How do gender approaches contribute to climate compatible development? Lessons from Kenya

The brief examines how gender-sensitive programming in urban Kisumu, Kenya, can improve climate compatible development outcomes by addressing the distinct vulnerabilities of men and women. While the PPP project demonstrated that inclusive decision-making allows for better addressing of practical needs and enables women to take leadership roles, significant barriers remain, including entrenched cultural attitudes and insufficient institutional capacity. The document recommends gender audits, the appointment of gender focal persons in county departments, and a focus on structural barriers to ensure more equitable and effective climate interventions.

• In urban Kisumu, a gender-sensitive approach to climate compatible development requires understanding how gender influences vulnerability to climate risks and the capacity of men and women to adapt. This includes ensuring both genders participate in selecting technology and designing solutions to meet specific needs, such as providing toilets for women with sanitary towel disposal bins and improving security through better lighting and lockable doors.
• The 'People's Plans into Practice' (PPP) project (2008-2013) showed that including vulnerable groups in decision-making processes better addressed their practical needs. Active participation by women in these processes led to them assuming leadership and managerial roles.
• Despite some progress, several structural and cultural hurdles impede gender integration in climate interventions. These include cultural attitudes where men dominate formal and informal spaces, a lack of technical capacity to link gender with climate change, insufficient budgets and staffing in public departments, and limited opportunities for women to participate due to multiple responsibilities.
• Gender-sensitive approaches can improve climate compatible development outcomes by increasing planning flexibility and responding to gender-based drivers of vulnerability. However, success depends on continuous dialogue among county-level policy-makers and improved coordination between programmes addressing gender and climate change, which the study notes is currently non-existent.

APA

Nyukuri, E., Naess, L. O., & Schipper, L. (2016). How do gender approaches contribute to climate compatible development? Lessons from Kenya. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Kenya-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Nyukuri, Elvin, Lars Otto Naess, and Lisa Schipper. How do gender approaches contribute to climate compatible development? Lessons from Kenya. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2016. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Kenya-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nyukuri |first1=Elvin |last2=Naess |first2=Lars Otto |last3=Schipper |first3=Lisa |title=How do gender approaches contribute to climate compatible development? Lessons from Kenya |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=May 2016 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Kenya-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nyukuri2016how, author = {Nyukuri, Elvin and Naess, Lars Otto and Schipper, Lisa}, title = {{How do gender approaches contribute to climate compatible development? Lessons from Kenya}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2016}, month = may, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Kenya-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }