Back to Search Start Over

Feeding the future in Ghana: Gender inequality, poverty, and food insecurity.

Authors :
Egyir, Irene S.
O'Brien, Cheryl
Bandanaa, Joseph
Opit, George P.
Source :
World Medical & Health Policy. Dec2023, Vol. 15 Issue 4, p638-671. 34p.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

As women's empowerment is critical for the adoption of agricultural technologies by farmers, some governments have over the last three decades adopted a gender equality approach to food security. In Ghana, women play a vital role as farmers and food processors, which means they impact household nutrition in important ways. In this article, we explore women's empowerment in maize‐producing sites in Ghana by drawing on original data collected from over 400 farmers and service providers as part of a United States Agency for International Development‐funded Feed the Future project. We employ a quasi‐"women's empowerment in agriculture index" to measure the extent to which men and women maize producers are either empowered or disempowered in the domains of production, access to resources, control over income, leadership, and time allocation. Our study reveals that cost and time poverty are the main factors that influence the adoption of technologies to reduce postharvest losses. We also find that women are disproportionately disempowered in the areas of control over the use of income and time poverty. Importantly, we further find that researchers need to account for perceived versus actual empowerment when examining gender inequality in agriculture. Our study findings and policy recommendations will be of interest to policymakers, scholars, and development practitioners. Key points: Cost and time poverty are the main factors that influence the adoption of technologies to reduce postharvest food losses in Ghana.Ghanaian women are critically disempowered in the areas of control over the use of income and time poverty.Researchers need to account for perceived versus actual empowerment when examining gender inequality in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19484682
Volume :
15
Issue :
4
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
World Medical & Health Policy
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
174109187
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.578