Empowering Women for Climate-Smart Agriculture and Resilient Livelihoods

This chapter explores women’s empowerment as a central requirement for climate-smart agriculture and resilient livelihoods. It explains that climate change intensifies existing gender inequalities through crop loss, water scarcity, livestock stress, increased labour demand, food insecurity and unstable incomes. Women are deeply involved in agriculture, livestock care, seed selection, food processing, household nutrition, water collection and care work, but frequently lack control over land, credit, insurance, extension services, technology and adaptation decisions. The chapter presents climate-smart agriculture as a framework that seeks to improve productivity, adaptation and resilience while reducing environmental harm where feasible. It argues that climate-smart interventions must be assessed not only for technical effectiveness but also for their effects on women’s labour, agency, safety, access and control over benefits. The chapter discusses resilient crops, water harvesting, climate information services, livestock management, seed systems, agroforestry, renewable energy, labour-saving technologies, collective action and women-led enterprises. It recommends integrating gender analysis into climate programmes, expanding women’s land and financial rights, strengthening women’s collectives, improving access to climate advisories and using indicators that track workload, decision-making, income control and resilience. The chapter concludes that women’s empowerment is not an additional social objective but a core condition for effective climate adaptation.