Lessons from a decade of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI)

Since its launch in 2012, IFPRI’s Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) has been used by over 230 organizations across 58 countries to track progress in empowerment and gender equality. A Feb. 16 IFPRI event marked the WEAI’s 10^th anniversary, focusing on lessons learned over the past decade and potential paths going forward.

In particular, WEAI will be an essential tool as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change impacts continue to exacerbate gender disparities in agriculture and food systems, IFPRI Director General Johan Swinnen said in his opening remarks. The WEAI family of tools can help to pinpoint such disparities and evaluate the effectiveness of strategies that increase women’s empowerment, helping in efforts to build equitable systems as the world continues to change, he said.

Photo credit: IFPRI