 65.8 70.1 67.8 37.2 62.5 61.6 Sales and Marketing 28.5 9.0 18.5 15.1 19.1 3.1 15.4 Post-Harvest Processing 9.3 26.5 7.0 27.4 36.2 17.2 20.8 Provide paid labour only 3.3 1.9 3.2 .7 2.1 4.7 2.4 Other .7 2.6 2.5 .7 3.2 1.6 2.0

Total 151 310 157 146 94 64 461 -

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Productivity

SFtW aims at improving yield and income through adoption of sustainable and intensified agriculture and value addition. To determine baseline status of farmer’s agricultural productivity the baseline survey measured the number and type of crops grown; the agricultural yield of crops supported by the project; and agricultural, livestock, storage, and post-harvest practices which promote sustainable production and value addition.

Concerning cultivated crops during the past 12 months, Table 7.2 shows that wheat and maize were the most cultivated crop (grown by 22% of households). Followed by alfalfa (18.9%) and potato (13.7%). However, none of the participating households cultivate strawberries during the past 12 months. This pattern of cultivated crops was also observed among all the four governorates, where Wheat and Maize the most commonly cultivated crop, followed by Potatoes and Alfalfa.

Data also indicated that artichokes and potatoes were the two crops with the highest mean area of cultivated lands in feddans (1.3 feddan and 1.2 feddan, respectively) followed by wheat (1 feddan on average). However, mean annual production of cultivated crops in KG may be affected by many factors; a) it was calculated based on the respondent recall about the crop in the past 12 months which is considered a long period of time, b) respondents were asked to recall their production in only KG where some crops were not measured in KG by default, c) their answer was based on their understanding about crop productivity as some of them may exclude quantity stored, their home consumption, or the quantity distributed to friends, relatives and neighbors. These factors may affect the annual production of crops in KG.

Data also indicated that women were the main cultivator for few crops only (artichokes, onion, garlic, vegetables, maize, alfalfa); however they have small contribution as main cultivator for these crops. Moreover, data showed that women generally help men in cultivating almost all crops. Qualitative data reveal that women are seen to be helping their husbands in farming; however, interviews with women revealed their involvement in agriculture and livestock practices to include harvesting - wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, and corn (maize), as the most common activity (f=12); followed by growing animals (goats, cows, buffaloes, rabbits) (f=11), then selling vegetables or animal and animal produce in the market or to neighbors from the house or in front of the house (f=10), followed by cultivating corn and growing birds (f=6 each), irrigation (f=4), and harvesting potatoes (f=4), applying pesticides (f=3), and finally sorting (f=1).

Data indicated that wheat production decreased over the last 5 years. 48% of participants cultivated wheat during the past 12 months reported that its productivity decreased.

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Table 7.2: Cultivated Crops Mean area Mean Change in productivity over %of HH cultivated Annual Main cultivator: the last 5 years

cultivate (in Production No- Decrease crop Feddans) (in KG) Women Men Both Increased change d

Total

v Crops: Potato1 13.7 1.2 8509.2 0.0 37.2 62.8 42.9 29.4 27.7 Artichokes .8 1.3 0.0 9.1 45.5 45.5 33.3 55.6 11.1 Tomatoes .9 .4 14721.9 0.0 27.3 72.7 40.0 60.0 0.0 Strawberries 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Dates .5 330.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 40.0 20.0 40.0 Fruits2 .1 .2 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 Onion 4.6 .5 2286.5 4.8 40.3 54.8 46.6 34.5 19.0 Garlic 4.3 .1 2832.8 10.5 35.1 54.4 44.4 37.0 18.5 Aromatic & 2.8 .8 681.8 0.0 72.2 27.8 21.6 43.2 35.1 medicine plants3 Vegetables4 3.7 .5 2560.4 2.0 40.8 57.1 43.2 34.1 22.7 Sweet Potato .4 .3 508.3 0.0 60.0 40.0 50.0 50.0 0.0 Wheat 22.4 1.0 1205.1 0.0 52.5 47.5 20.7 31.0 48.3 Maize 22.0 .9 1743.3 0.7 53.5 45.8 39.8 50.4 9.9 Alfalfa 18.9 .6 1143.2 0.4 55.1 44.5 30.5 62.1 7.4 Other 4.8 .7 610.5 2.1 47.9 50.0 34.0 44.7 21.3

1 Potato cultivated for industrial or home consumption 2 Fruits include: Citrus, Grapes, etc. 3 Aromatic and medicine plants include: basil, camomile, mugworts, cumin, anise, marjoram. 4 Vegetables include: Cabbage, eggplants, carrots, tomatoes, beans -

Storage Practices

Table 7.3 shows that 57% of respondents store any crops that they grew during the last post- harvest period, Minya governorate was the of the four governorates in storing any crops that grew during the last post-harvest period (85%), while Beheira was the lowest (34%).

Traditional storage method was the main storage method used by respondents (81%), followed by “sealed/ airtight containers” which was used by slightly more than a quarter of respondents. Moreover, almost all respondents mentioned that they stored crops which were cultivated during the past 12 months to be used for household consumption (96%). While less than a third

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of respondents stored crops as seeds for planting, and 11% stored crops to be sold for higher prices.

Table 7.3: Improved Storage Techniques Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of respondents who store any crops that grew during the 65.9 52.8 49.4 84.7 48.2 33.7 56.7 last post-harvest period Number of respondents 164 381 168 163 110 104 545

Main method of storage that

used Improved locally made 0.0 3.0 0.0 .7 0.0 14.3 1.9 structure/ granary Modern storage structure like 0.0 8.0 0.0 8.7 7.5 0.0 5.2 cribs or silos Sealed/ airtight containers 0.0 40.8 0.0 52.9 0.0 25.7 26.5 Cold Stores 17.6 2.0 2.4 14.5 0.0 2.9 7.4 Traditional Storage 95.4 72.6 98.8 64.5 92.5 82.9 80.6 Other 1.9 5.0 0.0 5.1 1.9 11.4 3.9

Purpose of stored crops: Food for household 95.4 97.0 94.0 96.4 98.1 100.0 96.4 consumption To sell for higher price 7.4 12.9 7.2 13.8 5.7 17.1 11.0 Seed for planting 51.9 18.4 37.3 35.5 9.4 22.9 30.1 Other .9 2.5 4.8 .7 1.9 0.0 1.9

Total 108 201 83 138 53 35 309 -

Respondents were asked about which post-harvest processing practices they used the most during the last 12 months. Table 7.4 shows that “bulk sale through farmer's groups” and “processing (flour, etc.)” were the most practiced post-harvest processing practices (22%).

Data also indicated that men were more likely to use bulk sale through farmer's groups (34%), while women were more likely to use processing (flour, etc.) (30%). The main post-harvest processing practices in Beni Suef and Giza was bulk sale through farmer's groups (44% and 20% respectively), in Minya it was processing (flour, etc.) (52%), and sorting was the main post-harvest processing practices in Beheira governorate (11%).

