Climate change and women employment in agriculture in the Sahel region: An empirical insight

Abstract

In recent times, the Sahel region has been particularly identified as the flash point of climate change crisis in Africa, due to the  persistent  reliance on both biophysical factors and natural resources, especially agriculture for economic livelihood. Against this  scenario, this study  provides an empirical evidence to establish the nexus between climate change and women employment in  agriculture within the  Sahel region. The study employed panel data from 1990 to 2020 of 9 countries within the Sahel region.  Consequently, a panel Fully  Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) was used to estimate the relationship between the variables  of interest. Thus, the results  showed that about 60% of women in the Sahel region are actively employed in agriculture. However,  change in rainfall pattern has a  significant adverse effect on women employment in agriculture. In view of these findings, we  conclude that a rise in women’s  employment in agriculture would be mitigated if adverse effects of changes in rainfall pattern are  controlled. Additionally, policymakers  should be proactive in policy formulation that increases the region’s resilience and adaptation  to the future adverse effects of  agriculturally induced climate change.