Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125-134
Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125-134
Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125-134
A B S T R A C T
This paper presents a mixed-methods study that examines the relationship between women’s empowerment, household food security, and maternal and child diet
diversity (as one indicator of nutrition security) in two regions of Tanzania. Indicators across three domains of women’s empowerment were scored and matched to a
household food insecurity access scale. Qualitative research helped appreciate the gender dynamics affecting the women’s empowerment-food security and women’s
empowerment-nutrition security nexus. In cluster adjusted regression analyses, scores from each domain were significantly associated with women’s dietary di-
versity, but not with household food security. All three empowerment domains were positively associated with food security and nutrition in the qualitative analysis.
This article discusses these findings and shows the pathways by which respondents saw their empowerment to affect their household food security.
1. Introduction and food preferences for an active and healthy life (World Food Summit
1996). Food security is necessary (but not sufficient) to achieve in-
Globally, there are about 300–600 million pastoralists.1 In response dividual nutrition security (FAO and FHI 360, 2016). Nutrition security,
to environmental, social, and political pressures, many pastoralists are defined as ‘a situation that exists when secure access to an appropriately
shifting to more sedentary livelihood strategies,2 a process known as nutritious diet is coupled with a sanitary environment, adequate health
‘sedentarization’ (Desta and Coppock, 2004; Fratkin et al., 2006; Rota services and care, in order to ensure a healthy and active life for all
and Sperandini, 2009; IUCN and UNEP, 2014). In East Africa, se- household members’ requires not only food security but also adequate
dentarization may have negative consequences for food security and health status, hygiene and appropriate care practices (FAO, 2012). In-
maternal and child dietary intake, such as reduced consumption of dividual diet diversity, defined as ‘the number of different foods or food
animal-source foods (Sellen, 1996, 2000, 2016; Iannotti and Lesorogol, groups consumed over a given reference period’, is strongly associated
2014). Galvin et al. (2015) found, for example, that sedentarization has with the adequacy of nutrient intakes, and it is often used as an in-
fragmented common land making it difficult for herders to follow their dicator of diet quality and nutrition security, as in this study (Jones
traditional feeding strategy of freely moving livestock around. They et al., 2013; Ruel, 2003). Household diet diversity, on the other hand,
need to rely on social networks to gain access to new land. This reduces measures the consumption of different food groups by any member of a
their ability to feed livestock, and to rely on livestock and the products given household over a reference period; it often is used as an indicator
of livestock for household food security and nutrition. of food security and household diet quality but does not extend to ap-
Food security refers to the physical, social and economic access to proximate individual household members' nutrition security (Hoddinott
sufficient, safe and nutritious food, at all times, to meet dietary needs and Yohannes, 2002).
∗
Corresponding author. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P.O. Box 30709, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
E-mail address: a.galie@cgiar.org (A. Galiè).
1
Figures on the number of pastoralists worldwide vary depending on whether nomadic communities, transhumant herders, extensive pastoralists and agro-
pastoralists are included. All these groups, despite their different types of mobility are facing similar challenges in both developed and developing countries (https://
www.iucn.org/theme/ecosystem-management/our-work/global-drylands-initiative/iucns-work-drylands/world-initiative-sustainable-pastoralism-wisp/pastoralist-
portal/pastoralism).(IUCN & UNEP, 2014).
2
These include, for example cultivation, agro-pastoralism, or urban wage labor (Chatty et al., 2014).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2019.04.005
Received 11 September 2017; Received in revised form 18 February 2019; Accepted 9 April 2019
2211-9124/ © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
Box 1
Ololili pasture conservation system
Ololili are traditional grazing reserve areas used to feed animals during the dry months. When constructing an ololili, male livestock keepers
identify an area (0.8–4 ha) close to the houses but away from main paths and which tends to retain moisture, and build a fence around it. The
area is protected from livestock grazing during the rainy season in order for wild grasses to grow and to be used for feeding livestock in the dry
season. Male household members take most livestock on long distance migrations in search of better pastures during the dry season. However,
they will select and leave behind young, old and sick animals that may not withstand the long transhumance, as well as a few cows to provide
milk for the remaining household members. The women feed these ‘needy cows’ on these ololili, and through them they feed their families
during these harsh months when milk often becomes the only food available for weeks.
The empowerment of women increasingly is seen as a strategy to do respondent women perceive these domains of empowerment to be
enhance household food security and nutrition (Sraboni et al., 2014; related to food security in the context of forage conservation and li-
Verhart et al., 2015). Empowerment is the ‘process by which an in- vestock management?‘. The mixed methods approach was purposely
dividual acquires the capacity for self-determination, that is, of living adopted to address the complexity of the relationships between em-
the life that she or he has reason to value’ (Galiè et al., 2017; Kabeer, powerment, food security and nutrition security because it provides
1999; Sen, 1999). Scholars and development practitioners continue to both a quantified measurement of these relationships, and, depth of
strive to understand what determines such capacity for self-determi- understanding on how these relationships unfolded according to the
nation and to identify the key domains of empowerment to allow for its respondents.
assessment. The choice of which domains to focus on (e.g. psycholo- In this paper, we first provide an overview of the study methodology
gical, economic, political) may depend, for example, on the local con- by explaining the rationale for a mixed-method design, and the meth-
text or on the topic of analysis (Bayissa et al., 2018). odological details for qualitative and quantitative components of the
In the context of empowerment and nutrition studies have found study. We then present findings on the connection between women's
that when women earn an income in the household, child and house- empowerment, their nutritional status and that of their children, and on
hold nutrition are more likely to improve than when men earn an in- household food security according to both the quantitative and quali-
come (Smith et al., 2003; United Nations Children’s Fund, 2011). tative study components. In the findings section we describe in detail
However, the mechanisms through which women's empowerment af- how the respondent women saw their empowerment to relate to
fects household nutrition and food security are complex and not fully household food security in a Maasai traditional forage conservation
understood. For example, a study in Ghana found that women's em- system, the ololili (Box 1). The implications of the findings are elabo-
powerment was positively associated with the quality of child feeding rated in the discussion session, where some methodological con-
practices, but only weakly positively associated with child nutrition siderations also are addressed. In the conclusion section we summarise
status (Malapit and Quisumbing, 2015a). A study in South Africa found the main points raised in the paper and suggest opportunities for future
that only certain domains of women's empowerment (influenced by research.
socio-cultural factors that directly hindered agricultural production)
had any effect on food security (Sharaunga et al., 2015).
