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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit. She has extensive transdisciplinary research experience in using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her work focuses on two broad (and sometimes interrelated) areas: how institutions affect how people manage natural resources, and the role of gender in development processes. 

Where we work

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IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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experts

Nutrition, Diets, and Health

Soumyajit Ray

Senior Research Analyst

Bio

Soumyajit Ray is a Senior Research Analyst in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit. He is a quantitative researcher with research interests in political economy, public finance, health economics, and econometrics. Prior to joining IFPRI, Soumyajit worked as a researcher with various governmental agencies such as NITI Aayog, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. He has also worked in developmental consultancy with Oxford Policy Management and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Hyderabad and a BTech in Computer Science from UCE Burla.

Nutrition, Diets, and Health

Publications

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Working Paper

Can farmer collectives empower women and improve their welfare? Mixed methods evidence from India

2024Ray, Soumyajit; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Bhanjdeo, Arundhita; Heckert, Jessica
Details

Can farmer collectives empower women and improve their welfare? Mixed methods evidence from India

Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)—farmer collectives, often legally registered – can mitigate some of the constraints smallholder farmers face by improving their access to extension, services, and markets, especially for women. We evaluate the effects of a set of interventions delivered through women-only FPOs in Jharkhand, India, using a panel of 1200 households and a difference-in-difference model with nearest neighbor matching. A complementary qualitative study in the same areas helps triangulate and interpret our findings. The interventions aimed to improve agricultural productivity by coordinating production and improving access to services, while also providing gender sensitization trainings to FPO leaders and members. We collect household data on asset ownership and agricultural outcomes and individual data on women’s and men’s empowerment using the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for Market Inclusion (pro-WEAI+MI). Our results for asset ownership, land cultivated, cropping intensity, and per acre yields, revenues or costs are statistically insignificant. Effects on men’s and women’s empowerment are mixed. While we see positive effects on women’s decisionmaking, asset ownership, control over income and attitudes towards intimate partner violence, the program is associated with an increase in workload and a reduction in active group membership for both men and women. Men appear to cede control over resources and decisionmaking to other household members. Additional analyses suggest that while some effects can occur in the short-term, others take time to accrue. FPO based interventions that aim to empower women or other marginalized groups likely require sustained investments over multiple years and will need to go beyond improving FPO functioning and increasing women’s participation to transforming social norms.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ray, Soumyajit; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Bhanjdeo, Arundhita; Heckert, Jessica

Citation

Ray, Soumyajit; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Bhanjdeo, Arundhita; and Heckert, Jessica. 2024. Can farmer collectives empower women and improve their welfare? Mixed methods evidence from India. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2267. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151877

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Agriculture; Farmers Organizations; Cooperatives; Markets; Prices; Yields; Empowerment; Smallholders; Women; Gender

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Claim-making under India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA): Barriers and opportunities for women’s voice and agency over asset selection

2024Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan; Narayanan, Sudha; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Ray, Soumyajit
Details

Claim-making under India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA): Barriers and opportunities for women’s voice and agency over asset selection

This paper examines the dynamics of women’s claim-making within the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in India, focusing on their participation in selecting durable assets for climate resilience. Despite legal entitlements and protections for women within the program, gender disparities persist in claiming public resources. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach including surveys and qualitative interviews, the study uncovers various pathways to women’s claim-making, influenced by factors such as gender norms around mobility and women’s voice and agency, internal barriers and constraints including comfort in public speaking, and knowledge of the program and its various procedures for selecting assets. While challenges to women’s effective participation remain, findings from our analysis suggest potential for interventions to reduce gender gaps and enhance inclusivity in planning processes. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of recognizing diverse claim-making pathways to promote inclusion effectively within the program.

Year published

2024

Authors

Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan; Narayanan, Sudha; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Ray, Soumyajit

Citation

Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan; Narayanan, Sudha; Raghunathan, Kalyani; and Ray, Soumyajit. 2024. Claim-making under India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA): Barriers and opportunities for women’s voice and agency over asset selection. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2247. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Climate Resilience; Gender Equality; Infrastructure; Women’s Empowerment; Employment; Women’s Participation; Gender Norms; Governance

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Working Paper

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Journal Article

Staking claim to entitlements under MGNREGA: How can women make their demands?

2024Raghunathan, Kalyani; Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan; Narayanan, Sudha; Ray, Soumyajit
Details

Staking claim to entitlements under MGNREGA: How can women make their demands?

There are internal constraints and structural barriers to women’s claim-making under MGNREGA. Supporting more egalitarian decision-making within the village, designing interventions that can help women gain confidence to speak out in public and making officials more responsive could all help.

Year published

2024

Authors

Raghunathan, Kalyani; Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan; Narayanan, Sudha; Ray, Soumyajit

Citation

Raghunathan, Kalyani; Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan; Narayanan, Sudha; and Ray, Soumyajit. 2024. Staking claim to entitlements under MGNREGA: How can women make their demands? The India Forum. First published online August 28, 2024. https://www.theindiaforum.in/public-policy/staking-claim-entitlements-under-mgnrega

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Decision Making; Employment; Surveys; Women; Women’s Empowerment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Journal Article

Events

From Research to Impact: Towards just and Resilient Agri-food Systems
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 9 to 12, 2023

From Research to Impact: Towards just and Resilient Agri-food Systems

Conference: October 09, 2023 – 9:00 AM to October 12, 2023 – 6:00 PM IST. IFPRI is participating in the 2023 annual CGIAR gender research conference will take place in New Delhi, India.