2026/03/11 by Mélissa Hidrobo, Valerie Mueller, Shalini Roy +3 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Social Sciences · #Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development #Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration #Climate change impacts on agriculture
paper · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2026.103066
openalex publication_date 2026/03/11 · openalex created_date 2026/03/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Women and girls (WGs) have important roles in making agrifood systems more climate resilient. However, systemic inequalities in access to resources, technologies, information, services, and networks, alongside limited agency and restrictive gender norms, reduce their capacity to adapt to and mitigate climate change. WGs’ constraints on adaptation bear implications on the wellbeing of WGs, their households, and the sustainability of agrifood systems. With growing recognition that social protection helps promote WGs’ resilience in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) at large scale, stakeholders are interested in developing social protection programs that are responsive to both climate change and gender inequality. However, little is known about effective approaches. We develop a conceptual framework on how social assistance – the most prevalent type of social protection programming in many LMICs – affects WGs’ coping, adaptive, and mitigative responses to climate hazards. We reflect on the emerging evidence and propose recommendations on program design features that may more effectively promote WGs’ climate resilience in agrifood systems. We additionally highlight important directions for future research to guide practice.