Extreme weather events (drought) and its impact on assets, livelihoods and gender roles: case study of small-scale livestock herders in Cauca, Colombia

Research suggests that extreme weather events have a negative impact on agricultural income and wellbeing of smallholder households. Climate change induced shocks can also affect people's ability to work, thereby, infuence their decisions on labor or time allocation. Very few studies have considered this impact, mainly at the economy-wide level. There is a huge gap in the evidence of micro level impact of climate change on time-use among agricultural households. This paper analyses the impact of a prolonged weather shock [drought] on labor allocation, primarily time-use of small-scale livestock herders. Adopting a gender lens to the analysis, the paper examines gender differences in the effects of the climate shock. The findings suggest that although both men and women became poorer as a result of coping with the effects of the drought, women who already managed the double burden of productive and reproductive activities became worse off.