Linking gender and climate experts for adaptation planning in The Gambia

The joint UNDP-FAO Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) Programme supports partner countries to identify and integrate climate adaptation measures for the agricultural sectors into relevant national planning and budgeting processes. The programme is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), through its International Climate Initiative (IKI).

22 May 2018 – In order to raise awareness of the gender dimensions of adaptation among key actors in The Gambia, the NAP-Ag programme organized a 2-day workshop in Jenoi Village, Lower River Region on 3 and 4 May. Twenty-one participants from the nonprofit, academic, UN and government sectors traveled to the Jenoi Agricultural Training Centre in order to share their expertise and to identify linkages between gender equality, agricultural development, and climate change adaptation.

Prior to the workshop, a detailed literature review and stakeholder analysis were conducted, in order to document the gender-agriculture-adaptation context in The Gambia. These reviews identified possible entry points and challenges to mainstreaming gender in adaptation planning in agriculture as well as examples of ongoing gender mainstreaming at different policymaking levels. 

The workshop served as an opportunity to validate some of the findings of the stakeholder analysis. In addition, with a range of presentations and ample time for group discussions, it afforded key stakeholders an opportunity to challenge assumptions about what gender means and to exchange knowledge on how to link gender and climate change issues in practice.

The first day featured a presentation by Ms. Amie Fabureh, Director of Horticulture, Ministry of Agriculture and Gender Focal Point, on the topic of the gender gap in agriculture in The Gambia. This was complemented by a presentation on gender concepts by Ms. Isatou Ndaw, National Gender Expert, Gambia College. Together, these presentations generated fruitful discussions in which participants reflected on such themes as gender roles, responsibilities and attributes that are socially created; biases; and how organizations may be more supportive of women employees.

Participants also got the possibility to engage with presenters from ActionAid on land tenure, Vicasa Apex (a microfinance organization), and FAO project straff. The day’s activities were rounded out by a session on tools for conducting gender analysis in the context of climate vulnerability and capacity assessments, where participants were given the opportunity to practice analytical tools by interacting with local villagers.

On the second day of the workshop, participants deepened their understanding of gender analysis tools that can be applied in adaptation work with a presentation on the Gender Action Learning System applied in Uganda. Then, given that many participants’ main responsibilities are in project implementation, a presentation and small group work were carried out on the topic of gender mainstreaming in adaptation projects, with a focus on indicators and logframes. The final presentation focused on gender analysis in the local level planning process, which was followed by a discussion on linking different levels of planning. The workshop then concluded with a discussion around gender mainstreaming checklists, and with participants identifying next steps after the workshop.

The NAP-Ag team in The Gambia is now exploring opportunities for building on the awareness generated, including supporting gender champions to enhance gender mainstreaming in adaptation planning as well as the possibility of replicating this type of workshop in a Training of Trainers format. In addition, the training materials utilized in this workshop will be combined with those used in other NAP-Ag countries into a global training curriculum.