Gendered effect of climate shocks on resilience to food insecurity: the role of kinship norms

Social and cultural institutions interact with environmental and individual factors, shaping resilience against external shocks. Limited evidence exists regarding the impact of social and cultural norms on climate-induced food insecurity resilience. This study examines the influence of kinship norms on gender-specific food resilience outcomes among rural households facing drought. Leveraging data from the Malawi Integrated Household Survey spatially matched with climate data, matrilineal-matrilocal villages exhibit higher resilience to food insecurity (dietary diversity and nutritional quality) than other communities. Households with female land management residing in Matrilineal-Matrilocal communities show greater dietary diversity resilience. However, in the case of drought, they are found to be less resilient to food insecurity than their counterparts in other areas. We find suggestive evidence of different reallocations of men’s and women’s work hours when hit by a drought in Matrilineal-Matrilocal and other communities, possibly explaining our main result. The study highlights the need to consider socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological interactions when assessing resilience and advocates policies enhancing women’s agricultural resilience and a broader range of outside options.