Women’s contributions to climate change adaptation in Egypt’s Mubarak Resettlement Scheme through cactus cultivation and adjusted irrigation

Abstract

A feminist political ecology of climate change study examines the site-specific, social, political, ecological, and economic contexts that shape agricultural practices and policies in two desert resettlements of Sa'yda and Intilaq, also called the New Lands that form part of the massive Mubarak Resettlement Scheme (MRS) in Egypt. This chapter discusses how this study contributes to climate adaptation literature in Egypt and beyond, including the policy implications as they relate to both the limitations and possibilities for strengthening women's active contributions to climate change adaptation in the MRS. Adaptation to climate change is often framed in terms of water use in the Middle East, where agriculture is the biggest consumer of water. A feminist political ecology framework sheds light on the interplay between government planning, local innovations, inequalities, and environmental conditions in adapting to climate change. Many Graduate Women Landholders (GWLs) selected cactus as a crop that can be managed without relocation and with minimal financial and labor investments.