The role of women in community resilience to climate change: A case study of an Indigenous Fijian community

Abstract

Climate change is projected to have wide-ranging effects on natural resources, environment, agriculture and fisheries. The various impacts of climate change pose significant risks to Pacific Island communities and people's livelihoods. A community consists of different groups of people and requires contributions from all members to build community resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Indigenous Fijian (iTaukei) women have skills, knowledge, and unique local and traditional experience that can increase the resilience of the community, however, their voice is not often heard in a patriarchal community. An understanding of gender roles in a community is essential for adaptation to climate change.Fijian communities exhibit elaborate social support system and traditional practices that demonstrate high level of dynamism and institutional support in the community's response to risks. Using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observations, the study investigated the enabling and inhibiting factors that affect the ability of iTaukei women to contribute to building community resilience. The findings from the study identified that the village women contribute significantly to three key areas of community resilience, particularly social resilience, economic resilience and ecological resilience. The findings also indicated that women face barriers that prevent them from contributing to decision-making on issues related to climate change resilience in the community. The study recommends interventions that are culturally accepted and that also support the role of women in decision-making, while promoting their participation in various climate change forums in the community.