Building women smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacities to climate change in Uganda

Uganda is becoming hotter and drier, as average temperatures have increased by 1.3°C since the 1960s while average monthly rainfall is currently decreasing by approximately 6.0 mm with each passing decade. These changes are impacting the agricultural sector, particularly in drylands and “cattle corridor” areas that stretch across the country. Rural women smallholder farmers face a myriad of gender-based constraints that raise their vulnerability to climate change shocks.

This project will strengthen the empowerment and adaptive capacity of women smallholder farmers in the cattle corridor of Uganda using gender-transformative approaches, including: training, mentorship and peer learning to promote the use of appropriate and sustainable climate-smart agronomic practices; timely weather information through women-friendly digital innovations; participatory community engagements targeting women, men, young people, and local, religious and cultural leaders; and the engagement of policy actors and practitioners in promoting gender-responsive policies. A special index measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture will be used to evaluate the interventions, and an additional module will capture changes in women’s resilience to shocks or stresses.

This project forms part of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) initiative co-funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and IDRC, a five-year, CAD120-million initiative that aims to enable inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards for people across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.