Gendered vulnerabilities to climate change: insights from the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia

Rao, Nitya; Lawson, Elaine; Raditloaneng, Wapula N.; Solomon, Divya; Angula, Margaret

doi:10.1080/17565529.2017.1372266

Cited by 194 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Building on this body of work, recent literature has focused on the socially differentiated vulnerability and adaptation of different men and women based on classes and social groupings (Rao et al 2017;Ravera et al 2016). For instance, Ravera et al (2016) presents evidence from India of how multiple factors and identities intersect to differentially ''influence farmers' choices on the range of adaptation options [and on how] roles, responsibilities and power dynamics are renegotiated within the household and the community, (un)empowering women'' (Ravera et al 2016).…”

Section: Unpacking the Intersection Of Social Relations And Adaptive mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing with climate change in semi-arid Ghana: understanding intersectional perceptions and adaptation strategies of women farmers

et al. 2019

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Climate change has diverse physical and socioeconomic implications for communities in semi-arid areas. While several studies have sought to understand the underlying power relations that shape adaptive capacities of rural farmers, fewer studies have focused on unpacking the differences within the different social groups. In this paper, we present a case study based on women smallholder farmers from semi-arid Ghana. It explores their nuanced perceptions of climate variability and highlights how gender intersects with other identities, roles and responsibilities to influence adaptation strategies and barriers to adaptation in the semi-arid context. Farm-level data was collected from 103 women farmers using semistructured interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Rainfall patterns were perceived by the women farmers to be increasingly erratic and perceptions of average temperatures were that they are increasing. Adoption of adaptation strategies were influenced by socio-demographic factors such as age, marital and residential status, which also influenced decision-making and power dynamics within the household. The paper highlighted the complex relationships that mediate women farmers' access to resources and influence their vulnerability to climate variability and change. Highlighting the intra-gender differences that shaped the adaptation options and adaptive capacity is a prerequisite for proper adaptation policy planning and targeting.

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Section: Unpacking the Intersection Of Social Relations And Adaptive mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing with climate change in semi-arid Ghana: understanding intersectional perceptions and adaptation strategies of women farmers

et al. 2019

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“…Additionally, poverty is also linked to and influenced by external drivers, path dependencies and cross-scale interactions (Haider et al 2018). As a result, its effects may be masked or embedded in other process, especially those associated with power and with how systems of oppression and marginalisation play out in informal settlements (Rao et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human dependence on natural resources in rapidly urbanising South African regions

Balbi

Selomane

Sitas

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Enhancing the governance of social-ecological systems for more equitable and sustainable development is hindered by inadequate knowledge about how different social groups and communities rely on natural resources. We used openly accessible national survey data to develop a metric of overall dependence on natural resources. These data contain information about households' sources of water, energy, building materials and food. We used these data in combination with Bayesian learning to model observed patterns of dependence using demographic variables that included: gender of household head, household size, income, house ownership, formality status of settlement, population density, and in-migration rate to the area. We show that a small number of factors-in particular population density and informality of settlements-can explain a significant amount of the observed variation with regards to the use of natural resources. Subsequently, we test the validity of these predictions using alternative, open access data in the eThekwini and Cape Town metropolitan areas of South Africa. We discuss the advantages of using a selection of predictors which could be supplied through remotely sensed and open access data, in terms of opportunities and challenges to produce meaningful results in data-poor areas. With data availability being a common limiting factor in modelling and monitoring exercises, access to inexpensive, up-to-date and free to use data can significantly improve how we monitor progress towards sustainability targets. A small selection of openly accessible demographic variables can predict household's dependence on local natural resources.

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“…Within the past two decades, as the empirical research has developed, it has become clear that gender is one of the most universal and important stratifying elements affecting natural resource use and vulnerability to the effects of climate change, as illustrated by numerous systematic literature reviews on the topic (Bunce and Ford 2015, Sellers 2016, Pearse 2017, Yadav and Lal 2018. Additionally, a variety of publications have drawn on this empirical literature to highlight specific gendered vulnerabilities associated with climate change and to suggest new pathways forward for further developing the evidence base (Carr and Thompson 2014, Bradshaw and Fordham 2015, Rao et al 2017, Jerneck 2018. In particular, many of these pieces have highlighted the importance of intersectional approaches to examining gender issues, noting that the effect of gender can be modified by power structures, discrimination, poverty, geographical, political, and historical legacies, among other factors (Nagel 2012, Moosa andTuana 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does gendered vulnerability shape the adoption and impact of sustainable livelihood interventions in an era of global climate change?

Call

Sellers

2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Background. Though many studies have long considered the broad social implications of climate change, researchers have only recently started to consider the gendered unevenness of the global landscape of vulnerability, exposure, and adaptive capacity to environmental stressors and shocks. Historically, policies and interventions addressing natural resource-based livelihoods have rarely considered underlying gender dynamics despite the global pervasiveness of gendered disparities in both economic opportunities and welfare outcomes. Methods/Design. Using two electronic databases, Web of Science and Scopus, we conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed academic literature describing livelihoods policies or interventions that included documentation of gendered impacts. We focused on natural resource-based livelihoods most likely to be affected by climate change, centering on interventions targeting agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, and forestry. Review Results/ Synthesis. We identified 131 relevant articles, most of which focus on adoption or participation in interventions rather than outcomes. In general, women are less likely than men to engage with sustainable livelihoods interventions. When women do engage, some researchers have documented income and food security gains as well as improvements in environmental indicators in the shortterm. However, these initiatives have also been found to increase women's labor burden without corresponding gains in income. Few studies measure longer-term effects of women's engagement on welfare and environmental outcomes, a key gap in the literature. Additionally, relatively few studies explore the intersectional impacts of initiatives, such as the added burdens of ethnicity, class, education, or other differences that modify gender disparities. Discussion. Climate change has gendered impacts on natural resource-based livelihoods. In general, existing initiatives designed to increase livelihood resilience fail to reduce gender disparities and improve women's livelihoods. Greater attention should be paid to gender when designing sustainable livelihoods policies and interventions in order to increase adoption and participation, negotiate trade-offs, improve environmental conditions, and promote broadly beneficial welfare outcomes.

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Gendered vulnerabilities to climate change: insights from the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia

Cited by 194 publications

References 60 publications

Dealing with climate change in semi-arid Ghana: understanding intersectional perceptions and adaptation strategies of women farmers

Dealing with climate change in semi-arid Ghana: understanding intersectional perceptions and adaptation strategies of women farmers

Human dependence on natural resources in rapidly urbanising South African regions

How does gendered vulnerability shape the adoption and impact of sustainable livelihood interventions in an era of global climate change?

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