1. Enhancing Women’s Assets to Manage
Risk under Climate Change: Potential
for Group-Based Approaches
Workshop on “Gender and Agriculture: A Focus on Bangladesh”
Lakeshore Hotel, Gulshan, Dhaka
June 18, 2014
http://womenandclimate.ifpri.info/
This work is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
under the project ‘‘Enhancing Women’s Assets to Manage Risk under Climate Change: Potential for
Group–Based Approaches,’’ and forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies Institutions and
Markets (PIM).

2. Background
• Role of climate change for food security and
poverty reduction recognized
– Increasing international research efforts on the topic
• “Gender and climate change”
– Increasingly recognized as important concern
– Frequent claims that women are disproportionately
affected by climate change, but
• limited evidence base and lack of understanding of WHY that
is the case
– Hence: Limited basis for sound policy
recommendations
• Insights from previous research
– Climate change adaptation as risk management
• Need to focus on role of assets and collective action
• Research gap: Gender perspective

3. Background
• Role of climate change for food security and
poverty reduction recognized
– Increasing international research efforts on the topic
• “Gender and climate change”
– Increasingly recognized as important concern
– Frequent claims that women are disproportionately
affected by climate change, but
• limited evidence base and lack of understanding of WHY that
is the case
– Hence: Limited basis for sound policy
recommendations
• Insights from previous research
– Climate change adaptation as risk management
• Need to focus on role of assets and collective action
• Research gap: Gender perspective

4. Background
• Role of climate change for food security and
poverty reduction recognized
– Increasing international research efforts on the topic
• “Gender and climate change”
– Increasingly recognized as important concern
– Frequent claims that women are disproportionately
affected by climate change, but
• limited evidence base and lack of understanding of WHY that
is the case
– Hence: Limited basis for sound policy
recommendations
• Insights from previous research
– Climate change adaptation as risk management
• Need to focus on role of assets and collective action
• Research gap: Gender perspective

5. Background
• Role of climate change for food security and
poverty reduction recognized
– Increasing international research efforts on the topic
• “Gender and climate change”
– Increasingly recognized as important concern
– Frequent claims that women are disproportionately
affected by climate change, but
• limited evidence base and lack of understanding of WHY that
is the case
– Hence: Limited basis for sound policy
recommendations
• Insights from previous research
– Climate change adaptation as risk management
• Need to focus on role of assets and collective action
• Research gap: Gender perspective

6. Bangladesh: Network Structure
• Network highly
centralized
• Several different
core actors: the
most important of
which are UNDP,
Min. of Food and
Disaster
Management
(MoFDM), and Min.
of Envir. and
Forests (MOEF)
• Two distinct
clusters: one
dominated by
research orgs, the
other by donors,
multilaterals, and
govt actors
Government
Local Government
Donor/Multi-lateral
NGO
Research
Target Group
 Advice
 Funding

7. Bangladesh: Target Groups
• Target groups directly
engaged with farmers
and fishers on climate
change adaptation:
BCAS, CARE, BRAC,
and Practical Action

8. Bangladesh: Influence
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Influence
• MoFDM,’s Comprehensive
Disaster Management
Programme (CDMP) coordinates
adaptation activities
• MoA through the Department of
Agricultural Extension (DAE)—is
influential due to direct ties with
farmers (advice and support)
• Two key government bodies—
LGED and BWDB—support
climate change adaptation
through the development of
infrastructure and management
of water resources, although
governance issues are a concern

9. Conclusions from NetMap exercise
• Govt is serious about addressing climate
change (e.g. establishment of Bangladesh
Climate Change Trust Fund)
• Many barriers remain:
– lack of participation of small farmers/fishers in the
policymaking process
– lack of coordination of efforts/approaches
– Private business interests take precedence
• Recommendations for IFPRI:
– Target both policymakers and
communities/NGOs
– Tap into research networks (e.g. Action Research
on Community-based Adaptation Project
(ARCAP), BCAS climate change development
forum)

10. Practitioner survey in 4 focus
countries
• What is the capacity of organizations in
designing and implementing climate change
adaptation activities in focus countries?
• What is the level of capacity for and
importance given by organizations to gender
analysis related to climate change adoption
activities?
• What are the main barriers and constraints
faced by organizations working on climate
change issues?

11. • Clarity of mission and mandate on climate change
• Policy or strategy on climate change
• Adequacy of resources (physical and financial)
• Human resources
• Staff motivation
• Organization and management systems
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E)
• External enabling environment
• Gender responsiveness
• Collective action and group-based approaches
Indicators used to access
organizational capacity

12. Importance vs. practice
(gender-disaggregated data)
Perceived importance
vs actual practice
Bangladesh
(14)*
Ethiopia
(26)
Kenya (36) Mali (11)
Do not collect, analyze,
or report gender-
disaggregated data
25 76 72 59
Collect, analyze, or report
data on women, men,
girls, and boys in
household
41 14 19 15
Collect, analyze, or report
data on female-headed
households and male-
headed households
34 11 9 26

13. • Attention to gender issues is perceived by
practitioners as important during the design
and planning stage of climate change-related
activities
• But gender issues receive much less attention
during implementation and even less during
M&E.
• Gender-disaggregated data collection,
monitoring, and reporting are rarely done as
part of their organizations’ climate change–
related activities.
Key Messages I/II

14. • To improve outcomes, need organizational
capacity strengthening for local organizations
working in and providing services to rural
communities
• .. and for promoting a culture of impact and
M&E within these organizations
• Important training needs in climate change
management and in gender and social
analysis.
Key Messages II/II

