Gender and Climate Change: Is There a Value Proposition?

Gender and Climate Change: Is
there a Value Proposition?
Claudia Ringler (c.ringler@cgiar.org) based
on the contributions of numerous IFPRI and
partner researchers and practitioners
Beijing +20 & Beyond: How Gender Research is Changing the
Landscape of Food Policy / October 14, 2015

 Is there a link between gender and CC?
 Gender and climatic shocks
 The role of information
 Gender and climate change adaptation (or
CSA)
 Sharing risks is gendered
 Climate change and gender in practice
 Some concluding thoughts
 Resources
Outline

 Climate change [CC] affects water in all its uses, including
water for agriculture, changing its availability, demand, uses,
and generally rendering everything related to climate and
water a riskier business
 CC raises temperature and likely will increase both floods
and droughts; particularly large impacts in tropical countries
 Women and men perceive climatic shocks and climate
change differently
 Women and men have differential needs that are affected
by CC and own different types and amounts of assets and
have different coping and adaptation mechanisms (f.ex.
men own most agricultural assets; women are often
responsible for securing domestic water supply but also
firewood; care for sick HH members
Why think about CC & gender?

CC perceptions differ (Ex. Rakai, Uganda)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Any change
Increase in temperature
Decrease in overall rainfall
More droughts
Increase in variability of rainfall
Men (n=152)
Women (n=180)
Source: IFPRI-CCAFS Uganda household survey.

 There is a gender gap in what men and women own, and
women’s assets are often sold to cope with climatic
shocks
Generally men hold most agricultural assets, including land.
Thus, most direct adverse impacts from climate change on
agriculture affect men. Women’s assets are smaller in value
(f.ex. Jewelry and small livestock) and generally have higher
liquidity – and are thus might be more readily and easily sold
potentially increasing intra-household inequity.
Social protection programs should be geared toward
protecting women’s assets during climatic shocks.
(Quisumbing, Kumar & Behrman 2014; Rakib and Matz 2014).
Gender and climatic shocks

 Climate information, which is essential for adaptation, is
not equally available to men and women
Access to climate information shapes climate change
perceptions and responses. Men are more likely to report
having access to climate information, particularly from formal
sources, such as agricultural extension agents, radio
broadcasts and community meetings.
To promote equal participation across women and men,
information has to reach both women and men.
(Beaman & Dillon 2014; Kristjanson et al. 2015).
The role of information

Information sources (%, Rakai, Uganda)
Source: IFPRI-CCAFS Uganda household survey.
Sources of Information Women Men
Significant
difference
Neighbors 91 96 *
Radio 86 98 *
Traditional forecasters/indigenous knowledge 74 76
Family members 52 72 *
Religious groups 36 31
Government extension workers 31 67 *
NGOs 31 68 *
Community meetings 24 44 *
Farmer organizations or cooperatives 12 36 *
Agri-service providers 12 40 *
Cell phones 6 12 *
Farmer field schools 6 12 *
Schools/teachers 4 14 *
TV 2 14 *
Newspaper/bulletin 1 33 *
Agricultural shows 1 20 *
Internet 0 0

 Women have less awareness of and less access to agricultural
technologies that support adaptation
Men are generally more aware of CSA practices than women. If
women are aware they can be at least as likely to adopt these
practices (Twyman 2014; Bernier et al. 2015; Quisumbing et al. 2015)
In Mali, irrigation allowed men to increase their value of production
almost enough to offset the negative impact of climatic shocks.
Women, on the other hand, had limited access to irrigation or other
farm technology, such as motorized tillers that would increase
productivity
(Beaman & Dillon 2014; Dillon & Gill 2014).
Spousal awareness can improve main decision-maker awareness
of CSA practices (agroforestry, terracing, manure management,
destocking, HYV, rainwater harvesting)
(Quisumbing et al. 2014).
Gender and climate change adaptation

