Farmers in Kisumu and Trans Nzoia counties, Kenya, were aware of more adaptation than coping measures for dealing with rainfall variability both on and off-farm. Interviews with female and male farmer groups revealed that they all experienced challenges related to increasing rainfall variability whether or not they had regular access to advisory services. Men identified more measures than women and had better access to learning sources. Farmers in Kisumu were aware of more measures than those in Trans Nzoia but thought them less effective. Money, knowledge and labor were the most limiting factors preventing the uptake of adaptation measures.

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This paper addresses the discursive and spatial constructions of female masculinities and femininities in separate networks for women forest owners in Sweden. Based on qualitative research conducted with members of six such networks, I explored the spatial negotiations and performances of femininities and female masculinities in relation to hegemonic forestry masculinities. I found that the separate spaces provided by the networks enabled the women to find strategies by which to navigate the spatial relations permeated by hegemonic forestry masculinity, which empowered them to resist the subordinate position of hegemonic femininity and to 'claim space'. The women claimed this space by asserting alternative femininities and performing embodied female masculinities conceptualized as 'the tough forest owner' and the 'entrepreneurial forest owner' to gain access to both symbolic and material spaces, including the category of 'the forest owner'. The performances of female masculinities were largely conducted from other positions of privilege, such as class and heterosexuality, which included performances of hegemonic femininity. Therefore, these performances of female masculinities generated status rather than stigmatisation. Furthermore, the analysis showed how these masculinities and femininities were negotiated and performed in relation to forestry spatiality as well as rurality and urbanity. I argue that the spatial performances of alternative femininities and female masculinities challenge hegemonic masculinities in a way that disrupts the male exclusivity of the category of 'the forest owner', although the performances of female masculinities also reinforce the superior position of masculinities in relation to femininities.

As the global forest sector endures rapid crises and more gradually evolving social, political, and environmental influences, little attention has been paid to how forest administrators view changing sectoral conditions and response measures. We analyze policy frames mobilized by 27 senior actors within major private and state-owned companies, and government agencies in northern forest regions of Canada, Sweden, and Finland. Results show that four intervening theme areas are engaged by forest administrators to frame sectoral changes and responses, namely, the role of international markets; timber pricing and supply; the role of the state; and environmental policies. However, perceived regional differences in the level of impact of the international market changes, public versus private wood supply dependence, and satisfaction with forestry institutions lead actors to frame problems and solutions differently. While forest policy discourse is relatively consistent across these regions, responses are specified to regional contexts.

Forest use in Northern Sweden is being influenced both by global trends and local situations. This results in interactions between numerous groups that may impact local forest governance. Social network analysis can here provide insight into the total pattern of positive, negative, and cross-level interactions within user group community structure (within and among groups). This study analyses interactions within selected renewable resource sectors in two northern Swedish municipalities, both with regard to whether they are positive, neutral, or negative, as well as with regard to how local actors relate to actors across levels, e.g., with regional, national, and international actors. The study illustrates that many interactions both within and outside a given sector are seen as neutral or positive, and that considerable interaction and impact are defined as national and in some cases even international. It also indicates that the impact of Sweden’s only existing Model Forest may to some extent constitute a bridge between different sectors and levels, in comparison with the interactions between sectors in a municipality where such a cooperation mechanism does not exist.