Strengthening Community Resilience to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change with an Emphasis on Food Security and Gender Considerations in Priority Areas of Ecuador - FORECCSA+

The gender assessment for the FORECCSA+ project in Ecuador reveals deep-seated structural inequalities and patriarchal norms that limit rural women's access to land, credit, and decision-making power. Despite a progressive national legal framework, including the 2023 Violet Economy Law, rural women continue to face a double burden of productive and unpaid care work, with significant gaps in land ownership and technical training. Survey data indicates that approximately 20-25% of men surveyed hold sexist attitudes that normalize the subordination of women and certain forms of gender-based violence. The report identifies these gaps as strategic opportunities for the project to implement gender-transformative adaptation measures, focusing on the empowerment of rural women and youth to enhance community resilience and food security.

• Rural women in Ecuador face systemic barriers to accessing productive resources, with a strong male bias in land ownership. Survey results show that 65.8% of men and 66% of women believe "Men own more land than women".
• Gender inequality is reflected in decision-making and resource control; 51.6% of men and 45.3% of women agree that "Men are the ones who decide on the family's money/resources", and 63% of men and 56% of women believe men decide on agricultural tools and technologies.
• There is a significant normalization of sexist attitudes and gender-based violence (GBV). Between 20-25% of men surveyed expressed views justifying the subordination of married women or minimizing GBV, with 25.1% of men stating "Women must obey their husbands; this is what God commands".
• A high percentage of respondents fail to recognize non-physical abuse as violence; over 50% of both men (53.5%) and women (54.9%) indicated that "Insulting and offending women is not violence".
• Rural youth migration is primarily driven by economic factors rather than climate impacts; 86.8% of men and 81.1% of women identified the "lack of job opportunities in the agricultural sector" as the main reason for migration.
• Ecuador's national gender gap is characterized by high parity in health (0.97) and education (0.99), but significant gaps in economic participation (0.68) and political empowerment (0.43) as of the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index.
• The legal framework in Ecuador has progressed with the 2023 Violet Economy Law, which requires companies with over 50 employees to submit an Equality Plan every four years and promotes equal pay and shared parental leave.
• Women's economic roles in rural areas are often invisible or unpaid; INEC data shows Ecuadorian women devote 31 hours per week to unpaid work compared to 11.3 hours for men.

APA

Espín, P., Jaramillo, L., Caza, P., Moreno, B. J., López, O., Calderón, E., Noboa, M., Herrera, M., Tarira, R., & Asqui, J. G. (2025). Strengthening Community Resilience to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change with an Emphasis on Food Security and Gender Considerations in Priority Areas of Ecuador - FORECCSA+. Green Climate Fund. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap069-gender-assessment.pdf

Chicago

Espín, Patricio, Leonardo Jaramillo, Pablo Caza, Byron J. Moreno, Osmani López, Edison Calderón, Mishell Noboa, et al. Strengthening Community Resilience to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change with an Emphasis on Food Security and Gender Considerations in Priority Areas of Ecuador - FORECCSA+. Green Climate Fund, 2025. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap069-gender-assessment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Espín |first1=Patricio |last2=Jaramillo |first2=Leonardo |last3=Caza |first3=Pablo |last4=Moreno |first4=Byron J. |last5=López |first5=Osmani |last6=Calderón |first6=Edison |last7=Noboa |first7=Mishell |last8=Herrera |first8=Mayra |last9=Tarira |first9=Ronny |display-authors=etal |title=Strengthening Community Resilience to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change with an Emphasis on Food Security and Gender Considerations in Priority Areas of Ecuador - FORECCSA+ |publisher=Green Climate Fund |date=November 2025 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap069-gender-assessment.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{espn2025strengthening, author = {Espín, Patricio and Jaramillo, Leonardo and Caza, Pablo and Moreno, Byron J. and López, Osmani and Calderón, Edison and Noboa, Mishell and Herrera, Mayra and Tarira, Ronny and Asqui, José Guillermo}, title = {{Strengthening Community Resilience to the Adverse Effects of Climate Change with an Emphasis on Food Security and Gender Considerations in Priority Areas of Ecuador - FORECCSA+}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap069-gender-assessment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }