agriculture, climate, gender

1. Obstacles and
Opportunities for Gender
Integration in
Agriculture-Climate
Policy
Patricia A. Bamanyaki, PhD 27/102022

2. 1. The nexus: climate change, gender and
agriculture
 Increasing effects of extreme weather and climate events on agriculture
 Tropical cyclones Idai & Kenneth of 2019 – Malawi, Mozambique,
Zimbabwe
 Drought in Sahel region (2011-2017) – Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali,
Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia (OCHA , 2022)
 Flooding in 2019 – South Sudan, Chad, CAR, Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Senegal,
Ghana, South Africa (World Meteorological Organisation, 2020)
 Locust swarms of 2019-2020 – Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia,
Uganda
 Poor farming households most affected with limited coping ability
• Female-headed households, indigenous peoples, landless tenants, older
persons, displaced persons, migrant workers, ethnic minorities (World Bank,
n.d.)
• Climate risks exacerbate existing social inequalities (Gumucio et al., 2020)
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3.  It is created through processes
that listen to women’s voices and
incorporate women’s
contributions along with men’s
Huyer et al. (2015)
2. What is gender-responsive climate policy?
 Addresses women’s aspirations &
priorities specifically
 Aims to ensure that women
benefit from climate policy
implementation as much as men.
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4. Climate change policy frameworks
 Agenda 21 of the Rio UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) -1992
 UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) – 1992
 UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) – adopted in 1994
• Acknowledge the important role played by women in agriculture.
• Stress importance of men’s and women’s full participation in policy design & implementation.
 Paris Agreement – Decision 1/CP.21 entered into force in 2016
• Improving gender balance & increasing women’s participation in UNFCCC processes, including
bodies constituted under Convention, Kyoto Protocol & Paris Agreement
• Increasing awareness & support for development & effective implementation of gender-responsive
climate policy and action at regional, national & local levels
• 54 African countries signed; 48 countries (89%) ratified NDCs as of Oct 2021 (Africa NDC Hub).
• NDCs outline mechanism undertaken to fulfil objectives of the Paris Agreement – keep global
temperature levels below 2°C; strengthen the nation’s adaptive capacity to climate change
impacts;
3. Policy initiatives to address gender and climate
change
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5. Gender in African NDCs
48
39
2
9
29
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Total countries with NDCs
Significant references
Non-significant references
No References
Youth
Gender in African NDCs
as of October 15, 2021

6. Gender in African Climate Sectors
14
5
12
19
21
14
13
23
0 5 10 15 20 25
Water
Technology
Health
Environmental Management
Energy
Economy/Livelihoods
Disasters
Agriculture
Gender in African Climate Sectors

7. Climate change policy frameworks cont’d
 Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) – Decision 18/CP.20
• Advances gender balance, promotes gender sensitivity in developing & implementing climate
policy, and achieving gender-responsive climate policy in all relevant activities under the
Convention
 Enhanced LWPG and its Gender Action Plan (GAP) – Decision 3/CP.25 agreed upon in 2019
• The enhanced GAP sets objectives & activities under five priority areas: a) Capacity-building,
knowledge management & communication: b) Gender balance, partnership & women’s
leadership; c) Coherence; d) Gender-responsive implementation and means of implementation;
and e) Monitoring & reporting.
 African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan 2022-
2032
• Provides framework for ensuring climate justice for Africa through inclusive & equitable
participation in climate action & climate-resilient development pathways.

