GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

It has also been found that the vulnerability and capacity of a social
group to adapt or change depends greatly on their assets. Next to their physical
location, women’s assets such as resources and land, knowledge, technology,
power, decision-making potential, education, health care and food have been
identified as determinant factors of vulnerability and adaptive capacity. As
pointed out by Moser and Satterthwaite (2008), the more assets people have,
the less vulnerable they are and the greater the erosion of people’s assets, the
greater their insecurity. Data from around the world indicates that women tend
to have less or limited access to assets (physical, financial, human, social and
natural capital). 3
81
Box 2 Gender and assets
Gender inequalities exist in the access to valuable resources such as land, credit,
agricultural inputs, technology, and extension and training services that would enhance
their capacity to adapt. In Liberia, women produce 60% of food crops despite their
lack of access to farmland, low level of technological training and knowledge, and lack
of financial assistance (Liberia NBSAP, 2004). An analysis of credit schemes in five
African countries found that women received less than 10% of the credit awarded to
male smallholders (FAO, 2008). Fewer than 10% of women farmers in India, Nepal and
Thailand own land (idem). In Kenya, although their statutory laws do not prevent them
from owning land, in practice women still face numerous difficulties in trying to own
land (Kenya NBSAP, 2000).
Source: Quesada-Aguilar and Mata (2008). Gender and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
Fact sheet IUCN-CBD.
Women’s assets largely determine how they will be affected by and
respond to the impacts of climate change. Therefore, actions should be taken
to build up the asset base of women as a fundamental principle in adaptation
strategies.
3.2 Added risk in securing wellbeing
Climate change can have disproportionate impacts on women’s
wellbeing compared to men. Through both direct and indirect risks, it can affect
their livelihood opportunities, the time they have available to them on a daily
basis, and overall life expectancy (see Table 1). In addition to exacerbating
existing risks, climate change can reveal new risks that have been hidden.
3
Differentiated data on access of women and men to assets can be found in various institutions within the UN system: the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Gender-related Development Index (GDI); the UN Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM); the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW); the UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Module 3