Rural electrification and women's empowerment in Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

PurposeThis paper assesses the impact of this program on the rural women's employment opportunities using data from the 2015 round of the household's living standard survey (HLSS) of Côte d'Ivoire.Design/methodology/approachIn 2013, in order to improve the living conditions of the rural population, the Ivorian government launched the National Program for rural electrification (PRONER) to electrify all localities with more than 500 inhabitants.FindingsThe results show that PRONER, while reducing the time allocated to performing household chores, increases women's employment through the reallocation of time to full-time paid work in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. The authors also find that the allocation of men's time is not affected by this programme. A possible mechanism that would explain such a pro-women effect is the labour-saving technology introduced to home production as an effect of the reform.Research limitations/implicationsAs a limitation, it is important to note that these results were obtained in the specific context of PRONER in Côte d’Ivoire and are not necessarily applicable to rural electrification programmes in other contexts. Furthermore, the choice of other indicators to measure women's empowerment is limited by the quality of the data available. It would be interesting for future research to extend this analysis to include other aspects of women's empowerment and household welfare.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to the author’s knowledge to apply a robust econometric method by combining an inverse probability weighted regression adjustment model with Heckman sample selection method to access a robust causal effect of the PRONER in Côte d'Ivoire.

Policy interventions and productive employment in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a gender-differentiated meta-analysis

“…In Cote d'Ivoire, a similar rural electrification program is associated with a significant reduction in time spent by women on household tasks. The reallocation of time gained to paid work in the farm and non-farm sectors improved women's empowerment (Bago et al ., 2021). However, the program has no significant impact on men's time allocation.…”

Guest editorial: Introduction to the special issue on productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Bago et al . (2024) investigate the impact of the National Program for Rural Electrification (PRONER) program on rural women's employment opportunities using data from the 2015 round of the household's living standard survey (HLSS) of Côte d'Ivoire.…”

“…By consolidating data from 14 different experiences into a single study, the paper offers valuable insights into factors determining policy effectiveness and contributes to understanding what worked for whom and why. Bago et al (2024) investigate the impact of the National Program for Rural Electrification (PRONER) program on rural women's employment opportunities using data from the 2015 round of the household's living standard survey (HLSS) of Côte d'Ivoire. In 2013, to improve the rural population's living conditions, the Ivorian Government launched the PRONER to electrify all localities with more than 500 inhabitants.…”