Africa

Introduction: Nutrition, Sustainable Agriculture, and Development Issues

Citation:

Deen-Swarray, Mariama, Gbadebo Odularu, and Bamidele Adekunle. 2020. “Introduction: Nutrition, Sustainable Agriculture, and Development Issues.” In Nutrition, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change in Africa, edited by Gbadebo Odularu, 1-11. Berlin: Springer Nature.

Authors: Mariama Deen-Swarray, Gbadebo Odularu, Bamidele Adekunle

Abstract:

One of the reasons behind these nutrition-related institutional challenges is that most policy interventions tend to focus on agricultural production metrics, with limited focus on enhancing the quality of research towards improving nutrition outcomes. In order for African countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 target, there must be a policy and paradigm shift from erratic political responses to actual malnutrition metrics focusing on access to healthy food, quality of food in terms of proteins, micronutrients and vitamins, access to land for crop production, access to water, access to relevant farming inputs, evidence-based commitment to Food and Nutrition Security (FNS), systematic assessment of progress towards achieving FNS and adequate investments in nutrition-related programmes. In alignment with one of the purposes of this book, this chapter will recommend informed policy interventions and improved nutrition programmes for African countries in a rapidly changing climatic space which is also increasingly being undermined by the Coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19). (Abstract from original source)

Topics: Agriculture, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa

Year: 2020

Examining Climate Change and Food Security in Ghana Through an Intersectional Framework

Citation:

Wood, Alexa L., Prince Ansah, Louie Rivers III and Arika Ligmann-Zielinska. 2019. “Examining Climate Change and Food Security in Ghana Through an Intersectional Framework.” The Journal of Peasant Studies 48 (2): 329-348.

Authors: Alexa Wood, Prince Ansah, Louie Rivers III, Arika Ligmann-Zielinska

Abstract:

As the effects of climate change intensify, subsistence farmers in Ghana are expected to face increased food insecurity, due to their reliance on rainfed agriculture. Within households, young women are expected to support all aspects of household food security, and will experience a more burdensome load of labor, as a dwindling stock of natural resources will make daily tasks more time consuming. The intersection of age, gender, and location inhibits young women's decision-making responsibilities and wage-earning potential. Climate change exacerbates this dynamic, which restricts opportunities to acquire sufficient food and places increased stress on household food systems. (Abstract from original source)

Keywords: climate change, food security, intersectionality, Ghana, farming

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gender Roles, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2019

The Anthropocene and Imperial Ecocide: Prospects for Just Transitions

Citation:

Satgar, Vishwas. 2018. “The Anthropocene and Imperial Ecocide: Prospects for Just Transitions.” In The Climate Crisis: South African and Global Democratic Eco-Socialist Alternatives, edited by Vishwas Satgar, 47–68. Wits University Press.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change Regions: Africa, Southern Africa

Year: 2018

The Climate Crisis and a 'Just Transition' in South Africa: an Eco-Feminist-Socialist Perspective

Citation:

Cock, Jacklyn. 2018. “The Climate Crisis and a ‘Just Transition’ in South Africa: An Eco-Feminist-Socialist Perspective.” In The Climate Crisis: South African and Global Democratic Eco-Socialist Alternatives, edited by Vishwas Satgar, 210–30. Wits University Press.

Author: Jacklyn Cock

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Ecofeminism Regions: Africa, Southern Africa

Year: 2018

How Resilient are Farming Households and Communities to a Changing Climate in Africa

Citation:

Perez, C., E.M. Jones, P. Kristjanson, L. Cramer,  P.K. Thornton, W. Förch, and C. Barahona. 2015. “How Resilient are Farming Households and Communities to a Changing Climate in Africa? A Gender-based Perspective.” Global Environmental Change 34: 95–107.

Authors: C. Perez, E.M. Jones, P. Kristjanson, L. Cramer, P.K. Thornton, W. Förch, C. Barahona

Abstract:

