Jennifer Twyman

Climate variability largely affects agriculture in the developing world where rainfed agriculture is highly prevalent, and farmers rely on favourable climatic conditions to grow their crops. In Colombia, interannual climate variability can increase human vulnerabilities. Evidence on the vulnerability of farming households to climate variability at the local scale is, however, scarce. Here, we assessed the climate vulnerability and its determinants for a representative sample of 567 bean growing households in Santander, Colombia. We first applied Multiple Correspondence Analysis to calculate a vulnerability index and its components (exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity). The vulnerability index is in turn used to classify households into three vulnerability groups, namely, high, medium, and low. We then estimated a Generalized Ordered Probit Model to assess the probability of falling into each vulnerability category according to the household and farm management characteristics. We find that vulnerability is highly variable in the study region, with up to 65% of households classified as highly vulnerable. Geography, access to agronomic training, crop diversification, the percentage of household members making productive decisions and the gender of the household head are the most important factors determining the probability of being more or less vulnerable.

Strategies to empower women in development contexts frequently address their authority to take decisions within their household, including decisions that are taken jointly by couples. Assessing empowerment in joint decision-making has traditionally followed a dichotomous approach: decisions are either joint or not, with the former associated with women’s empowerment. This paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the empowerment effects of joint decision-making, based on case study data from Uganda. We present survey data revealing significant gender differences in perception of decision-making over the adoption of agricultural practices and consumption expenses. Women reported joint decision-making more often than men, who presented themselves more as sole decision makers. We supplement the survey data with an in-depth study in Lodi village, where we reconstruct meanings attached to joint decision-making using focus group discussions, a decision-making game and participant observation. Reported joint decision-making included a range of practices from no conversation among partners to conversations where female spouse’s ideas are considered but the man has the final say. The findings suggest that local interpretations of joint decision-making, in at least this case of a dominantly patriarchal context, can limit its potential for assessing women’s empowerment.

Purpose: We examine the joint demand for components of a household’s diet diversity and its relationship with household and regional characteristics that embody diverse food access and utilization constraints within the framework of the dietary patterns of rice producers in Peru. Methodology/approach: We use multivariate probit regression to account for the simultaneous nature of the choice of different dietary group components. Findings: There are diverse food intake patterns for households, depending on their wealth, education, demographic structure, market access and geographic location, as well as past shocks. There are also several obesogenic foods that are complements to consumption, with milk being a strong substitute for some of them. Of particular concern is the high vulnerability of female-headed households to low consumption of micronutrient-rich foods as well as the high vulnerability of households with children to high consumption of beverages with added sugars. Climate shocks are also highly associated with poor diet quality. Practical implications: Results show the important influence of trade on household nutrition and food security. They indicate that policy and program recommendations should focus on nutrition information (such as labeling requirements) and education so that consumers can make informed decisions. They also suggest that policy makers should focus on how to make healthy foods available during crises to prevent health issues after economic and climatic shocks.

This paper challenges standard analyses of gender differences in agriculture, which typically focus on the sex of household heads or landholders, by considering who makes decisions on land owned by married women. We show that joint ownership and joint decision-making by couples is common in Ecuador but would be overlooked in studies focusing on only one farm manager. We also show that there are gender differences in perceptions about land ownership and agricultural decision-making, with men reporting lower levels of women’s participation compared to their wives’ report. Moreover, perceptions about the factors affecting women’s participation in agricultural decision-making also differ. (JEL D63, Q15)

Este trabajo investiga si las mujeres propietarias de parcelas participan en las decisiones agrícolas sobre ellas. Con base en una muestra nacional de Ecuador, el análisis demuestra que la gran mayoría de mujeres dueñas participan activamente en la conducción de sus parcelas, sean éstas propiedades de ellas de manera individual o en conjunto con su pareja. También revela que hay diferencias en el nivel de participación de las mujeres, dependiendo de su estado civil o situación marital (si son casadas o unidas en comparación con jefas de hogar solteras, separadas, divorciadas o viudas) y de la forma de la propiedad. Además, su participación varía según la decisión agrícola bajo consideración. De todos modos, nuestro análisis conduce a una conclusión sobresaliente: los datos censales proporcionan una visión distorsionada de la agricultura familiar porque no se toma en cuenta que las decisiones agrí- colas son tomadas frecuentemente por la pareja y conllevan a una subestimación de la participación de las mujeres casadas/ unidas como agricultoras.

Aunque los derechos de propiedad de las mujeres en Ecuador son relativamente fuertes, en la práctica estos derechos no siempre se cumplen, por lo que genera violencia patrimonial contra ellas. Esta es una de las razones por lo cual, según nuestra encuesta de hogares sobre los activos a nivel nacional, el valor de los activos de las mujeres en promedio es menor en comparación con los hombres. A la vez, hay grandes variaciones en el nivel de riqueza promedio dependiendo del estado civil (siendo mucho más alta entre los que están casados en comparación con los que están en una unión consensual), y en lo agudo de la brecha de género (ésta siendo mayor entre los casados, viudos y separados). A través de la información recogida durante la fase cualitativa de la investigación en tres provincias, proponemos ilustrar cómo se generan estas brechas de género en la riqueza según el estado civil y como estas pueden ser el resultado de la violencia patrimonial.

Patrimonial violence, defined minimally as the violation of women’s property rights, is increasingly recognized as a form of gender violence, along with physical, psychological, and sexual violence. Research in Ecuador on the extent to which women are aware of their property rights and the situations in which patrimonial violence is most likely to occur shows that, while most women seem to be aware of certain fundamentals, there are many misconceptions, particularly regarding the status of individual property. Women’s lack of legal knowledge often undermines their ability to obtain their rightful share of the division of property upon separation, divorce, or widowhood. Moreover, patrimonial violence is often aggravated by the presence of other forms of violence against women. La violencia patrimonial, definida mínimamente como la violación de los derechos de propiedad de las mujeres, se reconoce cada vez más como una forma de violencia de género, a la par que la violencia física, psicológica y sexual. Investigaciones sobre el grado en que las mujeres son conscientes de sus derechos de propiedad y las situaciones en las que es más probable que se produzca violencia patrimonial en Ecuador muestran que, mientras que la mayoría de las mujeres parece estar conscientes de ciertos fundamentos, manejan muchas ideas equivocadas, particularmente con respecto al estado de la propiedad individual. Su falta de conocimiento legal a menudo socava su capacidad de obtener una parte justa de la división de bienes ocurrida a raíz de una separación, divorcio o viudez. Lo que es más, la violencia patrimonial a menudo se ve agravada por la presencia de otras formas de violencia contra la mujer.

Most studies of household decision making focus on the factors associated with women’s ability to make decisions autonomously. This paper is concerned with egalitarian decision making, defined as where both men and women consider that they themselves make decisions jointly, and where they agree that their spouses participate in decisions in a similar fashion. We offer evidence that in Ecuador women’s command over resources is associated with egalitarian decision making among couples. Women’s share of couples’ wealth is positively and significantly associated with the likelihood of joint decision making regarding their decision to work and to spend income. JEL classification: J16; D13; D31; 054

: Most studies that incorporate a gender dimension into the study of poverty or other development outcomes focus on the sex of the household head. This article argues that a headship analysis gives only a partial view of gender inequality since it does not take into account the position of women within male‐headed households. Drawing primarily on the Living Standard Measurement Studies for Latin America and the Caribbean, the authors present baseline indicators of the degree of gender inequality in asset ownership for the eleven countries in the region that have collected individual‐level data on asset ownership. Disaggregated data on asset ownership within households suggest that the distribution of property by gender is more equitable than a headship analysis alone would imply. But the degree of gender inequality also varies according to the specific asset and among countries. Further comparative work on asset ownership requires attention to the marital regimes governing property rights in marriage. Finally, the authors suggest how household surveys could be improved by standardizing the collection of individual‐level asset data across countries.