GENDER, AGRICULTURE & CLIMATE CHANGE: WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

Carmen Diana Deere

University of Florida

Presentation at CIAT/CCAFS, Cali, September 3, 2012

Basic Propositions

1. Men & women may have different exposure and vulnerability to climate change

2. Have different capabilities to deal with climate change, hence, different needs and perspectives

3. Different factors may affect men’s and women’s levels of participation in adaptation and mitigation strategies

4. Alternative policy instruments/interventions can have different gender impacts

New WEAI• Resources• Decisions• Gender division of

labor

Baseline WEAI• Resources • Decisions• Gender division of

labor

Strategic Gender ResearchKey Question: How does climate change and/or climate change interventions impact women’s empowerment in agriculture (WEAI)

CCAFS Intervention(s)

Climate Shock/

Variability

Climate Change

Change in WEAI = New WEAI – Baseline WEAI

Qualitative research on

preferences by gender

Coping Adaptation

Planned ---- Adaptation

Policy

Gender & Climate Change Interventions

From Basic Principle: “Do no harm”• i.e., avoid interventions that exacerbate gender & social inequalities, deepen poverty

To End Goal: transformative change = gender justice

• Utilize both men and women’s knowledge & agency

• May be precondition for resilience

Presentation

Data requirements: what we need to know1. Distribution of ownership & control over resources

2. How decisions are made & by whom

3. Gender division of labor (production & reproduction)

Illustrate with examples from:• Latin America

• Agricultural censuses• LSMS surveys

• Gender Asset Gap project (Ecuador, Ghana & India)• Representative household surveys at national/state level

Main point:• Resources, decisions, gender division of labor are variables

• Socially constructed; vary in time and place

Gender disaggregated data provide the building blocks to assess:• Who affected by climate change?

• Who made worse/better off• The needs/priorities of men and women, given gender roles

• The changes implied by adaptation strategies• Responsibilities, work loads, participation

Resources• Land*• Inputs• Ag equipment*• Livestock*• Water• Credit• Education• Information• Organization (groups, networks)

1. Distribution of Land by Sexin Latin AmericaAgricultural Censuses

• Don’t ask who owns the land• Focus is on ‘landholder’ or main agriculturalist• Too often end up with household head• Doesn’t take into account that farm management might be shared by husband & wife, or that they might manage different agricultural activities (crops vs. livestock)

Country Year % Women % Men Total

Argentina 2002 18.2 81.8 100%

Brazil 2006 12.7 87.3 100%

Chile 1997 21.9 78.3 100%

  2007 29.9 70.1 100%

Dominican Rep.

1960 11.4 88.6 100%

1998 10.2 89.8 100%

Ecuador 2000 25.4 74.6 100%

Guatemala 1979 6.6 93.4 100%

  2003 7.8 92.2 100%

Nicaragua 2001 18.1 81.9 100%

Paraguay 1991 9.4 90.6 100%

Panama 2001 29.3 70.7 100%

Peru 1972 13.3 86.7 100%

  1998 10.2 89.8 100%

Uruguay 2000 18.1 81.9 100%

Distribution of Landholders by Sex, Agricultural Censuses for Latin America

Source: Deere 2010

Advances

2010 round of Agricultural Censuses• Will now allow for joint landholders and sub-holders• Still don’t ask about land ownership

Main benefit: • Sometimes can get disaggregated information

(department/province/municipality)• Notwithstanding shortcomings of data, relevant to consider for

CCAFS baseline sites

Surveys

Living Standard Measurement Studies (LSMS)• A few have begun to ask: Who owns the land?• Useful in comparing countries

Problems:• Can not always disaggregate beyond rural/urban or

departmental/provincial level• Comparability:

• Some surveys only ask about titled land (*), not all owned parcels• Not all ask about joint ownership of land

Distribution of Parcels by Form of Ownership, Latin America

Country Year % Women % Men % Joint Total

Honduras 2004 12.0 87.2 0.8 100%*280,088

Mexico 2002 19.8 66.3 13.9 100%4.9 m.

Nicaragua 2005 16.8 79.2 4.0 100%*269,231

Peru 2000 12.6 74.8 12.6 100%*2.9 m.

