Gender differential impacts of climate change on smallholders’ farm income

Abstract Addressing gender inequality addresses both climate change and food insecurity, as women play a crucial role in environmental protection and food production. However, there are limited empirical studies on the climate change-gender-agriculture nexus. The objectives of this study are to: (1) examine the gender differential impacts of climate change on smallholders’ net farm income, (2) test if the impact varies by the functional forms of climate variables, and (3) examine the impacts of the farm size-climate change nexus on farm income. The household survey of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) for Ethiopia from 2015 to 2016 and the web version of the International Panel for Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5) were the sources of data. Descriptive statistics and the pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) model were employed for data analysis. The descriptive statistics results showed that, in almost all climate variables, men experienced higher mean seasonal rainfall and temperature than women. However, the POLS model results revealed two contrasting impacts of climate change on women: When a climate variable is favourable to crops, women earn more net farm income than men, but when a climate variable is damaging to crops, they lose by far more than men. The study recommends, given the climate sensitiveness of women’s farms, that government, policymakers, stakeholders, and practitioners shall strive to improve the adaptive capacity of women to climate change and create better opportunities to enable them to contribute to the betterment of food security and environmental protection.