” Creating a robust knowledge society on gender and climate change practice and policy in Africa’s Agricultural Systems”
Hosted by ESIPPS
GECA Research Institute is a members driven think tank of social scientists aiming to catalyse innovation and research in gender, climate change, and agriculture to inform decision making for the improvement of agricultural systems and livelihoods in Africa. The think tank is officially registered as a non-profit entity in Uganda since 2021 and has 48 members drawn from seven countries in Africa and Europe.
Vision
An informed and resilient agricultural system for Africa that integrates gender and climate change.
Mission
To generate, disseminate and support the use of information, knowledge and data on gender, climate change and agriculture nexus for a sustainable agricultural system and better livelihoods in Africa.
STRATEGIC FOCUS
2. Increase adoption of climate smart agricultural technologies for disaster risk reduction in Africa’s agricultural systems.
3. Promote the use of knowledge on gender and climate change in Africa’s agricultural systems to inform policy and decision-making processes at multiple scale.
Areas of work
The gender-climate change-agriculture nexus in Africa
Gender refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society at a given time considers appropriate for men and women. In most societies differences and inequalities between women and men exist in the responsibilities assigned, activities undertaken, access to and control over resources, and opportunities to make decisions. (https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/conceptsandefinitions.htm)
Gender inequality makes women suffer disproportionately from the adverse effects and impacts of climate change according to the UN Women organisation. To increase climate change and economic resilience for women in the agricultural sector, gender-responsive approaches are required to address the increased levels of vulnerability experienced by women, and empower them in the face of climate change (www.uncclearn.org). The global frameworks on gender integration in the face of climate change include, UNFCCC’s Enhanced Gender Action Plan and IPCC AR6-CC 2022 on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Sendai Framework’s Gender Action Plan, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG No.5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).
Gender integration in climate action is important, and this must be supported with sufficient evidence on the local context. We understand that the gender dynamic in each context is different, with gender disparities reinforced by socio-cultural, economic and political factors. At GECA Research Institute we believe that the evidence required to understand the gender-climate change-agriculture nexus in Africa’s agriculture is inadequate, fragmented, and what is available is not available to policy makers. It is with this background that we aspire to contribute to the creation of a knowledge economy for Africa, focusing on the 3 thematic areas.
GECA’s strategy is to: Generate a pool of thematic experts, and avail a platform to enhance expert interaction and knowledge exchange on issues affecting African agriculture; Document proven gender responsive solutions, innovations and technologies in climate smart agriculture; Build research capacity to generate new knowledge, and validate and improve on existing knowledge; Strengthen social safeguarding measures for women and youth in agriculture; and build knowledge dissemination mechanisms to increase uptake of new innovations and technologies in agriculture, and support decision making in sustainable agriculture.
GOVERNANCE
The GECA Advisory Board is the governing body with nine members, and provide organisational oversight, and formulate and approve work programmes and annual workplans.
The GECA Secretariat is the operational arm of the think tank and is headed by an Executive Secretary. The primary responsibility of the secretariat is to implement the decisions and resolutions of the Board, and support the members to innovate and deliver interventions along GECA’s thematic programmes.
For more information contact:
GECA Secretariat at ESIPPS International,
Tel: +256 772 523057, Email: geca@esipps.org
www.esipps.org/geca
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geca-research-institute-408206309/