Development programs have adopted dairy intensification as a 2. Methodology
strategy to enhance food security and nutrition among livestock keepers
(Leroy and Frongillo, 2007), as it would translate in increased pro- Study sites and respondents. This study was undertaken in the
duction levels. Dairy intensification is a promising approach to women's context of the ‘More milk in Tanzania’ (MoreMilkiT) project (www.
empowerment in poor livestock communities, where dairy products and maziwazaidi.org). Led by the International Livestock Research Institute
revenue often are more accessible to women than the revenues of other (ILRI) of the CGIAR, between 2012 and 2017 the project aimed to en-
resources, such as land, buildings, and technology (Galiè et al., 2015, J. hance the livelihoods and food security of pastoralists in Tanzania by
Njuki and Sanginga, 2013). Improving forage supply is an important establishing ‘dairy market hubs’—groups of small-scale producers with
component of strategies for dairy intensification in East Africa, where interests in gaining access to inputs, services and markets for dairy
forage shortages are a key reason for limited milk productivity in dry intensification. Pastoralists are defined largely by their identity as li-
areas (Kakengi et al., 2001; Kanuya et al., 2006), a situation ex- vestock-keepers, and a life-style from nomadic to semi-sedentary in dry
acerbated by the process of sedentarization (Sadler et al., 2010). regions with low crop potential (Rota and Sperandini, 2009). This
A gender-sensitive approach and the active involvement of women group includes some of the most politically disempowered and eco-
in dairy development have been found to be consistent elements in nomically marginalized societies. In reaction to climate, economic and
effective nutrition interventions (Berti et al., 2004). Yet, the results of a social pressures many pastoralists have shifted to more sedentary li-
Tanzanian dairy intensification project illustrate the complex interplay velihoods and lifestyle: some pastoralists move completely out of live-
between dairy intensification, empowerment, and nutrition. The project stock and into sedentary agriculture and/or wage-based livelihoods;
successfully increased milk production; as soon as higher yields made others move to a mix of farming/herding practices, such as agro-pas-
milk a marketable product its control transferred from women to men; toralism.
women's control over milk and revenue decreased, and no improve- The households surveyed for MoreMilkiT, are smallholder pastor-
ments were seen in child nutrition (Mwaseba and Kaarhus, 2015). alists - either settled, intensive cattle keepers or, semi-settled extensive
The relationship between empowerment, food and nutrition se- herders - located in Handeni and Lushoto districts (Tanga region) and
curity, and dairy intensification in sedentarizing pastoral households Mvomero and Kilosa districts (Morogoro region). In all these districts,
requires further study to elucidate effective pathways for enhancing livestock farming is the main economic activity. Kilosa and Handeni
maternal and child nutrition (M. J. Njuki et al., 2016). To this aim, we districts represent mostly extensive, agro-pastoral livestock keeping
conducted a mixed-methods study to explore two research questions: (with local breeds) with pre-commercial milk production for rural
‘Are the three specific domains of women's empowerment— ‘access to consumption. Households here generally sell small volumes of milk to a
and control over assets’; ‘control and use of income’; ‘workload and variety of informal markets (often neighbours) and on an irregular
control over own time’—related to household food security and in- basis. They are generally subject to considerable risks, particularly with
dividual nutrition in selected pastoral communities of Tanzania? How respect to prices, feed sources, animal health and lack access to credit
facilities. As a result, they are not able to invest in improving their
126
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
productivity. Mvomero and Lushoto districts have significant semi-in- than one woman > 15 years of age, enumerators randomly selected one
tensive and intensive livestock production characterised by improved woman from the household. In the event there was more than one
cattle, conducive agro-climatic conditions, and relatively more com- child < 2 years, enumerators randomly selected one index child. We
mercial milk production for urban consumption. interviewed 373 women in total. Sixteen enumerators collected
Study components. The overall study comprises three components: household data using Open Data Kit (ODK) (www.opendatakit.org).
the first is a quantitative survey undertaken in July–August 2015 with Household food insecurity was assessed with the FANTA household
373 women from MoreMilkiT households — including small-holder food insecurity access scale (HFIAS, n = 373) (Coates et al., 2007) and
pastoralists, either semi-sedentary, extensive cattle keepers or settled, categorized into four categories of food insecurity severity ranging from
semi-intensive and intensive livestock keepers from the four districts — food secure to severely food insecure. The HFIAS is an experiential scale
to assess the links between women's empowerment, household food that assesses whether households experience a lack of resources to
security, and maternal and child nutrition (details are provided below). obtain food and the manner in which they cope. We assessed maternal
Because the results showed no significant association between the three (n = 346) and child dietary diversity (n = 114) using a 24-h open recall
selected domains of women's empowerment and household food se- approach (FAO and FHI 360, 2016) and developed women's and chil-
curity — while such an association is often reported in the literature dren's diet diversity scores using the approaches described by the Food
(BRIDGE, 2014) and supported by anecdotal evidence — between De- and Agriculture Organization (FAO and FHI 360, 2016) and the World
cember 2015 and January 2016 we undertook a qualitative, in-depth Health Organization, respectively (WHO and UNICEF, 2010). We ca-
study to explore this relation with a subset of the respondents from the tegorized women's diet diversity scores as adequate if they consumed 5
quantitative survey — 176 respondents from semi-sedentary, extensive or more of 10 food groups (FAO and FHI 360, 2016) and children's
pastoralists Maasai only from Morogoro. We focused this second com- dietary diversity as adequate if they consumed four or more of nine
ponent on a forage conservation system, ololili (Box 1), because forage food groups (WHO & UNICEF, 2010). Dietary diversity is a qualitative
is a key determinant of livestock production and an exploration of measure of food consumption that reflects access to a variety of foods
women's empowerment and food security in livestock overall was too and adequacy is a useful proxy for assessing whether individuals
broad a focus to provide useful details. Finally, in April–May 2016 we achieve an adequate intake of micronutrients (Martin-Prével et al.,
undertook a third study to complement the quantitative survey with a 2015). We additionally created a variable for any consumption of meat,
qualitative and in-depth exploration of how women's empowerment, eggs, or fish in the previous 24 h, given that these animal source foods
their nutrition and that of their children are connected through live- (ASF) are rich sources of protein and micronutrients. We excluded milk
stock. This third component was undertaken with 62 women, who from this ASF variable, given the high milk consumption among these
constituted a subset of the survey respondents different from those of communities.
the second study but also belonging to semi-sedentary, extensive pas- For this study, women's empowerment was measured across three
toralist Maasai communities from Morogoro and Tanga. Details of each domains using the Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI)
study component are provided in the following paragraphs. (A. Galiè et al., 2018), a standardized measure to capture the empow-
The quantitative survey. We undertook a survey to assess quan- erment of women involved in the livestock sector, which ILRI and
titatively the associations between household food security, maternal Emory developed in 2015 based on the Feed the Future Women's Em-
and child diet diversity (an indicator of individual nutrition security), powerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) (Alkire et al., 2013). The do-
and women's empowerment. All MoreMilkiT households with a mains were: ‘access to and control over land and livestock; ‘control and
woman > 15 years of age were engaged in the survey according to the use of income’; ‘workload and control over own time’. These domains
following criteria. The questions on maternal diet diversity were ad- were selected based on evidence from the literature that women's
ministered to women of reproductive age (15–45 y). In households bargaining power, control over income, control over time and workload
where there was a child < 2 years of age, enumerators collected in- affect the health and nutritional status of children under five years old
formation from the mother or primary caretaker of that child on infant (BRIDGE, 2015; Gillespie et al., 2012; Verhart et al., 2015). Each do-
and young child feeding practices, including dietary diversity. The main is comprised of three binomial achievement indicators. For each
empowerment module (discussed, below) was administered to the of these, “achieved” status is defined by a minimum number of positive
mother/caregiver of the child. In the event there was no child and more responses to a specific set of empowerment-related questions. An
Table 1
WELI dimensions and indicators.
