Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture: Pro-WEAI Analysis of Small-Scale Potato Farmers in Narok County, Kenya

Abstract

Women’s economic empowerment has become an important component in advancing gender-transformative agri-food systems and sustainable development. This study evaluated the empowerment status of women small-scale potato farmers in Narok County Kenya. Project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) is a standardized, validated, and holistic metric of women’s empowerment within agricultural households. Multistage sampling method was employed to select and identify 483 small-scale potato farmers from both dual adult and female-adult only households. The overall pro-WEAI score for women was 59.8% indicating gender disparities in access to resources and agency. The results further revealed that women small-scale potato farmers were highly disempowered in instrumental and intrinsic agency domains as compared to men, but more empowered than men in collective agency domain. This suggests that while national averages portray significant progress in achieving gender parity, women in some rural communities in Kenya remain marginalized due to prevailing gendered social norms. Therefore, strengthening women’s empowerment in these domains through supportive policies and targeted interventions, will boost agricultural productivity and advance gender equality at the grassroots level.

Keywords: Pro-WEAI, Gender equality, Agriculture, Women’s empowerment

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/16-6-02

Publication date:August 31^st 2025