Women In Female-headed Households Research Articles

Examining the paradox: increased malaria risk in children under 5 in female-headed households in Nigeria

BackgroundNigeria is facing a severe malaria crisis, accounting for a significant proportion of global cases and deaths of malaria. This study aimed to investigate the differences between female-headed households (FHHs) and male-headed households (MHHs) and their impact on malaria risk among children under five (U5) in Nigeria.MethodsData from the 2021 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS) were used for this cross-sectional study. A representative sample of 10,988 households was analysed, with key variables subjected to frequency calculations, descriptive statistics, and bivariate analyses using t-tests and chi-square analyses to compare the differences between FHHs and MHHs.ResultsAmong all participants, 92.1% (N = 10,126) reported residing in male-headed households, while 7.8% (N = 862) reported living in female-headed households. MHHs were significantly more likely to own insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) than FHHs (64.7% vs. 53.6%, P < 0.001). U5 children in MHHs had a greater likelihood of sleeping under a bed net the night before the survey than U5 children in FHHs (35.3% vs. 30.0%, P < 0.05). The prevalence of fever in the previous two weeks among U5 children was similar in MHHs and FHHs (35.4% vs. 31.4%), and the testing rates for malaria among U5 children who experienced febrile episodes were higher in MHHs than FHHs (22.4% vs. 15.4%, P < 0.05). Although not statistically significant, FHHs exhibited a higher percentage of U5 children testing positive for malaria compared to MHHs (87.8% vs. 78.9%). On the other hand, FHHs had higher education levels, overall wealth index scores, and a larger presence in urban areas compared to MHHs (P < 0.001). Moreover, FHHs reported higher adherence to malaria prevention awareness (P < 0.001).ConclusionIn Nigeria, FHHs enjoy relatively better socioeconomic conditions and stronger awareness of malaria prevention compared to their male-headed counterparts. Contrary to expectations, FHHs are at an increased risk of malaria in children under 5 years old. This phenomenon is associated with entrenched gender inequality and the challenges women face in accessing critical assets. As women in FHHs bear the responsibility of income generation while caring for their children, it is crucial to prioritize interventions that address malaria management in FHHs to reduce both malaria incidence and mortality rates.Graphical

Familial correlates of unmet need for contraception among currently married women: a comparative study of three Sub-Saharan African Countries

Using data from the 2010 Malawi, 2013-14 Togo and 2011 Uganda DHS, the study explored the relationship between unmet need for contraception (unmet need) and family factors. The analysis was based on data for 15,528 currently married women aged 15-49 in Malawi, 6,282 in Togo and 5,417 in Uganda. Multinomial regression models were used to analyse the data. Results show that Malawian and Togolese women in female headed households have a higher risk (p<0.001) of having unmet need for spacing over no unmet need. Spousal agreement on fertility desire significantly reduced unmet need among Malawian women. Therefore family factors to some extent do influence unmet need in these countries. The findings indicate the importance of coming up with strategies which will encourage spousal communication in order to aid males and females to be equal partners in family planning.

Men and women farmers\u2019 perceptions of adopting improved diets for pigs in Uganda: decision-making, income allocation, and intra-household strategies that mitigate relative disadvantage

BackgroundThe roles and responsibilities of men and women in east African smallholder pig-raising households and the entitlements each can claim from pig-enterprise income are unknown. The article is a qualitative gender-and-household-head-disaggregated exploration of Ugandan smallholder pig farmers’ perceptions. Asset ownership, control, and access; division of labour; and decision-making related to pig rearing and pig-enterprise income are presented in the context of the potential impact of adopting improved diets for pigs (a productivity improvement).ResultsPotential benefits of improved diet adoption included faster pig growth; increased farmer income and pig population; new on-farm employment and produce market opportunities; and improved pig market opportunities and family- and community-level well-being. Contradictory views about the potential impact of diet adoption on labour requirements and feed costs, and the inclusion of seasonal, home-grown ingredients were expressed. Concerns about people and pigs competing for food and personal safety were also voiced. Women allocated pig-enterprise income to provide for their children, household, and extended family, and spent only the remaining income on themselves. Men allocated income to meet personal needs, and to provide for their children, wife, second wife/family, extended family, and lovers. Men and women in female-headed households (WFHH) had overt decision-making ability over the pig enterprise and pig-enterprise income. Some women in male-headed households (WMHH) had overt decision-making ability over the pig enterprise and pig-enterprise income when their husband allowed it, or failed to provide, or was away. Pig ownership and labour investment by WMHH did not guarantee that women had decision-making ability or benefitted from pig-enterprise income. Some WMHH employed covert strategies which mitigated their relative disadvantage. Threat of domestic violence inhibited the decision-making ability of WMHH. Polygyny reduced intra-household communication transparency.ConclusionsDiet adoption could benefit smallholder pig-raising households and farming communities, but lack of funds and human/pig food competition could limit adoption. Men, WFHH, and some WMHH had overt decision-making ability over the pig enterprise and pig-enterprise income. Men allocated income to benefit themselves, and their multiple families and lovers. Women allocated income to benefit their families and spent only surplus income on themselves. Women employed covert strategies to mitigate their relative disadvantage.

