Role of Gender in Sustainable Mitigation for Climate Change in Agriculture

The agricultural system for the production of food grains has led to deforestation, pollution, and overexploitation of natural resources. As a result, agriculture is both a cause as well as a victim of climate change. Agricultural ecosystems are highly sensitive to climate-change, so it is important to investigate the likely impact of climate change on various sectors within the ecosystems to be able to comprehensively understand the effects of climate change. Global food security has become one of the main priorities for sustainable development. It is being anticipated that a 50–70% increase in food production will be required by 2050 to feed an additional two billion people. This is especially crucial for developing countries, which are predominated by small-holder farmers. It has been suggested that sustainable interventions at each step of the goods and services (value chain) are necessary for an agricultural product to move from the farmer to the consumer. Agriculture value chains are affected by gender dynamics and socio-cultural norms and practices which decide the allocation of resources, benefits, and access to growth opportunities. Women are producers of 60–70% of food in developing nations and represent a predominant proportion of the labor force worldwide. However, despite being the major contributors to agriculture, they face gender disparities in terms of allocation of resources and share in profits. Women have restricted access to resources and information, less control over assets, and heavier workloads, thereby constraining their capacity to engage with and operate within the higher nodes of the value chain. In order to achieve a high level of penetrance of sustainable agricultural technologies like good quality seeds, pre-sowing seed treatments, advanced agronomic practices etc. an active involvement of women farmers can act as a key driver. In this chapter, literature on the impact of climate change on agriculture has been reviewed with a special reference to the role of women farmers in the adoption of advanced climate-smart agricultural practices.