Table 7.4: Post Harvest Processing Practices Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

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Main post-harvest processing

practices with the production Sorting 3.0 13.1 2.4 12.9 17.3 10.6 10.1 Grading .6 10.8 3.0 9.2 17.3 2.9 7.7 Processing (flour, etc.) 2.4 30.2 6.5 51.5 14.5 7.7 21.8 Packaging 1.8 7.6 4.8 4.9 8.2 6.7 5.9 Bulk sale through farmer's 34.1 16.5 43.5 12.9 20.0 2.9 21.8 groups Bulk transport through 12.8 .5 2.4 6.1 6.4 1.9 4.2 farmer's groups Contract farming 1.2 .5 0.0 1.2 1.8 0.0 .7 Other 0.0 1.3 0.0 1.2 2.7 0.0 .9

Was not involved with post- 9.1 5.5 1.8 4.3 10.9 13.5 6.6 harvest processing

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

Livestock Production

Respondents were asked whether they own or produce products from livestock in the last 12 months. Table 7.5 shows that 67% of respondents were owning or producing products from

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livestock in the last 12 months, with slight differences between men and women (62%, and 69%, respectively). Data also indicated that Minya had the highest percent of respondents who own or produce from any livestock in the last 12 months (73%). Followed by Beni Suef (68%) and Beheira (66%) and finally Giza (57%).

Respondents reported that the most used livestock management practices was “food complementation” with 56% of respondents, followed by “livestock husbandry” (52%), while the lowest used livestock management practices was “artificial insemination” with only 11% of respondents adopted that management practice.

Table 7.5: livestock management practices Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of HH who own or produce products from any livestock in 62.2 69.0 67.9 73.0 57.3 66.3 67.0 the last 12 months Number of HH 164 381 168 163 110 104 545

Livestock management

practices Food Complementation 69.6 51.0 82.5 60.5 22.2 36.2 56.2 De-worming 37.3 31.2 42.1 36.1 15.9 27.5 32.9 Habitat Construction 25.5 11.8 8.8 16.8 17.5 23.2 15.6 Vaccination 66.7 44.5 71.9 57.1 20.6 31.9 50.7 Artificial Insemination 26.5 4.6 21.9 8.4 4.8 1.4 10.7 Other Veterinary Care 15.7 18.6 33.3 8.4 22.2 4.3 17.8 Forage Management 31.4 38.8 35.1 37.0 47.6 29.0 36.7 Improved Poultry 10.8 43.7 6.1 39.5 50.8 58.0 34.5 Poultry Management 22.5 43.3 11.4 39.5 57.1 59.4 37.5 Livestock Husbandry 69.6 44.5 50.9 52.9 46.0 55.1 51.5 Other 0.0 .4 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.4 .3

Total 102 263 114 119 63 69 365 -

Table 7.6: livestock Ownership Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total % Mean % Mean Mean % Mean % Mean Owned no. Owned no. % Owned no. Owned no. Owned no.

Livestock owned Cows 68.2 1.7 75.6 2.1 38.1 1.5 54.7 1.7 62.9 1.8

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Goats 32.4 3.3 41.5 3.5 26.2 3.4 27.0 2.5 33.4 3.3 Buffalo 36.4 1.2 4.3 1.0 31.7 1.5 23.8 1.2 22.7 1.3 Sheep 21.6 4.2 27.1 5.7 15.9 3.2 14.3 2.5 21.1 4.4 Poultry/ Chicken/ 49.1 18.2 94.6 32.1 85.7 28.4 89.4 29.9 77.5 28.2 Ducks / Geese Rabbit 4.5 9.3 18.6 4.1 17.7 7.7 8.1 13.8 12.2 7.2 Others 20.8 23.4 22.4 3.1 40.0 6.5 6.0 16.3 20.0 -

Agriculture Technical Practice

Respondents were asked about their sustainable agriculture practices/technologies used for crops in the last 12 months. Table 7.7 shows that almost 4 in 10 participants used “manure or compost” as a sustainable agriculture practice/technologies for their crops in the last 12 months, followed by “minimum tillage” (27%), and “improved seeds” (25%). Data also indicated that men were more likely to use “minimum tillage”, while women were more likely to use “manure or compost”.

About three in ten participants reported using any natural resource management practices/techniques that are not directly related to on-farm production in the last 12 months. Forty-seven percent of respondents in Minya used any natural resource management practices/techniques that are not directly related to on-farm production in the last 12 months, 31% in Beni Suef, and 14% in Giza, while only 9% in Beheira.

Around one in five respondents reported using “soil conservation” as natural resource management practices/techniques used during the last 12 months, and 13% report using “assisted natural regeneration/ shifting cultivation”.

Table 7.7: Agriculture technical practices Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Sustainable agriculture practices/technologies

used for any of your crops in the last 12 months: Minimum Tillage 54.3 14.7 45.2 28.2 12.7 8.7 26.6 Mulching 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Crop Rotation 17.1 12.6 26.2 12.3 7.3 3.8 13.9 Cover Crops 5.5 2.6 1.2 6.1 1.8 4.8 3.5 Manure or Compost 43.3 39.9 29.8 71.8 38.2 13.5 40.9 Alley Cropping/ Intern Cropping 1.8 .5 0.0 .6 0.0 3.8 .9 Improved Seeds 19.5 27.3 13.1 52.1 15.5 11.5 25.0 Increased number of crops (Increased Diversity) 3.7 4.2 0.0 4.9 11.8 1.0 4.0

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Irrigation Technologies 3.0 2.4 1.8 3.7 2.7 1.9 2.6 Soil Erosion Control (Terraces, contours, grass 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.8 .9 0.0 .7 strips) Other 1.8 .8 0.0 .6 2.7 1.9 1.1

% of respondents used any natural resource management practices/techniques that are not 14.0 33.9 31.0 46.6 13.6 8.7 27.9 directly related to on-farm production in the last 12 months

Natural resource management practices/ techniques used during the last 12 months: Assisted natural regeneration/ Shifting 5.5 16.5 1.2 36.2 5.5 4.8 13.2 cultivation Soil Conservation 13.4 22.6 13.7 39.3 10.9 8.7 19.8 Other 6.7 2.4 6.0 2.5 5.5 0.0 3.7 None 0.0 .5 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 .4

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

Water Irrigation Practices

Respondents were asked about the sources of irrigation and irrigation methods used in the last 12 months. Table 7.8 indicates that the Nile River was the main source of irrigation for farmers (79%), followed by groundwater (14%).

12% of the respondents reported using improved irrigation methods which include practices that save water, like: irrigation sprinkler or drip irrigation. However, 70% of respondents reported using flooding as an irrigation method they used in the last 12 months. Beni Suef governorate was the highest in using improved irrigation methods (26%), while none in Beheira used improved irrigation, and only 3% in Minya used improved irrigation practices.

