Climate Change, Food Security, and Women's Economic Resilience in South Sudan
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: South Sudan faces a convergence of acute climate shocks, chronic food insecurity, and entrenched gender inequality that collectively undermine women's economic agency and household food security. This article presents a systematic gender-based review of four states — Upper Nile, Warrap, Jonglei, and Western Equatoria — examining how climate variability intersects with structural patriarchy to amplify women's vulnerability to food insecurity and economic marginalisation. Drawing on primary survey data (n = 487 women-headed households), secondary IPC food security assessments, remote-sensing rainfall anomaly records, and key-informant interviews (n = 44), the study applies a Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) lens integrated with the CARE Resilience Framework. Results demonstrate that severe food insecurity among women-headed households rose from 60% in 2018 to 89% in 2023, co-occurring with a 53% increase in resource-linked gender-based violence (GBV). Regression analysis reveals that each one-unit increase in a composite Climate Exposure Index (CEI) is associated with a 6.8 percentage-point rise in household food gap (p < 0.001, β = 0.68). Despite promising village savings and loans associations (VSLAs) and climate-smart agriculture programmes, structural gaps in land rights, credit access, and policy coherence continue to limit resilience outcomes. The article concludes with a five-point policy framework embedding gender-responsive climate adaptation into South Sudan's food security architecture.
Author: James, Elia Lona
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7161674802
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: