Changing climates and gender relations:Why research and practice are inseparable

CCAFS Gender Toolbox launch, ICRAF Nairobi 15 Oct 2014Agnes Otzelberger, CARE International

CARE’s climate change work: Social justice, gender equality and resilience for people living in poverty

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Gender and climate change: We’re still learning

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Global efforts in integrating gender and action on climate change “on the ground”

•Gender inequality = core concern in CARE’s work. Deeply rooted and widespread form of social inequality across the world, everywhere we work

•Finding truly gender-transformative approaches and tackling the climate change challenge are both immense learning efforts

combining them even more so, both in practice and research!

Why do we care about gender?

• Whether it’s farming, fishing or trade: every livelihood has a gender dimension, specific to culture and context

• Gender relations influence people’s roles and expectations

• Widespread inequalities in distribution of resources and power

impacts on livelihoods, risk reduction, adaptive capacity

• Knowledge and priorities are diverse and complementary!

• Gender-blind planning undermines successful initiatives and can make existing inequalities worse

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Gender analysis•In various form, is at the core•early on! •No one, universal way•Gender = power!!!•Gender relations are not static

Good practices in gender integration are about good gender analysis, learning and evidence

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Analysis should include

• understanding of drivers of change in gender roles and relations • a starting point for monitoring and documenting gender-related outcomes

…makes a difference in

•WHAT•HOW •WHO

Planning, M&E

Gender and Climate: Transforming how we understand change

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Gender analysis informs action on climate changeabout wo/men’s & boys’/girl’s status in…

• access to & control over assets• decision-making at different levels• division of labour and use of time• participation in public spaces• agency and aspirations for oneself • ….

…. and about how these change over time.

Climatic shifts, too, catalyse change in gender roles!

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Doing analysis is part of good practice:

Gender analysis!

• It allows for better understanding of differential vulnerability within communities and households

• It shows the differences of and complementarities between women’s and men’s experience in coping with and adapting to shocks and stressors

• It forms the basis for valuing and strengthening women’s and men’s knowledge, participation and voice in processes informing community-based adaptation

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Doing better research is key for filling gaps in our overall understanding

Researching gender and

climate change in agriculture should help us understand:

•How social relations evolve in the face of rapid or gradual (and unpredictable) change in farming communities (M&E)

•How gender relations and inequality influence resilience building in agriculture

•The same vice versa

•Gender beyond a tunnel view on women as an isolated, homogenous group

•What resilience and adaptive capacity means for different social groups and

•What really works for transforming the structural inequalities that make people vulnerable

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Concluding points: Practicing research together

CARE & CCAFS - working together at all levels, learning by doing:

• Collaborative learning by doing in communities: e.g. in the context of various pilot project initiatives, often with gender focus e.g. in Northern Ghana (toolbox testing) and Western Kenya (mitigation & agriculture initiative)

• Influencing research & practice through capacity-building (training and toolbox)

• Influencing policy through alliances (e.g. Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance)

THANK YOU! www.careclimatechange.org

CARE, climate change and gender: aotzelberger@careclimatechange.org Adaptation Learning Programme for Africa: fiona@careclimatechange.org