An Afrocentric Intersectional Conceptual Framework for Smallholder Microfinance and Climate Adaptation in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Recent research shows that climate change is affecting rural agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, and the role of microfinance in addressing women’s environmental concerns has been questioned. Lack of access to microfinance exacerbates the susceptibility of smallholder farmers to climate change. Climate change, on the other hand, reduces farmer access to microfinance by raising risk. Men and women farmers face distinct challenges in terms of access to microfinance and climate change implications. As a result of these discrepancies in microfinance access and control, as well as adaptive capacity, livelihood trajectories, methods, and strategies vary. However, in Zimbabwe, most gender-based microfinance and climate change adaptation programs are top-down, supply-driven, and technical in nature. The binary approach disregards individual differences, power relations, and other influencing factors that may affect access to and control over microfinance, as well as adaptability to climate change. Quantitative analyses of microfinance programs ignore the importance of power, social and political identities, and the ability to manage available resources. Top-down programming may be insufficient to handle smallholder challenges because it obscures the human agency of smallholders in resolving their problems. To resolve this challenge, this study employs Afrocentric intersectional conceptual framework to analyze gendered dynamics in smallholder microfinance and climate adaptation in Zimbabwe using a desk study review and primary qualitative data from Chimanimani district, Mhakwe area. The following topics were addressed: How do individual and environmental variables affect access to and control of smallholder microfinance? How do individual and contextual characteristics influence adaptation to climate change? According to Afrocentric Intersectional conceptual framework, location, ecological, and political-economic factors all combine to favor or handicap access to and administration of microfinance for various individuals and social groups in the Chimanimani smallholder context. Individuals and social groups in Chimanimani and throughout Zimbabwe employ tactics and paths for dealing with microfinance and climate change that differ from the top-down, technical, and scientific responses given by microfinance and climate adaptation development actors. Additionally, the researchers assert that smallholder farmers are aware of their challenges and have the knowledge and agency necessary to address them.