Impact of oil palm-related activities on women’s empowerment in Ghana

Abstract The public debate over the effect of industrial crop production activities on women’s empowerment remains inconclusive. There are concerns that engagement in industrial crop (oil palm) related activities adversely affects females’ time allocation culminating in disempowerment. However, there is counter-argument that the improved income associated with women’s involvement in industrial crop production activities eventually increases their capacity to significantly contribute to household spending, decision making, and empowerment. Using a rich dataset from 416 farm households from Ashanti and Central regions of Ghana, we empirically quantify the effect of engagement in oil palm production activities on women’s empowerment. The extent of women’s empowerment is quantified using the scores in the five domains of empowerment (i.e. 5DE). The Propensity Score Matching technique is then employed to determine the impact of women’s involvement in the oil palm-related activities on their extent of empowerment. In this paper, we further identify and examine other potential determinants of women’s adequacy in the various indicators of empowerment as well as the overall extent of empowerment. While the study could not establish any significant impact of engagement in oil palm-related activities on women’s empowerment, the results clearly show that these activities contribute positively to empowerment. Also, we find that women with formal education, access to credit, formal training in agriculture or farming, and those engaged in off-farm income-generating activities tend to be more empowered irrespective of the community in which they find themselves. The paper offers suggestions on how women’s empowerment in rural or oil palm producing communities in Ghana could be enhanced.