Women’s Economic Empowerment: What It Means and Why It Matters
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- What Do We Mean by Women’s Economic Empowerment?
- Women’s Economic Empowerment as a Path to Poverty Reduction
- Why Women’s Economic Empowerment Is Still Uneven
- Challenges to Advancing Women’s Economic Empowerment Today
- Women’s Economic Empowerment in Practice
- Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment
- Future Goals and Initiatives for Women’s Economic Empowerment
- Building Economies That Work for Everyone
- What’s on your mind?
What is women’s economic empowerment, and how does it relate to global poverty reduction? Find out in our latest explainer.
At TechnoServe, we focus on helping women increase their incomes through their participation in our programs. We address the specific constraints women face in acquiring the skills, knowledge, and confidence to become farmers, entrepreneurs, and employees.
While this contributes to gender equality by ensuring that women and men enjoy equal economic rights and opportunities, our work is fundamentally about advancing women’s economic empowerment because it speaks to the outcomes we wish to achieve.
Women’s economic empowerment reflects a mutually reinforcing relationship: when women can participate fully in economic life, economies grow stronger and more resilient. At the same time, sustained economic growth creates opportunities to close persistent gaps between women and men, particularly in access to resources, finance, skills, and decision-making power.
Framing TechnoServe’s work around women’s economic empowerment allows us to address both sides of this equation with clarity and accountability.
What Do We Mean by Women’s Economic Empowerment?
Women’s economic empowerment is the process of transforming the conditions under which women and girls can succeed economically, increase their incomes, and have the power to make and act on economic decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods.
Because it is a process, women’s economic empowerment is achieved not by participation alone, but when two things happen together:
- Women’s incomes increase, and
- Women gain greater decision-making power over economic choices
Women’s economic empowerment tackles the structural barriers that limit women’s access to resources, markets, and decision-making, shaping whether participation translates into meaningful outcomes.
Why TechnoServe Focuses on Women’s Economic Empowerment
TechnoServe’s mission is to fight poverty by helping all people build regenerative farms, businesses, and markets that increase incomes. We have a particular focus on women and youth because their age and gender often create unique constraints that limit their potential. We choose to frame our work around women’s economic empowerment because it keeps our efforts grounded in measurable economic change.
Our goal is not participation for its own sake. It is to ensure that women earn more,have greater control over economic decisions, and improve their farms and businesses. Ultimately, the economic participation of women translates into tangible benefits for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Women’s Economic Empowerment as a Path to Poverty Reduction
This focus also reflects economic evidence. If women had the same access to skills, incentives, technology, and resources as men, the economic gains would be substantial, especially in agrifood systems.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2023 analysis estimates that leveling access in areas like farm productivity and employment could raise global GDP by nearly $1 trillion and reduce food insecurity for around 45 million people. More broadly, UN Women estimates equal participation in the economy could add roughly $7 trillion globally, underscoring the scale of what is possible when markets work for everyone.
In TechnoServe’s work, it is clear that communities become more resilient when women strengthen their economic position through entrepreneurship, agribusiness, or wage employment. Women’s economic empowerment, in this sense, is not an abstract ideal, but instead a practical strategy for building long-term prosperity.
Meet Lubaba Mekonnen, an Ethiopian coffee farmer whose resilience and determination have helped her build a future beyond coffee.
Why Women’s Economic Empowerment Is Still Uneven
Challenges to Advancing Women’s Economic Empowerment Today
Despite progress, women’s economic empowerment remains uneven, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Women often face multiple, overlapping barriers, including:
- Discriminatory social norms that limit mobility or decision-making
- Unequal access to education, finance, land, and productive assets
- Heavy time burdens related to unpaid care and household work
- Restricted access to markets, networks, and business services
These barriers contribute to persistent gaps in income, business ownership, and leadership. Importantly, TechnoServe’s experience shows that economic growth alone does not close these gaps. Without intentional, system-level interventions, inequality can persist or even widen as industries expand.
This reality is particularly evident in agricultural value chains such as coffee and cashew, where women play a critical yet often overlooked role across production, harvesting, processing, and sales. Addressing these challenges requires approaches that work within market systems, engage both women and men, and tackle the root causes of exclusion rather than its symptoms.
In Peru, TechnoServe worked alongside women in the coffee value chain to overcome barriers through the Mujeres Café program, an initiative funded by the Starbucks Foundation.
Women’s Economic Empowerment in Practice
TechnoServe takes a systems approach to increase inclusion within market systems. We integrate women’s economic empowerment into program design, ensuring that both women and men can participate meaningfully and benefit economically.
