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Revisiting the Linkage of Women’s Decision Making in Agriculture and Nutrition at Micro Level: A Cross-sectional Study from Rural India

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  • Ruchira Bhattacharya

Abstract

This study critically analysed the association of nutritional intake—measured by individual dietary diversity scores (IDDS), with women’s decision-making in agriculture—measured by the Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) (modified). The study included 578 dual agricultural households in rural India from cross-sectional primary data collected in 2019 through a probability-proportionate randomised stratified sampling survey. The individual ‘empowerment scores’ were derived from the sub-indices of a contextualised ad hoc WEAI. A modified Wagstaff concentration index titled empowerment ranked concentration index (ErCI) of ‘adequate’ IDDS was estimated with the WEAI ‘empowerment scores’ as underlying rankings. Results showed an average 62.55% of the women with inadequate input in decisions in 43.99% of the domains—mainly due to lack of leisure, inadequate leadership and low input on production decisions. Poor nutrition (low-IDDS) was concentrated among disempowered individuals (ErCI: −0.180; p

Suggested Citation

  • Ruchira Bhattacharya, 2024. "Revisiting the Linkage of Women’s Decision Making in Agriculture and Nutrition at Micro Level: A Cross-sectional Study from Rural India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 18(3), pages 400-422, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inddev:v:18:y:2024:i:3:p:400-422
    DOI: 10.1177/09737030251319910
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