Table 7.8: Water Irrigation Practices Sources of irrigation in the last 12 months Irrigation methods in the last 12 months Groun Lining Using River/ d Torrent Othe Irrigation Drip channel improved Nile Rain Water s r Flooding Sprinkler Irrigation s Other irrigation1

Governorates Beni-Suef 87.3 0.0 7.6 0.0 12.7 59.9 26.1 .6 0.0 14.0 26.1 Minya 93.2 1.4 21.9 0.0 5.5 91.1 2.7 0.0 4.1 4.8 2.7 Giza 45.7 11.7 22.3 0.0 37.2 57.4 10.6 2.1 4.3 31.9 12.8 Behira 71.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 37.5 62.5 0.0 0.0 7.8 35.9 0.0

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Total % 78.5 2.8 14.1 0.0 18.9 69.6 11.9 .7 3.3 17.8 12.4 Total number 545 545 545 545 545 545 545 545 545 545 545 -

1 Improved irrigation: any practice that saves water, includes: Irrigation Sprinkler or Drip Irrigation. -

8. Access to Inputs, Productive Services, and Extensions

Access to Market Information

Concerning market information accessed by respondents (Table 8.1), almost one-third of respondents (32%) did not receive any information about the market. Fifty percent of respondents who received information about the market said their sources were collectors/traders (Middlemen), 18% was input suppliers/agro dealers. Similar pattern was observed between men and women and between respondents from different governorates with regard to availing market information by respondents.

Table 8.1: Source of market information Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Source of market information accessed during

the most recent agricultural season: Cell Phone/ SMS Update 3.3 1.9 0.0 6.2 1.1 1.6 2.4 Radio .7 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.0 .2 Television 5.3 6.1 5.1 6.2 3.2 10.9 5.9 Government Extension Agents 7.3 10.0 10.2 13.7 3.2 4.7 9.1 Other Procedures 0.0 2.3 .6 3.4 1.1 0.0 1.5 Collectors/Traders (Middlemen) 61.6 44.8 51.0 80.8 19.1 25.0 50.3 Input suppliers/ Agro dealer 31.1 11.0 18.5 19.2 17.0 12.5 17.6 NGOs 3.3 1.9 1.3 6.2 0.0 0.0 2.4 Others 3.3 6.5 7.6 3.4 3.2 7.8 5.4

No information received 25.8 34.2 25.5 4.1 62.8 62.5 31.5

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

Respondents were also asked about if they could access any agricultural finance during the most recent agricultural season, and the source of their agricultural finance. Table 8.2 indicates that

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48% of respondents could not reach any source of agricultural finance during the most recent agricultural season. Respondents who availed agricultural finance during the most recent agricultural season, 41% used their own savings. Own savings appeared to be the main source for both men and women and across governorates.

Table 8.2: Source of agricultural finance Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Source of agricultural finance accessed during

the most recent agricultural season: Own Savings 49.7 36.5 31.2 59.6 45.7 14.1 40.8 MFI Loan 4.0 4.2 1.9 6.2 7.4 0.0 4.1 Agricultural Cooperative 2.6 1.6 0.0 2.1 2.1 6.3 2.0 VSLA 0.0 1.9 0.0 4.1 0.0 0.0 1.3 Others 3.3 11.6 20.4 4.1 2.1 1.6 8.9

I could not reach any sources 45.0 49.4 51.6 32.9 43.6 79.7 47.9

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

Table 8.3 shows that 40% of the respondents did not keep any record of their agricultural activities such as investment and profit/loss. However both men and women kept track of their production volumes (20%, 13% respectively), men were more likely to keep track of expenses related to input services. (18%), and sales values (17%). While women kept track of expenses

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related to inputs, services, etc. (13%), and calculated profitability of the productive activities (12%).

Table 8.3: Record Keeping Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

record keeping practices preformed during the

most recent agricultural season: Kept track of expenses related to inputs, 17.1 12.6 7.7 27.6 13.6 2.9 13.9 services, etc. Kept track of production volumes 20.1 13.4 18.5 19.6 16.4 2.9 15.4 Kept track of sales values 17.7 11.3 17.3 19.6 8.2 1.9 13.2 Calculated profitability of my productive 7.3 11.8 3.6 21.5 10.0 4.8 10.5 activities Others 1.8 .3 1.2 1.2 0.0 0.0 .7

Did not practice any recordkeeping 45.7 37.0 28.0 48.5 51.8 31.7 39.6

Total 164 381 167 164 110 104 545 -

Access to Weather Information

53% of respondents reported that they have access to weather information, women were more likely to access weather information than male respondents (55% and 48%, respectively). Also, respondents in Beni Suef and Giza were more likely to access weather information than respondents in Minya and Beheira.

Television was the most reported source of weather information (74% of respondents), followed by weather bulletins (53%), and traditional forecasts (25%).

Table 8.4: Access to Weather Information Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of respondents who have access to any 47.6 55.4 65.5 46.0 60.9 35.6 53.0 weather information Number of HH 164 381 167 164 110 104 545

Source of weather information: Radio 1.3 .5 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 .7 Newspaper 0.0 .5 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.7 .3

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TV 64.1 77.3 70.0 66.7 77.6 91.9 73.7 Weather bulletins 53.8 52.6 70.0 45.3 41.8 37.8 52.9 Traditional forecasts 26.9 23.7 15.5 14.7 47.8 29.7 24.6 Smart phone apps 21.8 6.2 7.3 21.3 4.5 8.1 10.4 SMS 3.8 1.9 .9 4.0 1.5 5.4 2.4 Agriculture Cooperatives 1.3 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 .3 Others 1.3 1.9 .9 5.3 0.0 0.0 1.7

Total 78 211 110 75 67 37 289 -

26% of of respondents reported that they have access to the early warning before the last drought. Women were more likely to access information on early warning than men (37% and 1%, respectively). Also, respondents in Giza were more likely to access early warning information and weather information than respondents in Beni Suef, Minya, and Beheira. The geographical location of Giza near the capital eases the access of weather information and following the news on TV.

Regarding most faced weather problems, heat wave was the most reported weather problem faced by 61% of respondents, followed by frost (31%), and Rain (22%). Rain is a weather problem as some roads may close for days, get damaged, etc which affects them logistically.

Table 8.5: Access to early warning before the last drought Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of respondents who have access to the early 1.4 36.9 21.8 23.3 50.0 12.2 26.0 warning before the last drought Number of HH 164 381 167 164 110 104 545

Most faced weather problems: Heat Wave 54.9 63.8 47.6 87.7 59.1 43.3 61.1 Drought 10.4 7.1 9.5 .6 10.9 14.4 8.1 Frost 47.6 24.4 46.4 36.8 21.8 8.7 31.4 Flood 4.3 .5 .6 1.2 4.5 1.0 1.7 Other 3.7 2.9 .6 4.3 0.0 8.7 3.1 Rain 11.0 27.3 23.2 31.3 21.8 7.7 22.4

Total 2 118 29 37 44 10 120 -

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Access to Extension Services

All respondents were asked whether they have met with an agricultural extension worker. Data presented in table 8.6 indicates a very low percent of respondents meeting an agricultural extension worker (15%) over the past 12 months period. Women respondents were more likely to meet with an agricultural extension worker (17%) than men (9%)

Data also showed that all male respondents who have met with an agricultural extension worker or livestock extension worker, have met with male agricultural extension workers or livestock extension workers. While among female respondents, data showed that 59% of female respondents met with male agricultural extension workers or livestock extension workers, and 41% met with female agricultural extension workers or livestock extension workers, although we have a lack of female agricultural extension workers but usually women advise women based on their work and life experiences.

Among respondents who reported meeting with an agricultural extension worker in the past 12 month, 54% reported receiving services related to inputs (fertilizer, pesticide, etc.), 46% received services related to improved seeds or improved agriculture practices. In addition, the majority of respondents (81%) reported that they were very much satisfied or mostly satisfied with services provided.