To support this, TechnoServe focuses on four interconnected dimensions:
- Economic opportunity – helping women acquire the skills, resources, and market access needed to increase their incomes as entrepreneurs, employees, and farmers
- Leadership and agency – strengthening women’s confidence and ability to take on decision-making roles within households, cooperatives, and businesses
- Norms and attitudes – working at the household and community level to support more equitable roles and shared responsibilities
- Ecosystems and enabling environment – supporting businesses, cooperatives, and institutions to adopt inclusive and competitive practices that allow women to participate fully and benefit economically
Across programs in agriculture and entrepreneurship, TechnoServe supports women’s participation in value chains by strengthening skills, improving market access, and working with households and communities to shift norms around decision-making and leadership.
These efforts focus not on “empowering” women in isolation, but on creating the conditions that enable women to exercise agency, grow businesses, and contribute more fully to the economy.
We are proud to share our approach with the international development community through resources like this report from our Women in Business (WIN) project in Mozambique, which was funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment
Progress toward women’s economic empowerment must be measurable. TechnoServe’s organizational north star is to reach 50% of women beneficiaries, and our project guidelines require tracking gender-disaggregated outcomes, including income growth, business performance, and participation in leadership and decision-making roles.
These metrics allow us to assess who is participating, who is benefiting, and how economic gains are distributed. By grounding women’s economic empowerment in data and results, we ensure that efforts translate into tangible economic outcomes.
Future Goals and Initiatives for Women’s Economic Empowerment
Looking ahead, TechnoServe remains committed to advancing women’s economic empowerment as a driver of sustainable economic growth. This includes expanding programs that support women’s economic participation, strengthening partnerships with the private sector, and continuing to integrate women’s economic empowerment across project design.
Advancing women’s economic empowerment is a long-term process that requires persistence, learning, and collaboration, but the returns are clear. Economies that work for everyone are stronger, more resilient, and better equipped to face challenges ahead.
Building Economies That Work for Everyone
Women’s economic empowerment is not about guaranteeing equal outcomes, but about unlocking women’s potential as economic actors and addressing unique barriers that limit their ability to lead prosperous lives that benefit them, their families, their communities, and economies.
TechnoServe’s experience shows that when women’s economic empowerment is embedded into market systems, the results are lasting. Through partnerships, evidence-based approaches, private-sector partnerships, and a focus on economic opportunity, women’s economic empowerment becomes a pathway to shared prosperity.
Read more stories about women’s economic empowerment. Together, we can help build economies where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
FAQs
What’s on your mind?
What do we mean by women’s economic empowerment?
Women’s economic empowerment refers to the process through which women increase their incomes and gain the ability to make and act on economic decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods. It focuses on economic outcomes and decision-making power, not participation alone.
How is women’s economic empowerment different from gender equality?
Gender equality is a broad goal focused on equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for women and men. Women’s economic empowerment contributes to gender equality, but it focuses on the economic conditions, barriers, and incentives that determine whether women can translate opportunity into meaningful economic gains.
Why does TechnoServe prioritize women’s economic empowerment?
TechnoServe focuses on women’s economic empowerment because ensuring women earn an income and have decision-making power aligns with our mission to fight poverty. It also keeps our work grounded in measurable change by emphasizing income growth, business performance, and decision-making power. We prioritize economic participation that leads to meaningful benefits for women, their families, and their communities.
Why doesn’t economic growth alone solve these challenges?
Economic growth can create opportunity, but it does not automatically remove the barriers women face. Without intentional, system-level interventions, inequalities in access to finance, skills, markets, and leadership can persist—or even widen—as industries grow.
How does TechnoServe advance women’s economic empowerment in practice?
TechnoServe integrates women’s economic empowerment into program design across four areas: expanding economic opportunity, strengthening leadership and agency, addressing norms and attitudes, and supporting businesses and institutions to adopt inclusive practices.
How does TechnoServe measure progress?
TechnoServe tracks gender-disaggregated outcomes, including income growth, business performance, and participation in leadership and decision-making. These metrics help assess who is participating, who is benefiting, and how economic gains are distributed.
Why does women’s economic empowerment matter for economic development?
When women can participate fully in economic life, labor markets become more productive, businesses perform better, and communities are more resilient. Women’s economic empowerment is a practical strategy for building inclusive, sustainable growth that endures.
Learn more about how TechnoServe is helping hardworking women around the world to overcome these barriers and improve their lives.
