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Climate finance and gender on the ground: Insights from mitigation and adaptation interventions in Indonesia

Key messages

Financial mechanisms and climate change-related interventions should prioritize activities that are locally adapted and accessible for both genders, considering the different roles and constraints of each gender.
Ministries responsible for climate action require a specifically tagged budget to enable interventions to be gender-responsive. The gender-specific indicators provided in this study can support ministries responsible for delivering climate action to include gender within the Indonesian KRISNA (‘Collaborative Planning and Budget Performance Information’) budget system.
On-the-ground interventions need to acknowledge the necessity of integrating women and the poor as vital allies in achieving climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives – from the design phase through all stages of implementation – and translate this into pro-poor and gender-responsive strategic planning and operational guidance.
Building the institutional capacities of stakeholders is required at all levels so that plans and actions can be synergized, and different finance sources can be combined to ensure positive gender and pro poor outcomes and the long-term sustainability of finance mechanisms.
Gender-responsive budgeting needs to include gender variables in monitoring at all levels: this includes indicators for immediate and intermediate results that act as stepping stones in changing longer-term gender relations, therefore contributing to gender transformational change.
Indicators need to go beyond the usual economic assessments, to look at the social factors related to decisionmaking processes, agenda setting, the representation of women in institutions, their access to assets and markets, and capacity building.

Farmers’ perceptions and matching climate records jointly explain adaptation responses in four communities around Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Farmers’ climate perceptions are responsible for shaping their adaptive responses and are thus essential to consider for the design of strategies to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience. In this study, we collected social data in four communities in the central Ethiopian Highlands on farmers’ climate perceptions and adaptations using group discussions and PRA tools. We related these to climate data spanning 30 years (1981 to 2010), consisting of daily minimum temperature, maximum temperature and precipitation, modelled for the four communities using global databases and regional meteorological data. We found that farmers’ climate perceptions showed considerable spatial and gender differences. Perceptions matched well with records describing climate variability, particularly in terms of the shortening and the increased variability of the rainy season, as well as the occurrence of extreme drought in recent years. Climate change, described by long-term average increases in temperature and decreases in precipitation, was perceived, but with subordinate priority. Perceived climate impacts included reduced crop yield, increased occurrence of pests and diseases and increased crop damage by extreme events and poverty. Adaptations were mainly land based and included agronomic measures, land management and ecosystem restoration. Furthermore, important gender differences in adaptation could be traced back to typical gender roles. Results highlight the risk of broadcast adaptation programs, such as the government-propagated combination of mineral fertilizers and early maturing crop varieties. Most importantly, they point to the need to consider climate variability, site- and gender-specific perceptions and priorities.

Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe

Agricultural production, food, nutrition and income security of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are threatened by extreme weather events, such as increased frequency of mid-season dry spells and increased temperatures. Their impacts are exacerbated by the prevalence of sandy soils, characterized by limited water and nutrient retention capacity leading to low crop productivity. In this study, we aimed at assessing farmers’ awareness of extreme weather events, identify adaptation strategies and evaluate maize yield from different soil fertility and water management practices. A household survey including 245 smallholder farmers in Marange, Zimbabwe was carried out. The results revealed that farmers were aware of and had experienced extreme weather events. Among adaptation strategies used were soil water-harvesting, use of improved varieties, mulching and planting trees. Maize yield remains significantly low, averaging 0.62 t ha−1 among farmers using some forms of soil fertility and water management strategies. To further understand the reason for low maize yields and improve climate change related adaptation strategies, more research is needed to quantify and confirm management practices applied by farmers, such as fertilizer use and rates, water and nutrient management, use of improved varieties as well as socio-economic factors.

Variations in yield gaps of smallholder cocoa systems and the main determining factors along a climate gradient in Ghana

Improving management practices of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) cultivation especially under future climate change requires knowledge of yield gaps and their determining factors. In this study, we assessed yield gaps and their determining factors through multiple regression modelling in smallholder cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana along a climatic gradient. The studied zones referred to as dry, mid and wet with annual rainfall of 1200, 1200–1400 and 1400–2000 mm respectively, represent established “climate suitability zones” across the cocoa belt of West Africa, where 70% of the global cocoa is produced. Data was collected from 150 cocoa farmers and their plantation across the zones. Information about socioeconomic and management characteristics was collected through interviews. In each plantation, soil characteristics and cocoa plantation properties were recorded. Yield data for three consecutive years (2012/13–2014/15) and soil properties (0–30 cm layer) were analysed. Yield gap was estimated as the difference between attainable yield (AY) and actual farmers yield (FY) in each zone based on the approach of maximum farmer yields determined from survey. Average farmer and attainable yield of 211 and 645 kg ha−1 year−1 in the dry, 477 and 1174 kg ha−1 year−1 in the mid and 999 and 2125 kg ha−1 year−1 in the wet zone were recorded, respectively. Relative yield gaps were significantly larger in the dry (67%) than the wet zone (53%). In the dry zone with significantly older farmers (average age of 64), increasing labour cost (use of hired labour) significantly reduced yield gap. Contrary, increasing labour cost significantly increased yield gap in the mid zone where plantations were significantly larger. Yield gap increased significantly with increasing farmer age (54 years) in the mid zone but decreased significantly with farmer age (47 years) in the wet zone. Significant positive relationship between plantation size and yield gap was observed in both mid and wet zones. Soil available phosphorous (P) and fungicide use significantly reduced yield gap in the dry and mid zones. Finally, quantity of pesticide, proportion of hybrid cocoa plants and number of trainings received by farmers significantly reduced yield gap in the wet zone. In the dry zone, closing the yield gap against the climate risk might be unlikely. Transformation into more drought resistant systems such as cashew might be promising. However, in the mid and wet zones, labour availability for effective management of large plantations might be the major barrier for intensification, which needs to be addressed by intervention strategies.

Nutritional and ecoclimatic importance of indigenous and naturalized wild edible plant species in Ethiopia

Wild edible plant species (WEPs) are sources of food, nutrition, and medicine to people. However, often, the nutritional value of WEPs is unknown. This study was conducted to determine proximate and mineral contents of Balanites aegyptiaca, Cordia africana and Ziziphus spina-christi fruit. Fruit samples were collected from 10 trees of each species from Northern and Rift Valley region of Ethiopia. Fruit samples from the same species and district were mixed to form a composite sample, then dried, ground to powder and used for chemical analysis. We found a comparable amount of mean crude protein contents in C. africana and B. aegyptiaca. The fiber content was higher in B. aegyptiaca and Z. spina-christi. Carbohydrate and energy content were higher in Z. spina-christi compared to other study species. We found higher values of calcium in B. aegyptiaca and Z. spina-christi potassium, iron and zinc contents of B. aegyptiaca and C. africana, exceeded the value found in Z. spina-christi by about 50%. Our findings confirmed that the studied food tree species are potential sources of macronutrients and minerals. Therefore, promoting their sustainable use and increasing their abundance on different landscapes through Agroforestry system is critical to improve food availability and landscape resilience to climate change impacts.

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