Gender and coffeeHow empowered are rural female coffee farmers?

Evidence from a HRNS project site in Ocotepeque and Copán, Honduras

TransSustain research project, University of Münster

http://www.uni-muenster.de/Transsustain/

Contact: janina.grabs@uni-muenster.de

The TransSustain research project

Focus on the efficacy of sustainability certifications and alternative pathwaysto improve the economic, social and environmental sustainability of coffee production

6 years, €1.3 million budget – funded by State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Project partners: INCAE Business School, HRNS, Fundación Co.Honducafé

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Dietz

University of Münster

Associate Prof. Bernard Kilian

INCAE Business School

Jennie Auffenberg, PhD candidate

University of Bremen

Daniel Calderón, PhD candidate

University of Münster

Janina Grabs, PhD candidate

University of Münster

What are we talking about?

A woman is economically empowered when she has both the ability to succeed and advance economically and the power to make and act on

economic decisions.

To succeed and advance economically, women need the skills and resources to compete in markets, as well as

fair and equal access to economic institutions.

To have the power and agency to benefit from economic activities, women need to have the ability to make and

act on decisions and control resources and profits.

“”

International Center for Research on Women (2011): Understanding and Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment.

The importance of women’s empowerment Gender equality recognized as an intrinsic value and goal

Fundamental human right to not be discriminated based upon gender

Millennium Development Goal #3, Sustainable Development Goal #5

Evidence for spillover effects to economic status, health, child wellbeing

More (and better informed) participation in productive activities → higher yields?

Replacement of hired labor in fields → positive impact on net income?

More access to resources and influence on household expenses → link to lower child undernutrition, more household food security, better health decision-making, better educational outcomes for children

Better intra-household power balance → less domestic violence, better mental health, less depression, better child-care outcomes

Land tenure and capacity building → greater security in case of husband’s death or outmigration

Project background

HRNS Trifinio Regional Program

Gender component in Ocotepequeand Copán:

Improve women’s empowerment through gender sensitization workshops and couples counselling meetings

Modelled after successful intervention in Uganda

Currently: First phase – first workshops and collection of baseline data

Interviews in 152 households (both women and men)

Table 2: Descriptive statistics of women in our sampleMean Median Q1 Q3 IQR

Age 41.9 40 32.5 51 18.5

Education (completed years) 5.6 6 3 6 3

Age at marriage 20.1 19 17 22 5

Duration of union (cohabiting or marriage) 21.6 20 11 30 19

Age at first child 20.5 20 18 22 4

Dependant children <14 years 1.3 1 0 2 2

Household size 4.8 5 4 6 2

Context Safety concerns

Food insecurity

Religious conservatism

“I call the police when somebody is killed so they come to the community, and they ask me how much it will cost them in gas.”

“We never run out of beans and tortillas, but meat and milk - yes.”

“One feels uncomfortable in these countries, nobody is safe in this country.”

“Today they speak of gender equality but the man has to be the head of the household. The man has to rule in the household, a household where the man isn’t in control is a household that is going downhill. He is the head of the woman. But man still has to respect the woman, since she is part of his body. Loving your wife is loving yourself.” – Mass sermon

“The woman has to take care of herself and make herself pretty to prevent her man from going off with another woman.” – Mass sermon

Operationalization: The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index

Developed by USAID, IFPRI, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)

2 sub-indexes:

Five domains of empowerment. Thresholds for each component, > 80% = „empowered”

Gender parity index: compare women with primary males in same household, measures “empowerment gap” to overcome

Alkire, S., Meinzen-Dick, R., Peterman, A., et al. (2013): The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index.

Results: The WEIA Index

20%

23%

29%

15%

14%

Contribution of each of the 5DE to Women Disempowerment

Productiondecisionmaking

Access to productiveresources

Control over use ofincome

Community Leadership

Time Allocation

Which components of empowerment are least prevalent?

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

0,2

0,25

0,3

Contribution of each indicator to disempowerment

Input in productive decisions

Autonomy in production

Ownership of assets

Purchase, sale, or transferof assets

Access to and decisions oncredit

Control over use of income

Group member

Speaking in public

Workload

Leisure

Table 3: Women empowerment statistics

% of women disempowered (<80%) 61.2%

Average inadequacy score 41.9%

Disempowerment Index 0.26

5DE Index 0.74

Women with no gender parity 60.3%

Average empowerment gap 0.27

GPI 0.84

WEAI (0.9*5DE + 0.1*GPI) 0.75

Comparison to USAID Honduras results

TRANSSUSTAIN USAID FEED THE FUTURE

Area Ocotepeque, Copán Copán, La Paz, Intibucá, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Santa Barbara

Observations 152 households (299 interviews) 3,326

5DE Score 0.74 0.74

GPI Score 0.84 0.87

WEAI Score 0.75 0.75

% Empowered 39% 31.5%

Main issues 1. Control over use of income2. Access to productive resources

1. Access to productive resources2. Control over use of income

USAID: Measuring progress toward empowerment. Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index. Baseline report

Results: Control over use of income

Table 4: Women participation in productive activities and decisions over income

Activities Participation (%)Feels can make decisions (%)

Feels can decide over the income generated (%)

Food crop farming 42.11 60.94 60

Cash crop farming 47.37 45.83 62.5

Livestock raising 15.13 26.09 33.33

Non-farm economic activities (small business, self-employment, buy-and-sell)

24.34 91.89 94.44

Wage and salaried employment 7.89 91.67 91.67

Fishing or fishpond culture 1.97 100 100

Results: Access to productive resources

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Ownership and access to productive assets

Household owns

Woman owns (solely orjointly)

Woman has rights (solelyor jointly)

Results: Women’s disempowerment and characteristics

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

16-25 26-45 46-59 >60

Age and disempowerment

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

No education Incompleteprimary

education

Completeprimary

education

Incompletesecondaryeducation

Completesecondary

education orhigher

Education and disempowerment

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Knows how to read and write Does not know how to read or write

Literacy and disempowerment

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1st quintile 2nd quintile 3rd quintile 4th quintile 5th quintile

Wealth and disempowerment

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

<18 18-23 24-29 >30

Age at first child and disempowerment

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

No children Only sons Only daughters Sons and daughters

Child composition and disempowerment

Testimonials“I have nothing assured for myself; he has the papers of everything we have bought, but we have lived our whole lives well together.”

“Not all couples are the same. Us, we split everything that comes in. When I know what is right, I tell him, do it.”

“Every time we had a girl I got angry (because I wanted a boy). Seven girls and one boy, and he died.”

“I never participate in activities because I have 12 children, 10 of which are left.”

“You cannot create a women’s group here, though some would like it the majority wouldn’t – They aren’t well received.”

“When my husband got ill, and the coffee had to be picked, I told him ‘Don’t worry, I will find a way to pick the coffee’.”

“No, the land belongs to me, I bought it. He hasn’t helped me with anything. […] Even if I’m a woman, I still can do the work that men do. […] When I was a little girl I learned [how] to work [in the field] with my dad, given that almost all of us were sisters.”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Recommendations

Embed gender projects in local religious context – possibly redefine the term “gender empowerment” and “gender equality” accordingly

Support female education and female-only farming groups as a way to acquire practical skills such as the ones that female-only households sometimes gain out of necessity

Increase attendance at discussion groups through community leader involvement or other incentives for participation

Strong focus on follow-through of women’s groups due to propensity to falter in the face of adversity