Domains Indicator Topics covered by questions contributing to Indicator adequacy threshold (minimum number
indicator (components) of questions achieved)
1. Access to and control over a. Ownership and control of Decisions regarding the purchase, sale or transfer 2 out of 7 questionsa
resources livestock assets of livestock assets
b. Ownership and control of land Decisions regarding the purchase, sale, or transfer 2 out of 5 questions
and crop assets of crop and land assets
c. Credit access Loan recipient within household 1 out of 1 questions
4. Control and use of income a. Control over farm income Decisions about the use of income generated from 3 out of 8 questions
farm-based activities
b. Control over non-farm income Decisions about the use of income generated from 3 out of 9 questions
non-farm activities
c. Control over expenses Decisions about the use of income for household 2 out of 5 questions
expenditures
6. Extent and control of work a. Total workload Amount of time allocated to productive and < =10.5 h/d
time4 domestic tasks
b. Proportion of revenue generating Share of revenue-generating activities of total > 20%
workload work-load
c. Control over own time Responsibility for allocating jobs within farm and 5 out of 14 questions
household
Source: Women's empowerment in livestock index (WELI) (A. Galiè et al., 2018),
a
“2 out of 17” or “2 out of 5” refer to the number of questions considered required for this indicator to assume the value of 1.
127
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
indicator is assumed to have been adequately achieved if a certain and those involved in analysis. Consensus analysis (Borgatti and Halgin,
number of questions have met minimum achievement levels (Table 1, 2011) was performed manually to identify statements all FGD re-
indicator “adequacy”). In this case, the value assigned is 1; 0 otherwise. spondents agreed on—considered to represent the view of the majority
The definition of this certain number of questions within each indicator in the group—as well as statements of disagreement or viewpoints
is an arbitrary decision within the WEAI methodology (Alkire et al., different from those of the rest of the group. Results from the ‘food
2013). To introduce some consistency, achieving roughly one third of security FGDs’ and ‘nutrition FGDs’ are reported together. Instances
the included questions is assumed to be appropriate threshold value for where the views of individuals or smaller groups diverged from the
indicator adequacy (A. Galiè et al., 2018) (Table 1). views of the majority are reported as relevant.
To better understand the associations between empowerment, food Research protocols and tools were reviewed and approved by ILRI's
security and diet quality, separate cluster-adjusted regression models Research Ethics Committee, and the Institutional Review Board at
were run with the various nutrition and food security indicators as Emory University and at the University of South Florida. Participants
dependent variables and the three empowerment domains as the key provided written informed consent (thumbprint or signature) prior to
explanatory variables, while adjusting for household size, maternal age, participating in interviews/discussions. The anonymity of all interviews
household income from other sources and village (the clustering unit) was ensured by assigning a numerical code to each survey and dis-
(for a similar approach see Malapit and Quisumbing, 2015b). Women's cussion participant. Codes were used during the discussions, when
and children's diet diversity scores were evaluated both as categorical transcribing these discussions, and during data analysis. The digital
(adequate/inadequate) as well as continuous score variables. Con- copies of all interviews were stored in the password protected computer
sumption of ASF was examined as a categorical variable (yes/no). For of the principal investigator. De-identified survey data are stored on
the household food security indicator, an ordered logit regression was ILRI's open access data portal.
used. All these relationships were analysed in separate regression
models using STATA 14.2. The level of significance was set to ≤0.05. 3. Findings
The qualitative component. The qualitative component included
two sets of focus group discussions (FGDs): one explored in depth the 3.1. Women's empowerment, household food security and nutrition
gender dynamics affecting the three surveyed domains of empower-
ment vis-à-vis household food security in the context of the ololili tra- From the quantitative household survey data, 26% and 20% of
ditional forage conservation system (referred here as ‘food security households were moderately or severely food insecure, respectively;
FGDs’). The second set of FGDs explored women's local perceptions of 36% of women and 25% of children achieved diets of adequate di-
empowerment and the relationship between empowerment and nutri- versity in the 24 h preceding the survey -which is one indicator of nu-
tion vis-á-vis livestock (referred in this article as ‘nutrition FGDs’). trition security. According to the WELI, women's empowerment varied
Sixteen single-sex ‘food security FGDs’ were conducted in five vil- across the three domains. However, even in the time domain, which
lages in Morogoro region between December 2015 and January 2016. shows the highest levels of empowerment, 31% of women did not
Eighty men and 88 women who participated in the quantitative survey, achieve empowerment in any of the three respective indicators (Fig. 1).
were involved in an ololili, and were interested in participating in the The regression results show that a difference of one percentage
study, were invited to the FGDs. One facilitator and one note taker from point between respondents in the ‘assets’ and ‘income’ domain scores
a local university and with expertise in gender analysis were present for within the empowerment index are each associated with a
each FGD together with a gender scientist from ILRI. Each FGD involved 13.2 ± 2.1% and a 7.4 ± 1.9% difference in the Women's Dietary
between 8 and 11 participants. The families of the respondents were Diversity Score (WDDS), respectively. Furthermore, higher ‘assets’ do-
Maasai. They used mostly a hybrid system for cattle management main scores and ‘income’ domain scores were each associated with
known as the ‘base residence–satellite camp’ model: they resided in a greater odds of women achieving adequate diet diversity overall and,
stable home base for most of the year but during the dry season the men more specifically, consuming meat, eggs or fish in the previous 24 h
and in some cases the whole family migrated in search of pastures and (Table 2 that presents the seven regression results, one per row). Similar
would return to the home base during the rainy season (McPeak et al., trends were observed for children's diets, though associations were
2012; O'Leary, 1994; Xiaogang, 2007). stronger and more consistent for scores on the assets domain than with
Eight ‘nutrition FGDs’ were conducted between April and May 2016 the income domain. The time use domain was not significant for dietary
in eight villages in Morogoro and Tanga regions by the facilitator and diversity of women and children in this population of cattle keepers
the note taker involved in the ‘food security’ FGDs and by a gender (see Table 3).
expert completing her MA studies at ILRI. The villages had been in- In the qualitative ‘nutrition FGDs’ women viewed empowerment
volved in the survey but not in the ‘food security FGDs’. Each FGD in- through livestock as an important avenue to increase their assurance of
cluded between five and eight participants. Sixty-two women who were nutrition for household members (Price et al., 2018). Women empha-
involved in the MoreMilkiT project were purposively selected based on sized the importance of milk in their ability to provide adequate food
high and low levels of female participation in the project. The degree of for the family. They felt that larger quantities of milk—either through
participation was considered to indicate different levels of empower- improved breeds or increased herd number—would allow them to offer
ment and therefore to be informative for the study. More than half of more nutrient-rich milk to children and have better nourished children.
the women who participated in this study were Maasai pastoralists, and They explained that because in their communities the women typically
about 40 percent were from other ethnic groups. controlled the income from milk sales, increased milk production would
Each FGD was recorded and then translated into English and tran- provide women with more money, which could be used for purchasing
scribed by five professional transcribers. The English transcripts then food and other necessary items for the household. Having control over
were coded by the gender scientist, the gender expert and a research more money decreased their dependence on others, they argued. Si-
assistant using Nvivo, a software package for qualitative data analysis milarly, women asserted that having more control over assets would
(International PTY, 1999–2013). Coding was based on both pre-set allow them to make better decisions about household nutrition. For
codes (e.g. ‘control over time’, ‘access to resources’, ‘control over re- example, if they could decide when to sell or purchase a cow they could
sources’, ‘food security’, ‘nutrition’) and on codes emerging from the have more control over the milk and purchase other nutrient-dense
discussions (e.g. ‘social status’, ‘governance of ololili’, ‘collapse of olo- foods for children. Women did not feel that increased control over their
lili’) (Campbell et al., 2013). The notes taken during the FGDs were time would affect empowerment and many expressed that they knew
used to add nuances and observations that transcripts did not provide, how to manage their time well. The consequences of a substantial in-
and also to check for consistency of understanding between note-taker crease in milk production on women's control over milk are discussed
128
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
Fig. 1. Proportion of individuals achieving indicators (up to 3) within each empowerment domain.
