Too big to ignore: Gender and climate change adaptation in the Lake Chilwa Basin

Abstract

Various studies have illustrated how gender differences could affect ecosystembased adaptation based on gender-based preferences and perceptions, social and economic roles and institutional arrangements. However, these gender aspects in climate change adaptation are seldom reflected through empirical case studies. A point of departure for this chapter is not only to document how climate change contributes to gender-based vulnerabilities but to deepen our understanding of how rural vulnerable people adapt to and mitigate the consequences of climate change and also how responses (adaptations) to climatic shocks may magnify the effects of many existing drivers of vulnerability. The Lake Chilwa Basin Climate Change Adaptation Programme (LCBCCAP) provides a valid case for the design and development of climate change adaptation programmes; it not only empowers local communities in responding to climate change but provides long-term resilience measures through equity and social justice.