Table 8.6: Access to Agriculture/livestock extension and support Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of respondents who have ever met with an agricultural extension worker or livestock 8.7 17.4 9.8 29.7 5.5 5.6 14.9 extension worker in the past 12 month Number of HH 164 381 167 164 110 104 545

Gender of an agricultural extension worker Men 100.0 58.6 69.2 57.4 100.0 100.0 65.7 Women 0.0 41.4 30.8 42.6 0.0 0.0 34.3

Extension services received Improved agriculture practices 41.7 46.6 38.5 51.1 20.0 40.0 45.7 Improved livestock practices 16.7 39.7 15.4 44.7 20.0 20.0 35.7 Agriculture tools 8.3 12.1 7.7 10.6 40.0 0.0 11.4 Improved seeds 50.0 44.8 30.8 48.9 40.0 60.0 45.7 Inputs (fertilizer, pesticide, etc.) 66.7 51.7 30.8 57.4 80.0 60.0 54.3 Veterinary services 25.0 25.9 30.8 21.3 40.0 40.0 25.7 Other 8.3 3.4 7.7 2.1 0.0 20.0 4.3

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Satisfaction of extension services provided Not at all 8.3 1.7 7.7 0.0 20.0 0.0 2.9 Somewhat 41.7 10.3 7.7 21.3 0.0 0.0 15.7 Mostly 33.3 17.2 23.1 12.8 20.0 80.0 20.0 Very much 16.7 70.7 61.5 66.0 60.0 20.0 61.4

Total 12 58 13 47 5 5 70 -

Qualitative data show that almost all farmers interviewed, whether men or women, farm by experience and gained knowledge from their parents and grandparents. However, when they need to consult someone they ask the engineer in the agriculture association, or the owner of the fertilizers store who is usually an agriculture engineer.

Access to Productive Capital

Baseline findings indicate that 27% of the respondents owned the land that they worked on or the one who does agricultural activity in their family, 47% respondents reported renting it and 26% of the respondents reported that they don’t neither own nor rent a land.

Data presented in table 8.7 showed that both men and women were more likely to rent agricultural land to cultivate (52% for men, 44% for women). Men were more likely to cultivate solely (54% of men), while women were more likely to report cultivating jointly with less than 10 percentage points difference between women reported cultivating solely.

Table 8.7: Access to Productive Capital Type of land Cultivate Main decision maker about what to plant: Fathe Moth r / er / Non

Fathe Moth HH Owne Jointl Respo Spous r in er in mem d Rent N/A Solely y N/A ndent e Both law law Other ber None N/A

Gender Men 29.9 52.4 17.7 53.7 31.7 14.6 78.0 .6 1.2 1.8 0.0 4.3 .6 0.0 13.4

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Women 26.2 43.8 29.9 29.4 36.7 33.9 1.6 36.2 14.4 12.9 1.6 3.9 .5 .8 28.1

Total 149 253 143 200 192 153 134 139 57 52 6 22 3 3 129

Concerning ownership of household durables, respondents were asked whether they or any other member in their households own any of the following assets. Table 12.2 shows that three- quarters of the respondents owned large consumer durables (refrigerator, TV, sofa), 66% owned a house or building, 65% reported owning small consumer durables (radio, cookware), and another 64% owned a cell phone but it was not mentioned if it is a smart phone or not. Only 41% of respondents reported that their households owned large livestock (cows), and 23% owned small livestock (sheep, goats, pigs).

Table 8.8: Main Assets Ownership Gender Governorates

Men Women Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Household Assists Large livestock (cows) 32.3 44.6 41.7 49.1 27.3 41.3 40.9 Small livestock (sheep, goats, pigs) 15.2 25.7 22.0 28.8 19.1 17.3 22.6 Poultry and other small animals (chickens, 32.3 72.2 48.8 65.6 72.7 56.7 60.2 ducks, turkeys) Fish pond or fishing equipment .6 .3 .6 0.0 .9 0.0 .4 Non-mechanized farm equipment (hand tools, 18.9 24.1 28.6 14.1 13.6 35.6 22.6 animal-drawn plough) Mechanized farm equipment (tractor-plough, 7.3 8.7 14.3 3.1 7.3 7.7 8.3 power tiller, treadle pump) Non-farm business equipment (solar panels used for recharging, sewing machine, brewing 4.3 .8 1.2 4.9 0.0 0.0 1.8 equipment, fryers) House or building 67.7 65.1 72.0 48.5 70.0 78.8 65.9 Large consumer durables (refrigerator, TV, sofa) 48.2 86.9 88.1 63.8 81.8 65.4 75.2 Small consumer durables (radio, cookware) 45.7 73.8 53.6 65.6 81.8 66.3 65.3 Cell phone 59.8 66.4 74.4 44.2 70.9 73.1 64.4 Other land not used for agricultural purposes 3.0 6.8 1.8 4.3 14.5 4.8 5.7 (pieces/plots, residential or commercial land) Means of transportation (bicycle, motorcycle, 15.2 6.8 6.0 10.4 8.2 14.4 9.4 car) Other 1.2 .5 1.2 0.0 0.0 1.9 .7

Owns Nothing 18.9 1.3 1.2 13.5 3.6 7.7 6.6

% of respondents mentioned that they owned at 86.0 68.0 95.2 84.0 49.1 47.1 73.4 least one of previous mentioned assist

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Total 164 381 168 163 110 104 545 -

Themes from qualitative interviews reveal that most assets are controlled by men, including the agriculture tools and equipment and the produce from the land, while women are more in control of livestocks. Most men stated that they are the decision makers and are in control of anything outside the house band that most of them have to go back to consult with her if they want to buy animals because she is the one responsible for them.

Participation of Women in Decision Making

Interviewed women were asked a group of questions about their participation in household decision making, and if she reported that she participated in that issue she were asked when decisions were made regarding some predetermined issues who is it that normally takes the decision, how much input did she have in making decisions about these issues, and to what extent she feels that she can participate in decisions regarding these issues if she wanted.

Data in table 8.9 showed that 94% of women participated in decision making regarding routine household purchases (food for daily consumption or other household needs), 79% of women participated in decisions related to poultry and other small animals raising (chickens, ducks, turkeys, Pigeons) and processing of eggs and/or meat.

However, the smallest percent of women (15%) reported that they participated in decisions related to cash crops or high value crop farming and processing of the harvest such as vegetables, fruits, Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). 19% participated in non-farm economic activities (running a small business, self-employment, buy-and-sell). Data did not indicate any significant difference in decision making patterns by age or governorates.

