Climate Resilience for Women

Betty Adera Foundation

Climate Resilience for Women

Climate resilience for rural women farmers through the adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture and value chain development.

Migori County, Kenya

Kenya

Nonprofit

—

We are working on the priority assignment of climate vulnerability of rural women smallholder farmers in Suna West, Migori County, Kenya. Climate change disproportionately affects these women since they depend on rain-fed agriculture, have limited access to climate-smart technology, and are denied decision-making opportunities. In Suna West, 40.5% of the population lives below the poverty line (Stat Kenya, 2023), and food insecurity is on the rise due to unpredictable rainfall, prolonged droughts, and declining soil fertility. Women-headed households have compounded constraints—poor access to training, quality inputs, markets, and credit—resulting in low productivity, undernutrition, and economic marginalization. 11% of women of reproductive age are undernourished at the national level (KDHS, 2019), and climate shocks aggravate these. At the global level, climate change is affecting the livelihoods of over 500 million smallholder farmers, most of whom are women in developing countries (FAO, 2022). Unless it is addressed through specific interventions, climate change will exacerbate gender inequality and poverty. Our intervention is focused on enhancing the adaptive capacity of 2,500 vulnerable women by means of Climate-Smart Agriculture, resilient value chain of crops, and inclusive market systems—directly addressing the intersection of climate change, gender, and food insecurity.

Our intervention is a community-led, end-to-end Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) project that aims to increase the resilience of 2,500 poor female farmers in Suna West, Migori County, Kenya. It combines on-farm training, supply of drought-tolerant crops (sorghum, cassava, and soybeans), and climate-resilient agricultural implements with inclusive value chain development. Women farmers are in 100 groups with 20 trained Trainers of Trainers (ToTs). Women farmers are trained and adopt CSA practices such as conservation tillage, intercropping, crop rotation, and post-harvest management through Farmer Field Schools and group work with agronomists, agrovets, and extension officers. We integrate low-cost technology like mobile-based advisory platforms to provide weather data, planting tips, and market prices. Solar dryers, natural fertilizers, and GIS mapping are used to reduce losses and increase yields in a sustainable manner. The initiative increases food security, improves incomes, and connects farmers with local and regional markets creating a sustainable environment where women can thrive despite climate shocks. This is not just an agriculture project this is a climate-resilient, gender-sensitive rural livelihood transformation.

Our solution will benefit 2,500 poor rural women smallholder farmers in Suna West Sub-County, Migori County, Kenya a sub-county with a 40.5% poverty level and increasing climate-related food insecurity. The women are primarily responsible for household food production and care but are structurally barred from access to credit, training, quality inputs, and markets. They are often excluded from agricultural decision-making and climate adaptation efforts, rendering them highly exposed to climate stress like floods, droughts, and soil degradation. Our solution directly assists them by constructing them into 100 farmer groups, training them through an efficient Trainer of Trainers (ToT) methodology, and instructing them with climate- resilient agriculture learning and tools. We familiarize them with drought-tolerant crops (sorghum, cassava, soybeans), mobile-based weather and market information advisory services, organic inputs, and market links. The project raises food security, income, and climate resilience through higher productivity, reduced post-harvest losses, and equitable access to markets. It also contributes to gender equality by empowering women to be decision-makers in agriculture and value chain actors so they are no longer underserved but central to community climate adaptation.