Gender Roles, Implications for Water, Land, and Food Security in a Changing Climate: A Systematic Review

Henry Bikwibili Tantoh,Mulala Danny Simatele,Felix Ekwabena Donkor,Tracey T J M Mckay

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.707835

Abstract

Water and land are vital resources essential to ensuring sustainable and productive rural economies. They are also essential for safeguarding food security and socio-economic development. In spite of this, the concept of water-land-food (WLF) security nexus has generally been examined from a top-down manner with women mostly disenfranchised in the access and management of water and land in particular. Concurrently, risks linked with climate crisis aggravate gender inequalities. The limited access to resources, restricted formal rights through top-down management exacerbates the vulnerability of poor rural women. Furthermore, policy development procedures follow a sectoral approach with no account of interrelationship and interdependence between the sectors. This, directly and indirectly limits the stewardship of natural resources and mitigation of the effects of climate change. This study, therefore, examines gender roles and their implications for water, land, and food security in a changing climate through an integrative systematic review of literature in Sub-Saharan Africa. It further explains the importance to consider the nexus in adaptation. Food security and sustainable livelihoods could be ensured if women can freely and adequately access land and participate in decision-making processes.

Highlights

The demand for water and land continue to increase due to rising demands from a growing population, rising urbanization, changes in consumption, and land-use patterns and since these resources are considered interconnected, there is a dire need for effective stewardship of these resources to ensure food security
It is argued that the water-land-food security (WLF) nexus is among the three paramount risks to the global economy (World Economic Forum, 2011)
The analysis illustrates that water and land are vital resources essential to ensure sustainable and productive rural economies

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The demand for water and land continue to increase due to rising demands from a growing population, rising urbanization, changes in consumption, and land-use patterns and since these resources are considered interconnected, there is a dire need for effective stewardship of these resources to ensure food security. In. Gender Roles, Implications for Water-Land-Food Security in a Changing Climate spite of this, the WLF nexus notion continues to be examined from a top-down approach with women mostly disenfranchised in the access and management of water and land in particular (Fonjong, 2008; Villamor et al, 2018; Tantoh and McKay, 2020), coupled with isolated sectoral approaches of policy intervention development. Necessary explicit affirmative actions are ensued (UNDP, 2010) This is because gender equity and participation in decisionmaking processes in land tenure can contribute to effective natural resource management, achieve food security, enhance rural livelihoods, and inclusive development. The proper gender dimension is, required to offer a susceptible justification of the extent to which daily routines and experiences influence the WLF nexus issuances

Policy Implications to Access and Ownership of Land

METHODOLOGY

WLF and the Impact of Climate Change and Adaptation

Findings

CONCLUSION