Awareness and adoption of CSA practices with
long-term benefits (Bangladesh)
Whether respondent
is aware of practice
Whether respondent adopted
practice in past year
if they were aware of it
Male Female Sig level Male Female p-value
Agroforestry 0.56 0.43 *** 0.08 0.05
Terracing 0.31 0.30 0.20 0.22
Water harvesting 0.27 0.17 *** 0.26 0.11 ***
Irrigation 0.97 0.97 0.63 0.53 ***
Planting pits 0.06 0.01 *** 0.08 0.20
Minimum tillage 0.30 0.27 0.07 0.03
Improved feed management 0.29 0.26 0.58 0.72 **
Grazing or rangeland
management 0.08 0.02 *** 0.08 0.11
Patterns of adoption, conditional on awareness, are consistent with spheres of
responsibility (men—agriculture and water control, women—livestock)
Quisumbing et al. (2015)

 Risk aversion can negatively affect adaptation by rural
women
Men and women who are concerned about risk are less likely to take up
new technologies. We found that women are not more risk averse
overall but more risk averse when taking decisions on agriculture.
It will be important to understand women’s tolerance for risk and
improve their capacity to understand risk.
Women value risk sharing, but lower education and financial literacy, as
well as less background in understanding agricultural risk placed
women at a disadvantage when facing insurance purchase decisions.
(Clarke and Kumar, 2015)
Female farm managers in Senegal and BFO were less likely to invest in
agricultural insurance and instead preferred savings products, possibly
because they face important health risks that men do not face. This
decision reduced average yields and overall food security.
(Delavallade et al. 2015)
Sharing risks (Bangladesh)

Climate change and gender in practice
Perceived importance vs
actual practice: gender-
disaggregated data
Bangladesh
(14)
Ethiopia (26) Kenya (36) Mali (11)
Do not collect, analyze, or
report gender-disaggregated
data
25 76 72 59
Collect, analyze, or report
data on women, men, girls,
and boys in household
41 14 19 15
Collect, analyze, or report
data on female-headed
households and male-headed
households
34 11 9 26
(Ragasa et al. 2014)
Knowledge, Attitude and Practitioner Survey on gendered
CC adaptation

• Attention to gender issues is perceived by
practitioners as important during the design and
planning stage of climate change-related activities
• But gender issues receive much less attention
during implementation and even less during M&E.
• Gender-disaggregated data collection, monitoring,
and reporting are rarely done as part of their
organizations’ climate change–related activities.
Climate change and gender in practice
(Ragasa et al. 2014)
Knowledge, Attitude and Practitioner Survey on gendered
CC adaptation

Constraints to Implementing Gender-Sensitive
Adaptation Programs
(1=not a constraint, 3=average constraint, 5=significant constraint)
Source: Bryan et al. CCAFS KAP survey 201
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Availability and/or
access to relevant
research on gender
and climate changed
adaptation
Social or cultural
barriers to women's
participation in DM at
the HH, communirty,
or National level
Availability and/or
access to gender-
disaggregated data
Willingness of local
gov/communities to
involve women
projects/programs
Availability of financial
resources from
donors to incentivize
gender sensisite
programming
Capacity of program
staff in areas of
gender
Government Local NGO Int'l NGO average

 There is a value proposition of reaching out to women and
men farmers on climate change information and appropriate
climate smart agricultural practices
If women perceive climate change and are aware of CSA
practices, they can be as or more likely to adopt these
practices
Women’s roles in agriculture continue to grow due to male
rural-urban migration
Continuing investment in CSA practices without considering
gendered differences is costly and leads to sub-optimal or
non-adoption
Business as usual can leave women and families worse off,
as their assets will continue to be disposed off more readily
when the next climatic shock hits
Some concluding thoughts

