Over three years, PEP supported a research initiative in five sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Malawi, Nigeria, Cameroon) to produce evidence to inform specific policy interventions for increasing women’s leadership in defining and implementing solutions to mitigate or adapt to climate change effects. The research program also aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change on gender equality and life chances among children. See Impact for more.
Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for approximately 80% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa. As the impacts of climate change continue to worsen, research by PEP shows that female farmers, in particular, face escalating challenges that exacerbate their vulnerability, compromising their agricultural production and income.
Although women represent at least half of the region’s food producers and are responsible for household energy consumption decisions, they have a much lower ability than men to respond and adapt to climate shocks.
This is due to women’s limited access to or control over agricultural resources such as land and capital; socio-cultural norms that dictate the division of labor between men and women; and limited decision-making power on agricultural strategies.
Without effective climate policies that take women’s unique vulnerabilities into account, it becomes impossible to truly mitigate and adapt to climate shocks. Researchers made a range of specific recommendations unique to each country’s context such as more state land and support services for women in Burkina Faso, crop diversification for women plot managers in Nigeria, access to climate smart agriculture technology for women in Tanzania, among others.
Find out more in this PEP blog – Women bear negative impacts of climate shocks disproportionately – and a video summarizing the key findings.
Find out more about findings from each country below.
Cameroon is one of the most food-insecure countries and the effects of climate change are aggravating this situation. 90% of food production in Cameroon is carried out by family farmers, with women accounting for 80%. Yet women face enormous inequalities, making them and their production much more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. A team of local researchers found that subsidising fertiliser would increase agricultural production and increase household income, particularly for female-headed rural households. Targeting women farmers for greater subsidies (aiming for a 100% fertiliser subsidy, compared to 50% for men) would help address the inequalities they face.
Climate change has severely affected Tanzania’s agricultural sector, resulting in food insecurity and reduced crop productivity, particularly among women, who are 21% to 30% less productive than men. While the Government’s National Climate Smart Agriculture Programme (NCAP) aims to promote climate-smart technologies, challenges persisted for women farmers. A team of local PEP researchers conducted a study utilizing data from the Living Standard Measurement Survey Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) for Tanzania and NASA’s MERRA-2 database to assess these challenges. They found that supporting women in accessing these CSA technologies could bridge the gender productivity gap. However, a comprehensive approach is needed to fully address the underlying gender inequalities and multifaceted challenges.
In Malawi, gender disparities in adopting soil erosion control strategies persist, impacting agricultural resilience amid climate change uncertainties. To evaluate the influence of gender components in agricultural policies on women-owned farms during droughts, a team of local PEP researchers examined the relationship between farm manager gender and the adoption of soil erosion control strategies aimed at enhancing crop productivity. They found that male managers are more likely to adopt erosion control strategies without drought, while both genders adopt similar strategies during droughts. These findings underscore the necessity for policy interventions that consider gender components, promote equitable resource access, and support gender-transformative approaches to bolster agricultural resilience and productivity.
Despite efforts to mitigate the impact of climate shocks on food security, women plot managers in Nigeria continue to face disproportionate challenges. In response, a team of local PEP researchers and government officials conducted a study in 2021-2022 to develop gender-sensitive policies. They found that easing access to crop diversification can enhance food security for vulnerable households. Further, training and empowerment policies targeting women plot managers on crop diversification strategies were identified as the most effective policy option to achieve crop diversification and mitigate climate shocks.
As the impacts of climate change continue to worsen, female farmers face escalating challenges that exacerbate their vulnerability, compromising their agricultural production and income and increasing domestic burdens. Recognizing these climate-related challenges, the Government of Burkina Faso has implemented National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) to promote resilience. However, effective policy solutions to minimize the vulnerability of rural households, specifically female farmers, to climate change remained uncertain until a team of local PEP researchers employed a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to evaluate various policy options and their potential to mitigate these effects. They found that implementing policy measures to improve the management of water resources and encouraging the use of improved seeds can reduce vulnerability
