While interventions that increase women’s engagement in agriculture-based income-earning activities can lead to economic advancement, this does not automatically result in empowerment. Often, the responsibilities of women who start businesses increase without any corresponding decrease in their domestic or agriculture-based duties. Changes in agency are imperative and require addressing the root of harmful norms and power relations that prohibit women from expanding their choices and strengthening their voices. 

The Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment (AWE) Program examined the Feed the Future Malawi Agriculture Diversification (AgDiv) Activity’s soy kit intervention as a case study to assess the impact of beyond production interventions on women’s empowerment. The objectives of the research were to investigate how beyond production components of the selected USAID Activity have affected women’s empowerment and to identify the drivers of empowerment outcomes and the extent to which a package of beyond production agricultural interventions has proved impactful for the selected USAID Activity. 

To learn more about this study, please contact Laura Courbois at [email protected] or Katie Cheney at [email protected].