WE1.1: A Systematic Review of Gender Perspectives in Vulnerability to Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food Security in Nigeria Ifeoma Quinette Anugwa, Esdras Abréwa Rêmilokoun Obossou, Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke, Jane Mbolle Chah University of Nigeria 1 Introduction Climate change a threat to economic and agricultural development of all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria is one of the 10 most vulnerable to the climate change effects, based on the 2015 Climate Change Vulnerability Index climate change is now posing considerable challenges to Nigerian agriculture with a consequence rise in food insecurity 2 Women and girls are worse hit. Often women are more likely to be vulnerable to poverty and hunger than men Compared to men, women are often denied access to agricultural inputs and services. With women’s equal access to resources for agricultural production, yields will augment up to 30% Reducing gender inequality with women having greater access to agricultural resources will improve food security 3 Factors that can cause differences in vulnerability range from climatic to non-climatic. cultural, economic, social, institutional or otherwise, thus contributing to the vulnerability of some groups especially women Vulnerability to climate change has become a gender-specific threat that deserves special attention. To date, much of the existing literature and data on climate change vulnerabilities and gender, with a focus on agriculture and food security in the country, is scattered 4 Research questions what is the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security in Nigeria? what are the gender dimensions of social, economic and environmental impacts of climate change vulnerability on agriculture and food security? 5 Specific Objectives the term “gender” in the documents reviewed; gender-based climate change vulnerability impact on agriculture and food security; factors associated with the climate change vulnerability impact on agriculture and food security gender adaptation and mitigation to climate change impacts on agriculture and food security 6 Methodology PRISMA approach was adopted for the study, which used databases such as ScienceDirect, AGORA, AJOL, Taylor & Francis and JSTOR Different criteria for eligibility and exclusion were defined to conduct the search At the end only the journal articles with empirical data were considered Only articles published in the last 10 years (between 2010 and 2020) and dealing with Nigeria were considered 7 Results Gender has been defined in two different ways in the articles reviewed (Table 2). Table 1: Operationalization of the term Gender in the article reviewed Description Articles 1 Gender as the socially constructed roles, responsibilities and power relations between men and women Akinsemolu & Olukoya, 2020; Chinwendu et al., 2017; Nnadi et al., 2019a; Nnadi et al., 2019b; Nnadi et al. 2021; Yila & Resurreccion, 2014 ; Anugwa et al., 2020; 2 Gender as biological sex Ajaero, 2017; Sunnyet al., 2018; Ebhuoma & Simatele, 2017; Enete et al., 2016; Onuk et al., 2019; Sani Ibrahim et al., 2019 8 More studies on gender and vulnerability to climate change impacts on agriculture and food security have been conducted in the southern region of the country (Figure 1). Figure 1: Dispersion of studies reviewed per region 9 Figure 2: Number of gender and vulnerability to climate change studies conducted in Nigeria from 2010 to 2021 10 Gender-based climate change vulnerability impact on agriculture and food security In Anambra State, before the flood, many women reported being food secure, while after the flood, very few women were food secure. Indeed, women were more food insecure than men after the flood. Women have lower incomes which occur due to their dependence on their husbands 11 11 Factors associated with the gender vulnerability to climate change impacts on agriculture and food security Marital status, Larger household size Non-agricultural activities and the severity of flood damage prior to migration were the most significant factors predicting food security situation of male-headed households after the flood, Increase higher level of education and Age of the household head were relevant predictors of food security of female-headed households 12 Gender adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change impacts on agriculture and food security Men tend to engage in off-farm income-generating activities and agroforestry tree planting to adapt to floods than women Many women have adopted both agricultural and non-agricultural strategies, Both men and women practice intercropping, but fewer women than men practice this 13 Strategies to reduce gendered impact of climate change vulnerability on agriculture and food insecurity Strengthening women’s education Government and donors organisations should scale up attempts to provide food to those segments of society most vulnerable to the climate change impact, particularly women Local initiatives to increase employment must make sure that they target both men and women Communication and information 14 Conclusion . Findings show very little evidence on how gender and vulnerability interact in agriculture and food security in Nigeria. The few existing studies on the issue have focused on the link between vulnerability to the impacts of climate change in agriculture and gender, focusing on the levels of vulnerability and some implications for food security, the factors that have promoted or reduced vulnerability among men and women, and strategies to reduce the vulnerability of rural women. These studies are limited in quantities and robustness, are of short duration, conducted in a few states of the country. Existing studies pay little critical attention to gender as a social construct. 15 There are still many questions unresolved in the literature. Little is known about the long-term effects of vulnerability to climate change impacts on gender relations and social cohesion in a rural household, on social and food security, and on women’s empowerment. It is therefore recommended that researchers in Nigeria should focus more attention on exploring the nexus between climate change, gender and food security. Findings of such will contribute to proper planning and implementing the newly approved National Action Plan on Gender and Climate Change for Nigeria 16 Thank You For your audience 17