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Paper short abstract:

The paper highlights the potential of using mobile internet to support climate adaptation from a gender perspective. It explores the gendered challenges surrounding information, communication dynamics and decision-making for climate adaptation and around access and use of the mobile internet.

Paper long abstract:

The use of the mobile internet is rapidly spreading among the rural Global South. Despite the growing number of mobile services available, the gender-specific challenges in digital access and use remain under-researched. Furthermore, there is little evidence on how such services are used differently by women and men and how they impact on behaviours and livelihoods.

Digital Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (E-PICSA) is a digitally-supported climate and agricultural extension approach that builds on the existing PICSA approach which has been implemented in over 25 countries. Under a research project of E-PICSA, a gender-focused needs assessment for digital climate services has been conducted. This assessment uses a mixed method approach with a quantitative survey with 400 men and women farmers, randomly-sampled from 4 districts of Zambia and Malawi, and a participatory qualitative study of 48 Focus Group Discussions.

The findings will highlight gendered challenges in respect of the access to and use of information which are important for climate adaptation; the communication dynamics within the community and household; and the decision-making processes involved in potential adaptation strategies. The paper will explore the gender imbalances in the access and use of the mobile internet with a view to understanding whether and how E-PICSA could be used within the context of these gendered challenges. The findings provide important insights for E-PICSA mobile app co-development and similar initiatives beyond the project.