Table 8.9: Participation of Women in Decision Making Governorates Beni- Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Activities: Staple farming and processing of the harvest: crops that are grown primarily for food consumption (Wheat, 37.3 73.4 22.1 27.5 43.1 maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, Rice) Cash crops or high value crop farming and processing 12.3 22.0 14.3 8.7 15.2 of the harvest such as Vegetables, fruits, MAPs

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Large livestock raising (cattle) and processing of milk 51.1 55.0 24.1 52.2 46.2 and/or meat Small livestock raising (sheep, goats) and processing of 30.8 43.5 22.4 31.0 32.7 milk and/or meat Poultry and other small animals raising (chickens, ducks, turkeys, Pigeons) and processing of eggs and/or 68.7 81.7 81.4 87.8 79.3 meat Non-farm economic activities (running a small 4.1 30.9 31.8 1.5 19.4 business, self-employment, buy-and-sell) Wage and salary employment (work that is paid for in cash or in-kind, including both agriculture and other 30.7 20.4 22.1 20.6 23.2 wage work) Large, occasional household purchases (bicycles, land, 0.0 37.3 9.3 11.4 15.4 transport vehicles) Routine household purchases (food for daily 93.5 96.3 91.9 94.3 94.1 consumption or other household needs)

Total 111 110 86 74 381 -

Table 8.10: Women's Decision Making % of women reported that she generally makes decisions in % of women who have an input in following activities making decision Beni- Beni- Suef Minya Giza Behira Total Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

Decision related to women Staple farming and processing of the harvest: crops that are grown primarily for 25.0 8.5 11.1 20.0 13.5 28.6 70.9 72.2 41.7 59.9 food consumption (Wheat, maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, Rice) Cash crops or high value crop farming and processing of the harvest such as 40.0 10.7 18.2 0.0 16.1 30.0 48.1 72.7 0.0 46.2 Vegetables, fruits, MAPs Large livestock raising (cattle) and 42.2 18.3 42.9 41.7 33.3 39.1 61.4 65.2 43.2 51.5 processing of milk and/or meat Small livestock raising (sheep, goats) and 60.7 32.7 33.3 35.0 39.8 41.4 70.2 70.0 45.5 58.5 processing of milk and/or meat Poultry and other small animals raising (chickens, ducks, turkeys, Pigeons) and 82.6 68.5 83.6 87.3 79.5 54.3 74.7 72.1 79.0 70.0 processing of eggs and/or meat Non-farm economic activities (running a small business, self-employment, buy-and- 66.7 14.7 42.9 50.0 29.9 66.7 80.6 70.4 0.0 73.5 sell)

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Wage and salary employment (work that is paid for in cash or in-kind, including both 95.7 7.1 10.0 23.1 34.5 77.3 65.4 73.7 10.0 63.6 agriculture and other wage work) Large, occasional household purchases 100. 50.0 6.4 33.3 25.0 14.9 70.5 75.0 37.5 63.8 (bicycles, land, transport vehicles) 0 Routine household purchases (food for daily consumption or other household 83.9 67.6 86.7 70.3 76.7 62.1 74.5 72.4 69.4 69.7 needs)

Total number 111 110 86 74 381 111 110 86 74 381 -

Similar pattern was observed among women in all the four governorates in their decision-making on household production and agriculture.

Access to Property

In order to assess the level of awareness of the issues affecting women exercising their property and housing rights, women were asked a set questions regarding property they own , type of property owned, ways of acquiring property, help they received in acquiring property, and if they themselves can sell their property.

Data presented in Table 8.11 indicates that only 19% of the interviewed women owned any property, this percent was highest in Beni Suef (49%) and lowest in Giza (1%). Among women who owned property, 88% own houses and 15% own land.

Data showed that six out of 10 women owning property have access to her property documents. All women respondents in Giza that own property say they have access to their property documents.

Most women acquire property through inheritance (45%), followed by co-owning (38%). Women reported that their in-laws and their parents were most helpful in availing their property (70% and 14% respectively).

Women owning property reported that their parents were the main decider of what to plant in their lands (34%), followed by in-laws (26%). Data also indicated that 12% of women can sell their property without anyone’s consent. The majority of women owned property and reported that their parents were the main decider of what to plant in their lands were married women (92%), 4% were divorced, and another 4% were widowed women.

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Table 8.11: Awareness of women to their property rights Governorates

Beni-Suef Minya Giza Behira Total

% of women who owned any property 48.6 5.5 1.2 16.2 19.2 Number of women 111 110 86 74 381

Types of property in women’s names Land 11.1 16.7 0.0 33.3 15.1 House 94.4 66.7 100.0 66.7 87.7 Both 0.0 16.7 0.0 8.3 2.7 Others 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.7 2.7

% of women who have access to your 53.7 83.3 100.0 66.7 58.9 property documents

Ways of getting owned property Inherit 31.5 100.0 100.0 75.0 45.2 Co-owns 48.1 0.0 0.0 16.7 38.4 Myself 16.7 0.0 0.0 8.3 13.7 Others 3.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.7

People helped in getting owned property Parents 9.3 50.0 100.0 8.3 13.7 In-laws 68.5 50.0 0.0 91.7 69.9 Husband 7.4 0.0 0.0 16.7 8.2 No one 13.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.6 Others 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.4

People decided what to plant Parents 38.9 0.0 0.0 33.3 34.2 In-laws 29.6 50.0 0.0 0.0 26.0 Husband 0.0 16.7 0.0 0.0 1.4 No one 1.9 16.7 0.0 0.0 2.7

Number of women who owned any property 54 6 1 12 73

% of women can sell their property without 7.5 40.0 0.0 20.0 11.6 anyone’s consent

Number of women who can sell their 53 5 1 10 69 property without anyone’s consent -

Access to Inputs and Services

All respondents were asked about whether they (singular) accessed inputs from any of the sources related to their agricultural activities during the last 12 months. Table 8.12 shows that 38% of respondents did not access any inputs. Among those who accessed inputs, 30% mentioned availing it from ’agro dealer/input supplier within 5 km’ and 29% from ’cooperative or producer group’. None of the respondents mentioned ’government program’ as their source.

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Women respondents reported that they were more likely to access an agro dealer/input supplier within 5 km than any other source of inputs related to agricultural activities during the last 12 months.

Table 8.12: Access to Inputs and Services Source(s) of inputs related to agricultural activities during the last 12 months: Cooperativ Agro dealer/ Local input e or Agro dealer/ input supplier producer producer Government input supplier farther than 5 (feed, seed Did not access group program within 5 km KM away multiplier, etc.) Other inputs

Gender Men 45.7 0.0 31.1 13.9 4.6 2.0 27.2 Women 20.6 0.0 29.4 15.5 2.6 3.2 43.5

Governorates Beni-Suef 24.8 0.0 18.5 15.9 .6 4.5 42.0 Minya 51.4 0.0 59.6 15.1 4.8 3.4 4.1 Giza 16.0 0.0 11.7 19.1 7.4 1.1 58.5 Behira 6.3 0.0 17.2 6.3 0.0 0.0 76.6

Total % 28.9 0.0 29.9 15.0 3.3 2.8 38.2 Total number 545 545 545 545 545 545 545 -

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Conclusion

- Women have trouble accessing markets, and depend on selling their produce from home because of the responsibilities they have and multiple roles they play. Markets are either far away, or are not safe, or in some areas markets are held only once a week. - Although being part of the income generation of the household, their potential and existing assets are not utilized to increase their productivity and regulate their revenue stream because they are not owners of lands. Women have less access to resources, such as getting free fertilizers from agriculture associations, which was common in all governorates, or because they do not have enough space to grow birds where they live like in Beni Suef. - Many of them lack the capital to invest in a project in animal production, although most of them grow it for home consumption or for selling it for neighbors. - Both men and women reported that they have access to markets in agriculture produce because the merchants come to buy from them but merchants control the price and lower it to be able to make profit and farmers do not have collective power to form collective decisions, and if it happens it is reported to be through men farmers to refuse to sell to merchants so they higher the price, but this was not prevalent in women. - Women lack the technical expertise and some mentioned that the animal produce is not with high quality because the milk is not thick enough, for example. - The COVID 19 crisis has impacted some families as it limited their access to markets and access to services from associations and organizations. - Community leadership in women is non-existent and women’s mobility is restricted to their villages and to the farm and family visits and doctors’ consultations.

