Women Empowerment in Agriculture and Household Hunger: Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda.

Women empowerment and food insecurity remain key development issues in developing countries. This study assessed women's empowerment status and household hunger using the Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) pilot II datasets for Bangladesh and Uganda. Further, the study also identifies the individual and household characteristics that influence women's empowerment. The WEAI analysis results show that most women do not have adequate achievements in at least four of the five domains of empowerment in both countries (both percentages were nearly similar when segregated by gender). The Household Hunger Scale shows that most households had little to no hunger. Women and men who are not empowered in agriculture are significantly associated with moderate hunger scores. Based on these findings, the study suggests that tackling disempowerment in agriculture is a potential avenue for addressing the issue of hunger and food security. Also, there is a need to show a strong disposition to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment by public institutions, policymakers, the community, as well as private institutions. Keywords: WEAI, Gender Equality, and Household Hunger.