Gender-responsive Ecosystem-based Adaptation: A case study from El Salvador

Coffee represents the backbone of the economy in El Salvador, with the vast majority produced by small-scale farmers. Almost 80% farmers cultivate on small plots of less than 3.5 hectares. However, changing temperatures make growing coffee more difficult, while dependence on coffee alone leaves producers vulnerable to fluctuating prices on the global market. Increasing temperatures across coffee-growing regions in El Salvador have led to a loss of both the quantity and quality of coffee (Bravo-Ureta et al. 2022). Women represent about a third of all coffee producers in El Salvador. Women coffee producers have less access to land, resources and credit than men, limiting their capacity to earn a living and leaving them more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. On the other hand, women have a unique relationship with nature, possessing local ecological knowledge and skills critical for climate change adaptation.