Women farmers’ lack of access to information and inputs is a major obstacle when it comes to adapting to climate change. Yet all the evidence points to the importance of women’s contribution to improving food security and nutrition.
In a blog, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) highlights how the gender gap is affecting food production in a changing climate. Women farmers have limited access to land, fertilizer, seeds, credit, technical assistance and membership of cooperatives and unions. As a result, they produce an average of 20 to 30 percent less than their male counterparts.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released the comprehensive report “Women in Agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development”, which shows that if women had the same access to inputs, resources and knowledge as men, the number of undernourished people in the world would fall by 12 to 17 percent. Closing the gender gap in agricultural yields could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by as many as 100–150 million people, says the report.
Evidence from various studies quoted in the report also shows that increasing women’s productivity, and hence incomes, has a direct impact on improved maternal and child nutrition, as well as on better education, especially for girls.
The need for gender sensitive approaches to climate change was a key issue raised at the Dublin Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice, organized last month by CCAFS, Irish Aid, the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, and the World Food Programme. Climate change impacts women and men farmers differently, the meeting heard.
Climate smart agriculture
A CCAFS pilot study shows how gender affects climate change responses such as climate smart agriculture (CSA), found that in the small Ugandan village of Kyengeza, men have more access to essential inputs. Since men control household income, it is largely they who buy and use fertilizers, mulching, livestock manure and micro-irrigation.
A joint initiative by CARE International, ICRAF and CCAFS is investigating the gender connection in climate-smart agriculture. In a policy brief based on the Sustainable Agriculture in a Changing Climate (SACC) project, researchers say that helping women to adopt a CSA approach is of key importance.
“We need to emphasize livelihood benefits and focus on interventions that are beneficial to women,” says lead author Quinn Bernier. “If we can showcase women’s innovations and ensure them equal access and a voice in platforms that encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences – for example project and village management committees – this could translate to significant gains in terms of adaptive capacity.”
Communication is key, but more sophisticated channels such as radios and cellphones could potentially favor men. The CCAFS pilot study in Uganda found that many women listed megaphones as one other preferred way of receiving information. Access would then be made easier, and free and could help overcome barriers facing some women, such as attending meetings where climate information is disseminated.
A voice for women
Participatory video (PV) offers good scope for bridging the communication gap between men and women in areas vulnerable to climate change. In Nepal, with backing from CCAFS and partners, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI – a member of the CGIAR Consortium) has been working on a PV project with women in Dhanusha District, Eastern Terai region, which is prone to both floods and drought.
Giving the women a voice has helped them to explore the changes in weather patterns affecting their livelihoods and made them more aware of the options for adapting to them.
One approach to climate change being investigated in Bangladesh is the use of microfinance institutions to enhance food security for women in poor rural communities. Researcher Gulsan Ara Parvin is conducting a study as part of the CCAFS Gender & Climate Change Small Grant Awards program, set up to promote gender-responsive research to climate change.
Other grant recipients include Some Laeticia, who is exploring equitable access to climate-proof technologies in Burkina Faso and Arame Tall, who is looking into gender-specific vulnerability of women farmers in areas of Senegal that are at risk of flooding, drought and other natural disasters.
The message that stands out from all the research so far is that women farmers need more access to knowledge, technologies, and services. Understanding the different ways that men and women adapt to climate variability is central to finding the most effective solutions. These differences must be addressed as part of any adaptation response, if women are to prepare for a changing climate and help provide sustainable food security and nutrition for all.
More information:
Ignoring women in agriculture comes at a cost (CCAFS)
Equal access to climate information between men and women farmers? Study suggests no (CCAFS)
Dublin Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice (CCAFS) and Related posts (CCAFS)
How farmers’ gender-based differences hamper climate adaptation (CCAFS)
Using a gender lens to explore farmers’ adaptation option in the face of climate change: Results of a pilot study in Uganda. Kyazze, F.B., Owoyesigire, B., Kristjanson, P., Chaudhury, M. 2012. CCAFS Working paper 26. (CCAFS)
A Gender Strategy for Pro-Poor Climate Change Mitigation (CCAFS)
Training Guide: Gender and Climate Change Research in Agriculture and Food Security for Rural Development (CCAFS) (FAO)
The gender connection in climate-smart agriculture (CCAFS) (ICRAF)
Addressing Gender in Climate-Smart Smallholder Agriculture Bernier, Q., Franks, P., Kristjanson, P., Neufeldt, H.,Otzelberger. A. & Foster, K. (ICRAF)
Participatory videos in Nepal: Voicing women’s perceptions on climate change (CCAFS) (IWMI)
Women in agriculture: closing the gender gap for development (FAO)
Photo credit: P. Casier (CGIAR)