* Titled land onlySource: Deere, Alvarado & Twyman 2012

Distribution of Landowners by Sex, Latin America

Haiti 2001

Honduras 2004*

Mexico 2002a

Nicaragua 2005*

Paraguay 2000*

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

MenWomen

*Includes only land that is titled/registered

%

Source: Deere, Alvarado & Twyman, 2012

Distribution of Parcels by Form of Ownership, Rural

INDIA GHANA ECUADOR UGANDA0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

71%69%

26% 26%

14%

25% 25%

18%

2% 2%

40%

52%

12%

4%

9%

4%

Individual Male Individual Female Principle Couple Other

Source: Household Asset Surveys, in Doss et al 2012

Incidence of Ownership of Agricultural Parcels, Reported vs. Documented ownership (rural)

India Ghana Ecuador Uganda India Ghana Ecuador UgandaAgricultural Land Agricultural Land, with documents

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Male

Female

What data on land ownership tells us:• Degree of gender inequality• Women’s security of tenureoVulnerability in the face of adversity

• Whether women will be able to use land as collateral to get credito Might be required to adopt climate resistant varieties

• Whether women are treated as ‘serious farmers’ by state agents

Women’s ownership of land may also affect their household’s well-being

Impact of Different Gender Variables on Household Wellbeing 

Honduras Nicaragua Food Expenditure Female land ownership pos*** pos***Female headship neg*** neg***Female income pos*** neg  Children’s Schooling Attainment Female land ownership pos*** pos***Female headship neg*** neg***  

Source: Katz & Chamorro (2003)

Incidence of Ownership of Small Agricultural Equipment (rural)

INDIA GHANA ECUADOR UGANDAAG EQUIP, SMALL

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Male

Female

Who in the Household Owns the Livestock? Nicaragua 2001

Cattle Work animals Pigs Poultry0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

MenWomenCouples

%

Source: Deere, Alvarado & Twyman (2012)

2. Ownership and Control over Land

Effective land rights:• Legal rights (ability to use, impede others from using without permission, ability to transfer rights to others)

• Social recognition of these rights

Control:• Capacity to decide on how to use land• Ability to decide how products/income generated are to be utilized

Distribution of Owners and Decision Makers among Land-owning Households

Variable % Women % Men % Joint Total

HONDURAS

Owners 12.1 86.3 1.6 100%227,769

Decision Makers

8.7 91.3 - 100%

NICARAGUA

Owners 16.9 79.0 4.1 100%160,084

Decision Makers

8.8 91.2 - 100%

Source: Deere, Alvarado & Twyman (2012)

Implications

1. Comparison problematic: different units of analysis• Asked about ownership at parcel level• But asked about decision-making at level of farm/household

(likely to reflect household head)• Didn’t ask about joint decision-making

2. Can’t assume the owner makes the decisions regarding the asset

3. Decision-making (or landholder) not necessarily a good proxy for ownership

**Importance of collecting data on both ownership & decision-making at parcel level**

Ecuador 2010 Assets Survey: Agricultural Decision Questions

• Minimum questions to ask landowners

• Decisions on own plots which are currently cultivated by the household (last 12 months)

• Women’s responses

• Who in the household made the decision on what to cultivate?

• Who made the decision on what inputs to use?

• If some of the harvest was sold, who made the decision on how much to sell?

• Who decided how to spend the money generated from the sale?

Decisions by Partnered Women Landowners over Own Parcels (%)

How Made:

Cultivation Inputs Sales Spending

Alone 18 23 15 23

Jointly 60 48 61 71

Not involved

22 29 24 6

100 (n=228)

100 (n=164)

100 (n=115)

100 (n=115)

Source: Deere & Twyman (2012)

Main conclusions of Ecuador study

• Majority of women landowners in Ecuador are farm managers: participate in the agricultural decisions regarding their own plots

• Husbands’ and wives’ perceptions of women’s role in ag decision-making differs

• Women’s participation in decision-making highly correlated with their participation in ag fieldwork, alone or with husbands

• Participation in decision-making highly associated with women landowners also owning agricultural equipment jointly with husbands

