Game-Changing Metric to Unlock Women's Power in Agriculture Revealed!

The introduction of the Women's Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS) marks a significant advancement in addressing the data gap in assessing women's empowerment in the country, especially in agriculture. This innovative metric promises to revolutionize the way we approach women's empowerment and provide actionable insights for policymakers.

A recent seminar hosted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), shed light on the critical role WEMNS plays in enhancing the evaluation and promotion of women's empowerment, aligning with national development goals. According to IFPRI senior research fellow Agnes Quisumbing, WEMNS offers a streamlined and efficient approach to measuring women's empowerment across various dimensions.

WEMNS builds upon and refines the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), which was developed in 2012. While WEAI measured women's inclusion in agriculture through household surveys, it faced limitations in capturing the full complexity of women's empowerment. Quisumbing emphasized that empowerment is not just about decision-making within the household, but also includes dimensions like time allocation, access to financial services, property rights, and freedom from violence.

The pro-WEAI was developed to address these limitations, but it has proven effective only in assessing agricultural projects in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. WEMNS, on the other hand, is designed to offer a more comprehensive and adaptable tool for wider applications. According to Hazel Malapit, IFPRI senior research coordinator, WEMNS was developed to evaluate empowerment across four key areas: inner strength, practical capabilities, collective influence, and access to resources.

By simplifying data collection processes while still capturing the essential dimensions of empowerment, WEMNS offers a pragmatic solution for policymakers. This leaner tool is suitable for national statistical systems and can be implemented at scale, citing successful pilot projects in countries like Bangladesh, Malawi, Nepal, and Guatemala.

However, Malapit brought up the broader implications of these tools, warning that without consistent and reliable indicators, efforts to track and promote gender equality risk becoming ineffective. She emphasized that metrics matter if they motivate, monitor, and shape policy, and that measurable progress toward gender equality is essential for making a real impact on the ground.

Former PIDS president Celia Reyes highlighted the challenges of integrating gender-sensitive indicators into national development programs and surveys. She stressed the need for robust, context-specific data to drive effective interventions and address regional challenges. Reyes emphasized that incorporating these indicators into national surveys will allow us to monitor progress at a larger scale and make informed decisions that truly benefit women, especially in rural areas.

PIDS senior research fellow Jose Ramon Albert cautions that treating women as a homogenous group is ineffective for policy development. He stressed the importance of data disaggregation to fully capture the essence of women's empowerment. By looking at the data more closely, we can develop policies that are more targeted and effective in addressing the unique challenges faced by women in different contexts.