The researchers highlighted that, in the agricultural sector, women face significant barriers to accessing climate-related interventions, particularly due to limited access to finance, capacity building, and land resources, which disadvantage smallholder women farmers.

Dr. Portia Adade Williams, a Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Science and Technology Policy Research Institute, and a Fellow at AWARD, made this call during an interview with the Ghana News Agency at a dialogue and stakeholder mapping event in Accra.

The dialogue, organized by CSIR and AWARD, focused on exploring ways to integrate gender-responsive strategies into the implementation of Ghana's National Climate Change Policy.

The goal was to ensure equitable access to adaptation solutions that would improve agricultural productivity and food security for all, with particular emphasis on supporting women farmers.

It formed part of the pilot Policy Implementation Project (PIP) under the programme dubbed: "Enhancing operationalization of Ghana's National Climate Change Policy among smallholder agricultural systems - Why gender matters."

At the event, the participants identified actors, their roles, power and influence in policy formulation and implementation of climate adaptation strategies in the country to push for gender inclusiveness in climate policies.

In their review of Ghana's National Climate Change Policy, the PIP project implementation team in Ghana found that the National Climate Change Policy encouraged the inclusion of women in decision-making and suggested mechanisms to ensure women's voices were heard.

The review however uncovered that there was no inclusion of budget lines for gender activities
proposed under the Policy, and that the Policy did not directly imply or include considerations related to any form of violence.

Dr Williams said gender was a crucial dimension in the climate conversation as it influenced how climate impacts were experienced and how adaptation strategies could be tailored to achieve the desired goals.

She said the integration of gender perspective in climate policies would also ensure a comprehensive understanding of vulnerabilities and capacities within communities.

"Integrating gender perspectives is not just a necessity, but a commitment to creating adaptive strategies that leave no one behind.

"By considering gender perspectives, we pave the way for more effective, sustainable, and equitable adaptation outcomes," she said.

Discussants at the Dialogue proposed the review of Ghana's ten-year-old National Climate Change Policy to address existing gaps and incorporate emerging perspectives to climate change adaptation and mitigation.