"Women's Empowerment In Agriculture In Telangana: Grassroot Reflections On The WEAI"

Abstract

Women's empowerment in agriculture is a critical issue that demands attention and action. In India, where agriculture plays a significant role in the country's economy, the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) serves as a valuable tool to measure progress and identify areas for improvement.
The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) serves as a comprehensive tool to evaluate women’s empowerment, agency, and inclusion in the agricultural sector. It aggregates data across several dimensions, including decision-making and resource control, as well as gender parity within households. However, the current WEAI methodology demands extensive data collection, requiring lengthy surveys with numerous questions across various indicators and dimensions. This study introduces a reduced version of the WEAI to simplify the measurement process while maintaining comparability to the original index.
Two primary strategies for reduction are explored: decreasing the number of indicators used in the index or retaining all indicators but reducing the number of survey questions for each. Among these, the study finds that applying multiple correspondence analysis to streamline survey questions offers a reduced version closely aligned with the original WEAI. This approach ensures robust and efficient measurement of women’s empowerment in agriculture without compromising accuracy or relevance.