From March 29 - April 1, AGRODEP held a training course on Tools for Value Chain Analysis. The course included a section on the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), the first comprehensive and standardized index to directly measure women's empowerment and inclusion in the agricultural sector. The course introduced participants to the proper use of the tool, as well as featuring discussions of how and why gender issues and women's empowerment matter for value chain analysis. Support for the course was provided by the CGIAR Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) as part of the AGRODEP Value Chain Analysis Virtual Hub project.
A series of four training videos were recorded during the course that was taught by Hazel Malapit of IFPRI. These videos are now available online here.
The first video gives an overview of the issues of gender analysis and women's empowerment, as well as their role in broader value chain analysis. The second video introduces viewers to the WEAI. This introduction includes the components of the index, recent developments and different versions of the index, and an overview of the survey questionnaire used in building the index. Video three looks at how data is collected for the WEAI and includes a focus on best practices for survey design and implementation. Video four teaches viewers how the index is constructed, focusing on various methodologies and their adaptation to the measurement of women's empowerment.