This policy brief identifies current struggles associated with women farmers experiencing a changing climate, offers solutions to enhance their inclusion in formulating strategies for adaptation and mitigation, and provides examples of positive outcomes.

In the developing world, four-fifths of employed women work in agriculture, and a growing number of women are involved in agriculture as men abandon rural areas to find work in urban centers. Yet many women farmers have less access than men to resources for improving crop yields, including irrigation technology and climate information systems. Women are also more frequently left out of agricultural decision-making or policy processes. This brief offers five recommendations: new technologies must be appropriate to women’s resources and demands; extension and climate information services need to serve women and men; institutions must address women’s priorities; women’s innovation processes need to be recognized and supported; and policymaking processes must include women’s voices.

The authors suggest that gender dimensions should be included as qualifying criteria to access international funding from sources such as the Clean Development Mechanism and the Green Climate Fund. They also suggest that monitoring and evaluation programs incorporate gender indicators that emphasize not only women’s participation in climate change processes but their active engagement in designing projects and monitoring impacts.