Adapting to Climate Change Through Conservation Agriculture: A Gendered Analysis of Eastern Zambia
- For policymakers
- Summary created: 2022
Climate variability has increased, and this affects men and women smallholder farmers differently due to their gender roles and access to resources.
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The outcomes of this climate variability for men and women are different because of their gender roles and their access to resources. For example, men are considered as heads of the households, and so are the ones who are supposed to have income and control of the money. Hence, men tend to grow cash crops, hire themselves out as labour, and do the selling. Whereas the women tend to focus on food crops. As a result of growing different crops, when there are problems with the rain, the men and women are affected differently. The men also usually have more resources than women, meaning they are more resilient to extreme climate events.
It is important that there is gender responsive research. When asking the women about the problems the men were having, the problems they listed would be very different to the problems the men stated they were actually having. The same was true when asking men about the problems women were having – eg. the women would talk about how the main problem for the men is the death of their cattle and goats. However, the men would instead be talking about how they must move further from home to find water for the livestock. It is important to identify these nuances, and pay attention to both the men and women, and also look at the small differences because they do matter.
Insights
This research shows the gendered outcomes of climate variability in agricultural communities.
A lot of agricultural technologies and information is given to farmers as if they experience climate change in the same way and it affects them in the same way. However, climate variability and climate change outcomes are different based on gender, and this is an important finding.
From the farmers’ experiences of climate variability, the change in climate that they have noticed is that the rainy season starts later and then ends earlier than before.
Instead of starting in October, it starts in December, and instead of stopping in May, it ends in March. There is a much shorter rainy season. Farmers are dependent on rain to decide when to plant their crops, and so the droughts are problematic as they result in them having to replant their crops. Women and men farmers experience this same increase in climate variability, however they are affected differently.
Examples
For example, men are considered as heads of the households, and so are the ones who are supposed to have income and control of the money. Hence, men tend to grow cash crops, hire themselves out as labour, and do the selling. Whereas the women tend to focus on food crops. As a result of growing different crops, when there are problems with the rain, the men and women are affected differently. The men also usually have more resources than women, meaning they are more resilient to extreme climate events.
It is important that there is gender responsive research. When asking the women about the problems the men were having, the problems they listed would be very different to the problems the men stated they were actually having. The same was true when asking men about the problems women were having – eg. the women would talk about how the main problem for the men is the death of their cattle and goats. However, the men would instead be talking about how they must move further from home to find water for the livestock. It is important to identify these nuances, and pay attention to both the men and women, and also look at the small differences because they do matter.
Proposed action
Need to take time to understand the local context and the community
Need to stop putting so much pressure on short-term results, as this can force practitioners to exaggerate the benefits
Often farmers are provided with perverse incentives that they will not want to refuse, such as stating they will receive a lot of money if they adopt climate-smart agriculture
For development agencies, they need to fund based on local needs and local priorities, rather than just their own priorities
For the Farmers’ Unions, small farmers need to have a greater voice
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to iDE Global
These insights were made available thanks to the support of iDE Global, who are committed to the dissemination of knowledge for all.
Special thanks to Jasmyn Spanswick for preparation assistance
We would like to extend a special thank you to Jasmyn Spanswick, for their invaluable contribution in assisting the preparation of this research summary.
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