Gender mainstreaming
The impact of climate change on agriculture affects people in different ways. Men and women who depend on agriculture for their livelihood and food security do not have the same needs and priorities, nor equal access to resources, or the same say in decision making processes. To reduce their vulnerability to climate change and draw on their knowledge and skills, it is important to be aware of these differences and make sure that they are being considered when countries make up adaptation plans for agriculture.
The international community is increasingly committed to addressing gender issues in adaptation policies, as signalled by the adoption of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan at COP 23 and Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality under Agenda 2030. In order to meet these commitments, countries have repeatedly requested support to improve capacity to address gender.
In response to that, the NAP-Ag programme puts capacity building for gender-responsive adaptation planning at the heart of its activities. FAO and UNDP have collaborated with nine countries to test out a training approach to improve the gender-related knowledge and skills of key stakeholders working on adaptation planning in the agriculture sector.
Training guide: Gender in Adaptation Planning for the Agriculture Sectors
The NAP-Ag programme has developed a training guide on mainstreaming gender to support countries in their adaptation planning processes. This guide provides a complete set of materials to be used in training workshops on mainstreaming gender in adaptation planning in the agriculture sector, and is a valuable resource to turn gender goals into concrete action.
Country activities include:
- In Uganda, a gender mainstreaming capacity needs assessment and stocktaking gave way to tailored trainings in February and March 2017. Parliamentarians, central government planners, district-level planners and non-state actors participated in the coaching sessions. These led to enhanced capacity to advocate for gender analysis and mainstream gender in plans and climate change adaptation projects in the agricultural sectors. Trainings similar to those held in Uganda have been carried out in Kenya, Zambia, Colombia, Vietnam and The Gambia.
- In Nepal a training workshop was conducted to boost capacity to conduct gender analysis within the context of field-level vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning. Follow-up activities are being planned in order to build on these events.
- In Uruguay, ongoing research seeks to strengthen the inclusion of gender dimensions within the monitoring of adaptation in the agricultural sector. Qualitative and quantitative survey methods are generating sex-disaggregated rural statistics, as well as indicators on the contribution of women to rural production and issues such as how climate adaptation strategies and perceptions differ between women and men in dairy, livestock and vegetable production sectors. The process and results of this activity are shared in the case study Making the case for gender-responsive adaptation planning in Uruguay: The importance of sex-disaggregated data.