Despite the broad range of studies measuring women s intra-household decision-making power, the possibility of all family members actively participating in family decisions is widely ignored or undervalued. Therefore, this article first develops a decision-making index that accounts for different decisions potentially being made solitarily or jointly by any number of individuals reported to participate in decision-making. Second, determinants of decision-making power are identified. Finally, the effect of higher women participation in decision-making on food security is assessed. Based on a random sample of 378 households living in a 200 km radius around the city of Hawassa in Southwestern Ethiopia, principal component analysis is applied to generate an index of empowerment proxy, i.e. participation in decision-making. Linear regression models revealed that livestock income, asset ownership, land endowment, and adultness of sons are significant determinants of women s participation in decision-making. In addition, women s bargaining power, education, access to credit and extension, and off-farm income significantly increased the food variety score as an indicator of food and nutrition security. Acknowledgement : Acknowledgment: The financial support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is kindly acknowledged.