Ethnic minority women’s empowerment in agriculture in the central region of Viet Nam

Gender inequality and women’s empowerment are two closely related issues. While the gender inequality index has been assessed by different studies, that of women’s empowerment remained limited. In the present work, we attempted to evaluate the women’s empowerment index by comparing it with the male partner’s empowerment index in the same household. We used the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) as a framework for reference. A questionnaire was designed to interview 300 people including both men and women in the same ethnic minority household in central Vietnam. The difference in the empowerment level between men and women was assessed through five-component empowerment indicators: agricultural participation, resource ownership, financial control, social organizations participation, and time usage. The results showed that up to 70% of women were disempowered compared to only 15% of men. The binary logistic model revealed the age at first marriage, the level of children’s education, education level, distance to the nearest urban area, and the number of children were associated with women’s empowerment; whereas age, income, and the level of gender awareness did not show any correlation.