3. Policy initiatives to address gender and climate
change cont’d
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8.  Policy translation from international to national and sub-national levels
• Policies on gender & climate change were slow to emerge (Raczek et al., 2010; Huyer et al.,
2020); progressive laws not effectively harnessed in climate change planning (AGNES, 2020)
• Lack of coordination among international actors, top-down approach & blind support for
government decisions (Howland et al., 2021)
• Framing of gender and the national political agenda (Acosta et al., 2020; Howland et al., 2021) –
gender construed to mean women issues
• Gender considerations in agriculture focus more on food security and nutrition than climate
change planning (Howland et al., 2021)
 Low participation of women scientists in IPCC assessments & leadership
positions (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2018; Huyer et al., 2020)
• Women not well represented in IPCC bureaus; 27% female author nominations for IPCC
Special Report on 1.5°C. (Huyer et al., 2020)
• Low representation of women in decision making positions at national and sub-national level
4. Obstacles to gender integration in climate
policy – Development
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9.  Weak enforcement of laws mandating gender integration in sector policies
(Ampaire et al., 2017; Ampaire et al., 2020)
• Low acceptance of gender integration/mainstreaming among technical staff.
• Gender integration seen as extra workload because of its crosscutting nature.
• Weak synergies & coherence among sectors e.g Ministries of agriculture, climate,
water& environment, gender at national and sub-national levels (AGNES, 2020).
• Gender is a key factor to understand adaptive capacity but not integrated in climate
change planning, budgeting (Howland et al., 2019).
 Lack of sex-disaggregated data and documentation of best practices and
sharing platforms (AGNES, 2020)
• Relevant gender data either non-existent or not (consistently) sex-disaggregated.
• Gap in documentation of good practices to inform/guide policy design, planning &
implementation.
• Insufficient knowledge-sharing platforms to promote learning.
4. Obstacles to gender integration in climate
policy – Development cont’d
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10.  Weak capacities of gender institutions at national & decentralized levels
• Limited resources – human & financial for effective gender integration in sectors. Gender not
prioritized in national and sub-national budgets (Howland et al., 2021)
• Inadequate understanding of structural gender inequalities & technical capacities for gender
integration among civil servants (AGNES, 2020).
• Gap between policy design & implementation. Lack of institutional commitment & leadership
(Ampaire et al., 2017)
 Lack of mechanisms for monitoring and sanctioning non-implementation of
gender policies (Howland et al., 2021)
 Application of technical approaches to climate change issues with no regard
for social aspects (Gumucio & Tafur, 2015; Acosta et al., 2019; Howland et al.,
2021).
4. Obstacles to gender integration in climate
policy – Implementation
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11.  Implementing the enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and the
Gender Action Plan.
• Integrating gender-responsive actions in national action plans, climate change policies
and Acts, NDCs, NAPs, REDD+, biannual reports and national communications (AGNES,
2020). – Resources include NDC Partnership practical guide to develop NDC action plans
• Appointment of country gender focal points to focus on climate negotiations,
implementation & monitoring.
 Nairobi Work Programme on impacts, vulnerability & adaptation to climate change–
Decision 2/CP.11 adopted in 2005
• Assists developing countries improve understanding & assessment of impacts, vulnerability
& adaptation to make informed decisions on gender-responsive practicable adaptation
options & measures
• From 2022, NWP collaboration under LWPG on identification of adaptation actions in
which gender can be mainstreamed
5. Opportunities for gender integration in
climate policy
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12.  Developing national action plans on gender and climate change, including a
GAP for agriculture
 Nigeria National Action Plan on Gender and Climate Change (launched in 2021) –
supported by CGIAR CCAFS through AGNES
 Development of Gender and Climate Action Plans in Ethiopia & Senegal (ongoing
supported by AICCRA)
 Developing and/or strengthening gender management systems (AGNES,
2020)
• Comprehensive networks of structures, mechanisms and processes for bringing a gender
perspective to bear on all government policies, plans, programmes & projects.
5. Opportunities for gender integration in
climate policy cont’d
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13. Build/strengthen
alliances between
government and civil
society actors for
gender expertise in
policy processes.
Promote women’s voices
at all levels. Increase
representation as
decision makers in key
climate-related sectors.
Promote
multistakeholder
learning platforms to
exchange information
on good practices at
various levels.
Sensitization and
capacity
strengthening of
government actors on
gender integration in
climate policy cycles.
Collection of sex-
disaggregated and
intersectional data on
indicators that are critical for
transforming underlying
causes of gender inequality.
Effective
decentralization to
improve policy
implementation at local
level
Develop resource
mobilization
strategies; equal
participation in
deployment of
resources
Improve M&E and Integrate
tracking of gendered
outcomes.
More research on
gendered impact of
climate change to
inform policy design
6. Other actions to overcome obstacles to gender
integration
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14.  The progress of gender integration in climate policy in Africa has been
slow but gaining momentum.
 Opportunities exist to enhance gender integration in climate-related policy
but require dedicated, coherent and sustained actions by actors at sub-
national, national, regional and international levels to have marked impact.
Conclusion
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