Social, economic and institutional factors and driving forces enhance or hinder the adaptation capacity of agricultural and pastoral households and communities. The effectiveness of the resulting adaptation strategies influences the nature and extent of the impact of multiple stresses and shocks, including climate change’s, at the local-level. Using a 9-country dataset from sub-Saharan Africa, and integrating quantitative household-level analyses with qualitative work, we show evidence that adaptation is connected to population growth, dependence on cash to cover essential needs, and limited sources of employment other than exploitation of natural resources and sale of crop produce and animals. In some countries, government policies like privatization of community forests, rangelands and riparian areas, the settlement of pastoralists, and the provision of subsidies for food or agricultural inputs reduce adaptation capacity. Policies take away the traditional decision-making and collective action powers that communities had to regulate the use and sustainable management of natural resources. Gender relations also affect agricultural practices and adaptation. The women farmers in our sample control less land than men, the land they control is often of poorer quality, and their tenure is insecure. Women, more than men, are dependent on internal village groups, as opposed to organizations operating at regional or national levels. Hence, women have less access to extension and input services, and are less likely than men to use improved seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. The adaptive capacity of individuals and communities depends on their differential access to resources, economic assets and social capital, which are mediated by their socially defined rights and responsibilities. Highlights include:
• Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change depend on opportunities governed by the varied and complex interplay of social relations, institutions, organizations, and policies.
• Climate is one of many influences that affect the producers’ coping and adaptation strategies.
• Women and men incorporate a wide range of technology and production management adjustments.
• The producers’ most frequently cited reasons for adjustments include decrease in productivity, fluctuation in prices, market opportunities, and frequency of drought.
(Abstract from original source)

Keywords: climate, agriculture, adaptation, Surveys, gender

Topics: Agriculture, Gender, Gender Analysis, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, Southern Africa

Year: 2015

Gender, Agriculture and Water Insecurity

Citation:

Parker, Helen, Naomi Oates, Nathaniel Mason, Roger Calow. 2016. “Gender, Agriculture and Water Insecurity." ODI Insights.

Authors: Helen Parker, Naomi Oates, Nathaniel Mason, Roger Calow

Abstract:

Rural female farmers are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate variability and water insecurity.
El Niño has already had devastating impacts on countries in Africa that primarily rely on agriculture. Drought, loss of livestock and failed harvests push poor households into food stress and result in children being removed from school or families migrating. 
Policy and programme implementation for water insecurity must consider social norms around gender and other drivers of inequality. Too often, policies and programmes on agricultural water management are gender blind and don't consider women's unique needs and experiences.
This paper explains how and why improved water management on the farm matters for women and girls, and what can be done to better support opportunities for them, as well as for men and boys, in the face of climate change.
The authors identify three areas where gender-focused programming needs to address the unique vulnerabilities of women to water (in)security:
• Women are often at the pinch point of water-related tasks in the home and on the farm, with pressure intensifying around seasonal periods of scarcity in many developing countries.
• Compared to men, women may have less access to or control of assets that can be used to buffer against the effects of rainfall variability.
• Women often have fewer opportunities to pursue off-farm work or migrate to urban areas as a temporary coping strategy for seasonal food and income shortages, or for shortages caused by droughts and floods.
(Abstract from original source)

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, Asia

Year: 2016

Gender Implications of Farmers’ Indigenous Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Along Agriculture Value Chain in Nigeria

Citation:

Deji, Olanike F. 2020. “Gender Implications of Farmers’ Indigenous Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Along Agriculture Value Chain in Nigeria.” In African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, 1811–34. Springer.

Author: Olanike F Deji

Abstract:

Climate change contributes significantly to the looming food insecurity in the rain-fed agricultural countries of Africa, including Nigeria. There is a gender dimension in climate change impacts and adaptation strategies along Agriculture Value Chain (AVC) in Nigeria. The chapter gender analyzed the aspects of climate change impacts; identified the indigenous and expert-based artificial adaptation strategies; assessed the gender differences in the adaptation strategies; and provided the gender implications of the indigenous adaptation strategies among actors along the AVC. The chapter adopted a value chain-based exploratory design with gender analysis as the narrative framework with Gender Response Theory as the theoretical background. There were gender differences in the production, economic, and social dimensions of the climate change impacts along the AVC. The indigenous climate change adaptation strategies were avail- ability, low cost, and easily accessible; hence they were popularly adopted by male and female AVC actors. The adopted indigenous adaptation strategies challenged the social relations, influenced reordering of social and gender relations, participation, and power relation among the male and female actors along the AVC. (Abstract from original source)

 

Keywords: gender, farmers, indigenous, climate change, adaptation strategies, Gender Response Theory, Agriculture Value Chain

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2020

The Social Cost of Environmental Solutions

Citation:

Dauvergne, Peter, and Genevieve LeBaron. 2013. "The Social Cost of Environmental Solutions." New Political Economy 18 (3): 410-430.

 

Authors: Peter Dauvergne, Genevieve LeBaron

Abstract:

This article assesses the social consequences of efforts by multinational corpor- ations to capture business value through recycling, reusing materials and reducing waste. Synthesising evidence from the global environmental justice and feminist and international political economy (IPE) literatures, it analyses the changing social property relations of global recycling chains. The authors argue that, although recycling more would seem to make good ecological sense, corporate programmes can rely on and further ingrain social patterns of harm and exploita- tion, particularly for the burgeoning labour force that depends on recyclables for subsistence living. Turning the waste stream into a profit stream also relies on prison labour in some places, such as in the United States where the federal gov- ernment operates one of the country’s largest electronics recycling programmes. The ongoing corporatisation of recycling, the authors argue further, is devaluing already marginalised populations within the global economy. Highlighting the need to account for the dynamism between social and environmental change within IPE scholarship, the article concludes by underlining the ways in which ‘green commerce’ programmes can shift capital’s contradictions from nature onto labour.

Keywords: multinational corporations, environmental justice, political economy, recycling, labour, e-waste, global recycling chain

Topics: Development, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Health, Land Tenure, Multi-National Corporations, Political Economies Regions: Africa, Americas, North America, South America, Asia, South Asia Countries: United States of America

Year: 2013

The Impacts of Large-Scale Biofuel Production in Rural Communities

Citation:

Clancy, Joy, and Jon C. Lovett. 2012. "The Impacts of Large-Scale Biofuel Production In Rural Communities." In Biofuels and Rural Poverty, 50-68. Abingdon: Routledge.

Authors: Joy Clancy , Jon C. Lovett

Annotation:

Summary: 

Large-scale biofuel production offers the prospect of product diversification based on either traditional or new crops. Selling a crop to a new market can help spread the risk of price fluctuation on commodity markets and it can provide an outlet for surpluses. These opportunities are seen as particularly important for many of the traditional sugar-producing countries of the Caribbean and Africa since they offer a means to compensate for the lost revenue due to the loss of preferential quotas and a 36 per cent reduction in guaranteed prices under EU sugar reform. There is also the prospect of refining the biofuels in rural areas, hence the value added by converting the raw material into the final product remains local. The delivery path for large-scale production can be on the basis of agri- business plantation grown crops using wage labour or a central processing plant based on outgrowers or a mixture of the two. Refining first generation biofuel crops needs to take place close to the growing sites since the biomass material generally begins to deteriorate rapidly after harvest. This chapter looks at the socio-economic impacts that large-scale biofuel production is bringing to rural areas, in particular impacts on the assets of small-scale farmers and landless people in rural areas who rely on selling their labour, as well as the distribution of benefits in respect of gender. The focus is on biofuels for export markets, while Chapter 6 looks at the possibilities for serving local markets. One of the major criticisms directed at biofuels has been the vulnerability of the poor to rapid expansion by large-scale biofuel programmes, in particular how this expansion affects their access to land. This chapter, therefore, examines the institutional issues related to biofuels and land tenure. (Summary from Original Source)

Topics: Agriculture, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, North America, Europe

Year: 2012

Bioenergy Policies in Africa: Mainstreaming Gender amid an Increasing Focus on Biofuels

Citation:

Molony, Thomas. 2011. "Bioenergy Policies in Africa: Mainstreaming Gender amid an Increasing Focus on Biofuels." Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining 5 (3): 330-41.

Author: Thomas Molony

Abstract:

Many developing countries are now working to update their existing energy strategies and to formulate their bioenergy policies to accommodate rises in domestic and external supply and demand for biofuels. This paper presents a case for mainstreaming gender into African countries’ bioenergy policies, and uses a review of the literature on gender and bioenergy to suggest some important avenues for future research to expand the current poor state of information on gender and the newer issue of biofuels. The paper opens with a brief discussion on the motivation for interest in biofuels in some African countries and suggests that in the integrated global context of biofuels, the conditions that generate inequality between rich and poor remain unchanged. It then discusses equity and energy poverty, and points to the lack of empirical evidence on gender issues relating specifically to biofuels. From this it turns to our knowledge of what the existing state of broader bioenergy use can tell us about bringing gender equity to African national bioenergy policies, and suggests that gender equity can be ‘energized’ through a perspective that focuses as much on social roles and relations between men and women as it does on ascribed responsibilities. National level bioenergy Policy Working Groups (PWGs) are then introduced as having an important role to play in ensuring that gender issues are mainstreamed into bioenergy policy within the context of the increasing focus on biofuels.

Keywords: gender, women, bioenergy, policy, development, Africa

Topics: Agriculture, Development, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Energy Regions: Africa, East Africa, West Africa Countries: Malawi, Mali, Tanzania

Year: 2011

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