Currently, the project is beginning implementation in areas related to improving nutrition in communities. The project team will work with relevant stakeholders to establish new, realistic targets in the pandemic and post-pandemic landscape while implementing activities as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions on mobility presented unforeseen challenges that continue to require flexibility and creativity. The project should abide by the Do No Harm guideline to any project implementation of strategy and ensure safety and security of its target beneficiaries. Data collected from fieldwork and regular monitoring is critical to building on successes and determining where to devote more time and attention to fill gaps.

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Overall, project stakeholders, beneficiaries, and staff continue to express confidence that SFtW is likely to lead to both short- and long-term positive results for food and nutrition security among women small-scale farmers.

Recommendations

Outcome 1: Supporting women’s empowerment

Addressing GBV The recommendations addressing gender based violence aim to build on existing projects, knowledge and resources available by CARE.

Raising Awareness About GBV It is recommended to open discussions on psychological and physical wellbeing in a culturally sensitive and relevant manner is important, and would lead to discussions on support, asking for help and most importantly division of labor and gender roles inside the house.

As shown from the data, the social acceptance of gender based violence; especially domestic violence, is extremely significant. 83% of women who have been married before, age 15-49 agree that wife beating is justified in at least one of the specified circumstances. Women are most likely to accept wife beating as justified if a woman neglects the children; around 7 in 10 women think that a husband is justified to hit or beat his wife in this situation. Which shows a great need to raise awareness and open discussions around issues of gender based violence and equality.

According to the women interviewed the activities they do in times of leisure or besides their typical roles inside the house and in agriculture, are restricted to visiting family members or attending activities implemented by civil society organizations. They showed a high level of desire to attend lectures on different topics and expressed the need for knowledge and information. This is an important asset and opportunity that the project should utilize to raise awareness on issues of gender equality and fight gender based violence.

The majority of women when asked about a female figure they considered a leader, they did not mention any female figures who were able to break gender and social norms, but rather, they considered women who are able to manage their homes, raise their children and support their husbands, the true leaders. This is context specific and potential interventions need to be considerate of cultural sensitivity while ensuring that they do not reinforce harmful traditional

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gender roles. The available interventions need to build on these definitions and perceptions related to women’s leadership and open discussions on: ● Gender roles and the roles of boys and girls inside the house ● Girls education ● Early marriage ● Household free of violence ● Personal wellbeing and bodily autonomy of women and how it affects other aspects of their lives ● Toxic masculinities and its impact on both girls and boys

The discussions should not be restricted to those topics.

Making Available Case Management and Psychosocial Support The project needs to ensure that mechanisms of reporting, support and case management are available and women are aware of them and able to access them.

While opening discussions and raising awareness on issues of gender based violence and gender equality is important, it would be unethical if interventions aim to allow women to step up against violence and realize that they are actually being subjected to it without providing sources of support.

CARE has extensive experience in this area, and in providing awareness raising through different forms of arts and theatre from the women’s rights projects and Safe Cities programs specifically. These projects could be expanded to the targeted areas and modified to fit the agricultural and rural contexts and needs.

Empowering Youth as Agents of Change Engaging young men and women from the targeted community is essential and supporting youth -led campaigns and activities to promote gender equality. This can be done through competitions, artistic activities, gender inclusive sports based programs and volunteerism that also foster a sense of leadership. Targeting available educational institutions and mainstreaming topics and activities or discussions around inequitable gender norms and practices. CARE also has experience in actively engaging youth volunteers as ambassadors of change to lead community awareness. Based on the Images Study implemented by UNWomen in 2017, young men and women are eager to be part of social change.

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Engaging Men and Boys

CARE provides training (art therapy workshops and gender training) to men and boys to change their behavior towards GBV, it has also been creating a cadre of dedicated change agents who advocate against gender based violence in their communities.

Working with male community and religious leaders and educators is also extremely important to tackling issues of gender based violence, challenges gender stereotypes and opening a discussion about toxic masculinities.

Studies have shown that children who witness violence and male domination grow up to repeat those patterns in adulthood and normalize it. Discussion of domestic violence and gender based violence at home with both men and women is essential.

Yet, while implementing any activities related to engaging men and boys, it is important to be mindful and avoid reinforcing harmful masculinities. For example, these activities should not ask men to protect women from violence or harassment, as this gives more power for men to restrict the freedom of mobility for women and makes the probability of being subjected to violence or not dependent on men. In addition, providing information and knowledge to women and economic empowerment activities is essential to women’s agency and autonomy. In some cases, asking men to be part of these activities will result in them taking over because they have more access to resources and exposure (ex: access to network and easier mobility), which will eventually lead to men being in positions of power and women losing control.

Addressing Unpaid Labour The project needs to address unpaid labour through more research, awareness raising, engaging men and boys and providing alternatives that would decrease the work burden on women. Many women have reported working for family members, neighbours or inlaws for no money and they would get a bag of vegetables or wheat in return. Women also take multiple other roles besides farming that are unpaid and considered care work. The multiple roles they take affect their health, decision making power and quality of life in general. They tend to have small livestock, look after the family, care for the children and the elderly, prepare meals and keep traditions of visiting family members, attending funerals and religious ceremonies.

Outcome 2: Improving nutrition in communities

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It is recommended to have nutrition awareness activities, given their responsibilities in addressing household nutrition, their role as caregivers, and the importance of their own health and nutritional status, especially when pregnant and lactating, making sure that the activities and suggested diet do not burden them as caregivers and does not have an influence on their income. Also, including her in value chains and empowering her through income generation activities needs to be done in a sensitive way that does not burden her and have a negative effect on her health, hence, influencing all other aspects of food insecurity. It is important to raise nutrition awareness more broadly at the household level, targeting all individuals with decision-making power, including mothers-in-law as well as men. Moreover, awareness activities should not be limited to training sessions on increasing knowledge; it should include communication campaigns at the community level through partnerships with CBOs on preventing bad nutrition habits and promoting good behaviors; as well as cooking demonstrations for women in the household.

Households require more quality into their diet. Diet quality requires four key aspects; diversity of food, adequacy, moderation, and overall balance, and intake of macronutrients and micronutrients, relevant to their gender, age, activity level and health status16. Households in targeted communities can be considered moderately food insecure who consume food that is cheaper and with high energy or calorie intake, and less amount of expensive food that is rich in protein. Women, mother in-laws, and daughters in the household are responsible for preparing the food for the whole family; thus, women are key actors in improving household nutrition. However, in order to have an affordable and quality diet that ensures balanced meals, and can result in food security, healthy diet, it requires an increase in expenses on food, with an estimation of 60% higher than the cost of the nutrient adequate diet, and almost 5 times the cost of the energy sufficient diet, globally17.

