The meanings of resilience in climate justice: women smallholder farmers’ responses to agricultural shocks in Uganda under the spotlight

Abstract

abstract Climate crisis has become a global concern resulting in increased frequency of climate hazards and agricultural shocks. Women who dominate agricultural production in Africa are considered the most vulnerable to these shocks due to their reliance on the natural ecosystem for production, compounded by the persistent gender inequalities that make up the social ecology in which they live. Climate activism as a strategy for promoting social change has a potential for strengthening resilience, especially fostering change in the systems that limit women farmer’s resilience to climate change shocks. With multiple initiatives to support households to adapt to the various agricultural shocks, the question needs to be asked, to what extent do initiatives aim at changing the systems/structures and the social ecology that limit women’s resilience to climate change shocks? The article draws on a baseline survey conducted in two districts in Uganda in 2022 that employed a mixed methods approach. The article interrogates the existing initiatives’ potential to strengthen women’s resilience to climate related agricultural shocks in the context of climate justice. With reference to a social-ecological model of resilience, the article illuminates the extent to which these efforts have contributed to transforming the social ecologies that limit women’s resilience. The findings suggest the need for women’s climate activism and organising to effectively address the underlying social and gender norms that continue to limit women’s empowerment and resilience to climate related agricultural shocks in Uganda.