Why gender matters: climate change and agriculture in India

Climate change is a threat to all livelihoods. However, people engaged in agriculture, particularly women, are disproportionately burdened by the vagaries of climate. As a consequence, existing gender inequalities in agriculture are likely to widen. This paper examines gender issues in Indian agriculture with respect to climate change and identifies gaps in integrating gender into India’s climate change and agriculture policies. It also examines the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) under the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) and the State Action Plans for Climate Change (SAPCC) of Odisha, Kerala, and Gujarat to gauge the level of gender mainstreaming in these state policies.