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Paper short abstract

Grounded in feminist political ecology and resilience theory, this qualitative study examines gendered perceptions of climate-resilient agriculture in coastal Bangladesh, showing women’s key adaptive roles and institutional and power constraints, calling for gender-equitable resilience pathways now.

Paper long abstract

This research examines gendered perceptions of climate-resilient agriculture (CRA), their roles in creating CRA, and gender-specific concerns relevant to resilience-building in the southwest coastal agricultural landscapes of Bangladesh. Grounded in feminist political ecology and resilience theory, the study employs a qualitative research design comprising 40 in-depth interviews, one focus group discussion, and 14 key informant interviews. The analysis explores how power relations, resource access, and institutional structures shape unequal adaptive capacities under climate stressors. Findings show that women play central roles in water collection, soil health management, homestead gardening, seed germination and transplantation, and poultry and livestock rearing—key to household and agro-ecological resilience. Across four analytical dimensions—access to adaptation technologies and validated practices, access to and availability of financial resources, policy and institutional support, and macroeconomic pressures—women in Shyamnagar have increasingly adopted climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices as everyday strategies of resilience. However, their adaptive capacity remains constrained by intersecting knowledge inequalities, structural and institutional barriers, and gendered power relations that limit decision-making authority and resource control. Consistent with feminist political ecology, the study demonstrates that adaptation initiatives are not inherently gender-equitable and may reproduce existing inequalities if gendered power dynamics are ignored. From a resilience perspective, sustainable and transformative adaptation requires addressing social differentiation alongside ecological change. The study recommends four strategic actions: (i) ensuring equitable access to resources and services, (ii) empowering women in agricultural decision-making processes, (iii) strengthening women farmers’ capacities through targeted CRA training, and (iv) promoting gender sensitization among male farmers to support inclusive resilience pathways.