Gendered Experiences of Adaptation to Drought: Patterns of Change in El Sauce, Nicaragua

The changes men and women in a rural community in Nicaragua say they have implemented over the past decades differ in ways that relate to their vulnerability to drought. Short-term coping was more common among the women, especially the female heads of households, while adaptive actions were more common among the men. The Community Capitals Framework offers a tool to understand the differences. A gendered culture meant that the division of other types of capital (natural, human, social, financial, built, cultural, and political) as well as the division of labor in the case study area were also highly gendered. These gendered inequalities in access to and control over different forms of capital has led to a gender-differentiated capacity to respond to climate change, men being able to adapt and women experiencing a downward spiral in capacity and increasing vulnerability to drought. Resumen Los cambios que hombres y mujeres en una comunidad rural en Nicaragua dicen que implementaron en las ultimas decadas difieren en aspectos relacionados con su vulnerabilidad a sequia. Medidas para hacer frente en el corto plazo fueron mas comunes entre las mujeres, mientras medidas de adaptacion fueron mas comunes entre los hombres. El Marco de Capitales de la Comunidad es una herramienta util para entender esas diferencias. La persistencia de una fuerte cultura patriarcal implica una division desigual del trabajo y de acceso a y control de capitales marcadas por el genero. Estas desigualdades generaron una capacidad diferenciada por genero para responder al cambio climatico, resultando en hombres siendo capaces de adaptarse y mujeres experimentando una espiral descendente en la capacidad y un aumento de vulnerabilidad a sequia.