Data on Impact of Rural Road Infrastructure on Women Nutrition, Empowerment Outcomes

The study measured the impact of rural road infrastructure improvement on women’s empowerment and household nutrition. The study employed the Abbreviated Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (AWEAI), Household dietary diversity Score (HDDS), Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women (MDDW), Difference-in-Difference (DiD) and propensity score matching (PSM) models to analyse a secondary dataset of 1,294 respondents obtained from the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) in Nigeria between 2019 and 2022.The study found that between 2019 and 2022, the proportion of disempowered women reduced more for VCDP beneficiaries with lesser disempowerment gap compared to the non-beneficiaries. Dietary diversity for most households, particularly female-headed beneficiary households, was also higher relative to their non-beneficiary counterparts. Rural road infrastructure improvement had a positive impact on household dietary diversity, women’s dietary diversity, and women’s empowerment. Therefore, the study recommends that government in conjunction with the private sector and supporting international agencies/organizations should consider the incorporation of road infrastructure provision to communities as part of its nutrition, and empowerment, policy.