‘ Learning from the Women’s Empowerment Index: Case Studies on the Income and Time Domains Columbia University Workshop Team 2015-2016 Lisa Bacon Nicole Figot Krista Jorstad Aly Marczynski Julia Nethero Albane Sautory Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 4 Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... 5 List of Figures ................................................................................................................ 6 List of Boxes ................................................................................................................... 6 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1 Project Framework and Background ...................................................... 9 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 10 The Hunger Project: An Organizational Overview ................................................. 11 The Hunger Project’s Programs ................................................................................ 12 The Hunger Project’s Monitoring & Evaluation System .......................................... 12 The Women’s Empowerment Index .......................................................................... 13 Research Framework and Background .................................................................... 15 Research Methodology .............................................................................................. 15 Limitations of the Research ....................................................................................... 16 Country Backgrounds and Development Factors: Burkina Faso & Ghana ......... 18 Burkina Faso .............................................................................................................. 18 Ghana ......................................................................................................................... 21 Other THP Countries ................................................................................................. 24 Country Factors’ Influence on WEI Scores ............................................................... 24 CHAPTER 2 Case Study TIME .................................................................................... 27 Introduction to Time ................................................................................................... 28 Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 29 The Gendered Division of Unpaid Household Labor ................................................ 29 The Use of Technology to Reduce Time Poverty ..................................................... 32 Using Leisure Time as a Measure of Empowerment ................................................ 33 Description of the Time Domain ................................................................................ 35 How THP Measures Time ......................................................................................... 35 Implications of the Indicators for the Time Scores ................................................... 37 Describing the Domain from the Perspective of the Participant ............................... 37 THP Activities in the Time Domain ........................................................................... 39 Description of Findings ............................................................................................... 42 Overview of Time Data ............................................................................................. 42 Detailed Findings of the Time Domain by Indicator and Theme .............................. 45 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 57 2 CHAPTER 3 Case Study INCOME .............................................................................. 59 Introduction to Income ............................................................................................... 60 Literature Review on Income ..................................................................................... 61 Agency through Income ............................................................................................ 61 The Division of Household Expenditures by Gender ................................................ 62 Gendering of Income-Generating Activities ............................................................. 63 Description of the Income Domain ............................................................................ 64 Describing the Domain from the Perspective of the Participant ............................... 66 THP’s Activities in the Income Domain .................................................................... 68 Rural Banks ............................................................................................................... 68 Financial Literacy ...................................................................................................... 70 Alternative Livelihoods Trainings ............................................................................. 71 Description of Findings ............................................................................................... 71 Overview of Income Data .......................................................................................... 71 Detailed Findings of the Income Domain by Indicator and Theme .......................... 73 Impact of Country Factors on the Income Score ..................................................... 87 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER 4 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................. 90 Overall Implementation in the Time and Income Domains .................................... 91 Recommendations for Activities in the Time domain .............................................. 92 Recommendations for Activities in the Income domain .......................................... 95 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 97 Annexes ...................................................................................................................... 107 3 Acknowledgements A special thank you to: The Hunger Project • Megan Colnar, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, THP Global • Marissa Strniste, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Program Officer, THP Global • Ghana and Burkina Faso Country Staff, especially Samuel Afrane, Emmanuel Avevor, Francis Osei-Mensah, Evariste Lébendé Yaogho, Aissa Barry, Gilbert Sourwema • THP Africa Program Staff: Dorothy Nabwire, Elodie Iko, Idrissa Ba, Grace Chikowi • THP Global Office Staff, especially Tory Watts and the M&E interns Columbia University • Our Faculty Advisor, Professor Pratima Kale • Professor Eugenia McGill and Ilona Vinklerova • Professor Ernest Harsch • Institute of African Studies 4 Acronyms AWFFI: African Women Food Farmers Initiative CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women FAO: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations GDP: Gross Domestic Product GNI: Gross National Income GPR: Gender Parity Ratio HDI: Human Development Index IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development IGA: Income-generating activities M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation MFP: Microfinance Program NGO: Non-governmental Organization ODA: Official Development Assistance OECD: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ROSCA: Rotating Savings and Credit Association SACCO: Savings and Credit Cooperatives SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs SSA: Sub-Saharan Africa THP: The Hunger Project UNDP: United Nations Development Programme UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund USAID: United States Agency for International Development WAR: Women’s Achievement Ratio WEAI: Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index WEI: Women’s Empowerment Index WEP: Women’s Empowerment Programs 5 List of Figures FIGURE 1: THE FIVE DOMAINS OF EMPOWERMENT IN THE WEI ..................................................................... 13 FIGURE 2: COUNTRY AVERAGE WEI SCORES BY DOMAIN ............................................................................. 14 FIGURE 3: CONCENTRIC CIRCLES STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS, TIME ............................................................... 38 FIGURE 4: AVERAGE WEI SCORE ON THE WATER COLLECTION INDICATOR ................................................. 43 FIGURE 5: AVERAGE WEI SCORE ON THE FUEL COLLECTION INDICATOR- PURCHASING FUEL ..................... 44 FIGURE 6: AVERAGE WEI SCORE ON THE FUEL COLLECTION INDICATOR- RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUEL COLLECTION .......................................................................................................................................... 44 FIGURE 7: DISAGGREGATED FUEL COLLECTION WEI SCORES IN GHANA BY EPICENTER .............................. 51 FIGURE 8: DISAGGREGATED WATER COLLECTION INDICATOR SCORES BY EPICENTER IN BURKINA FASO AND GHANA ..................................................................................................................................................