Gendered Power in Climate Adaptation: A Systematic Review of Pastoralist Systems

Pastoralist socio-ecological systems across Africa, Asia, and Latin America are transforming under climate stress, with adaptation patterns shaped by gendered power. I systematically reviewed 35 empirical studies (2013–2025) using PRISMA 2020 and the SWiM protocol. Searches in Web of Science and Scopus applied pre-registered inclusion criteria (empirical, pastoralist/agro-pastoralist focus, gender analysis); screening used a single reviewer with a 25% independent audit. The objective of the research was to examine power as an organising principle across four interconnected domains: labour redistribution, resource control, decision-making authority, and knowledge recognition. Most studies (≈70–80%), report increased women’s workloads alongside male control of land, water, and high-value stock, decision-making that is mitigated by committee presence without agenda/budget authority, and women’s knowledge being recorded as informal rather than actionable. Exceptions arise where inheritance or titling and decision procedures change. The paper’s innovation is a relational agency framework that links roles, rights, and records to specify tractable, auditable levers that convert participation into consequential authority. The goal is to guide context-sensitive reforms that redistribute power and improve adaptation in pastoralist systems.