It is recommended that educational programs would target women while pregnant and would include her husband or mother18. In addition, building the capacities and training medical practitioners and nurses and especially practitioners in health clinics, on issues of breastfeeding and on counseling. Unfortunately today, breastfeeding counseling is not fully integrated into the medical curriculum and lactation consultants are not recognized by the Ministry of Health or the

16 http://www.fao.org/3/ca9692en/online/ca9692en.html#chapter-executive_summary 17 Ibid, 90. 18 Sarhan, A. (2020).Positive deviance inquiry of breastfeeding in Egypt [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/815

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Medical Syndicate19. Collaboration with the Ministry of Health is necessary to include the PHCCs in activities for raising awareness and accessing knowledge to utilize an existing asset.

Women require access to healthcare services; this includes consultations, support, and information. While milk supply for breastfeeding mothers depends on several factors; mainly nutrition and stress, the data shows that the majority believe that breastfeeding is based on luck. Women lack information about breastfeeding and resources to ensure that they have the support they need to breastfeed. Several interventions could take place to ensure that pregnant women and women who just gave birth have the information they need to make a decision of whether or not to breastfeed. Previous studies have shown that an involvement of one or more members of the family or support system of the mother makes a significant difference in fighting misconceptions around breastfeeding and helps women make an informed decision.

Outcome 3: Enabling women’s access to inclusive markets

Improving Access to Productive Resources to Inclusive Markets / Linking to Private Sector Value Chains The study confirms the premise of the SFtW framework that women’s access to markets is limited for several reasons. Women’s mobility is restricted to their lands or lands that belong to family members, the market and sometimes to NGOs or related activities. The data also shows that those who are able to sell their products to bigger merchants and contractors rather than neighbours and family members, have higher potential to make profit and grow their scale of work. Hence, several models, suggested below, are recommended to be adopted or supported to link women and their household to the market.

Contract Farming Based on the Value Chain Market Assessment implemented by Outreach Egypt, contract farming is one of the opportunities available in local markets and export value chains20. It is one of the recommended approaches that the project should work on and promote to ensure the profitability and sustainability of the work done by the targeted community. Contract farming is the process of establishing partnerships between farmers and the private sector. The farmer in that contract is obliged to supply the quantity and quality demanded by the corporation and in

19 Sarhan, A. (2020).Positive deviance inquiry of breastfeeding in Egypt [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/815 20 Outreach Egypt. (2019). Value Chain and Market Assessment: She Feeds The World (SFtW) Program.

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return, guarantee selling their products with a previously agreed price. This decreases the risk of fluctuating prices and allows the private sector to provide inputs and technical and financial support to the farmers to allow them to be as efficient as possible and with the highest quality. Contract farming can open new market options for farmers that they previously did not have access to. The project needs to promote contract farming concept to: 1) Provide inputs for those who cannot access the inputs, 2) Provide trusted and cheaper prices, 3) Support in financing the production as inputs is a the / or part of deposit in the contract farming system. Since the project is targeting to link women and their households to potatoes markets, this can be applied to promote this.

One of the main challenges that can face contract farming in Egypt; like many other developing countries, is the existence of Middle Man. For example, ethnic and religious ties between farmers and middlemen were the main factors in the relationship between small farmers and middlemen in the context of potato trading in the Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia21. Middlemen may solve market imperfections which may appear in countries like Egypt, but will relatively take a large share of the profit margin in the value chain, affecting small farmers. Eliminating middle men has for long been recommended by experts in the agricultural field, but the implementation has been challenging. The project should invest more research in finding ways of changing the positions of middle men in the value chain. Providing access to market through contract farming or models mentioned in the previous section, might result in the following; thus, increasing access to resources as a result of using the existing assets and enhancing quality of produce.

● Producers will guarantee stable market channel with minimum risk and fair prices ● Buyers will guarantee suitable amount of production with lower prices and higher quality (Standard quality) ● Producers will get inputs from buyers as a deposit with reasonable price and higher quality ● Buyers will purchase inputs lower than the market price 15 -20 % at least and will guarantee the quality of inputs (they can divide the difference in price between them and producers) ● Buyers will not pay 100% the inputs (Maximum will be 25 -50% and the rest will be credit)

21 Abebe, G., Bijman, J., & Royer, A. (2015). Are middlemen facilitators or barriers to improve smallholders' welfare in rural economies? Empirical evidence from Ethiopia. Journal of Rural Studies. Retrieved from https://agriprofocus.com/upload/post/Article_Middlemen1451937332.pdf

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● Buyers will provide Extension service for producers and gain higher specs with lower cost. ● Producers will have 20 to 25 % at least more production due to (Higher quality of inputs and availability on time as well as having the right extension service)

Sourcing Livestock and Poultry While the project has assessed the value chains of the top crops in the four governorates, livestock is also another asset that is worth exploring, as they are controlled by women and have a high chance of women inclusion in their value chain . A Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVA) could be implemented to identify areas of opportunities and potential barriers for women farmers in the value chains of the selected products (poultry and livestock outcomes). In addition, more research could be done to suggest innovative solutions to one of the main challenges facing women in growing their projects when it comes to livestock, which is space. As shown in the data, women have higher decision making power and control when it comes to household decisions or growing livestock at home in comparison with decisions to be made regarding the field. However, because of several factors, mainly access to space and to finances, women tend to keep them for family use rather than utilize them as an income generating source, in addition to a good source of nutrition. Almost the majority of women participants stated that they own and take care of at least one form of livestock. Research and previous projects has shown that when providing women with what they need to grow the production of livestock at home or in their land, they increase access to nutritious food and increase women’s income and autonomy. One example is Selever, a 5 year project funded by Gates Foundation. The project includes women poultry producers in the value chains of bigger corporations and provides them with the tools and knowledge they need for poultry raising like housing and vaccinations to feed and flock size22. The project also addresses deeply rooted gender stereotypes, opening discussions on women in agriculture, household communications, and on spending power and plans inside the house. This is done through lectures, theatre, and other activities and ensures engaging men. To ensure gender inclusivity, the project has trained and has supported a cohort of female village livestock vaccinators who are vaccinating poultry in their communities, reducing the risk of diseases. They also work closely with government extension agents and other value chain actors to improve and expand the services they provide to their customers. This project is one example of an intervention, which utilizes existing assets and resources available to empower women, that could be replicated.

22 Devlin. (2019). A Step Toward Women's Empowerment: Investing in Chickens. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.agrilinks.org/post/step-toward-womens-empowerment-investing-chickens

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OVOP SFtW can also follow the One Village One Product model or sourcing from clusters of local farmers based on their available knowledge, experience and resources. Based on the market analysis previously performed, some crops were identified as strategic crops for specific areas, for example: aromatic plants in Beni Sueif and Minya, or artichoke and strawberries in Beheira.