Source: Women's empowerment in livestock index (WELI), (A. Galiè et al., 2018)
below. had to find cash to buy fodder for the animals during dry seasons, milk
The quantitative analysis showed no significant associations be- for the children, and food for the household; they also had to cover
tween women's empowerment domains and household food security other expenses the sale of extra milk would otherwise be used for.
(HFIAS) (Table 2). This contrasts with the findings from the ‘food se- Moreover, some female and male respondents reported that the in-
curity FGDs’, according to which all three empowerment domains were ability to maintain ololili and their proper functioning affected their
positively associated with household food security. Most women par- livelihood strategy along the sedentarization spectrum. When ololili
ticipants shared feelings of disempowerment and challenge providing were not able to provide enough forage, the whole family would need
sufficient and nutritious food (which they equalled to food security) for to follow the herd to ensure an adequate supply of milk. This meant that
their children because their husbands controlled cattle, deciding when the weakest animals died of fatigue in the transhumance (the practice of
to move them, when to sell them, and how much of the profit could be moving livestock from one grazing ground to another in a seasonal
used for household food and other goods. Participants felt that if they cycle in search of pasture), and that children stopped going to school.
could have greater control over livestock and land resources and decide Both the death of some animals and children dropping from school were
how much and which kinds of food to purchase, they would ensure that considered to impoverish the family.
every family member would have sufficient and nutritious food to eat. The rest of this section describes how the women respondents from
the ‘food security FGDs’ described how each selected domain of em-
powerment is associated with the food security of their households in
3.2. Women's empowerment and food security through forage conservation
the ololili forage conservation system.
Gaining access to and control over land and livestock.
The ‘food security FGDs’ showed that according to both women and
Regarding the first of the three empowerment domains considered ex-
men, ololili were effective in enhancing household food security in the
plicitly, the study found that livestock keepers, women and men, with
dry months by stabilizing the supply of forage and through it, the
low social status (apparently linked to poverty, a connection not ana-
production of milk, which was used mostly to feed the children and also
lyzed in this study) were discriminated against by the community when
sold to pay their school fees and cover other household expenses in-
establishing an ololili pasture system: they could not effectively claim a
cluding food. Respondents further argued that ololili had been created a
plot of community land to establish their own ololili and could there-
couple of generations before to address scarcity of forage in the dry
fore not own one. The majority of respondents did not face this issue.
seasons, a condition that had worsened recently, making ololili even
Women, however, faced a further level of discrimination at intra-
more relevant for food security.
household level. Although land in the studied communities is mostly
Collapse of an ololili (because of a ruined fence or grazed pastures,
public (i.e. owned by the state), the land claimed by a given household
see below) resulted in food insecurity and poverty because households
Table 2
Associations between nutrition and food security indicators, and domains of women's empowerment.
Nutrition and food security indicators (dependent variables) Assets domain Income domain Time use domain
Model 1: Woman's diet diversity score 13.2% ± 2.1 (< 0.001) 7.4% ± 1.9 (< 0.001) −0.04% ± 2.3 (0.99)
Regression 2: Woman achieved adequate diet diversity 3.9 (1.8, 5.0; < 0.001) 1.9 (1.2, 3.3; < 0.001) 0.03 (0.01, 1.6; 0.97)
Model 3: Woman's consumption of meat, fish, eggs in previous 24h 3.4 (1.9, 4.9; < 0.001) 1.7 (1.4, 3.0; 0.01) 0.7 (0.4, 2.2); 0.7)
Model 4: Child's diet diversity score 15.4% ± 4.1 (< 0.001) 23.6% + 7.9 (0.07) 16.4% ± 5.5 (0.2)
Model 5: Child achieved adequate diet diversity 5.8 (3.2, 8.3; < 0.001) 3.4 (2.1, 6.1; 0.01) 2.3 (0.6, 5.2; 0.12)
Model 6: Child's consumption of meat, fish, or eggs in previous 24h 4.6 (1.8, 7.5; < 0.001) 2.8 (1.2, 5.4; 0.04) 2.5 (0.13, 5.1; 0.06)
Model 7: Household Food Security Category (HFIAS (Food secure is referent)
Mildly food insecure 0.9 (0.2, 8.2; 0.7) 0.2 (0.05, 8.0; 0.9) 0.5 (0.2, 4.0; 0.2)
Moderately food insecure 0.6 (0.4, 6.1; 0.6) 6.1 (0.7, 7.6; 0.1) 0.7 (0.4, 6.6; 0.7)
Severely food insecure 0.2 (0.02, 6.1; 0.9) 1.1 (0.5, 9.0; 0.8) 0.3 (0.08, 3.6; 0.2)
Data are presented as the odds ratio (95% confidence limit; p-value) or as mean % increase ± standard error (p-value).
n households = 373; n women = 346; n children = 114. Control variables are not presented.
129
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
Table 3
Overview of the findings from each study component.
Source: authors' elaboration
Study component Domain of empowerment Type of association Nutrition and food security
to establish an ololili was considered men's property within the com- that lack of control over animals and revenue reduced their ability to
munity and the household. One woman explained: “because the man is prioritize household food expenditures. In two villages where milk was
the head of the family, the children are his, the wife is his, all the wealth considered a women's domain (control over milk within the households
is his …” A second one added: “house, authority and everything in the differs by village), the women argued they managed food expenditures
family belongs to him”. Women therefore, were considered to lack because they controlled the revenue generated through the sale of milk.
ownership of land. Lacking land to feed the livestock was used to justify They added though that if the cows produced a lot of milk, the men
why women could look after livestock and gain access to the ololili, but would ask the women to manage the money together with them and to
not make decisions about either of them (see below). spend it on household food expenses—thereby reducing men's con-
Poorer livestock keepers also reported that, if they did manage to tribution to the latter.
establish an ololili, this was likely to be invaded by neighbours’ live- Ololili were said to increase household income also through the sale
stock who would ruin the fence and completely graze the conserved of better-fed animals. The men controlled this income, and only in some
pastures, causing the ololili to collapse. Low status prevented men from cases, spent on food for the household. In all villages, men exclusively
confronting the invading neighbour, and poverty affected their ability controlled the sale of livestock (excluding chicken which women con-
to rebuild the fence. Women generally were not able to face the in- trolled). In this respect, and according to women and men respondents,
vading neighbour because custom discouraged them from confronting ololili mostly benefited men, as they could sell more animals (fewer
men; they relied on their husbands. Single women and widows had no died of lack of feed when ololili were functioning); sell the fattened
men folk to rely on to defend their ololili, had little revenue available to animals for higher prices; address all household food expenditures,
commission the rebuilding of the fence, and had little social status to which was their responsibility; and use the money left over on beer and
claim public land for their ololili in the first place. restaurants. A few men mentioned leaving the money to their wives (as
When asked about how control over land and livestock affected a recognition of their work on ololili) who, however, needed to ask for
their ability to provide food for the family, all of the women said that their permission to use it. Five respondent women complained that
the dry season, when the men were away with their herd, was the most despite their work in the ololili, their husbands controlled all revenue
difficult time. These are the dry months, when all pastures are dry and and that they had to be content with being ‘informed’ about the price
food is scarce. Maasai men take the herds to the steppe for grazing and for which the animals were sold.
