Effects of extreme weather events on agriculture and women's food security in Cameroon

This study evaluates the socioeconomic and gendered impacts of extreme weather events on food security in Cameroon by combining an estimation of changes in agricultural yields because of climate change in the country with quantitative modelling. The estimations are modelled using an autoregressive distributed lag, while a computable general equilibrium model in which agricultural production is differentiated by agroecological zones is used to assess the economy-wide impacts. We find that the high savannah and bimodal forest zone (HSZ-BFZ) is the zone most affected by climate shocks regardless of the scenario tested and that female workers are the most affected, irrespective of their level of skill. Food insecurity is worsened, especially among female-headed households living in rural areas. These results help us to better assess the differentiated impacts of climate change to formulate more targeted adaptation policies.