GENDER, ASSETS AND ADAPTATION

TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN KENYA:

THE ROLE OF GROUP-BASED APPROACHES

Marther Ngigi , Ulrike Mϋller, Regina Birner

Corresponding author: martherngigi@gmail.com

Introduction • Performance of the agricultural sector

• Impact on national economic growth, income and poverty levels

• Challenge: climate change • Temperature has been rising by 3oC from 1960 to 2003 (Herrero et al.

2010)

• Prolonged dry-spells, erratic rainfall and frequent flooding

• Adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices

• Adoption depends on • Individual characteristics gender

• Inequalities in household capital endowment

• Access to rural services, such as climate and agricultural information

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Gender is important for adaptation

• Vulnerability to climate change is not gender neutral

• Worsened by limited access to credit, inputs and extension services, land (FAO 2011; World Bank 2011)

• Livelihood depends on natural resources

• No inclusion in decision making (OECD 2012)

• Climate change impacts are also not gender neutral • Women sell their assets to ensure food security in times of drought: cf.

Angula (2010) for Namibia

• Women reduce meals portions: cf. Serna (2011) for northern Kenya

• High mortality during natural disasters (Neumayer & Plu (2007)

• Increased workload after disasters (Bynoe 2009)

• Programs supporting gender equality in Kenya • Kenyan constitution

• Social and women funds

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Objectives There is limited empirical evidence on how gender and intra-household dynamics influence the adaptive capacities of men and women

1. To examine husbands’ and wives’ adaptive capacity • Domain of differentiated access over resources

• Access to agricultural information

• Role of group based approaches: social capital

2. To assess husbands’ and wives’ adaptation strategies

3. To examine husbands’ and wives’ drivers of adoption of climate-smart agricultural strategies

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Data and Methods

5

Three agro-ecological

zones:

• Temperate zone • Othaya

• Mukurueni

• Humid zone • Gem

• Siaya

• Semi-arid zone • Mbeere South

• Njoro

Othaya

Siaya /Gem

Njoro

Othaya /Mukurueni

Mbeere

Data and Methods

• Data collected in 2012

• Random sample

• Intra-household data of 156 households • Total of 312 respondents

• Gender-disaggregated data

• Gender-disaggregated focus group

discussions

• Use non-parametric and parametric

analysis

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Findings: Ownership and control of land and non-

land assets

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Consumer durable

Agricultural durable

Cattle Small ruminant livestock

Draft livestock

Decision on land use

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Husband Wife Joint

Who owns these assets?

Social capital participation and accumulation Wife Husband Diff. in

mean

Social capital index 0.68 0.71 -0.3*

Membership in social groups (%) 91 81 10**

Involvement in group activities (%) 90 83 7*

Involvement in community work (%) 36 67 -31***

Support from friends (%) 30 17 13*

Community-based organizations (%) 17 24 -7*

Soil and water management (%) 3 3 0

Farmer groups (%) 8 34 -26**

Number of groups 1.26 1.15 0.11

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Gains from group-based approaches (% of responses)

9

22

32 32

74

81

38

47 49

65 69

Climate information

Adaptation ideas

Access to input Livelihood diversification

Risk management

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Perc

enta

ge o

f re

sponses

Wife Husband

Did you get this benefit from the group?

Examples of group-based projects

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1 2

3 4

Access to information (% of responses) Wife Husband Diff. in Mean

Crop production 89 97 -9**

Livestock production 73 88 -15***

Access to extension agents 60 82 -26***

Farm visit 24 46 -21***

Farmers’ field school 42 21 21***

Climate change (CC) information 87 88 -1

Advice on adapting to CC 62 59 3

Weather forecast 64 45 19***

Early warning 26 39 -13***

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Gender and adoption of climate-smart practices

• Women focus more on strategies related to crop production

• Change in crop variety and type

• Change in planting dates: early planting

• Increase land under production

• Soil conservation and management

• Men focus more on strategies related to livestock production

• Change in feeding practices

• Change in animal breeds

• Destocking

• Men focus more on agroforestry

• Changing gender roles in households during extreme climate events

• Fetching water

• Looking for distant fodder sources

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Climate-smart practices

13

© Ngigi, 2013

13

Chaff cutter machine:

storage of fodder Small livestock

Drought resistant crops: sorghum Sack vegetable production

Soil and water conservation practices

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“Tumbukiza’ technology

Planting ‘pits’ Terraces

Water harvesting

Drivers for adaptation to climate change

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• Age

• Agricultural durable asset

• Farmers field school

• Trust in information

• Traditions, culture and norms

• Perception of climate change

• Social capital index

• Total livestock holding

• Early warning

• Bargaining power on land use

• Number of information sources

• Perception of climate change

Wives Husbands

Conclusions

• Substantial gender disparity in

• Access to assets

• Access to information

• Accumulation of social capital

• Group based approaches

• Essential for sharing information and adaptation ideas

• Important for livelihood diversification and risk management

• Women and men adapt differently

• Gender-linked factors

• Assets

• Different roles in the household

• Information

• Decision making power

• Social capital

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Policy implications

• Gender disparity in the ownership of assets • Empowering women’s bargaining and decision-making power

• Awareness and full implementation of the constitution

• Access to information • Employ gender-sensitive extension approaches

• Use most accessible channels of communication

• Improve the quality and accuracy of the information: trust

• Capacity building

• Scaling-up of group-based approaches • Information sharing

• Risk management

• Livelihood diversification

• Encourage adaptation of gender biased practices • Not to increase the labor burden to one gender • Address cultures and traditions

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Acknowledgments

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