Networking for gender equitable climate-smart agriculture

Climate change presents a grave and growing threat to the productivity and resilience of smallholder farming systems, impacts on which are already being felt in Pacific Island nations. Climate information plays a critical role in adaptation to these threats. Yet its accessibility and use may differ dramatically between groups of farmers, highlighting the need to understand the different paths of information exchange within communities. In this study, we examined weather and climate information sharing networks of both male and female farmers, and their perceived barriers to information access and use through a survey in three provinces in Papua New Guinea. The results provided insights about the most prominent actors as well as information sharing relationships, highlighting key gender differences. Women demonstrated stronger information connectivity with family and friends, capitalizing on close-knit networks. Conversely, the men's network showed the potential to bridge between external information sources like media, and community leaders, church groups, and friends and family. To ensure equitable communication and use of information for climate adaptation, it is important to strike a balance between the strong bonding and open exchange aspects of the network, and consider the central sources and perceived hurdles affecting access and use of this information.