From evidence to policy: advancing gender equality in agricultural climate action

Across twelve countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, SCALA is documenting the gender gaps that hold back climate action — and working with governments to close them. On the occasion of International Women's Day 2026, SCALA celebrates the efforts being made across the world to close the gender gap in agricultural climate action.

In all of the countries where SCALA operates, women have critical roles in agriculture, all along value chains — yet they remain systematically excluded from the resources and decisions that shape how the agriculture sector is responding to the threats posed by climate change. Women farmers often lack equal access to funding, technologies, extension services and information on climate-resilient cropping practices and weather patterns. This gap reduces farm productivity and income while at the same time, increasing women’s vulnerability to climate change impacts.

Another challenge is the lack of policy coherence and coordination between government ministries, which can make it difficult to integrate gender considerations into climate action in agriculture. That’s why programmes like SCALA are placed to help, by working with partners to strengthen coordination, build the evidence based needed for policy and planning and conduct gender analyses to better understand the gender issues in specific agriculture subsectors. The results are then used to inform climate plans and funding proposals, aiming to ensure that climate plans in land use and agriculture respond to the needs of both women and men — and that the barriers preventing women's full participation are identified and addressed at every stage.

Understanding the barriers to act on them

In Costa Rica, a study of 123 women livestock keepers found that 85 percent receive no economic compensation for their farm work, despite contributing substantially to production through rotational grazing, animal nutrition and sustainable pasture management. One woman interviewed described being turned away at a bank:

“I have gone to a bank and the guy said to me — tell your husband to come because I can approve him and not you. That day I left very upset because it is the same, we work in the same job, we do the same things.” — Woman livestock keeper, Costa Rica.

In Mongolia, government incentives for wool, cashmere and dairy are paid to accounts held by male household heads, even when women do the bulk of production and processing. This is particularly striking given that women make up 48 percent of Mongolia's agricultural workforce — yet assets and incentives remain registered in the name of the male household head, leaving women financially dependent despite their substantial contributions.

The unequal division of household labour and the value placed on traditionally female tasks also shapes the lives of women in agriculture households.  A single mother from Colombia captures it plainly:

"Housework is something that is stigmatized a lot, but I think the problem is that there is no remuneration. Cooking is how we feed the family, how we are all well — it is a very important job. The problem is that men are then in charge of bringing in the money, and since they have money, they are more free." — Tania, rural woman, Guasca, Colombia.

From analysis to action

Gender analysis findings from the SCALA programme are being translated into concrete government commitments. To date, 21 ministries have adopted sectoral plans integrating gender-responsive priorities, nine NDCs and NAPs have been enhanced with gender-responsive targets, and 782 people have been trained on gender, nature-based solutions and climate finance.

In Costa Rica, a formal agreement with the National Livestock Corporation is putting gender analysis recommendations into practice through the Mujeres Ganaderas programme. As part of this, an institutional assessment of gender integration practices across the livestock sector has been completed, which will inform the design of targeted capacity-building and awareness-raising activities for women livestock keepers.

In Senegal, women farmer organizations in the Niayes region are receiving support to adopt agroecology practices and build viable business models- and SCALA is contributing to the incorporation of gender and social inclusion into Senegal's NDC3.0, in direct partnership with the Ministry of Environment.

In Mongolia, a training workshop on gender-responsive climate budgeting brought together government stakeholders to apply gender-responsive approaches under the country's Green Budgeting framework, while a concept note on climate-resilient fruit and berry value chains places women's empowerment and water security at its core.

Women as agents of climate solutions

SCALA’s analyses consistently find that women are already leading. In Colombia, women head cooperatives, community action boards and food processing associations. In Ethiopia, women own and manage poultry production — with 54 percent of poultry owned by women compared to 47 percent for men, and income from egg and poultry sales typically controlled by women. In Costa Rica, women livestock keepers are already implementing many practices promoted by national climate programmes, from rotational grazing to organic fertilization, often without formal recognition or support.

This evidence matters beyond individual countries. At COP30 in Belém, parties adopted the Belém Gender Action Plan —a new nine-year framework running from 2026 to 2034 that includes the use of disaggregated data and gender analysis for decision-making and calls for integrating gender into national climate policies, plans and reporting under the UNFCCC. It is a recognition that gender-responsive climate policy requires sustained, structured commitment at the global level. SCALA's work on the ground is a direct contribution to that agenda: translating the evidence of women's roles, barriers and leadership into the national climate plans that feed into global commitments.

Advancing gender equality in agriculture is not a separate objective from climate action-it is a condition for it. For example, closing gender gaps in agriculture could increase global gross domestic product by nearly US$1 trillion as well as reduce the number of people affected by food insecurity by 45 million. Investing in women's full participation in agriculture is not a cost — it is the most direct path to more effective, equitable and resilient agrifood systems. Through 2028, SCALA will continue deepening this work across all partner countries, with the conviction that climate plans are only as strong as their ability to reach and respond to everyone.

The Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture through Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA) programme is jointly implemented by FAO and UNDP and funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI).