Description
Abstract
Climate change is increasingly affecting agricultural productivity, household incomes, food security and rural livelihoods in Uganda. Smallholder farmers face growing exposure to erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, floods, land degradation, pests and diseases, while limited access to finance, climate information, appropriate technologies and markets constrains their capacity to adapt. These challenges are particularly significant for women, who play major roles in agricultural production and household food security but continue to face structural constraints in accessing land, finance, productive assets, markets and decision-making.
This paper examines how gender-responsive farmer cooperatives can contribute to climate resilience and inclusive rural economic development in Uganda. It adopts a qualitative analytical approach drawing on Uganda’s agricultural and climate policy frameworks, relevant literature, and emerging experiences in cooperative development, climate-smart agriculture, agricultural finance and farmer organisation strengthening. The analysis conceptualises women not merely as vulnerable beneficiaries, but as economic actors, cooperative leaders, entrepreneurs and agents of climate adaptation.
The analysis identifies three interconnected challenges: limited access by fragmented smallholder farmers to finance and climate-resilient investments; inadequate participation and influence of women in cooperative governance and decision-making; and limited institutional capacity among some cooperatives in governance, financial management and enterprise development.
Building on these findings, the paper proposes a Gender-Responsive Climate-Resilient Cooperative Development Framework centred on five dimensions: inclusive governance and leadership; equitable access to finance and productive assets; climate-smart production and technology; collective market and enterprise development; and institutional accountability, learning and adaptation. The framework positions cooperatives as local institutions capable of aggregating farmers and investment demand, facilitating access to finance and insurance, supporting climate-smart technologies, strengthening collective marketing and value addition, and expanding women’s economic leadership.
The paper concludes that gender-responsive farmer cooperatives can provide an important institutional bridge between climate adaptation, women’s economic empowerment and rural economic transformation. It recommends integrating cooperatives into agricultural and climate-finance strategies, developing gender-responsive financial and insurance products, strengthening cooperative governance and climate-risk management, and building partnerships among cooperatives, government, financial institutions, private-sector and development partners, while strengthening inclusive rural value chains.
Keywords: Gender-responsive cooperatives; climate resilience; rural economic development; women’s economic empowerment; climate-smart agriculture; climate finance; Uganda.
| Title | Strengthening Gender-Responsive Farmer Cooperatives for Climate-Resilient Rural Economic Development in Uganda |
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