Abstract
AbstractFemale- and male-headed rural households have unequal opportunities in climate change adaptation. Efforts in climate change adaptation in regions with deeply entrenched sociocultural norms should also account for the varied gender components of climate change. The broad objective of this study is to integrate gender issues into climate change adaptation thereby distilling lessons and evidence for policymakers on how to approach the necessary transformation of gender relations in climate change interventions. The study employed focus group discussions to uncover the structural factors undermining women’s adaptive capacity, thereby making them vulnerable to climate change impacts. In addition to this, in-depth interviews were also conducted. For the in-depth interviews, 27 farmers were sampled using a snowballing method, while four focus groups were carried out differently for male and female farmers. Ten extension personnel and ten representations from the ministry of agriculture were also surveyed using in-depth interviews. Results from the study showed that female farmers in the region were more vulnerable to climate change as a result of the deeply rooted cultural systems and unwarranted assumptions about women. Findings also suggested that women with high adaptive capacity were less vulnerable to climate impacts. We conclude that gender-responsive climate change adaptation is important in achieving balanced relations that will ensure climate resilience in more equitable and nonhierarchical ways.
Highlights
Climate change is a global phenomenon undermining the efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]
A gendered perspective on climate change adaptation efforts among smallholder farmers is crucial to sustainable development
There appears to be a narrowing of the gender vulnerability gap among smallholder farmers in the area, evidence from this study shows that much work still needs to be done in addressing gender issues in climate change adaptation in Africa, including Nigeria
Summary
Climate change is a global phenomenon undermining the efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]. As women make up the majority of the smallholder farm labor force in Africa, the available studies on climate change adaptation among smallholder farmers in Africa such as Komba and Muchapondwa (2015) have highlighted the need for studies that will link information and evidence of the underlying determinants of gender inequality from expert knowledge and farmer’s perception, in order to better understand the factors that undermine efforts in coming up with formidable and gender-balanced adaptation policies. The implication is that since most of the underlying determinants of gender relations cannot be quantified, the results will lack the deep and contextual information needed for the appropriate policy interventions This perhaps explains why studies on the gender dimensions of climate change adaptation among smallholder farmers in Nigeria have not been able to sufficiently identify and address the gender relations issues impeding climate change adaptation efforts in the country
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