leave a few cows behind to provide milk to the family—to be fed by the Workload and control over own time. Because they were con-
women. Men and women declared it was the men's responsibility to sidered to own the land, men were in charge of managing ololili. They
decide which animals to leave behind. One younger man from achieved this by assigning tasks to women and children, thereby, the
Twatwatwa specified: “It is the man [who decides what cattle to leave women argued, reducing the time women had available to engage in
in the house] but he must cooperate with the woman because she is the revenue-generating activities of their choice, the final empowerment
one who knows which cattle can remain or go depending on their domain included in this study. This was considered by most respondent
condition and which cattle can produce more milk. However, regardless women to negatively affect the food security of the household. Women
of her advice, I am still the one who will make the final decision”. Most and men from all villages agreed that the men make decisions about
women voiced their concern that not being able to choose which cattle ololili management because they are the heads of the households and
to keep reduced their ability to secure food for the family because men have always made decisions on ololili. Widows or their older sons make
often left behind only those livestock that would not make it through decisions if the husband dies. A young man from Twatwatwa said, “A
the migration because of sickness, injuries, young or old age, and only man is the one who assigns the roles. When the man comes back in the
few lactating animals. Together, these animals required much work and evening, the first person to be asked is the woman, who is responsible
provided little milk, they argued. for the execution of his instructions.” Women and men respondents
Control and use of income. Women stated that because they added that physical punishment awaited the wife in case of problems,
lacked the ability to claim land and because they were not allowed to such as losing an animal, not performing some activities, or invasion of
make decisions over animals—but only looked after their husbands' the ololili. Women, therefore, felt they had limited capacity to gain
animals—they had no control over the revenue generated from animals, more control over their own time.
the second empowerment domain considered here. The women asserted Despite the fact that men controlled the time family members spent
130
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
on ololili-related work, the women believed that ololili freed up some of qualitative component of this study (the ‘food security FGDs’). We hy-
the time they spent on looking after animals grazing in the neigh- pothesized that, as in the case of the difference between crops and li-
bourhood (being enclosed in the ololili), collecting and transporting vestock, a difference existed between gendered labour and time allo-
grass (provided by the ololili), and attending to sick animals and cations between extensive and intensive systems. The quantitative
household members (due to an overall improvement of animals’ survey was conducted in a more heterogeneous population across four
health). The women, however, complained that ololili-related tasks also districts, which included extensive, semi-intensive and intensive live-
added to household chores that also were their responsibility, thereby, stock smallholders. The qualitative research was restricted to extensive
reducing to a minimum time for other revenue-generating activities. pastoral households in one district. To assess whether the different li-
The ‘food security FGDs’ also explored changes that the respondents vestock systems affected gender–food security dynamics, we repeated
had seen over time in gender norms in their community vis-à-vis the the quantitative analyses excluding intensive, sedentary cattle-keepers;
domains of empowerment analysed in this study. Respondent women however, results did not change.
mentioned that, as compared to women in previous generations, they The different findings may be interpreted also in terms of ‘aspira-
had become more powerful, controlled some livestock, contributed to tional’ versus ‘actual’ empowerment–nutrition correlations. By showing
husband's decision-making, and were subjected to less beating. One a positive association between women's empowerment and dietary di-
woman mentioned: “previously, in all the tasks which were done, a versity but no association with food security, the quantitative results
woman was only contributing under the authority of the man … now may reflect the norms, that emerged in the ‘food security FGDs’ as
when you do it under order, then you are not having any authority … customary in the respondent communities, according to which men are
you only supervise as a slave, but for now the situation has changed … mostly in charge of household food security (i.e. providing money to
the woman is also doing activities with freedom”. The women attrib- purchase food) and women of ensuring nutrition security (i.e. pur-
uted these changes to education and religion only. Men generally chasing, producing, preparing and distributing food in the household
agreed that gender roles had not changed in their community in the last with the money made available by the men). Because of this association
decades regarding gendered control over land, livestock, income, between men and food security, and women and nutrition security,
workload and time. A few only argued that women nowadays had women are excluded from control over food security regardless of their
greater freedom to take decisions than they used to in the previous empowerment level. The qualitative study, on the contrary, may have
generation. revealed women's aspirational view of how, only by having a say on the
overall household food security strategy (e.g. what budget to assign to
4. Discussion food expenditures, what food items to purchase, etc.) women would be
able to fulfil their role as providers of good nutrition. Similarly, the
The quantitative and qualitative components of this study found association between women's control over own time and household
that women's control over assets and income was positively associated food security may reveal an ‘aspirational’ situation that they, in fact, are
with dietary diversity (a proxy of micronutrient adequacy and thereby not able to experience in actual daily reality, as shown by the quanti-
of good nutrition) by increasing women's ability to produce or purchase tative analysis. Further research is needed on the association between
more diverse, more nutritious foods. This finding corroborates prior empowerment and the roles determined by gender norms in the pro-
research in Ghana (Amugsi et al., 2016; Malapit and Quisumbing, vision of food and nutrition security.
2015a), Ethiopia (Yimer and Tadesse, 2015) and Nepal (Malapit et al., The different definitions, domains and related indicators used in the
2015). With greater control over assets and income, more empowered qualitative and quantitative studies may again be the reason for the
women may be able to procure, either through their own production or different findings on the association between household food security
purchase, more food and of higher quality and retain the food for their and women's empowerment. For example, the qualitative study showed
own and their children's consumption. The findings also show, how- that ‘social status’—a domain not included in the quantitative study—is
ever, that interventions to enhance milk production need gender-re- an important indicator for empowerment and a determinant of food
sponsive measures to support women's continued control over milk and security via forage access in these communities. The importance of
revenues, because when milk production and sales increase, milk be- ‘social status’ for food security in sedentarizing pastoralists is in line
comes a lucrative commodity that men start to control. This pattern also with a study by Galvin et al. (2015), who report that in sedentarizing
is shown in Mvomero and Njombe districts in Tanzania (Mwaseba and pastoral communities in Kenya, low social status reduces household
Kaarhus, 2015). access — gained mostly through social networks — to privatized pas-
The quantitative component, however, showed no correlation be- ture land for feeding its livestock, with negative consequences on the
tween women's overall empowerment and household food security. nutritional status of the family. Undertaking a qualitative assessment of
This finding appears inconsistent with research from Ghana (Malapit the empowerment-nutrition-food security links before a quantitative
and Quisumbing, 2015a), Bangladesh (Sraboni et al., 2014) and Nigeria study (and not after, as in the case of this study) may therefore be
(Olumakaiye and Ajayi, 2006) that consistently suggest positive asso- needed to identify the most relevant conceptualizations, domains and
ciations. The definition of food security might play a role in the ob- indicators of empowerment for food security and nutrition, also vis-à-
served difference, as those studies did not use experience-based ques- vis gender roles in both nutrition and food security (as discussed
tionnaires of food security as this study did, but rather proxy indicators above), in the selected context (in this case characterized by semi-se-
such as household calorie availability, food expenditures, household dentarization). Not having developed the quantitative survey on the
diet diversity, food production diversity and BMI. Also, the research basis of a qualitative exploration of the empowerment-nutrition-food
cited above illustrates that the influence of various domains of women's security links may have resulted in a less targeted formulation of the
empowerment on nutrition and food security outcomes may be context quantitative indicators as compared to the qualitative investigation.
specific, affected by characteristics of the local socio-cultural or agri- This different formulation, may also help explain the contrasting results
cultural systems (Amugsi et al., 2016; Johnston et al., 2015; Malapit that emerged from the quantitative and qualitative studies. These
and Quisumbing, 2015a; Olumakaiye and Ajayi, 2006; Sraboni et al., contrasting results may also arise from the need in the quantitative
2014; Yimer and Tadesse, 2015). It is plausible, for example, that survey of distilling complex phenomena, such as food security and
gendered assets, labour and time divisions in livestock-dominant live- women's empowerment, into simplified, independent indicators (for
lihoods differ from those observed in crop-based livelihoods - that are wider applicability) when collecting data — rather than exploring them
the focus of the cited papers-thus, explaining the differences in findings jointly, as interdependent, mutually constitutive phenomena, as was
between this study and others. done in the qualitative study.