The idea behind the OVOP movement was to encourage communities living in villages to adopt a certain craft or industry based on the resources available in the area they live in and make it a nationally and globally marketable product23. In 2015, the SFD conducted a research study in partnership with the African Bank for Development to map all clusters in Egypt. The results of this study allowed CARE to work with UNWomen on one of the most important OVOP projects in Beni-Suef. CARE International and Danon created a milk collection center in the village to engage women in the dairy supply chain.

Several households in this village own cows and they do not use the milk produced from the cows. Women are now able to sell the milk to the milk collection center and Danon buys the milk from the center on a daily basis. The project also provides technical and financial support to women producers of milk to allow them to produce with the highest efficiency and quality. Some beneficiaries take microcredit loans to buy cows that produce more milk.

Access to Finance It is recommended to work on raising awareness about the available resources when it comes to access to finance and loans by governmental entities and utilize the available political will to support small farmers. For example, Small and Medium Enterprises Development fund and the Central Bank initiative. In 2020, the Central Bank of Egypt approved soft loans to small farms under SME initiative that allows small-scale growers and livestock breeders access to the SMEs lending initiative. This will make small farmers eligible for loans from commercial banks at a subsidized 5% interest rate. In addition, based on the decision of the CBE in 2015, banks are required to dedicate a portion of their portfolios to provide soft loans to SMEs24. The Central Bank of Egypt also worked on incentivizing banks to lend to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and

23 Kurokawa, Tembo & Velde. (2010). Challenge for the OVOP Movement in Sub-Saharan Africa. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254425925_Challenge_for_the_OVOP_Movement_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa 24 Central Bank of Egypt approves soft loans to small farms under SME initiative. (2020, June 17). Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://enterprise.press/stories/2020/06/17/central-bank-of-egypt-approves-soft-loans-to- small-farms-under-sme-initiative-17180/

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NGOs, which gave them a chance to serve more than 3 million beneficiaries, of which 65 % were women25.

As shown in the data, although respondents mentioned their need for access to capital and finance, when asked if they accessed agricultural finance during the most recent agricultural season or not. Data showed that 48% of respondents could not reach any source of agricultural finance during the most recent agricultural season. This shows a clear lack of information regarding the access to finance, the project should raise awareness about loan programs supporting the agribusiness sector.

However, as shown in the data, a significant proportion of the respondents are not willing to take loans from banks. The project should promote other forms of loan programs, for example, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs).

VSLAs Another opportunity on the policy level that the project should tap into and support is the formalizing and digitalizing of VSLAs. In 2020, The CBE Board of Directors approved to fund the VSLA in Egypt with an amount of 30 million Egyptian pound. The fund will invest in scale up and digitization of 100,000 women beneficiary in one year under. This is to achieve the 2030 goal of women empowerment as well as increase women’s financial literacy26.

As shown in the data, contrary to women, men have fear from the future and what it might bring but they reported no savings. On the other hand, the most common theme was to invest in a project that would get them profit, and they see this as the most efficient way to manage finances and be able to save. Most women reported saving through saving and lending groups “gameya”. In 1991, CARE International developed a group saving model called Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs) that would also allow groups to take small loans from those savings. This model has reached 8.4 million people so far and allowed them the opportunity of saving. Since then, this model has been implemented in at least in 22 countries and used by several donor and developmental entities like Plan, Oxfam, Aga Khan Foundation and others27. A number of women working in agriculture interviewed, said they are already participating in VSLA groups managed by CARE and are waiting for another round.

25 Gender Inclusive Finance: Impetus for Egypt's economic growth. (2020). Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.afi-global.org/blog/2020/03/gender-inclusive-finance-impetus-egypts-economic-growth 26 Gender Inclusive Finance: Impetus for Egypt's economic growth. (2020). Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.afi-global.org/blog/2020/03/gender-inclusive-finance-impetus-egypts-economic-growth 27 Microsavings through Village Savings and Loan Associations. (2020, July 22). Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://www.care.org/our-work/education-and-work/microsavings/

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Supporting the digitalization of VSLAs by the government can also provide an alternative option to physical meetings, cash handling and contribute to emergency response during crises, like the COVID-19 crisis. In Tanzania, CARE Tanzania partnered with a digital company to raise awareness about personal and community preventative actions against COVID 19 through radio, created reporting mechanisms to respond to GBV and to distribute e-cash and vouchers targeted towards purchasing hygiene and food items to VSLA groups. CARE’s VSLA network in Tanzania includes 28,737 groups and 507,937 women and girls out of 691,775 members overall28.

It is also recommended to modify the current model of VSLAs to ensure safety and prevent transmission during the COVID-19 crisis. A number of procedures should be taken:

● Ensure social distancing. ● Decrease the number of people in the group. ● Split groups. ● Limit cash handling ● Hand washing before and after the meeting. ● Sit in well ventilated rooms. ● No touching or physical contact (ex:handshakes, hugs) ● Wear facemasks. ● Ensure that hand soap, water and hand sanitizers are available. ● In case of exposure to virus or during the peak, groups should be suspended.

It is important to note that VSLAs members will need the savings or loans from the groups during the crisis and could need immediate cash assistance. This could happen in the form of accelerating share outs or suspending lending. Some groups have created “Covid-19” funds to provide emergency funds to group members.

Outcome 4: Increasing women’s access and control of productive resources

Providing Extension Services Finding alternatives to current forms of extension services is also recommended. Both the private sector and civil society have potential to provide alternative extension services for agriculture and livestock. Providing extension services by the private sector through contract farming is a

28 CARE. (2020). Learning Brief: VSLA and CARE Adaptations to COVID-19 and Past Crises. Retrieved from https://care.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/care_covid-19_vsla_program_examples_final_external.pdf

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win-win situation, as these services provide support to farmers and in return, allow them to produce more efficiency and with higher quality.

As shown in the data, all respondents were asked whether they have met with an agricultural extension worker or livestock extension worker in the past 12 months, a very low percent of meeting with an agricultural extension worker or livestock extension worker (15 %). Female respondents were almost twice male in meeting with an agricultural extension worker or livestock extension worker (17% and 9%, respectively). Extension services should be provided to all farmers and there is a clear lack of extension services which are really needed, specially when introducing a new technique or introducing women to new skills. The project should promote alternative channels for sustainable extension services.

Building the capacities and normalizing the existence of female extension workers is also essential to create gender sensitive value chains. Female extension workers will work with and address the needs of more female farmers and would provide them with knowledge and technical skills that are essential for empowerment, giving them information, knowledge, decision making power and in return, increasing their income.

Collaborating with different partners in the public and private sector One of the main factors that will accelerate the change process and multiple impact, is collaborating with the private and public sectors. Collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS), and other private sector entities represented in PEPSICO to create value chains for production of potatoes, is core to the work of She Feeds the World. Data show that women are involved in livestock activity, who are not involved in farming and their mobility is restricted to an income generation activity from home, and some of them mentioned that they want to expand their produce from livestocks but do not have the space to do that. It is recommended that partnership is created with Schaduf, a social business working on rooftop farming and linking households to the market. Moreover, what people eat and how they access food influences health, as well as the state of their environment and has an effect on climate change. Through further research, specially to governorates that are proximal to the center just as Giza and women who do not have enough space to expand their livestock activity nor have the immediate opportunity to work in farms due to gender attitudes and restricted roles, this can be an opportunity for them to be included in the project target.

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