Abstract
Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) is a water saving technique thus helping farmers adapt to less water availability, it reduces the methane gas emission in rice production, and it increases/maintains productivity levels. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and partners, are doing several studies to evaluate the feasibility of implementing this technology in Colombia. This necessitates an understanding of economic, climatic, political, agronomic and social considerations. Literature shows how gender roles can influence the adoption of a technology or be affected by the introduction of a new technology. Therefore, a baseline in five departments of Colombia – Tolima, Norte de Santander, Cesar, Córdoba and Casanare, was implemented to identify: a) barriers and motivations of farmers to implement AWD and b) gender roles in decision making over rice production and labor. This last to understand: how might gender impact the adoption of AWD in Colombia? And, how will the adoption of AWD affect the gender division of labor? In order to answer these questions, a household survey with sex-disaggregated information was implemented to 609 households with at least one irrigated rice. The implementation of the survey was supported by Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), the National Association of Rice in Colombia (FEDEARROZ, by its acronym in Spanish) and the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
