Women’s roles in decision-making and nutrition-sensitive agriculture

Feiruz Yimer Mohammed, Makaiko G. Khonje and Matin Qaim

No 347962, Sustainable Food Systems Discussion Papers from Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

Abstract: The small farm sector is home to many of the world’s food insecure and undernourished people. Strategies to make smallholder farming more nutrition-sensitive often focus on agricultural diversification. In addition, women’s empowerment is widely considered useful to improve diets and nutrition. Many studies have analyzed the effects of farm production diversification and of women’s empowerment on dietary outcomes, but mostly in separate strands of literature. Here, we connect these strands of literature to contribute to a better understanding of the multifaceted links between farm production diversity, women’s roles in decision-making, and household diets. Using primary data from Malawi, we show that women’s decision-making is positively associated with farm production diversity and with household dietary diversity. Furthermore, women’s decision-making increases the positive association between farm production diversity and dietary diversity. We also differentiate between different domains of decision-making, including agricultural production, market sales, cash income control, and food purchases. The results suggest that strengthening women’s agency can make smallholder farming more nutrition-sensitive through multiple channels.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-dev
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:gausfs:347962

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.347962

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