Women's participation in high value agricultural commodity chains in Kenya: Strategies for closing the gender gap

In developing economies, well-functioning markets are known to provide the poor with avenues for wealth creation. Using a value chain approach, this paper aims at examining bottlenecks to and opportunities for different categories of women to participate in markets for high value agricultural commodities, with a view to identifying feasible upgrading strategies for the different categories. The findings are based on a case study of Kenya's avocado value chain, which depicts export and domestic market orientation. The data were collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews and household surveys. The results suggest that in the more commercialized and well developed chains like that of export, upgrading strategies vary for the different typologies of women. While women in female headed households may require limited efforts such as tailoring financial products to their needs or providing interlinked services coupled with prompt payment for their produce to allow them to produce quality fruits and access lucrative markets, women in male headed households need institutionalization of gender-sensitive policies in the governance of producer groups to enable them to upgrade as chain integrators and chain owners. In the less commercialized domestic chain, limited efforts may be required to upgrade women along the chain, but the need to change from the less marketable local variety to exotic variety is likely to alter women's position, thereby calling for the need to institutionalize gender-sensitive policies in the governance of existing organized groups and use the groups as a platform to introduce the new variety.

Elderly, Poor and Resilient: Survival Strategies of Elderly Women in Female-Headed Households: An Intersectionality Perspective

The intersectionality perspective reveals that gender relations are intertwined in complex ways with other forms of social inequality. Through this perspective, researchers have come to understand that an individual’s social location as reflected in intersecting identities must be at the forefront in any investigation of gender, in particular, must be understood in the context of power relations embedded within social identities. In this paper, the focus is on the intersection of age, gender and livelihoods in the familial lives of elderly women heading households in Ngangelizwe, Mthatha in South Africa. This study uncovers how the experiences of 15 elderly women who are heads of households are shaped by their current socio-economic conditions as well as reveals ways in which they exercise agency and thereby actively engaging with their socio-economic realities rather than experiencing these as defining features in their lives and livelihoods. As noted in the intersectionality perspective, individuals are not passive recipients of an identity position; instead, they practice each aspect of identity as informed by other identities.

Social Impacts of Protected Areas on Gender in West Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

In most cases, the establishment of protected areas (PAs) goes hand-in-hand with an increase in conservation costs to communities living adjacent to these PAs. This paper draws insights from gender theories in particular feminist political ecology approach to unravel the impact of PAs on men and women around the Kilimanjaro National Park (NP) and the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Tanzania. Specifically, it investigates how the creation and expansion of two PAs in Tanzania have impacted men and women in different ways. A combination of in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions, and key informant interviews was used to collect data from local people who live adjacent to these PAs. The findings reveal that the PAs impact both men and women, but the most significant impact is felt by women due to inequality in the gendered division of labour and resources at the household level. Poor men and women together with most women in female-headed households, suffer more from strong restrictions on access to PA-based resources than other people as they have limited alternatives. The benefits of PAs in compensating for resource restrictions were found to be modest and do not meet the needs of predominantly poor men and women. The majority of local people collect resources from PAs illegally to meet their livelihood needs, despite restrictions on resource access. This study concludes that, instead of PAs paying attention to people’s relevant livelihood needs and improving their wellbeing, they have unfortunately worsened their situation.

Smallholder goat production and marketing: a gendered baseline study from Inhassoro District Mozambique

Despite emerging public and donor attention on women and agriculture, relatively few studies are based on gender analysis of sex-disaggregated quantitative data, particularly on women's involvement in marketing of livestock products. The objective of this article is therefore to investigate gender roles and processes of smallholder goat production and marketing in Inhassoro District, Mozambique, by analysing sex-disaggregated baseline data for women in male-headed households (W-MHH), men in male-headed households (M-MHH) and women in female-headed households (FHH). The paper draws on baseline data from the imGoats project, which aimed to diversify smallholder goat producers’ livelihood options by supporting the commercialization of goat production. Building on the sustainable livelihoods framework, adapted for gender and assets, this paper demonstrates that women in male-headed households rarely have control over income from goat sales and that meanings of “joint” ownership, decision making and asset control differ by gender. Results also showed that the primary goal of selling goats is to cover emergencies and household needs, and that goat meat consumption is linked to market access and agro-ecological zone. Despite the challenges of undertaking robust gender studies in a real-life developing country setting, this study provides a practical technical example of how one can implement gendered quantitative analyses in the context of the livelihoods framework.

