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.本研究评估了农村道路基础设施改善对女性赋权与家庭营养的影响。研究采用农业女性赋权简式指数（Abbreviated Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index, AWEAI）、家庭饮食多样性得分（Household Dietary Diversity Score, HDDS）、女性最低饮食多样性得分（Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women, MDDW）、双重差分模型（Difference-in-Difference, DiD）与倾向得分匹配模型（propensity score matching, PSM），对2019至2022年间尼日利亚价值链发展项目（Value Chain Development Programme, VCDP）采集的1294名受访对象的二级数据集展开分析。研究发现，2019至2022年间，相较于非受益群体，价值链发展项目受益群体中赋权不足女性的占比降幅更为显著，且该群体的赋权差距更小。多数家庭的饮食多样性水平亦高于对应的非受益家庭，其中尤以女性户主受益家庭为甚。农村道路基础设施改善对家庭饮食多样性、女性饮食多样性及女性赋权均产生了积极影响。据此，本研究建议政府联合私营部门及相关国际支持机构/组织，将社区道路基础设施建设纳入营养改善与女性赋权相关政策范畴。