However, the lack of association was also inconsistent with the The qualitative findings also showed that decision-making with
131
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
respect to household management may be shared between husband and economic domains but also social ones to better capture the link to
wife in some households. Yet, men customarily are considered to be the nutrition and food security.
main decision-makers and they may feel the pressure to assert this role Most constraints to empowerment that women respondents faced
in a public space, such as the FGDs unless further probed with specific related to gender norms about appropriate roles and spaces for women
questions. Consequently, women's decision-making may have been that, for example, excluded them from claiming their rights (if the
underreported by all respondents particularly in relation to household ololili was invaded) or from more decision-making. When discussing
food security, a man's domain. Such underreporting is likely to occur changes that had happened in gender norms over time in their com-
also in the survey where yes/no answers leave little space to explain the munity, it was interesting to note that women seemed to notice change
complexity of decision-making arrangements in the households. more than men, who mostly referred to unchanging arrangements fixed
Exploring such arrangements in depth may provide quantitative studies by ‘tradition’. Women attributed changes in gender roles to education
with better targeted questions. Tavenner et al. (2018), however, discuss and religion only, and therefore placed them somehow outside women's
the overall limited suitability of quantitative tools to capture gender control. Moreover, the women respondents mentioned these changes
dynamics. not to discuss the persisting inequities in the system but rather as rea-
While the study showed the relevance of engaging qualitatively with sons to accept and be content with the status quo. Yet, these changes are
the local concepts of empowerment and food security, it also showed evidence of how gender norms vary over time—particularly in com-
that adopting a conceptualization of empowerment entangled in the munities such as these, which are going through important changes in
local context can be problematic vis-à-vis more universal definitions livelihood strategies—and could be leveraged towards gender equity.
widely adopted in research. For example, while our empowerment Notably, the qualitative findings also revealed how a given inter-
framework highlighted the unequal management of ololili, neither most vention that aims to strengthen women's empowerment and enhance
women nor most men respondents considered the ololili system unfair. food security and nutrition through forage, may need to focus first on
They did not question the present arrangement—that women have to governance issues around ololili management rather than on the more
implement men's directives for ololili management while the men are commonly prioritized development and introduction of forage tech-
away for months; and that although they have no say regarding this nologies (such as new crops or varieties). Such governance interven-
management they are held responsible for any problems of invasion by tions need to take into account the social status of livestock keepers,
neighbours or loss of cows. The women were generally content that which, affected by various social markers including gender, age or
they received less beatings than in the past, if such problems occurred. marital status, determined the ability of individuals to benefit from the
Also, they did not consider unfair having to feed their family in the ololili system and not fall into a spiral of poverty, and affected their
most difficult part of the year and with the most ‘needy’ animals, or not livelihood strategies along the sedentarization spectrum.
having a say in which and how many animals would be left behind for
them to look after. Some women and men, however, did bring up issues 5. Conclusions
of intra-household management of the money earned through ololili,
showing an awareness that sharing benefits could be made more equal. The study presents complementary quantitative and qualitative
Also, some women mentioned that their increased involvement in de- findings on the association between selected domains of women's em-
cision-making did not translate into more control over the earnings. powerment, household food security, and women's and children's nu-
Kabeer (2011) discusses the importance of opportunities that provide a trition in pastoral communities of Tanzania. Both methodologies
reflexive vantage point to evaluate ‘usual’ relationships (such as those showed a positive correlation between women's empowerment, their
of the family or community) and reshape individuals' perceptions of dietary diversity and that of their children, and therefore their nutrition
themselves that contribute to empowerment. This approach emphasizes security. Only the qualitative component indicated a positive relation-
the potential value of discussing different conceptualizations of em- ship between women's empowerment and household food security. This
powerment: one brought by the researcher and one by the respondents. component also provided an understanding of the processes by which
We therefore recommend adopting both local and universal definitions the empowerment of women in a forage conservation and livestock
to question empowerment-relevant assumptions held by both re- system might affect food security and nutrition of semi-sedentary
searchers and respondents. Galiè et al. (2018) discuss some of the pros households. The qualitative component also showed a customary dis-
and cons of universal versus local conceptualizations and measures of tinction of gender roles between men as guarantors of household food
empowerment. security and women as in charge of nutrition security, and women's
The findings also indicate that the three economic domains of em- perception that such distinction is detrimental to achieve nutrition se-
powerment measured in this study may not capture all of the relevant curity. Such distinction is discussed as a possible reason behind the
dimensions of women's empowerment that are related to food security discrepancy — on the correlation between women's empowerment and
and nutrition. While all respondents did relate food security and nu- household food security — between the quantitative and qualitative
trition strongly to the economic domains of empowerment selected by findings. The article also discusses that other reasons behind this dis-
this study, more socially determined domains, such as social status or crepancy could be: different definitions, domains and indicators
social capital, and their intersecting (e.g. ‘being poor’ and ‘widow’ adopted by the two studies; ‘aspirational’ versus ‘actual’ gender roles in
seemed to increase experiences of disempowerment as compared to guaranteeing food and nutrition security. We suggest undertaking
‘being poor’ and ‘man’, ‘being poor’ and ‘woman’, or generally ‘being qualitative research into sedentarizing communities to elucidate the
poor’), seemed to be actually more relevant. Women argued that their complex links between women's empowerment and food security and
ownership of land would allow them to have more decision-making nutrition as affected by the interplay of new livelihood arrangements,
over livestock, which in turn would increase their ability to provide social and gender norms at societal level, gender roles and relations
secure and nutritious food. Yet, this study also showed, ability to claim within the household, and individual characteristics also including age,
control over land and livestock—rather than ownership per se—affected gender and social status. The qualitative findings inform and comple-
decision-making power, given that land in these communities is only ment the quantitative findings. We recommend that locally relevant
informally claimed. In fact, men were able to claim control over milk domains of empowerment be used together with universal paradigms to
revenue, when it became higher, although milk was considered to be engage researchers and respondents in constructive dialogue that
owned by the women. Social-dimensions of empowerment, such as for challenges assumptions on both ends. In particular, we recommend the
example social status, affected women's ability to claim control over adoption of an empowerment–nutrition framework that includes non-
resources and decision-making. This study therefore recommends the economic domains of empowerment (e.g. human and social capital that
adoption of a conceptual framework of empowerment that includes were not measured by this study but emerged as important for the
132
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
respondents), and, for nutrition, also control over purchasing, sales and data from Ghana. J. Health Popul. Nutr. 35 (1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-
preparation of animal source food (ASF) products. We suggest that fu- 016-0053-1.
