Gender equality has emerged as a major development goal, but how can women’s empowerment be measured? Until recently, the means for gauging women’s inclusion and empowerment was sorely lacking.
IFPRI, in collaboration with USAID and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, developed the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) to measure the empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in agriculture. Through the BIHS, Bangladesh is the first country to have countrywide WEAI data. Now, IFPRI researchers in Dhaka and Washington, together with USAID, will use WEAI data to assess the constraints and opportunities facing women in agricultural value chains and food systems.