M.G. Smith on the Isle of Lesbos: Kinship and Sexuality in Carriacou

Abstract In Kinship and Community in Carriacou (1962), M.G. Smith documents what he calls “abnormal” sexual relations between women in female-headed households on the island. These lesbian madivines represent statistically significant “deviations” from normative patterns of kinship and residence in domestic groups, and are associated with the shapeshifting witchcraft of sukuyan and lougarou. Linking Smith’s ethnography of “mating patterns” to transactional pathways of reproductive value—blood, money, witchcraft and sexuality—I rework his ideological explanation of Carriacou lesbianism (as a “mechanism” for preserving female marital fidelity) into a feminist model of female empowerment with comparative potentialities throughout the Caribbean.

HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT EXPENDITURE OF WOMEN IN FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLD IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

This study aims to investigate the human capital expenditure, the expenditure share of human capital investment expenditure and the probability of having human capital investment among the women in female-headed households. The data was obtained from a nationwide study on Economic wellbeing and human capital investment of female-headed funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), government of Malaysia, under the e-Science Grant. Four states (Kedah, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor) from four zones were selected using simple random technique together with 1,000 potential respondent lists provided by local school authorities with 68% of response rate. The study found that women in female-headed household spent 21% of their yearly income in reading material followed by health (18%) and personal care (15%). Similarly, expenditure share 67% yearly income was spend on reading materials followed by health (63%) and personal care (58%) Further analysis revealed those have a higher household income (OR = 0.023 ; P

Factors affecting home delivery in rural Tanzania

Studies of factors affecting place of delivery have rarely considered the influence of gender roles and relations within the household. This study combines an understanding of gender issues relating to health and help-seeking behaviour with epidemiological knowledge concerning place of delivery. In-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation were used to explore determinants of home delivery in southern Tanzania. Quantitative data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of 21,600 randomly chosen households. Issues of risk and vulnerability, such as lack of money, lack of transport, sudden onset of labour, short labour, staff attitudes, lack of privacy, tradition and cultures and the pattern of decision-making power within the household were perceived as key determinants of the place of delivery. More than 9000 women were interviewed about their most recent delivery in the quantitative survey. There were substantial variations between ethnic groups with respect to place of delivery (P<0.0001). Women who lived in male-headed households were less likely to deliver in a health facility than women in female-headed households (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.80-0.91). Mothers with primary and higher education were more likely to deliver at a health facility (RR 1.30, 95% CI 1.23-1.38). Younger mothers and the least poor women were also more likely to deliver in a health facility compared with the older and the poorest women, respectively. To address neonatal mortality, special attention should be paid to neonatal health in both maternal and child health programmes. The findings emphasize the need for a systematic approach to overcome health-system constraints, community based programmes and scale-up effective low-cost interventions which are already available.

Informal Labor and Social Relations in Northern Malawi: The Theoretical Challenges and Implications of Ganyu Labor for Food Security*

Food insecurity is a problem faced by smallholder farmers in Malawi. In any given year between 70 and 85 percent of households run out of food stocks several months prior to the next harvest. Once food stocks are depleted many households obtain food by doing ganyu, a type of piecework labor. Limited research has been carried out on ganyu. This paper uses qualitative data to examine ganyu in relation to food security in one area of northern Malawi. Using the livelihoods framework, I argue that the most common form of ganyu is both a livelihood strategy and a measure of vulnerability, rather than a type of social capital as suggested by other authors. High reliance on ganyu points to increased social stratification related to a rise in smallholder tobacco production. Women in female-headed households appear to rely more on ganyu than in married households. Policy implications of these findings are considered.

Household Structure and Dietary Patterns in the Afro-Ecuadorian Highlands

Dietary patterns in contemporary societies have been a primary focus of nutritional and anthropological research. Class, occupation, income, and gender have been studied when analyzing dietary patterns and the roots of malnutrition and hunger; however, the effects of household structure have received less attention. The main purpose of our study was to obtain information on the diet of a highland Afro-Ecuadorian community and examine the relationship between household structure and dietary patterns. Survey questionnaires, in-depth questionnaires, and participant observation were utilized to examine how women in female-headed households compare with women in male-headed households in meeting the dietary needs of their families. There was no significant difference in food-acquisition patterns. Weekly expenditures for food in the two types of households were similar, despite different income levels. However, female-headed households had higher food-group scores and consumed more meals per day.