Catherine Mungai

Inclusion of gender in Africa’s climate change policies and strategies

Concerns of climate change impacts and adaptations have continued to receive much attention in both local and international climate change debate. It is now understood that the challenge of climate change cannot be addressed as a standalone issue but within different social, economic, and environmental contexts. It is currently acknowledged that Africa’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is insignificant. Except for South Africa, all the countries in Africa contribute below the global average of 3.5 m/ton of CO2 per capita. However, Africa is very vulnerable to climate change given its low capacity to respond and adapt. Furthermore, progress in enhancing better understanding of gender variations on the impacts and adaptation to climate change has been relatively limited. The differentiated impacts of climate change at local level add to the complexities of developing gender sensitive response strategies. With the endorsement of the Paris Climate agreement of 2015, African countries are now gearing up to implement international and national climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives. While progress has been in developing polices and strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation, it is critical to ensure that these do not lead to further inequalities during implementation. This chapter, therefore, aims at reviewing climate change related policies and strategies in East and West Africa through a gendered lens. The countries are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania in East Africa, and Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa. Drawing upon a common framework/guideline, we examined commonality in policies, while recognizing the complexity in the social, economic and ecological systems of each country. The chapter further assesses the importance of integrating and mainstreaming gender into Africa’s national adaptations plans of actions (NAPAs), and Intended Nationally Distributed Contributions (INDCs), and the need for better gender oriented climate change policies, programs and plans.

Uptake of Climate-Smart Agriculture Through a Gendered Intersectionality Lens: Experiences from Western Kenya

This study conducted in western Kenya demonstrates how a gendered intersectionality lens can be used to explore how and the extent to which farming communities are coping with climate change. Results from a quantitative survey undertaken with 51 farmers and from 4 focused group discussions held with 33 farmers (19 males and 14 females) indicate that 85% of the respondents are willing to adopt climate-smart agriculture (CSA) interventions if constraining factors are resolved.This study reveals that farmers, regardless of whether they are male or female, are willing to adopt climate smart technologies and practices. However, factors such as ethnicity, education, age and marital status determine the levels of uptake of CSA technologies and practices. Looking at crops for instance, we find a high uptake (62.7%) of improved high yielding varieties (HYVs) amongst farmers with primary level education, meaning literacy levels influence adoption of practices. Analysis using age as a lens reveals that there is a high uptake among the youth and adults. Interestingly, the study site comprises of both the Luo and Kalenjin ethnic communities and even though they neighbor each other, we find a high rate of uptake among the Luo community due to existing social and cultural norms and practices related to farming. In conclusion, using a gendered intersectionality lens strengthens the argument for targeted interventions which focus on local needs and priorities while recognizing local contexts as informed by social, cultural and economic factors.