Step-by-step process to mainstream gender in climate-smart agricultural initiatives in Guatemala

Why is the manual important?

Guatemala is among the 10 countries that have been the most severely affected by climate change already, and forecasts for 2100 project considerable changes in temperatures and the variability of rainfall throughout Central America. Without intervention, social and gender inequalities in villages are likely to worsen because of pressures caused by changes in weather patterns.

In this context, this manual presents a step-by-step process to support rural communities or governments to implement gender-sensitive and climate-smart agricultural interventions to weather climate change.

Who is the manual for?

The manual has been designed to be used at different levels of intervention from village to national. It is useful for program designers, project developers, extension workers, NGO officials, and monitoring and evaluation teams.

Country of focus: Guatemala.

How can I use the manual?

The manual is available in Spanish and in English.

It is divided into four sections, which can be used jointly or separately. Each section comes with extra resources (with those for the introduction to gender mostly in Spanish). The main components of the manual are:

• an introduction to gender perspectives
• how to design an intervention to ensure that gender is mainstreamed in CSA
• a step-by-step process to implement the project
• how to design a gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation system, with examples of indicators that support gender mainstreaming.

When and how was it developed?

Eight countries in Central America developed a Regional Strategy for Climate-Smart Agriculture to improve climate resilience and adaptation in the region between 2018 and 2030. The strategy included support for women and men be guaranteed access to CSA in all areas. In response, the Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food worked with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) to put this into action. Two projects with CCAFS and CIAT in 2018 and 2019 showed that support was needed to ensure the success of gender equality in CSA in Guatemala. This manual is one of the outputs of those projects.

Where can I get the manual? Who can I contact?

Download the manual in English.

Descarga el manual en español. (Download the manual in Spanish.)