Do We Contribute to Women's Empowerment? Insights From a Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Project Implemented in Nong, Laos.

Autor:	Gerber M; Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam Public Health Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands., Bon DM; Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam Public Health Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands., Bouahom B; Rural Economy, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, Vientiane, Laos., Broerse JEW; Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam Public Health Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands., Essink D; Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam Public Health Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Food and nutrition bulletin [Food Nutr Bull] 2024 Dec; Vol. 45 (4), pp. 142-152. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 06.
DOI:	10.1177/03795721241293547
Abstrakt:	Background: The gender-gap in power is still persistent around the globe. Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) interventions have been implemented to increase women's empowerment as a goal in itself, and as a pathway to food and nutrition security (FNS). However, contradicting evidence exists on whether the interventions, besides food security, realize women's empowerment. Furthermore, the concept of women's empowerment has different meanings across different cultures, regions, and countries. Objective: To assess the understanding of, and perspectives on, women's empowerment among different stakeholders in the context of an NSA project in Laos, and to assess whether this project contributes to women's empowerment and FNS. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with local implementers of NSA interventions (n = 13) and senior program managers and advisors (n = 5). Six focus group discussions were conducted with community members (n = 46). Results: Our findings reveal that community members had a materialistic understanding and local implementers an instrumental understanding, in contrast to senior program managers and advisors, who had an egalitarian understanding of women's empowerment. The level of women's empowerment in Nong was considered low by all respondents. Furthermore, respondents reported that the NSA interventions had a positive impact on FNS, but not on women's empowerment. Conclusions: In a community in which both women's empowerment and FNS are low, working with women may contribute to FNS, but not necessarily contribute to women's empowerment. Nevertheless, from an emic perspective, women do feel more empowered as the interventions contributed to increased household capacity to address FNS. Does our project lead to having enough food and improved women's status in communities living in rural, mountainous areas in Laos? Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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