EJ-SOCIAL, European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN: 2736-5522 Evaluating Women’s Empowerment in Rural Cameroon through the Abbreviated – Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index Boris Dinictri Soh Wenda and Dorothy Engwali Fon [10]. Abstract — Amartya Sen a Nobel laureate stressed the fact Women in developing countries produce 80-90% of that empowering women and girls with more choices and more household food [8] and play a key role in household food freedom is crucial to achieving a better future for all. This study security [11]. Yet, women have less access to productive evaluates the level of women’s empowerment in agriculture by resources, capital, and fewer opportunities to apply their assessing the empowerment gaps between male and female decision makers; and by comparing the level of women’s skills and knowledge [12], [13]. In Sub-Saharan Africa empowerment in agriculture across household types. (SSA), for instance, the bulk of the production processes are Empowerment is assessed through the Five Domains of carried out by women, but they have the least access to and Empowerment (5DE) of the Abbreviated Women’s use of those resources that lead to the final output [14]. Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI). Using data Women face serious constraints in agriculture and food collected from 600 rural households in the West region of Cameroon, the outcomes from the 5DE show that empowerment systems among which limited access to productive resources gaps between men and women exist in all domains of (land, water, inputs, technology) and information, limited empowerment. The empowerment gaps between men and access to extension services and credit, limited participation women are more severe in the resource and income domains. in rural institutions and decision making, (lack of voice) and Also, group membership, excessive workload and access to and limited access to decent rural employment opportunities. decision about credit contribute the most to disempowerment Added to these, rural women have specific constraints which for both men and women. The study shows more women in dual headed household (DHHs) achieve adequacy in terms of input in are the triple work burden in the productive, reproductive, and productive decisions, access to and decision about credit, group social spheres and the lack of recognition [8], [15], [14]. membership and workload as compared to other household Women are the predominant group of agricultural types. Also, women’s empowerment in the production, resource labourers, but deep-rooted social and structural inequalities and income domains depend on the household type. The results prevent female farmers from gaining equal rights to access of the study highlight the need for the creation of governmental land and resources to gain economic independence [16]. and non-governmental organisations that will promote women’s Furthermore, women often have less access to services and empowerment in agriculture and other aspects life. agricultural inputs [8], [17], [18], [13]. Therefore, gender Index Terms — Agriculture; Cameroon; Domains of differences in productivity are significant and limit not only empowerment; Women’s Empowerment. how lucrative farming is for women, but also the amount of food produced, which has implications for food and nutrition security [11]. I. INTRODUCTION An analysis of the current trends in political governance Women's empowerment has been a very important issue of and agriculture reveals persistent gender gaps in political the contemporary world [1]. Women’s empowerment is an representation, in agricultural research and innovation important goal in achieving sustainable development systems, and in other positions of influence in many African worldwide [2]. Several researchers and international countries [19]. In Cameroon, the gender gaps are present organisations [3]-[6] have identified gender equality and almost all aspects for instance, in 2013, 31% of women’s empowerment as a potential pathways through parliamentarians were women; in 2015, 30.5% of small and which communities and nations can strengthen their food medium size enterprises (SMEs) existing in the country were systems to fight hunger and malnutrition, and improve the owned by women; in 2014, the adult literacy rate was 69% lives and livelihoods of rural populations. for women against 81% for men, gross enrolment rate in Women comprise approximately 43 % of the agricultural tertiary education was 10% for women and 14% for men and labour force in developing countries (varying by country and the Gender Inequality Index (GII) stood at 0.587 [20]. by region) [7] and on average, have less access to and control Rural women in Cameroon, like in other African countries, over productive resources such as land, education, labour, are confronted with several obstacles in their role as the major livestock, technology, financial and extension services than economic and social force in the development of the men [7]-[9]. Hence, being marginal and powerless does not agricultural sector [8]. The FAO [7] posits that women's depend on a population’s numerical weight in the society empowerment in agriculture is vital because women are Published on June 25, 2021. Dorothy Engwali Fon, Department of Rural Socio-Economics and Boris Dinictri Soh Wenda, Department of Rural Socio-Economics and agricultural Extension; University of Dschang, Cameroon. agricultural Extension; University of Dschang, Cameroon. (e-mail: dengwali yahoo.fr) (corresponding e-mail: bswenda@ yahoo.com) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24018/ejsocial.2021.1.3.69 Vol 1 | Issue 3 | June 2021 45 EJ-SOCIAL, European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN: 2736-5522 central to family food security and nutrition being responsible more constrained in this indicator than men. Limited access for food selection and preparation and care for the health of to and control of credit likewise is a constraint for both children and family members; women are often the women and men, and the extent of disempowerment with custodians of biodiversity. Based on the above assertion, this respect to this indicator is also greater for women [19]. study aims at assessing the level of women’s empowerment A comparative analysis conducted in seven African in agriculture in rural Cameroon with particular focus on the countries based on the WEAI indicate that input in productive West region of the country. decisions and autonomy in production figure among the top three causes of disempowerment in Liberia only purchase, sale, or transfer of assets as well as group membership form II. LITERATURE REVIEW part of the top three causes of disempowerment in Ghana and All over the world, men relative to women have greater Rwanda respectively. On the other hand, leisure and asset access to the use of force, greater access to resource control, ownership are not part of the top three causes of less social obligations to uphold, and more advantageous disempowerment in any of the studied countries. Workload cultural ideologies [2]. In many countries, women have less appears as one of the top three causes of disempowerment in schooling than men, control fewer resources, have less four of the seven countries (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and decision-making power over household income, and face Zambia) and stands as the main cause of disempowerment in time constraints because of their triple burden of productive, three countries (Uganda, Malawi and Zambia). Similarly, domestic, and community responsibilities [21]. Control over use of income forms part of the top three drivers In SSA, women own less land than men, regardless of their of disempowerment in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana age and of how ownership is conceptualized [22], [9] mainly and is the main cause of disempowerment in Ghana. Access because inheritance laws generally favour men over women to and decisions on credit on the other hand form part of the [23]. Young rural women are half as likely as young men to three main causes of disempowerment in all the seven own land by themselves [23] and this puts women at a countries and are the main driver of disempowerment in disadvantage. Similarly, in Cameroon although legally men Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana [26]. and women are equally entitled to land ownership, the general [27] through a study in Honduras show that resources and custom is that men, not women, inherit lands [20]. Also, income domains contribute the most to women’s women do not necessarily enjoy the benefits of their labour disempowerment in agriculture. However, adequacy in terms or have control over income earned [24]. of resource ownership is larger in single female headed In Cameroon, women farmers and women in the rural areas households as compared to dual headed households. Also, the face several challenges: it is difficult for women to obtain finding of [27] indicate that with nearly half of households means of production (land, funding, equipment, information, receiving credit in the prior twelve months, just more than a training, capital); it is difficult to improve productivity as quarter of women are involved in the decisions about how to women do not have appropriate equipment or skills; women use the money borrowed and the statistic for single female do not have sufficient farming lands; there are no social headed household is higher than that of dual headed security systems available for rural women; women farmers households. [27] also show that in Honduras show that when do not have sufficient capacity to form