15. Microinsurance Experiments: Hypotheses
1. Do men and women prefer different kind of
insurance products? Do they have different
risk preferences?
2. Do farmers prefer to buy insurance against
more frequent bad events or bad events
that are less frequent? (e.g. major floods that
occur every 2-3 years or the really devastating
ones that happen every 10 years or so)
3. How does the willingness to buy such
insurance vary with price?
(joint work with University of Oxford and MTID)

16. Microinsurance Experiments: Method
– Field experiments playing insurance purchase games with
farmers in rural Bangladesh in two districts, Manikganj and
Bogra.
– 60 sessions in 20 villages; 20 all men, 20 all women, 20 mixed
– Each session has 12-15 participants and 3 games
– Show-up fee 50 Taka and earnings in the game were paid out
(average expected earning 300 Taka)
– Sessions were randomly selected to get insurance either at an
actuarially fair price or a subsidized price
– Order of the games were randomized across sessions

17. Microinsurance Experiments: Sample
• On average respondents are 38 years old, 50 percent
men with 4.6 years of schooling live in households of 5
members.
• Main occupation- self-employed in agriculture (44%) or
housework (47%). More than 92% grow paddy in both
seasons.
• Own on average 90 decimals of land.
• Face a multitude of agricultural risks- pests(37%), lack of
rain(17%), too much rain/flood(14/12%), deficient
irrigation water.
• Some familiarity with insurance- 16% ever bought life
insurance

18. Overall results
• Extremely high take-up rates reflect that behavior in experimental
settings may be different from real life decision making, but can
indicate relative demand for insurance products
• No significant difference between men and women on the
probability of buying any insurance.
– However, men buy a larger number of units as compared to women
• More risk averse individuals bought fewer units of insurance
– Scope for better design which can reduce basis risk
• Fewer units were bought when price was higher
• Gendered results:
– For women, but not men, wealth was an important determinant of
number of units purchased
– Women who were more financially literate purchased fewer units when
offered at the actuarially unfair price

19. Next two presentations
• Impacts of climatic and other shocks on men’s and
women’s assets
• Men’s and women’s knowledge and practice of
climate change adaptation techniques
• For more, see http://womenandclimate.ifpri.info/

20. Page 20
Publications
Published
• P1 Goh, A.H.X. 2012. A literature review of the gender-differentiated
impacts of climate change on women’s and men’s assets and well-
being in developing countries. CAPRi Working Paper No. 106
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/capriwp106.pdf
• 2 Bryan, E. and J. Behrman. 2013. Community-based adaptation to
climate change: A Theoretical Framework, Overview of Key Issues and
Discussion of Gender Differentiated Priorities and Participation. CAPRi
Working Paper No. 109.
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/capriwp109.pdf
• P3 Ragasa, C., Y. Sun, E. Bryan, C. Abate, A. Alemu and M. Namori
Keita. 2013. Organizational and institutional issues in climate change
adaptation and risk management. Insights from practitioners’ survey in
Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya and Mali. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1279.
Washington DC: IFPRI.
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01279.pdf
• P4 Davis, P, S. Ali. 2013. Exploring local perceptions of climate-change
impact and adaptation in rural Bangladesh
• http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01322.pdf

21. Page 21
Publications
Completed, but not yet published
• C1 Aberman, N., R. Birner, E. Haglund, M. Ngigi, S. Ali, B. Okoba, D. Kone and
T. Alemu. 2013. Understanding the policy landscape for climate change
adaptation: a cross-country comparison using the Net-Map method.
Unpublished report.
• C2 Dillon, A. 2013. Gender, Farm Assets, and the Role of Climate Variability on
Production Possibilities. Presented at 2012 CAPRi workshop.
• C3 Beaman, L. and A. Dillon. 2013. Diffusion of Agricultural Technologies within
Social Networks: Evidence from Composting in Mali.
• C4 Donnelly, A. 2013. Potential for Group-Based Approaches to Enhance
Security Assets for Women to Manage Risks under Climate Change: A PRA in
Ethiopia.
• C5 Quisumbing, A.R. and N. Kumar. 2013. Do More Secure Land Rights for
Women Encourage Conservation? The Medium-term Impacts of the
Ethiopian Land Certification.
• C6 Quisumbing, A and N. Kumar. 2013. Do Shocks Affect Men’s and Women’s
Assets Differently? Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda.
• C7 Kumar, N. Microinsurance Decisions: Evidence from Bangladesh.

22. Page 22
Publications
In progress
• I1 Alemu, T. and H. Elias. Shocks and household asset dynamics in
rural Ethiopia
• I2 Ngigi, M. and others Gender, assets and climate risk
management in Kenya
• I3 Jolowicz, S. Rehabilitating Communal Assets in Rural Ethiopia -
Governance Challenges and the Role of Women"
• I4 Rakib, M. Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture and
Livestock – the Case of Bangladesh
• I5 Rakib, M. Gender Differentiated Asset Dynamics in Bangladesh
[[to be added, gendered climate change shocks/asset impacts]]
• I6 Ngigi, M. Farmers’ motives for adapting to climate-smart
practices in Kenya using means-end analysis

23. Page 23
Publications
• I7 Ngigi, M. The role of gender and social capital in the intensity of
adaptation to climate change in Kenya
• I8 Ngigi, M. Impact of shocks on household assets accumulation
and poverty traps in Kenya
• I9 Gender, Risk Preferences and Adaptation to climate change:
Experimental evidence from Ethiopia, Helen Berga, Tekie Alemu
and others
• I10 Aberman, N. Assessing the governance of community-based
adaptation: mapping gender-focused initiatives in rural Kenya
• I11 Aberman, N. Women’s engagement in climate change
adaptation: Perceptions of power and knowledge in Western
Kenya
http://womenandclimate.ifpri.info/