Male–female sensitivity in climate-induced income insecurity: some empirical evidence from farming households in Northern Cameroon

ABSTRACT

African women's particular responsibilities in the family make them vulnerable to environmental change, exacerbated by the impacts of climate variability. In light of varying climatic conditions, this paper compares the exposure of female-headed and male-headed rural households to income risk induced by climate variation. Three hundred and twenty households and their farms are observed in the three Northern provinces of Cameroon. Most of them are livestock and crop farmers in a region characterised by high average daily temperatures, longer dry seasons, and shorter rainy seasons. The econometric assessment of incomes and market food expenditure (non-own farm-related expenses) indicates that increases in climate variability have an explicit impact on the expected farm and household incomes and expenditures on food, with significant implications for system's resilience and food security. Risk measured as variations in rainfall or temperature has an unexpected positive significant impact on incomes, with the impact more substantial in female-headed households. However, when the variations in rainfall and temperature double, households experience negative returns to income levels, indicating the insufficiency of the coping choices in cushioning the households against stronger shocks. This has significant consequences on household livelihood security.

KEYWORDS:

• Agriculture
• climate
• coping strategies
• female-headed households
• income uncertainty
• Cameroon

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ernest L. Molua

Ernest L. Molua is a Professor of Agricultural Economics in the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, Cameroon. He obtained academic degrees from the Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany and the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a member of the College of Research Associates of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, a continent-wide network of senior research scientists for natural resources management. A Fulbright Research Fellow at Yale University, USA, he also serves as a Visiting Professor to the United Nations Institute for Economic Development and Planning, Dakar, Senegal and the Africa Program of the United Nations University for Peace, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Justine E. Ayuk

Justine E. Ayuk is a Senior Lecturer of gender studies and a gender and development consultant. She holds a PhD in gender and development, Master of Science Degree in Gender Studies and a Bachelors Degree in Women Studies from the University of Buea. She has over fifteen years of teaching and research experience in the gender analysis and gender responsive approaches to development policy analysis and planning in all sectors of development. She is a visiting consultant on gender issues with the United Nations Institute for Economic Development Planning, the Africa Program of the United Nations University for Peace, and the Pan African Pan African University of the African Union.