| Bibliography |
Malala, E. (2024) Lessons from the gendered impacts of climate change on agriculture in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, NRI Spotlight, Vol.17 (2), 1-5, URL: https://pngnri.org/index.php/our-research/home |
| Abstract / Content summary |
Globally, there is evidence of a gender gap in agriculture, meaning that women face more constraints than men in accessing resources, markets, and services (Patil & Babus, 2018). This is also evident in PNG with more women farmers facing these challenges than men because of low literacy and education levels, societal and cultural norms as well as family (household) responsibilities. Women’s involvement in agriculture is mostly in food crops and not cash crops, as more emphasis on extension services is put on cash crops where men are mostly involved (Pamphilon & Mikhailovich, 2017; Cahn & Liu, 2008).
Most of the fresh food produced in PNG is by women farmers (Bourke & Harwood, 2009). Women are mostly involved in running the household and taking care of the domestic garden that supplies the house with food and may also be sold for income, whereas men spend more time on
cash crops like coffee, cocoa, oil palm and copra. This is slowly beginning to change with a shift in this trend as more men are transitioning to producing and selling food crops in the markets and women moving into cash crop production (Nordhagen et al., 2020).
This paper uses the UN Women’s data from the gender analysis of the ‘Adaptation of Small-Scale Agriculture (ASSA) for improved food security of resilient communities in Papua New Guinea’ project in Enga Province. The study was done to collect baseline information about the farmers
who would be involved in a project aimed at adopting climate-smart practices to improve agricultural practices and farmer livelihoods. The data was collected through focus group discussions of men and women separately and a mixed group of both men and women. The paper discusses
how women and men in Enga Province are dealing with the impacts of climate change on agriculture. It also makes recommendations of actions that can be taken to reduce the negative impacts of climate change, improve production and sustain food security. |