top of page
House in Guinea Bissau

Improving Access for Women in Malawi

UX Design                2015                Qualitative Consultant

Key activities in human centered design research consulting

  • Research & evaluation plan

  • Collect data via focus groups, interviews, and other methods

  • Benchmarking key performance indicators

  • Data analysis (affinity diagramming, outcome mapping, coding)

  • Identifying intended and unintended results

  • Data-driven, actionable recommendations

Research & Analysis Plan

I helped develop the research planand training materials. In Malawi, I co-led training on the research design, focus group, & interview moderation. 

​

Desert
Melissa conducting interviews with translator & expert in program design and process
Tree diagram maps customer data: influence on production decisions

*Interviewee not shown

Sample Methodology & Data Collection

  • Over 36 focus groups and interviews were conducted - 10 focus groups & 8 interviews were conducted per county (traditional authority). 

  • We selected focus group and interview participants randomly from eight total villages - two from each county.

  • Focus groups of 8-12 were composed of:

    • Women head of households

    • Women in male-headed households

    • Women in polygamous households

    • Women representing different household types (mixed)

    • Husbands

    • Community Leaders

  • Photo above: Women's influence in decisions was mapped on tree diagrams. Production decisions by crop were listed at roots. Household decisions were mapped in branches.

entify emerging themes from interview data collection

Benchmarking Success with Key Performance Indicators

I co-led a workshop where staff in Malawi defined success.  Staff described actions that men, women, and community leaders would take if women's access to production, household resources, and decision-making power became more equitable.  These were used as key performance indicators. When analyzing interview data, we looked for these signs of success.

The indicators align to the Women's Empowerment Index in Agriculture (WEIA) which had been used to establish a baseline years earlier. The WEIA has 5 domains: production, (household) resources, income, leadership, and time – we focused primarily on the first two.

Melissa & colleagues conduct thematic analysis of interview data

The Analysis

  • Interview and Focus group data was recorded, and hand-written notes were typed up, using time-stamps of the recordings for reference. Note-takers added labels such as “women’s access to land” to highlight changes related to the areas of inquiry.

  • Tree diagram data was aggregated into a chart showing women's influence on production decisions. 

  • Each day after data collection, moderators met to share observations in plenary, noting themes and important observations, including both intended and unintended results from the program.

  • Affinity diagramming observations (see photo above) informed codes (e.g., production decisions; access to nutrition) for the qualitative analysis.

  • Commonly mentioned changes (e.g., women are consulted in decisions but don’t have veto power) were mapped against "benchmarks" or indicators of success.

  • We used inductive coding in excel to examine women’s access and decision-making power around household and production resources.

​

Traditional Bracelet

The Results

Example findings are:

  • Participating farmers (customers) define empowered women as respectful, confident, and participating in public spaces & economic development, including speaking their minds publicly. Empowered women negotiate for use of land and productive resources for themselves and their households. Empowered women earn income through selling their crops and farming. 

  • Commonly mentioned changes in household and production decisions observed were: 

    • Husbands agreeing to

      • Do more of the household chores 

      • Cook when wives are sick

      • Cook when wives need to travel to sell crops/buy seeds

    • Husbands allowing wives to:

      • Rent land

      • Farm soya and groundnut crops

      • Sell their own crops for income

      • Have input into production decisions 

  • Actionable Recommendations: To encourage community leaders and husbands to continue participating in moderated conversations about gender.

bottom of page