Gender, livestock and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Costa Rica

Abstract

Costa Rica is developing a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Activity (NAMA) that will
provide climate finance for best livestock management practices that generate climate change
mitigation benefits. The LivestockPlus research project, implemented by the International
Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and partners, seeks to inform the NAMA by
providing scientific evidence for improved pasture and cattle management to sustainably
improve yields while also reducing emissions. Women are a target beneficiary of the research,
yet the relevance of gender to the project’s aims has been unclear. A scoping exercise to
identify opportunities to strengthen the gender component was therefore undertaken in 2015
using a case study in Costa Rica and a literature review. This exercise identified women’s
roles as (1) co-decision-makers with men in the household, (2) users of milk for making
cheese (most households) and (3) farmers directly involved in livestock production activities
under some circumstances. Girls, together with boys, frequently played a role in the daily
care of animals, which may influence girls’ capacities and willingness to become future
farmers. The scoping exercise indicated opportunities for enhancing women’s roles in the
cattle value chain and more generally, supporting women’s inclusion in (i) livestock and
innovation for climate change mitigation, (ii) gender-responsive implementation of the
NAMA, and (iii) capacity development.