How to play the gender and climate game

This document is a facilitator's guide for the 'gender and climate game,' an experiential learning tool designed to illustrate how climate variability and change disproportionately affect women and men due to existing gender inequalities and social vulnerabilities.

• The game's primary goals are to facilitate dialogue on the vulnerability of men and women facing climate change and to explore how climate impacts exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and gender inequalities.
• The game simulates agricultural risks where players act as subsistence farmers who must invest beans (representing assets) in different seed types: normal seeds (1 bean), flood-resistant seeds (2 beans), or drought-resistant seeds (2 beans).
• The simulation introduces systemic gender inequality by assigning players roles where 'game men' start with five beans and 'game women' start with four beans, reflecting disparities in inheritance, land, and property rights.
• The game models further vulnerability through 'gender surprises' where successful harvests yield more beans for men (3 beans) than for women (2 beans), and additional penalties are applied to those who are pregnant, nursing, elderly, or disabled.
• Economic failure in the game is represented by the inability to pay a four-bean penalty after a crop failure, forcing the player to 'go to the city' and sit out for one round to earn a single bean.
• An optional 'gender-smart programming' round demonstrates a more equitable model where both men and women start with five beans and receive equal harvest payments (3 beans), while those with additional vulnerabilities (e.g., disability) receive an extra bean.

APA

de Suarez, J. M., Dupar, M., Andargatchew, A., Sandal, G., & Sadhukhan, B. (2020). How to play the gender and climate game. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-guide-to-the-simplified-and-adapted-gender-and-climate-game_2020_Ethiopia-version_final.pdf

Chicago

de Suarez, Janot Mendler, Mairi Dupar, Arsema Andargatchew, Geeta Sandal, and Bedoshruti Sadhukhan. How to play the gender and climate game. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2020. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-guide-to-the-simplified-and-adapted-gender-and-climate-game_2020_Ethiopia-version_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=de Suarez |first1=Janot Mendler |last2=Dupar |first2=Mairi |last3=Andargatchew |first3=Arsema |last4=Sandal |first4=Geeta |last5=Sadhukhan |first5=Bedoshruti |title=How to play the gender and climate game |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=2020 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-guide-to-the-simplified-and-adapted-gender-and-climate-game_2020_Ethiopia-version_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{desuarez2020how, author = {de Suarez, Janot Mendler and Dupar, Mairi and Andargatchew, Arsema and Sandal, Geeta and Sadhukhan, Bedoshruti}, title = {{How to play the gender and climate game}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2020}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-guide-to-the-simplified-and-adapted-gender-and-climate-game_2020_Ethiopia-version_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }