Gender budgeting is a national policy in India but how far has it been incorporated into the country’s climate change action plans, particularly under ‘adaptation’? The NAPCC states that India already spends 2.5% of its GDP on climate change adaptation and lists seven categories, including poverty reduction, health, crop improvement and disaster management, where this is done. However, it does not explore gender budgeting within these categories. Within India’s federal structure, these seven categories fall within the purview of State governments. This study explores gender budgeting in the four States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Research findings suggest:
• Few state governments have adopted gender budgeting and those which have, are struggling with it.
• Gender budgets are a miniscule part of the already small state ‘adaptation’ budgets.
• Gender budgeting is not part of the planning process - it is an ‘add-on’ rather than being integral to the programme design.
• More allocations go towards poverty reduction than towards building resilience in agriculture or against recurring natural disasters like floods, droughts and cyclones.
This study is part of a larger evidence-based policy research by Alternative Futures on ‘Gender and State Climate Change Action Plans’ that explores how key on-the-ground adaptation measures impact women in agriculture and where women stand vis-à-vis sustainable agriculture-related policies, including public provisioning.