Gender equality and sustainable development: A cross-country study on women's contribution to the adoption of the climate-smart agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

Women face severe gender-specific constraints and have minimal part in the farm decision-making systems in sub-Saharan Africa. This leads to additional barriers in the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies. This paper contributes to the gender debate by focusing on intra-household gender dynamics that influence the adaptive capacities of small-holder farmers. Using a multi-country approach, and considering Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania as case studies, an endogenous-switching poisson regression model was conducted to (i) assess factors influencing the probability of women's engagement in agricultural technology decision-making; (ii) ascertain the effect of women's participation in farm decision-making on climate-smart agriculture adoption. The findings indicate a degree of complexity in women's roles within their communities and family contexts. While in Malawi women participating in the farm decision-making process positively affects CSA adoption, in the other countries their role remains marginal or negatively related with farm sustainability. Such women's empowerment is indeed influenced by the existence of social, regulatory, and cultural elements that uniquely define the considered countries. Context-specific policies that prioritize rural-women, youths, and other marginalized groups can enhance CSA adoption and thereby contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals such as gender equality, climate action and zero hunger in developing contexts.