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Emerging global crises such as climate change, massive migrations, pandemics, and environmental degradation are posing serious risks to humanity, threatening ecosystems and rural livelihoods across...

Much of the literature examining the role of gender in processes of climate change adaptation in the agricultural sector has focused primarily on differences between male and female farmers, implicitly treating men and women as homogenous groups. Where heterogeneity exists within these groups which impacts climate change adaptation efforts and outcomes, an understanding of such intersectionalities is vital to the design of effective and equitable policy. The objective of this study is to investigate whether interaction effects among socio-economic factors are meaningful drivers of observed differences among female farmers in their adoption of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices, as well as their use of climate information and financial services. This study employs data from farmer surveys in three Climate-Smart Villages in Latin America, analyzed using ordinal logistic regression and canonical correspondence analysis. The results indicate that important interaction effects are present: the relationship between higher educational attainment and increased adoption of CSA practices, for example, is conditional on the degree of livelihood diversification. The relationship between greater educational attainment and increased use of climate forecasts is likewise conditional on age. These results suggest the need for researchers and policymakers to anticipate potential intersectionalities when designing research efforts and development interventions.

We advance a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) framework for incorporating climate information services (CIS), which is now becoming central due to the ongoing climate change and climate variability. We understand gender as a social construct of who women and men are supposed to be. Gender inequalities seem to be enduring such that, despite innovations in agricultural and climate information technologies, unequal gender power dynamics will still emerge. As far back as the 1960s, the gendered inequalities in accessing technologies could be identified. Such a historical analysis clearly shows that the different technological solutions are clearly embedded within the society in which they evolve in. The paper uses a literature review methodological approach whilst informing the implementation of an ongoing Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) Project. The findings reveal that unless women are intentionally included in designing and developing agricultural technologies, specifically climate information systems, there is a danger that women will be excluded from the benefits. Conway’s law clearly stipulates that technological innovations are not neutral as they are a projection of the values of their creators. It is, therefore, central to grasp the values of creators of different technological solutions and innovations. The key findings are built around the espoused conceptual framework, which has five indicators, namely: (1) gender targeting by intentional design, (2) collection of sex-disaggregated data, (3) conduct an analysis of the sex-disaggregated data, (4) dissemination of the technological options and (5) conduct continuous monitoring of gender and ongoing empowerment evaluation. The five indicator domains are further complemented by their respective assumptions. Our GESI recommendations are on the five selected indicator domains. These domains must be used within the three focal development areas: agricultural data hub, climate information services training, and flood and drought indicators, which are all being implemented in Zambia. Other AICCRA Project countries are Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Senegal. This paper engages why CIS has not gained significant traction in Africa, as it has not genuinely incorporated the differential gender technological nuances.

Much is known about the effects of climate change on women, and most research on the topic focuses on women’s greater vulnerability as a result of their reliance on natural resources, lower access to resources and information, and gender and social norms which inhibit their ability to take action and participate in making household and community decisions. Less attention is given to women’s active role as agents of change, their knowledge and capacity to respond to climate impacts, or tackling of the causes of vulnerability (Dankelman 2010; MacGregor 2010; Perez et al. 2015; Huyer et al. 2015). In the area of agricultural climate adaptation, Davidson (2016) noted that research on gender has primarily focused on barriers to adaptation for women to date, finding that women-headed farming households tend to be more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and women in all types of households are relatively more vulnerable as well.Women farmers are less likely to adopt adaptation strategies due to financial and resource limitations and less control over land (see Jost et al. 2016; McKinley et al. 2018; Mishra and Pede 2017), while agricultural organizations tend to exclude female farmers from many of the benefits of extension, including access to information, tools, seed, fertilizers, and improved livestock. Davidson concludes that as a result, women are often excluded from participation in adaptation decision-making, so that their unique knowledge and needs associated with their specific roles in farming tend not to be reflected in those decisions.

The review assesses the empirical knowledge base on gender-based differences in access, use and benefits from rural climate services to analyse gender equality challenges and identify pathways for ...

The gender perspective of climate information use is not well studied although necessary for developing gender-responsive climate information services (CIS). This study determined how CIS use by men and women farmers may be influenced by their perceptions about climate change (CC), farm activities, and demography. The study was carried out at the Lawra-Jirapa Districts of the Upper West Region of Ghana where downscaled seasonal forecast information through mobile phone technologies (Esoko platform) had been disseminated to farmers since 2011. Data was collected from semi-structured questionnaire interviews involving 900 farmers (50.2% women and 49.8% men) and four 20-member focus group discussions. The study confirmed 85.2% (representing 767) farmers were aware of climate change and its implications for their agriculture and other livelihood activities. Men and women had similar perceptions about climate change, perceived by the majority as increased strong winds, higher temperatures, increased frequency of drought, increased rainfall variability and increased flooding. Among other factors, it was evident that use of CIS may be influenced by gender. Men were found to be particularly responsive in adopting CIS use for climate risk mitigation. This was attributed to their ability to easily access and use telephone devices compared with women. The study revealed that unlike women, men were able to access more financial resources and had control of household income which allowed them to purchase mobile phones. Women generally accessed their husbands’ mobile phones. Despite differences in access to CIS, the study showed both men and women found it beneficial for strategic farm decision-making such as when to begin land preparation, when to plant, and which crop to select. In addition, both men and women were found to face similar constrains (such as poor network connectivity and limited of training), to accessing and using CIS through the Esoko platform. The study recommends the need to explore different CIS dissemination channels and design CIS that meet gender-specific needs.