(Sources: Deere & Twyman (2012), Twyman (2012)

3. Gender Division of Labor

Type of gender disaggregated information that would be useful:

• Data on agricultural field work by task and crop and on animal raising activities

• Data on domestic labor, particularly, on hours spent collecting water, fuel & fodder

• Data on all productive & reproductive activities (total workload)

Share of Smallholder Households where at least One Woman Participates

Activity García Rovira, Colombia

Cajamarca, Peru

Ag field work 18% 85%

Ag processing 53% 100%

Ag services 95% 61%

Animal care 88% 95%

Marketing 24% 88%

Weighted average 40% (n=114) 86% (n=92)

Source: Deere & León (1982)

Participation rates in agricultural field tasks by sex (13 yrs.+)

Task García Rovira

Cajamarca

Women Men Women Men

Field prep. 10% 89% 24% 74%

Seedling prep. 29% 91% Na Na

Planting 30% 93% 48% 74%

Transplanting 7% 93% Na Na

Weeding 4% 93% 47% 80%

Cultivating 4% 93% 24% 79%

Harvesting 46% 94% 62% 81%

Threshing Na Na 66% 83%

All activities(weighted)

25% 93% 45% 78%

Source: Deere & León (1982)

Task % Wife % Husband % Joint Total nSeed selection

59 7 34 100% 104

Collects manure & fertilizes

13 54 33 100% 92

Purchases seed or fertilizer

3 53 44 100% 34

Decides where, what and when to plant

15 47 38 100% 104

Gets non-household labor

7 79 14 100% 94

Coordinates field work

6 49 45 100% 98

Decides how harvest to be used

56 7 37 100% 93

Decides on crop sales

36 16 48 100% 77

Decides on animal sales

39 11 41 100% 86

Who in the Household is Responsible? Smallholders in Cajamarca, Peru

Source: Deere & León (1982)

Total Workloads by Sex (hrs. per week)

Colombia (2008)

Women Men

Unpaid 60.8 33.0

Paid 42.4 50.4

Total 103.2 83.4

Ecuador (2007)

Women Men

Unpaid 67.1 39.1

Paid 40.3 48.1

Total 107.5 87.2

Source: ECLAC (2010), based on national surveys

Other Crucial Questions: Food security, water and energy

• Need to know about water access: rainfed/irrigation and how water secured for domestic use

- potential differences by gender for agriculture, livestock, household use

• Need to know about energy sources: access to electricity, sources of fuel

• Need to know about animal feed/fodder

What this type of information allows:

Assess whether women more vulnerable to climate change

• Whether workloads will increase• More likely to lose access to resources• Less likely to be able to mobilize resources under conditions of adversity

Provides means to evaluate potential impact of different interventions on current gender roles

Factors that Affect Participation of Men & Women in Adaptive Strategies

• Access to information• Degree of organization• Gender roles

• Women have less mobility than men• Lower rates of participation in groups/community

• Women more time constrained

Evidence from behavioral studies:• High pay-off from organizing women as well as men to identify &

carry out adaptive/mitigation strategies

In Conclusion

• Involving both men and women potentially a win-win proposition for adaptation strategies

• Challenge of making sure adaptation strategies also a win-win proposition for women

• To be able to assess these propositions:• Need gender disaggregated data

Incidence of Ownership of Livestock, ruralIN

DIA

GH

AN

A

EC

UA

DO

R

UG

AN

DA

IND

IA

GH

AN

A

EC

UA

DO

R

UG

AN

DA

IND

IA

GH

AN

A

EC

UA

DO

R

UG

AN

DA

LIVESTOCK, LARGE LIVESTOCK, SMALL POULTRY

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Male

Female

Distribution of Modes of Acquisition of Agricultural Land, by sex, rural

men women men women men women men women INDIA  GHANA  ECUADOR UGANDA

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Inheritance/gift

Market purchase

Other

Source: Doss et al 2012

Adaptive Behavior

Propositions from behavioral studies

1. Women more risk averse than men

2. Women less overconfident than men

3. Women seek out help and listen to advice

4. Women change their strategies in response to new information

(Source: Patt, Dazé, Suarez 2009)