Why did WEAI change? And How?

Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index

Farzana Ramzan, Ph.D. Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

Bureau for Food Security, USAID

• “What gets measured gets done” • Overall goals – Increase the uptake of the WEAI– Harmonization of indicators and methods

• Different strokes for different folks!– Shorter, improved WEAI for all– Project-level WEAI for some– WEAI for national-level surveys

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Why revise the WEAI?

Feedback after baselines

• The survey is too long and resource-intensive – Reduce survey time by ~30%

• Most problematic modules?– Autonomy in decision making – Time allocation – Group membership

• Questions on why certain domains were not included – Health, mobility, domestic violence, etc.

• Smaller issues with response codes and cultural context

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Pilot versions

• 1.0 : Original WEAI pilot in 2012• 1.1 : Original questions with streamlined

response codes, updated formatting & instructions

• 2.0 : New or improved questions– 7 day recall, actual time– 7 day recall, typical time (last 6 months)– 24 hour recall, primary activities only

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How was the WEAI changed?

Role in Household Decision-Making Around Production and Income Generation• Streamlined all of the decision-making questions by putting them together in one module.• Clarification is provided on the timeframe • Response codes shortenedAccess to Productive Capital More examples were provided for several of the asset categories Questions were dropped, others replaced or combinedAccess to Credit A question on the ability to take a loan or borrow was added The lending source “Informal credit/savings groups” was addedIndividual Leadership and Influence in the Community Moved the module toward the end of the survey The three questions on different kinds of speaking up in public have been replaced with

the two questionsGroup Membership The group category “Local Government” has been dropped

How was the WEAI changed?

Decision-making Questions on autonomy were replaced with vignettes Time Allocation Recall period 7 days

Was this a usual amount of time and, if not, how much time they usually spend on that activity?

For the 24-hour time grid, secondary activities were dropped. After the 24-hour time grid, the question “In the last 24 hours did you work (at home or

outside of the home) more than usual, about the same as usual, or less than usual?” was added

Things to evaluate

• Do changes result in better data quality?

• Are changes easier to implement?

• How do 5DE, GPI, WEAI & disempowerment profiles change across pilot types?

• Which indicators should comprise the “new” WEAI?

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Thank you!

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