Agriculture is the largest employment sector for 60% of women in Oceania, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and women make up 2/3 of the world’s 600 million small livestock managers. Despite thi...

There is broad agreement that current food systems are not on a sustainable trajectory that will enable us to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, particularly in the face of anthropogenic climate change. Guided by a consideration of some food system reconfigurations in the past, we outline an agenda of work around four action areas: rerouting old systems into new trajectories; reducing risks; minimising the environmental footprint of food systems; and realigning the enablers of change needed to make new food systems function. Here we highlight food systems levers that, along with activities within these four action areas, may shift food systems towards more sustainable, inclusive, healthy and climate-resilient futures. These actions, summarised here, are presented in extended form in a report of an international initiative involving hundreds of stakeholders for reconfiguring food systems., Highlights • Food systems need to shift towards more sustainable, inclusive, healthy and climate-resilient futures. • Food systems reconfiguration needs to happen in the next ten years in order to achieve the Paris agreement and SDG agenda. • Food systems reconfiguration include rerouting trajectories, reducing risks and emissions, realigning enablers of change. • Actions for food systems reconfiguration need to be tailored to the diversity of farmer types.

Increasing weather risks threaten agricultural production systems and food security across the world. Maintaining agricultural growth while minimizing climate shocks is crucial to building a resilient food production system and meeting developmental goals in vulnerable countries. Experts have proposed several technological, institutional, and policy interventions to help farmers adapt to current and future weather variability and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents the climate-smart village (CSV) approach as a means of performing agricultural research for development that robustly tests technological and institutional options for dealing with climatic variability and climate change in agriculture using participatory methods. It aims to scale up and scale out the appropriate options and draw out lessons for policy makers from local to global levels. The approach incorporates evaluation of climate-smart technologies, practices, services, and processes relevant to local climatic risk management and identifies opportunities for maximizing adaptation gains from synergies across different interventions and recognizing potential maladaptation and trade-offs. It ensures that these are aligned with local knowledge and link into development plans. This paper describes early results in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to illustrate different examples of the CSV approach in diverse agroecological settings. Results from initial studies indicate that the CSV approach has a high potential for scaling out promising climate-smart agricultural technologies, practices, and services. Climate analog studies indicate that the lessons learned at the CSV sites would be relevant to adaptation planning in a large part of global agricultural land even under scenarios of climate change. Key barriers and opportunities for further work are also discussed.

In 1992 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) arst highlighted technology as a tool for human development, and the more recent Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have recognized the important role that ICT can play in the aght against global poverty and as an effective tool to help achieve the MDGs (Information and Communication Technology for Development, UNDP). Furthermore, nearly all national governments have addressed technology in some fashion as a national imperative for sustainable development. Heeks (2008) has noted that the construction of the Internet and the MDGs gave rise to what he has called ICT4D 1.0, the arst phase of a process to link ICTs with development goals by implementing technology as a tool for development, usually in the form of telecenters, and creating ICT access for the poor. Women’s empowerment is also thematic as a policy initiative to promote development. Gender is considered a cross-cutting theme of the MDGs, and the afth goal calls for gender equality and the empowerment of women. ICTs, as stated by the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, are a key tool to promote this empowerment. The previous issue of this journal (Volume 4, Issue 2) presented several successful projects and research andings in the area of ICTs, women, and development. To follow up and expand on this important area of IT and development, this paper suggests two approaches, rather than one, for conceptualizing ICTs and the empowerment of women. In the arst two sections of the paper we argue that a distinction can and should be made between women as users and as producers of ICTs. We follow this with a brief review of how this might apply to Latin America, providing policy and research suggestions for this region as well as other developing regions of the world.

Issues related to the gender digital divide have been prominent in discussions of the information society. However, the paucity of statistical data on the subject makes it difficult, if not impossible, to make the case for the inclusion of gender issues in ICT policies, plans, and strategies to policymakers, particularly those in developing countries. This paper surveys available gender ICT statistics and indicators and makes recommendations for filling the gaps that exist. Few gender ICT statistics are available because many governments do not collect ICT statistics consistently and regularly, and rarely are the data disaggregated by sex. The best practices are generally found in developed countries, with most developing countries lagging behind. Recent work that sheds light on women, gender, and the information society includes a major six-country study on the gender digital divide in francophone countries of West Africa and Orbicom's 2005 research on women in the information society. Although major composite ICT indices do not publish gender and ICT statistics, the potential remains for them to do so, and some indices encourage others to enrich their work with gender data.

In 1987–1988, a national debate erupted in Canada on the desirability of entering into a free trade agreement with the USA and its potential effect on Canadian culture, society, and national sovereignty—as well as its economy. A national coalition of labour unions and civil society groups emerged to oppose such an agreement with the USA, and later its expansion to Mexico as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The coalition was hailed by members as a groundbreaking alliance between labour unions and civil society, as well as a new grassroots challenge to the neo‐liberal economic policies of the government at the time. The experience led to a longer‐term pattern of collaboration between unions and NGOs in Canada, but the coalition also experienced difficulties in reconciling the different approaches and goals of participants, which were resolved with varying degrees of success. This paper discusses the coalition in relation to gendered attitudes and practices; issues of representation and accou...