Strengthening climate resilience and women’s networks: Brazilian inspiration from agroecology

Overview

Women can face higher risks and more significant burdens from the impacts of climate change in situations of poverty than men, exacerbating existing disparities in gender roles, responsibilities, perceptions, and skewed power relations that tend to disadvantage women. Mitigation and adaptation measures are essential not only to increase community resilience to climate change but also to address gender inequalities and achieve a more just and sustainable world. Agroecology is a potential pathway to strengthen agricultural resilience, and to reduce community vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, while building more just social relations and tackling gender inequalities. This article analyses the social, economic, and environmental effects that a gender approach can bring to agroecological adaptation projects, with particular attention to women’s roles in their communities and beyond. The analysis is based on two agroecological projects in Brazil: Adapta Sertão and the Yarang Women’s Movement.