Climate-smart agriculture takes off, thanks to ‘women-friendly’ tools and a gender-smart approach

The document highlights how a gender-responsive approach and the introduction of 'women-friendly' tools accelerated the adoption of climate-smart agriculture in Nepal's Gandaki province. It identifies key barriers to implementation, such as government staff's lack of technical knowledge and male bias in technology design, and outlines strategies to overcome them, including 'travelling seminars' for political leaders and site-specific agricultural plans.

• Climate change and unsustainable farming practices, such as the over-application of chemicals, threaten the livelihoods of two-thirds of Nepalis working in agriculture across three agro-ecological regions: the high hill, mid hill, and Terai. These regions face diverse hazards including drought, landslides, hailstorms, floods, and heat waves, which erode top soils and impact food security.
• Women farmers in Nepal are disproportionately affected by climate hazards due to structural power inequalities and limited access to resources, a situation exacerbated by the exodus of men for overseas employment.
• The adoption of climate-smart agriculture was accelerated by introducing 'women-friendly' tools—specifically the jab planter, millet thresher, and hand-held corn sheller—which reduced physical drudgery and were better suited to women's use than labour-intensive conventional methods.
• Successful implementation of the Chief Minister’s Environment Friendly Model Agriculture Village Programme (CMEFMAVP) required overcoming several hurdles through targeted interventions: training government staff to address technical knowledge gaps, using 'travelling seminars' to engage political leaders, and developing site-specific plans integrated into local agricultural strategies.

APA

Bhusal, A., Sherpa, L., & Khatri, L. (2020). Climate-smart agriculture takes off, thanks to ‘women-friendly’ tools and a gender-smart approach. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Essentials_Nepal-Final.pdf

Chicago

Bhusal, Aastha, Lakpa Sherpa, and Laxman Khatri. Climate-smart agriculture takes off, thanks to ‘women-friendly’ tools and a gender-smart approach. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2020. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Essentials_Nepal-Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bhusal |first1=Aastha |last2=Sherpa |first2=Lakpa |last3=Khatri |first3=Laxman |title=Climate-smart agriculture takes off, thanks to ‘women-friendly’ tools and a gender-smart approach |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=September 2020 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Essentials_Nepal-Final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bhusal2020climatesmart, author = {Bhusal, Aastha and Sherpa, Lakpa and Khatri, Laxman}, title = {{Climate-smart agriculture takes off, thanks to ‘women-friendly’ tools and a gender-smart approach}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN-Essentials_Nepal-Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }