Local meanings and perceptions of women’s empowerment: qualitative evidence from female and male farmers in rural Ghana

Abstract

Assessing the relationship between empowerment and nutrition along the agriculturenutritionu pathway is limited by dissimilar emic and etic views of the construct, limited understanding of its contextual variation, and measurement difficulties. This study explored local meanings and perceptions of empowerment among women and men farmers in rural Ghana. The qualitative study took place within the LinkINg Up project, a quasi-experimental, nutrition-sensitive agriculture intervention (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03869853) in three sub-districts of the Eastern Region. The intervention was implemented through farmer-based organizations (FBO) that were selected using a set of criteria such as female representation and level of member participation. Within the FBO, all women were recruited to participate along with one male adult family member (spouse/partner, older son, father). Non-FBO members (women and their male family member) from the same communities were also enrolled as a comparison group. This manuscript addresses an independent research question on empowerment, not the LinkINg Up intervention outcomes. For the question, participants (53 females and 45 males) were selected purposefully based on FBO membership of the woman (member, non-member). During the first three months of the project, eight focus group discussions (FGD) with women and seven FGD with men were conducted to probe into local understandings of empowerment and women’s empowerment (WE). The FGD were translated to English from the local language and transcripts were coded using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach (open, axial, selective coding) with MAXQDA 2022. Women and men described empowerment in terms of an individual’s capability to improve circumstances by setting and meeting intentional and measurable goals. The construct of empowerment was made up of internal and external components. Internal components were those that were essential to allow one to be empowered, such as self-confidence, while the external components of empowerment were related to personal and community factors that empowered people, for example, asset ownership and social support. Emic understandings of WE were often related to women’s relationships with others and their roles (reproductive, productive, and community) within the studied context. The local descriptions of an empowered woman were categorized as someone who: i) exhibits qualities that are perceived to help one achieve goals, ii) takes actions to achieve goals, and iii) works with others to achieve own goals or common goals. When assessing WE in the study area, it is important to incorporate measures for women’s goal-setting capacity in relation to farming and business activities, and their ability to implement their goals, while taking into account relational aspects.