Women's empowerment and its role in household food security to achieve SDGs: Empirical evidence from rural Bangladesh

Abstract

Women in developing countries are often characterized by lower social status, less input into decision‐making, lack of access to resources, and lower mobility, while their inclusion is vital to achieving household food security. This concept is recognized as important for attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs), including SDG‐5 (gender equality). This study investigated the level of women's empowerment (WE) and its determinants, household food security, and the connections between WE and food security in farming households in Bangladesh. Using primary data collected from 350 households and applying the modified project‐level WE in Agriculture Index, this study found that less than 1% of women were empowered. Poisson regression evidenced that women's years of schooling, household size, farm type, and having household members working away were positively associated with WE, while the farm's distance from home was negatively related. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale revealed that only 18% of households were food secure. Partial least squares structural equation modeling showed that three domains of empowerment—access to decisions on financial services, input in agricultural decisions, and ownership of assets—were negatively associated with household food insecurity, while mobility was positively related. This study shows, a realistic policy is needed to achieve food security through empowering rural women to achieve SDGs in a timely manner.