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Paper short abstract:

Climate change has negatively affected the food system over the past decades with increased incidence of flood and drought in West Africa. These outcomes have affected both male and female’s farmers productivity and welfare differently.

Paper long abstract:

Climate change has resulted in rising incidence of flood and other extreme weather events, especially in Africa. In 2022, 8.7 million people across 20 countries were affected by flood in Central and West Africa, therefore resulting into loss of human lives, properties and livelihood and the displacement of 2.9 million people. Also, over 422 thousand hectares of farmlands were destroyed in 2020. The effect of climate change, climate adaptation and mitigation capacities differ for women and men with women being disproportionately disadvantaged in access to productive inputs like land and improved technologies. Gender equality is paramount towards achieving a sustainable food system, but it will be impossible to achieve this if women are still been denied access to full human rights and related opportunities. This study examined a gender analysis of the effect of climate change on sustainable food systems in West Africa using content analysis. Related articles from selected databases were reviewed and secondary data obtained from OCHA, National Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank. Our findings have shown that climate change aggravate gender gaps and exposure to weather shocks drive the vulnerable groups (women, children, youths and the elderly) and people who are dependent on agriculture into a deeper level of food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and ill-health. We recommend that early warning systems be put in place and both Government and Non-Governmental Organisations work together to empower farmers by scaling up sustainable practices and provide access to productive inputs especially for women.