A multidimensional analysis of women’s empowerment and food security in Walmara District, Ethiopia

Women, who usually play a significant role in household food management and agricultural activities, are frequently marginalized and lack access to resources, education, and decision-making power in Walmara District. The objective of this study is to investigate women’s empowerment and its effect on household food security using the Rural Women’s Composite Empowerment Index model. We used a quantitative method in this study. We selected 335 female-headed households via systematic sampling for surveys. Food security was measured using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. The ordered logit model was employed to analyze quantitative data. The findings reveal that women are empowered in autonomy (87%), lack of violence (86%), decision-making (83%), economic empowerment (82%), and time allocation (80%) domains in the study area. It also shows that 7.8%, 20.9%, and 71.3% of the sampled households are the most food secure, mildly food secure, and food insecure, respectively. The econometric result suggests that a one-unit increase in women’s empowerment would result in a 0.609-unit increase in the ordered log odds of being in the higher food security category. The study concludes that women’s empowerment enhances their autonomy in making choices and decisions related to food security. The paper recommends that the government should establish a rural women’s empowerment hub to monitor and follow up on the implementation of women’s empowerment in rural areas and realize sustainable development goals—gender equality in food security.