Measuring Agency Over Food Consumption Among Female Rice Farmers in Burkina Faso

Keywords: Agency, agriculture, food security, gender, nutrition
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 7

Abstract

While food security is traditionally defined with four pillars, increasingly we require an additional two: agency and sustainability. Agency, one’s control over their food system, is challenging to effectively measure. Measuring women’s agency is especially critical in Sub-Saharan Africa where women play prominent roles in farming and food preparation. This paper explores the feasibility of creating a metric by conceptualizing agency within food systems and gender relations using data related to food security and dietary diversity among Burkinabé female rice farmers. First, I explore how we can tangibly measure agency at a variety of scales and in different situations related to autonomy and sovereignty and then develop a preliminary index based upon a subset of questions in the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Second, I consider how including agency as a pillar of food security can positively transform our understanding of food security. I achieve this by relating agency to the existing pillars of food security to understand how agency fills the gaps in our conceptualization of such systems. Third, I ask if a connection between the level of agency, food security, and individual dietary diversity scores exists. I explore the correlation between the scores as well as analyzing the women who were exceptions to these regressions with case studies. Ultimately, I conclude that agency can be quantified in a way that increases its accessibility to policymakers to create more just food systems, with the aim to expand how we understand and approach food justice.