Expanding opportunities: A framework for gender and socially-inclusive climate resilient agriculture

Limiting global warming to the 2°C target that countries have committed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement, and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, will require large-scale expansion of climate-resilient approaches in agriculture and food systems. In order to achieve the scale of change required, coordinated action is needed from global to local levels, from research to policy and investment, and across private, public, and civil society sectors.

Men and women farmers experience climate change differently based on their roles in the sector, as well as their rights and opportunities which are defined by variables including gender norms, socio-cultural background, religion, ethnicity, etc. (Fisher and Carr, 2015). These factors often explain gender gaps in agricultural production related to the access and control of key resources and inputs (such as land, labor, credit, information, and technology) that also define the differences in vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities of men and women to cope with climate risks. Women also tend to have greater workloads as a result of their domestic and care work that are intensified by climate impacts (Huyer, 2016; Chanana-Nag and Aggarwal, 2018; Simelton et al., 2021a). Reducing this gap has the potential to improve both agricultural productivity as well as development outcomes including poverty and inequality (FAO, 2016; Resurrección et al., 2019).