Bayissa, F.W., Smits, J., Ruben, R., 2018. The multidimensional nature of women's em-
ture dairy projects assess the need to combine technology and institu- powerment: beyond the economic approach. J. Int. Dev. 690 (February 2017),
tional interventions at different stages to enhance women's empower- 661–690. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3268.
ment, household food security, and nutrition. Finally, opportunities to Berti, P.R., Krasevec, J., FitzGerald, S., 2004. A review of the effectiveness of agriculture
interventions in improving nutrition outcomes. Publ. Health Nutr. 7 (5), 599–609.
enhance gender equity can be particularly important in communities https://doi.org/10.1079/PHN2003595.
undergoing dramatic livelihood changes (e.g. sedentarization) and fa- Borgatti, S.P., Halgin, D.S., 2011. Consensus analysis. In: A Companion to Cognitive
cing new environmental challenges, such as increasing droughts. From Anthropology. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 171–190.
BRIDGE, 2014. Towards Gender-Just Food and Nutrition Security. Bridge Cutting Edge
a methodological perspective, this paper shows our approach to ana- Programmes. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2014.895021.
lysing findings from quantitative and qualitative methods that were, at BRIDGE, 2015. Gender and Food Security: towards Gender-Just Food and Nutrition
times, contradictory. We engaged with the discrepancy (rather then, for Security. Institute of Development Studies, Brighton. https://doi.org/10.1037/
e319912004-001.
example, resolving it by favouring the reliability of one method over
Campbell, J.L., Quincy, C., Osserman, J., Pedersen, O.K., 2013. Coding in-depth semi-
the other) and used it to add more depth to the analysis, to improve our structured interviews: problems of unitization and intercoder reliability and agree-
tools, and to identify future areas of research. Mixed-method ap- ment. Socio. Methods Res. 42 (3), 294–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/
proaches are often recommended but very rarely studies discuss how to 0049124113500475.
Chatty, D., Fratkin, E., Sulek, E., 2014. Special issue: the emerging world of pastoralists
address non-alignment of findings that may arise. and nomads. Nomadic Peoples 18 (1).
Coates, J., Swindale, Bilinsky, P., 2007. Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS)
Conflict of interest form for Measurement of Food Access: Indicator Guide. Food and Nutrition Technical,
Washington, DC (August), Version 3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13398-014-0173-
7.2.
We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest Desta, S., Coppock, D.L., 2004. Pastoralism under pressure: tracking system change in
associated with this publication and there has been no significant fi- Southern Ethiopia. Hum. Ecol. 32 (4), 465–486. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HUEC.
0000043516.56037.6b.
nancial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. FAO, 2012. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012. Fao. https://doi.org/ISBN
The financial support obtained has been mentioned in the acknowl- 978-92-5-107316-2.
edgements. FAO and FHI 360, 2016. Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women- A Guide to
Measurement. Retrieved from. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5486e.pdf.
We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all Fratkin, E., Nathan, M.A., Roth, E.A., 2006. Is settling good for pastoralists? The effects of
named authors and that there are no other persons who satisfied the pastoral sedentarization on children's nutrition, growth, and health among rendille
criteria for authorship but are not listed. We further confirm that the and ariaal of marsabit. In: Pastoralism and Poverty Reduction in East Africa: A Policy
Research Conference, vol. 02111.
order of authors listed in the manuscript has been approved by all of us.
Galiè, A., Jiggins, J., Struik, P.C.P.C., Grando, S., Ceccarelli, S., 2017. Women's empow-
We confirm that we have given due consideration to the protection erment through seed improvement and seed governance: evidence from participatory
of intellectual property associated with this work and that there are no barley breeding in pre-war Syria. NJAS - Wageningen J. Life Sci. 81, 1–8. https://doi.
impediments to publication, including the timing of publication, with org/10.1016/j.njas.2017.01.002.
Galiè, A., Mulema, A., Mora Benard, M., Onzere, S.N., Colverson, K.E., 2015. Exploring
respect to intellectual property. In so doing we confirm that we have gender perceptions of resource ownership and their implications for food security
followed the regulations of our institutions concerning intellectual among rural livestock owners in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua. Agric. Food
property. Secur. 4 (1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-015-0021-9.
Galiè, A., Teufel, N., Korir, L., Baltenweck, I., Webb Girard, A., Dominguez-Salas, P.,
We understand that the Corresponding Author is the sole contact for Yount, K.M., 2018. The women's empowerment in livestock index. Soc. Indicat. Res.
the Editorial process (including Editorial Manager and direct commu- 142 (2), 799–825. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1934-z.
nications with the office). She is responsible for communicating with Galvin, K.A., Beeton, T.A., Boone, R.B., BurnSilver, S.B., 2015. Nutritional status of
Maasai pastoralists under change. Hum. Ecol. 43 (3), 411–424. https://doi.org/10.
the other authors about progress, submissions of revisions and final 1007/s10745-015-9749-x.
approval of proofs. Gillespie, S., Harris, J., Kadiyala, S., 2012. The Agriculture-Nutrition Disconnect in India
The authors: Alessandra Galiè, Nils Teufel, Amy Webb Girard, what Do We Know? IFPRI Discussion Paper 01187. .
Hoddinott, J., Yohannes, Y., 2002. Dietary Diversity as a Food Security Indicator. Food
Isabelle Baltenweck, Paula Dominguez-Salas, Mindy J. Price, Rebecca
Consumption and Nutrition Division. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9192(99)
Jones, Ben Lukuyu, Luke Korir, Ilana Raskind, Kristie Smith, Kathryn M. 00035-4.
Yount. Iannotti, L., Lesorogol, C., 2014. Dietary intakes and micronutrient adequacy related to
the changing livelihoods of two pastoralist communities in samburu, Kenya. Curr.
Anthropol. 55 (4), 475–482. https://doi.org/10.1086/677107.
Acknowledgements IUCN, UNEP, 2014. Sustainable Pastoralism and the Post 2015: Opportunities and
Barriers to Pastoralism for Global Food Production and Environmental Stewardship.
The authors of this study would like to acknowledge the contribu- Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved from. http://iucn.org/es/.
Johnston, D., Stevano, S., Malapit, H., Hull, E., Kadiyala, S., 2015. Agriculture, Gendered
tions of Amos Omore, Julius Githinji, Violet Barasa, Judith Kahamba, Time Use, and Nutritional Outcomes: A Systematic Review (IFPRI discussion paper
Godfrey Ngoteya, Collins Adoyo and the enumerators who supported No. 01456). Retrieved from. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/utils/getfile/collection/
with fieldwork. The CRP Livestock and Fish and the US Borlaug Fellows p15738coll2/id/129389/filename/129600.pdf.
Jones, A.D., Ngure, F.M., Pelto, G., Young, S.L., 2013. What are we assessing when we
Program supported the study financially. ILRI thanks all donors and measure food security? A compendium and review of current metrics. Adv. Nutr. 4
organizations which globally support its work through their contribu- (5), 481–505. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.3945/an.113.004119.
tions to the CGIAR system ( http://www.cgiar.org/about-us/our- Kabeer, N., 1999. Resources, agency, achievements: reflections on the measurement of
women's empowerment. Dev. Change 30 (May), 435–464.
funders/). Kabeer, N., 2011. Between affiliation and autonomy: navigating pathways of women's
empowerment and gender justice in rural Bangladesh. Dev. Change 42 (2), 499–528.
Appendix A. Supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2011.01703.x.
Kakengi, A.M., Shem, M.N., Mtengeti, E.P., Otsyina, R., 2001. Leucaena Leucocephala leaf
meal as suplements to diet of grazing dairy cattle in semi-arid western Tanzania.
