Women inhabiting biosphere reserves experience heightened vulnerability, attributable to the intricate interplay between constrained resource accessibility and their dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and natural resource management. However, there exists a dearth of comprehensive research regarding the gender facets of climate change adaptation within biosphere reserves.

The benefits derived from the expansion of trees outside forests (TOF) can vary greatly for women, men and other socially diverse groups due to their distinct roles, responsibilities, and access to resources like land and trees. Therefore, it is essential to ensure the meaningful participation of both women and men from diverse social and economic backgrounds in these initiatives. Additionally, interventions should be tailored to address their specific needs and interests to achieve an equitable distribution of benefits.

Climate change poses a significant challenge to farmers worldwide. It affects men and women differently due to their diverse roles, responsibilities, resource access and sociocultural norms. Understanding the gender perspective would help policymakers to develop evidence-based strategies that address unique vulnerabilities, promoting equitable, inclusive adaptation and resilience policies to climate risk. Hence there is a need to evaluate the available evidence base on gendered perspectives in this domain to design effective adaptation policies as well as future research.

The increasing agricultural wages in rural India have lent significant R&D and policy support for laborsaving agricultural technologies. While some are heralded as ‘game changers’ in achieving food sufficiency goals, less research is devoted to understanding whether farmer adoption of these technologies worsens economic inequalities. We hypothesize that the rapid diffusion of laborsaving agricultural technologies could result in a reduction in employment and loss of a key source of livelihood for the nonfarming rural poor, especially women from socially marginalized groups.

The objective of this proposed scientific session aims to introduce the Equity Principles for Transformative Innovation (Equity Principles), which have been recently submitted to a Special Collection Supplement in Agricultural Systems. This session aims to help researchers understand the importance of inclusive Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) frameworks, and Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) tools, and how to incorporate them into their work on socially effective and responsible innovation and scaling.

This research examines the relationship between soil inequalities, gender disparities, and health outcomes in Guatemala. The historical context of land concentration, limited access to land, internal conflict, and socioeconomic factors contribute to soil inequalities, which in turn affect household gender dynamics and health outcomes. Using a case study approach in San Martin Jilotepeque, Guatemala, this research examines the challenges faced by male and female farmers in managing their soil.

Persistent gender and social inequities undermine agri-food systems’ potential to contribute to inclusive and sustainable development. Systems thinking recognizes the interconnectedness and complexity of agri-food systems, emphasizing the need to consider various interrelated components and their dynamic interactions and highlights the need for integrated and transformative strategies that target multiple levels of the agri-food systems, from local to global.

Strong evidence exists that women farmers have less access to land, inputs, labor, and information compared to men. Over the discourse of empirical research conducted in the domain of agricultural productivity, agricultural economists have always pondered over the inclusion of gender diversity as a separate dimension to identify the efficacy of gender roles in agricultural decision-making.

Sub-Saharan Africa is facing an expected doubling of human population and tripling of food demand over the next quarter century, posing a range of severe environmental, political, and socio-economic challenges. In some cases, key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in direct conflict, raising difficult policy and funding decisions, particularly in relation to trade-offs between food production, social inequality, and ecosystem health.

Peatlands cover only 3–4% of the Earth’s surface, but they store nearly 30% of global soil carbon stock. This significant carbon store is under threat as peatlands continue to be degraded at alarming rates around the world. It has prompted countries worldwide to establish regulations to conserve and reduce emissions from this carbon rich ecosystem. For example, the EU has implemented new rules that mandate sustainable management of peatlands, critical to reaching the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Whether it is climate, conflict, or COVID-19, inequality is a key component of any crisis as it can reveal why some people and regions are disproportionately impacted over others. While climate impacts interacting with inequalities can exacerbate existing drivers of insecurity, it can also leave room for institutions and interventions to foster cooperation and build resilience and peace.