Draft for discussion. Supporting women farmers in a changing climate: five policy lessons

Abstract

Climate
change
demands
new
approaches
to
agriculture:
farmers’
practices
will
need
to
change
in
order
to
adapt
to
and
mitigate
changing
conditions.
This
is
also
a
gender
issue:
in
the
least
developed
countries
79%
of
economically
active
women
report
agriculture
as
their
primary
economic
activity
(FAOSTAT,
cited
in
Doss
2011).
Agriculture
is
a
fundamental
part
of
women’s
livelihoods,
especially
in
least
developed
countries
and
more
women
are
moving
into
agriculture
as
men
move
out
to
seasonal
or
paid
labour
elsewhere.
At
the
same
time
we
know
that
women
farmers
have
less
access
to
productive
inputs
and
resources
for
farming
across
the
globe
–
FAO
etc.
Policies
and
practices
to
help
farmers
develop
new
approaches
to
combat
climate
change
will
need
to
recognize
these
demographic
changes,
and
produce
results
for
women
farmers
as
well
as
men.
This
brief
provides
five
policy
lessons
to
support
this
process.