What Adaptation Strategies, as a Result of Climate Change, Do Women as Smallholder Farmers Implement? : A Study With Focus on Women in Ethiopia and Ghana.

Abstract: This Bachelor Thesis within Peace and Development Studies will present, discuss, andanalyse What adaptation strategies do women as smallholder farmers implement as aresult of climate change? The focus will be shifted from a more general perspectivewithin developing countries to Ethiopia and Ghana. The chosen structure is to develop alarger understanding and due to this shift in perspective three other, smaller, researchquestions are also present throughout the thesis. What adaptation strategies do womenas smallholder farmers implement as a result of climate change in developing countriesglobally?, What adaptation strategies do women as smallholder farmers implement as aresult of climate change in Ethiopia?, and last, What adaptation strategies do women assmallholder farmers implement as a result of climate change in Ghana? The researchobjective is to identify these adaptation strategies through a desk study which willanalyse the data published by NGOs, IGOs, and sectors within the UN. The results aimto contribute to the research problem of women being portrayed as vulnerable victimsinstead of capable actors, which is the situation in both previous and contemporaryresearch and literature. As mentioned, the methodological framework is a desk study as the collection offirst-hand data was not an option. The data used are in reports published by NGOs,IGOs, and sectors within the UN, for example UN Women, the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations. The results showed that women, to a certain extent, are capable ofovercoming barriers and implementing adaptation strategies. Some of the most commonstrategies are crop diversification and knowledge systems. However these women facemultiple challenges and barriers, simply based on their gender, which affect theiragency.