Ringler, C., A. Quisumbing, E. Bryan, and R. Meinzen-Dick. (Eds.) 2014. Enhancing Women’s Assets to Manage Risk under Climate Change: Potential
for Group-Based Approaches. IFPRI Policy Note Series. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/utils/getfile/collection/p15738coll2/id/128599/filename/128810.pdf
Bryan, E. and J. Behrman. 2013. Community-based adaptation to climate change: a theoretical framework, overview of key issues and discussion of
gender differentiated priorities and participation. CAPRi Working Paper, 109.
http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15738coll2/id/127540
Goh, A.H.X. 2012. A literature review of the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change on women’s and men’s assets and well-being in
developing countries. CAPRi Working Paper, 106. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/127247
Ragasa, C., Y. Sun, E. Bryan, C. Abate, A. Alemu and M. Namori Keita. 2013. Organizational and institutional issues in climate change adaptation and
risk management. Insights from practitioners’ survey in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya and Mali. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1279. Washington DC: IFPRI.
http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/127758
Davis, P, and S. Ali. 2013. Exploring local perceptions of climate-change impact and adaptation in rural Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1322.
Washington DC: IFPRI. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/128014
Aberman, N.L., R. Birner, E. Haglund, M. Ngigi, S. Ali, B. Okoba, D. Koné, and T. Alemu. 2014. Understanding the policy landscape for climate change
adaptation: a cross-country comparison using the Net-Map method. IFPRI Discussion Paper, 1408. Washington DC: IFPRI.
Aberman, N.L., S. Ali, J. Behrman, E. Bryan, P. Davis, A. Donnelly, V. Gathaara, D. Kone, T. Nganga, J. Ngugi, B. Okoba, and C. Roncoli. 2014. Climate
change adaptation, assets and group-based approaches: gendered perceptions from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali and Kenya. IFPRI Discussion Paper,
1412. Washington DC: IFPRI. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/128950
Dillon, A. and J. Gill. 2014. Gender, Farm Assets, and the Role of Climate Variability on Production Possibilities.
Quisumbing, A.R. and N. Kumar. 2014. Land rights knowledge and conservation in rural Ethiopia: Mind the gender gap. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1386.
Washington DC: IFPRI. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/128480
Quisumbing, A., N. Kumar, and J. Behrman. 2014. Do Shocks Affect Men’s and Women’s Assets Differently? Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda.
Rakib, M. and J. Matz. 2014. Impact of shocks on gender differentiated asset dynamics in Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper, 1356. Washington, DC:
IFPRI. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/128191
Beaman, L. and A. Dillon. 2014. Diffusion of Agricultural Technologies within Social Networks: Evidence from Composting in Mali.
Twyman et al 2014. Adaptation Actions in Africa: Evidence that Gender Matters. CCAFS Working Paper, 83.
https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/51391/WP83.pdf
Bernier et al. 2015. Gender and Institutional Aspects of Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices: Evidence from Kenya. CCAFS Working Paper, 79.
https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/65680/Gender%20and%20Institutions%20Working%20Paper%2079.pdf
Delavallade et al. 2015. Managing Risk with Insurance and Savings: Experimental Evidence for Male and Female Farm Managers in
West Africa. IFPRI Discussion Paper, 1426. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/129071
Resources: Publications

Resources: Websites & toolkits
• Project website:
http://womenandclimate.ifpri.info/
• Project website:
http://climatechange.ifpri.info/womens-
resilience-to-climate-change/
• Blog piece on Why rural women are
integral in the upcoming climate change
negotiations
http://www.ifpri.org/blog/un-
international-day-rural-women
• Action-oriented research approaches
beyond diagnostics from CCAFS--
http://ccafs.cgiar.org/research-
highlight/new-toolbox-gender-and-
inclusion-climate-change-
projects#.VH0xnIcg25B.
• Gender CC Toolkit:
http://womenandclimate.ifpri.info/files/20
15/02/BMZ_Toolkit_Final.pdf

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Gender and Climate Change: Is There a Value Proposition?