Volume 70, June 2015, Pages 122–132
Gender, Agrobiodiversity, and Climate Change: A Study of Adaptation Practices in the Nepal Himalayas
- Accepted 5 January 2015, Available online 31 January 2015
Highlights
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- We explored gender in agrobiodiversity adaptation in changing climate and society.
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- Adaptation is shaped by the complex interplay of gendered knowledge and power.
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- Gender relations in adaptation are socio-ecological and multi-scalar in nature.
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- Gender is linked to other aspects of social differentiation in adaptation practice.
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- Gender equity is crucial in enhancing the adaptive capacity of communities.
Summary
Gender
is seminal to agrobiodiversity management, and inequities are likely to
be exacerbated under a changing climate. Using in-depth interviews with
farmers and officials from government and non-government organizations
in Nepal, we explore how gender relations are influenced by wider
socio-economic changes, and how alterations in gender relations shape
responses to climate change. Combining feminist political ecology and
critical social-ecological systems thinking, we analyze how gender and
adaptation interact as households abandon certain crops, adopt
high-yielding varieties and shift to cash crops. We argue that the
prevailing development paradigm reinforces inequitable gender structures
in agrobiodiversity management, undermining adaptation to the changing
climate.
Key words
- gender;
- agrobiodiversity management;
- climate change;
- adaptation;
- Nepal
