Climate Information and Kenya's Women Smallholder Farmers: A Needs Assessment

Sauti East Africa

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Abstract: Climate change poses significant challenges for development programmes that target gender inequalities in areas of agricultural productivity,farm incomes,and food security. Considering that four out of five women in developing countries report agriculture as their primary economic activity,the consequential effects of increasing climate volatility is likely to have a disproportionate impact on women. One proposed solution strategy to mitigate the impact of climate change volatility is to improve the planning and decision-making process of farmers by supplying ICTenabled weather and climate information resources. Meaningfully implementing these ICT-based solutions for women farmers in developing countries,however,requires solution designers to pay careful attention to the gender dynamics of information accessibility,digital literacy,and capacity. This report assesses the climate-related information needs of Kenya’s women smallholder farmers with the objective to inform meaningfully relevant and accessible information solutions in the region.