Pathways to Progress
Climate Change Adaptation: Do Gender Relations Enable or Disable Decisions of Smallholder Women Farmers in Uganda? View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Flavia Amayo
The ability of smallholder women farmers to make decisions about how to adapt to climate change is fundamental to their livelihoods and agriculture performance in the global south. Much as women actively engage in agriculture and it forms their major source of livelihood, a myriad of encumbrances constrain their ability to decide what adaptation strategies to implement. It’s worth noting that, the manner in which farmers relate may contribute to how they will respond to climate change and gain from agriculture. Among most smallholder women farmers, gender disparities in resource access and opportunities such as agricultural extension services, training and climate information among other social, political, economic and institution impediments undermine their adaptation decisions. These entwine with power relations, norms and value systems and shape their decisions. Considering the significance of gender and relations in climate response, this research interrogates: how gender relations mediated by institutions contribute to adaptation decisions of smallholder women farmers in Uganda. It focuses on understanding how relations between male and female farmers with respect to resources, responsibilities and power shape women’s decisions about what adaptation strategies to implement. Qualitative participatory methods such as semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, Venn diagram, gender disaggregated seasonal calendar, transect walk and gender resource mapping is adopted to collect data. From this research, more insights about how gender relations links to adaption decisions are elicited. This contributes to climate change policy and practice which aim at enhancing women’s adaptation at the local government, national, regional, and international levels.
Featured Impact of Climate Change on Crop Production and Potential Adaptive Measures in the Olifants Catchment, South Africa View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mary Funke Olabanji, Obianuju Patience Ilo
Climate change is expected to substantially reduce future crop yields in South Africa, thus affecting food security and livelihood. Adaptation strategies need to be implemented to mitigate the effect of climate change-induced yield losses. In this paper, we used the WEAP-MABIA model, driven by six CORDEX climate change data for representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5, to quantify the effect of climate change on several key crops in the Olifants catchment. The study further investigated climate change adaptation such as the effects of changing planting dates with the application of full irrigation, rainwater harvesting, deficit irrigation method, and the application of efficient irrigation devices on reducing the impact of climate change on crop production. The results show that average monthly temperature is expected to increase by 1 °C to 5 °C while a reduction in precipitation ranging between 2.5% to 58.7% is projected for both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 relative to the baseline climate for 1976–2005, respectively. The results also reveal that increased temperature and decreased precipitation during planting seasons are expected to increase crop water requirements. A steady decline in crop yield ranging between 19–65%, 11–38%, 16–42%, and 5–30% for maize, soya beans, dry beans, and sunflower, respectively, is also projected under both RCPs climate change scenarios. The study concludes that adaptation measures such as the integration of changing planting dates with full irrigation application and the use of rainwater harvest will help improve current and future crop production under the impact of climate change.
Are Policy Makers Responding to Climate Change? : Considering the Gap between Science and Decision Makers View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Maria Camila Gutiérrez
It is said that governments and policymakers are not responding properly to climate change crisis but as climate science has advanced, technology has done it by responding to climate change mitigation. However, the social and economic response, and especially decision-makers acts, has not had the same evolution. Why is that happening? One of the reasons is answered by the gap between knowledge and action which is perhaps understandable with an approach to difficulties and limitations that decision-makers have in dealing with uncertainties that science cannot yet confirm. This will ensure the key points where science should facilitate to help decision-makers be more accurate when confronting the situation. On the other hand, it will be necessary to understand the decoupling of science and policy that clarifies the relationship between the IPCC and COP summits. The foregoing will allow us to see a glimpse that there is a gap to close in order to address the challenges posed by Climate Change with greater solidity from a scientific basis.
Climate Change and Energy Education in Alberta, Canada: An Intersectional Curriculum Framing Analysis View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gregory Lowan-Trudeau
This paper is comprised of a climate change and energy focused framing analysis of recently introduced revisions to Alberta, Canada’s Kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum. The theoretical framework is provided by Elliot Eisner’s three curricula—the explicit, implicit, and null—and scholarship related to intersectional climate and environmental justice, education, and communication. Thematic findings are shared in relation to what is and isn’t included in the new curriculum; ideologically motivated attempts to present falsely “balanced” perspectives on climate change and “ethical energy” in relation to Alberta’s oil and gas industry; and the role of individuals, governments, and corporations in mitigating and adapting to climate change. This paper concludes with a critical discussion of and possible alternatives to the revised curriculum with further consideration of the implications for those involved with similar endeavours in other jurisdictions across Canada and around the world. Keeping in mind the international and wicked nature of climate change, an intersectional approach to climate change curricula that recognizes the central culpability of human activity will foster more informed, invested, and action-oriented understanding for learners and educators alike.
Teacher Agency in Climate Change Education: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Elijah Jesus De Guzman
Education is crucial in addressing climate change and its impacts. Despite persistent challenges, teachers who educate students about climate change may have several experiences that influence them to strive for agency. This research focuses on temporal and relational factors influencing teachers' agency in climate change education (CCE). Recognizing teacher agency is essential to help teachers and administrators understand how teachers cope with challenges and how teachers are aided and inhibited by their situation, which may strengthen CCE. Following the interpretative phenomenological analysis, the researcher divided the study into two phases: a descriptive online survey that filtered the teachers, for the next phase, which involved semi-structured interviews. After the data analysis, four superordinate themes emerged: (1) Historical situations theme, which are the past patterns of thought and actions incorporated into their routine activities in teaching climate change; (2) Future-oriented projections theme that involves drawing upon past experiences to structure thoughts of action concerning their goals for the future; (3) Response to challenges theme that concerns the teachers' engagement in providing solutions to the current dilemmas in CCE; and (4) Interplay between the chordal triad of agency, which is the interaction between the teachers' past, future, and present dimensions. The study presented no definite agents to achieve agency, only the teachers who were actively engaged with their environments. This implies that teacher agency is a response connected to situations in which teachers take authority in their lives and lead it in a more favorable direction due to a perceived sense of responsibility.
