3.3 Farmer agency
Purpose of indicator
Individual agency to decide on what to consume, produce, and trade, and how to produce it, is a basic human right for farmers. Monitoring farmer agency provides an indication of the power dynamics influencing major decisions about the farm and food system, and level of social equality (SDG 10, 16).
Key Metadata
| Metadata Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Indicator Name | Farmer agency |
| Theme | Social justice |
| SDGs Targeted | SDG 10, SDG 16 |
| Data Source | Household surveys |
| Measurement | Ladder of Power and Freedom, from GENNOVATE |
| Measurement Units | Score of 1 to 5, and quotes and insights from analysing qualitative data, for the household and each individual surveyed |
Guidance on Measurement
The GENNOVATE Ladder of Power and Freedom is a qualitative data collection tool aimed at understanding local men and women farmers’ own perceptions of agency and key factors determining levels of agency. Here, agency refers to ‘the capacity to make important decisions in one’s life and act upon them’ (Petesch and Bullock, 2018).
The Ladder provides comparative qualitative measures of agency that remain contextually grounded, and can be converted to a single quantitative agency score (but see notes on effectively applying the ladder approach). Data are collected through an individual interview using the ladder visual, which is a scoreboard showing different levels of agency. Data can also be collected at the community level through a focus group.
Source: Petesch and Bullock (2018)
The ladder is applied as follows. The researcher identifies a meaningful historical benchmark, usually 10 years in the past, and provides (or creates) a visual of the five-step ladder on a sheet of paper. The researcher introduces the purpose of the exercise. They will need to explain the five-step ladder, and that step 5 indicates great power and freedom while step 1 indicates very little power and freedom to make important decisions.
For example: Today we want to talk to you about how much power and freedom [wo]men in this household have to control the household food system – that is, how and what kind of food is produced, where it goes, and how and what kind of food people consume. Please imagine a five-step ladder [show figure], where at the bottom, on the first step, stand the individual [wo]men of this community with little capacity to make their own decisions about food production and consumption. These [wo]men have little to say about the types and varieties of crops, animals, trees, and animals they cultivate, the way they manage their water, land, soil, animals, and wildlife, the markets available to them, and the food source and food choices available to them. On the highest step, the fifth, stand those who have great capacity to make important decisions for themselves, including what they grow, how they manage their land, soil, water, animals, and trees, and what food they buy.
Request the individual to mark on the ladder the step they think household members of their gender occupy.
Facilitate the discussion on reasons for the step identified. For example:
Q. Why would you place [wo]men on this step? Would you like to volunteer the reasons for your rating?
Q. Would you position different types of [wo]men in different places on this ladder? Older people, younger people, poorer people, single people, etc.? Do women and men differ?
Repeat the rankings and discussion to capture perceptions of power and freedom a decade ago (or at the pre-defined historical benchmark). These sticky notes / cards can fill in the other side of the ladder. These discussions should also be probed deeply to elicit detailed explanations for the trends in agency identified. The goal of the exercise is to understand the factors that shape women’s or men’s conceptions of power and freedom in their lives, and reasons for changes in these conceptions over time, rather than obtaining exact measurements or absolute values for agency.
Time permitting, facilitate a discussion about the changes the participants would like to see and what would be needed to achieve their vision. For example:
Q. Having talked through this together, are there changes you would like to see to give [wo]men more power and freedom in the future? What would be needed to achieve this? What are the major obstacles?
Record the whole interview and take good notes. During the discussion, listen closely for the reasoning behind votes, root causes of high or low agency, factors that contributed to change, and any differences reported for different groups in the community. Make note of powerful quotes that could be extracted later. Record how many votes are cast for each ladder step for both past and present.
Notes on effectively applying the ladder approach:
- Researchers should ideally be the same sex as participants.
- Individual surveys should be conducted in a private room without the presence of any members of the household or anyone of the opposite sex.
- Since the tool requires respondents to recall circumstances 10 years ago, the minimum recommended respondent age is 25 years old. However the 10-year timeframe could be reduced if younger respondents are present.
- To assist with recall, it is helpful to identify the year corresponding to 10 years ago (e.g. 2014) and an important event at that time.
- Researchers need to have a good level of skill in qualitative data collection to collect meaningful data on agency using this (or any) method. For example, managing group dynamics in household (or focus group) surveys is important to ensure the perspectives of individuals with lower levels of agency are captured.
- The researcher should probe deeply into individual explanations of ladder rankings to understand the reasons for these rankings.
- Reducing agency to a single score (i.e., the mean step change at household level) risks undermining the relevance and quality of the data collected. Focusing on qualitative data collection and analysis is strongly recommended for a more meaningful and accurate understanding of individual and household agency.
Guidance on Data Entry and Reporting
This indicator collects sensitive data on human subjects. Researchers should obtain ethical approval from a verified review board prior to data collection. Study participants should receive assurances that their testimonies will be provided anonymously and no identifying information shared in any future publications.
Calculation Method
Indicator Interpretation and Threshold Setting
no information is available
Limitations
no information is available