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https:// Agro-Forestry Syst. 52, 305–314.
doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2019.04.005. Kanuya, N.L., Matiko, M.K., Nkya, R., Bittegeko, S.B.P., Mgasa, M.N., Reksen, O., Ropstad,
E., 2006. Seasonal changes in nutritional status and reproductive performance of
Zebu cows kept under a traditional agro-pastoral system in Tanzania. Trop. Anim.
References Health Prod. 38 (6), 511–519.
Leroy, J.L., Frongillo, E. a., 2007. Can interventions to promote animal production
Alkire, S., Meinzen-Dick, R., Peterman, A., Quisumbing, A., Seymour, G., Vaz, A., 2013. ameliorate undernutrition? J. Nutr. 137 (10), 2311–2316. Retrieved from. jn.
Women's empowerment in agriculture index. World Dev. 52, 71–91. nutrition.org/content/137/10/2311.
Amugsi, D., Lartey, A., Kimani, E., Mberu, B., 2016. Women's participation in household Malapit, Hazel Jean, L., Kadiyala, S., Quisumbing, A.R., Cunningham, K., Tyagi, P., 2015.
decision-making and higher dietary diversity: findings from nationally representative Women's empowerment mitigates the negative effects of low production diversity on
maternal and child nutrition in Nepal. J. Dev. Stud. 51 (8), 1097–1123. https://doi.
133
A. Galiè, et al. Global Food Security 23 (2019) 125–134
org/10.1080/00220388.2015.1018904. org/10.3362/2041-7136.2010.016.
Malapit, H.J.L., Quisumbing, A.R., 2015a. What dimensions of women's empowerment in Sellen, D.W., 1996. Nutritional status of sub-saharan african pastoralists: a review of the
agriculture matter for nutrition in Ghana? Food Policy 52, 54–63. https://doi.org/10. literature. Nomadic Peoples 39 (39), 107–134.
1016/j.foodpol.2015.02.003. Sellen, D.W., 2000. Seasonal ecology and nutritional status of women and children in a
Malapit, H.J.L., Quisumbing, A.R., 2015b. What dimensions of women's empowerment in Tanzanian pastoral community. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 12 (6), 758–781. https://doi.org/
agriculture matter for nutrition in Ghana? Food Policy 52, 54–63. https://doi.org/10. 10.1002/1520-6300(200011/12)12:6<758::aid-ajhb5>3.0.co;2-r.
1016/j.foodpol.2015.02.003. Sellen, D.W., 2016. Nutritional consequences of wealth differentials in East african pas-
Martin-Prével, Y., Allemand, P., Wiesmann, D., Arimond, M., Ballard, T., Deitchler, M., toralists: the case of the datoga of northern Tanzania. Hum. Ecol. 31 (4), 529–570.
et al., 2015. Moving Forward on Choosing a Standard Operational Indicator of Sen, A., 1999. Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press, New York.
Women's Dietary Diversity. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Sharaunga, S., Mudhara, M., Bogale, A., 2015. The impact of ‘women's empowerment in
(FAO), Rome, IT Retrieved from. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4942e.pdf. agriculture’ on household vulnerability to food insecurity in the KwaZulu-natal
McPeak, J., Little, P.D., Doss, C., 2012. Risk and Social Change in an African Rural province. Forum Dev. Stud. 9410 (April), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.
Economy: Livelihoods in Pastoralist Communities. Routledge, London, New York. 2014.997792.
Mwaseba, D.J.B., Kaarhus, R., 2015. How do intra-household gender relations affect child Smith, L.C., Ramakrishnan, U., Ndiaye, A., Haddad, L., Martorell, R., 2003. Research
nutrition? Findings from two rural districts in Tanzania. Forum Dev. Stud. 42 (2), Report. The Importance of Women's Status for Child Nutrition in Developing
289–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2015.1020337. Countries, vol. 131 Washington D.C. Retrieved from. www.ifpri.org/sites/default/
Njuki, J., Sanginga, P.C. (Eds.), 2013. Women, Livestock Ownership and Markets. New files/publications/rr131.pdf.
York, USA: Earthscan USA/International Development Research Centre, Canada. Sraboni, E., Malapit, H.J., Quisumbing, A.R., Ahmed, A.U., 2014. Women's empowerment
Njuki, M.J., Wyatt, A., Baltenweck, I., Yount, K., Null, C., Ramakrishnan, U., et al., 2016. in agriculture: what role for food security in Bangladesh? World Dev. 61, 11–52.
An exploratory study of dairying intensification, women's decision making, and time https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.03.025.
use and implications for child nutrition in Kenya. Eur. J. Dev. Res. 28 (4), 722–740. Tavenner, K., Fraval, S., Omondi, I., Crane, T.A., 2018. Gendered reporting of household
https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2015.22. dynamics in the Kenyan dairy sector: trends and implications for low emissions dairy
O'Leary, M., 1994. Patterns of range use, nomadism, and sedentarization: the case of the development. Gend. Technol. Dev. 22 (1), 1–19.
rendille and gabra of northern Kenya. In: Brokensha, D. (Ed.), A River Of Blessings: United Nations Children’s Fund, 2011. Gender Influences on Child Survival , Health and
Essays in Honor of Paul Baxter. Syracuse: Maxwell School. Syracuse University. Nutrition : A Narrative Review. New York, USA. Retrieved from. https://www.
Olumakaiye, M.F., Ajayi, A.O., 2006. Women's empowerment for household food se- unicef.org/gender/files/Gender_Influences_on_Child_Survival_a_Narrative_review.
curity: the place of education. J. Hum. Ecol. 19 (1), 51–55. pdf.
Price, M., Galie, A., Marshall, J., Agu, N., 2018. Elucidating the linkages between wo- Verhart, N., Wijngaart, A. Van Den, Dhamankar, M., Danielsen, K., 2015. Bringing
men's empowerment in livestock and nutrition: a qualitative study of smallholder Agriculture and Nutrition Together Using a Gender Lens (No. 6). Amsterdam. .
livestock raisers in Tanzania. Dev. Pract. 28 (4), 510–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/ WHO, UNICEF, 2010. Indicators for Assessing Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices.
09614524.2018.1451491. Part 2: Measurement. Geneva. Retrieved from. http://www.who.int/nutrition/
Rota, A., Sperandini, S., 2009. Livestock and Pastoralists. Livestock Thematic Papers: publications/infantfeeding/9789241599290/en/.
Tools for Project Design. Rome, Italy. Retrieved from. www.ifad.org/lrkm/index. Xiaogang, S., 2007. Pastoralists' potential and challenge to development: a case study of
htm. the rendille in northern Kenya. In: Xiaogang, S., Naoki, N. (Eds.), Mobility, Flexibility,
Ruel, M.T., November 2003. Operationalizing dietary diversity: a review of measurement and Potential Of Nomadic Pastoralism In Eurasia And Africa. Kyoto: Graduate School of
issues and research priorities. J. Nutr. 133 (11), 3911S–3926S. https://doi.org/10. Asian and African Area Studies. Kyoto University.
1093/jn/133.11.3911S. Yimer, F., Tadesse, F., 2015. Women's Empowerment in Agriculture and Dietary Diversity
Sadler, K., Kerven, C., Calo, M., Manske, M., Catley, A., 2010. The fat and the lean: review in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (No. 80). .
of production and use of milk by pastoralists. Pastoralism 2 (1), 291–324. https://doi.
134