Studies & Publications

This issue of Southasiadisasters.net, coordinated by All India Disaster Mitigation Institute and Inclusive Labor Institute, brings together powerful insights from Africa and Asia on how communities are confronting climate change and extreme heat. From informal workers adapting to rising temperatures and girls’ education strengthening long-term resilience, to community-led early warnings in Tajikistan, agroforestry in Ghana, and heat-safe urban practices in India, the issue showcases practical, scalable solutions emerging from the ground up. Featuring contributions from 16 authors across the region, it highlights one message clearly: communities are not waiting—they are innovating, adapting, and leading the way toward a more climate-resilient future. Find other issues of southasiadisasters.net here: aidmi.org/topic/southasiadisasters-net/

This study, conducted in May 2025, explores the role of rural women farmers in strengthening agricultural productivity through climate change adaptation in Ghana’s highly vulnerable Upper East and Upper West Regions. Drawing on a mixed-methods design, which combined surveys with 628 farmers and 20 focus group discussions involving 160 participants, the research offers critical insights into the challenges, strategies, and outcomes of adaptation from a gendered perspective. Findings reveal that climate change is universally experienced among farmers in these regions, primarily through erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, and rising temperatures. The foremost challenge is financial, as the cost and limited availability of critical inputs, particularly improved seeds, prevent many farmers from fully embracing more effective strategies. Despite these barriers, the study highlights the tangible benefits of adaptation. Most farmers reported improvements in yields and household food security, and average farm income increased more than threefold. The study concludes that rural women farmers are at the forefront of climate resilience, actively contributing to food security and productivity despite structural and systemic limitations. Empowering rural women farmers by addressing these systemic constraints is not only a matter of equity but a strategic pathway to ensuring national food security and building resilient agricultural systems in the face of accelerating climate change.

The Inclusive Labor Institute (ILI) is a worker-led, Global South-based knowledge center on the conditions and experience of work for the 2 billion+ essential workers who power the informal economy and the future of work. ILI provides grassroots worker organizations and grasstops advocates a platform for sharing information and collaborating on opportunities to improve the standing, and strengthen the voice of informal workers. ILI empowers workers by expanding knowledge through a data-driven, grassroots-led approach and partners with organizations throughout the Global South to provide a comprehensive understanding on the conditions of informal worker, especially for women workers. Launched by the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) and a coalition of grassroots partners, ILI provides a platform for engagement and access to data and information for Global South and Global North organizations alike. This includes online training tools, digital technology, and a catalogue of Institute-led and partner-sourced studies. Through the Inclusive Labor Institute, GFI give individuals and organizations tools, information and a collaborative space to advance labor rights, women’s empowerment and social and economic progress so that communities of promise can become centers of prosperity.

Over the past decade, climate disasters in India have upended thousands of small and marginal producers and workers lives and livelihoods. Across sectors, informal and vulnerable workers, primarily women, are disproportionately impacted by climate change and are pushed further into poverty as they struggle on the front lines of the climate crises. Since 2000, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and the American India Foundation (AIF) have worked to enhance financial stability and prosperity for its members through the transition to green technology and into the green economy in what is termed as building ‘climate resilience’. SEWA and AIF help build the skills, capacity, and confidence of workers to have livelihood security and resources to withstand the changing physical landscape and the significant increase of climate and economic shocks. In 2024, Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), an international NGO with experience in evaluating economic empowerment of women, assessed the impact of SEWA’s and AIF’S on-going initiatives designed to engender inclusive financial growth and development through climate resilience. The following report focuses specifically on SEWA’s and AIF’s efforts, and the economic and social impact of those efforts, while also articulating the investment framework and financial partners and model used within each case study. The purpose of the report is to present different case examples of climate-linked financial models and their scope, structure and impact. Through primary and secondary data collection, GFI’s assessment found that small and marginal producers, mainly women, gain stability and security as a result of targeted financial solutions that address specific climate challenges. When initial investments are activated, women producers reported sustained increases in their income, and a reinvestment of their income into their businesses and to climate friendly solutions linked to livelihood security. Furthermore, opportunities for expanded investments by SEWA and AIF to sustain and scale up successful models can provide further wrap-around support to deepen resilience against climate shocks for workers and communities.

Over the past decade, climate disasters in India have upended thousands of small and marginal producers and workers lives and livelihoods. Across sectors, informal and vulnerable workers, primarily women, are disproportionately impacted by climate change and are pushed further into poverty as they struggle on the front lines of the climate crises. Since 2000, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and the American India Foundation (AIF) have worked to enhance financial stability and prosperity for its members through the transition to green technology and into the green economy in what is termed as building ‘climate resilience’. SEWA and AIF help build the skills, capacity, and confidence of workers to have livelihood security and resources to withstand the changing physical landscape and the significant increase of climate and economic shocks. In 2024, Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), an international NGO with experience in evaluating economic empowerment of women, assessed the impact of SEWA’s and AIF’S on-going initiatives designed to engender inclusive financial growth and development through climate resilience. The following report focuses specifically on SEWA’s and AIF’s efforts, and the economic and social impact of those efforts, while also articulating the investment framework and financial partners and model used within each case study. The purpose of the report is to present different case examples of climate-linked financial models and their scope, structure and impact. Through primary and secondary data collection, GFI’s assessment found that small and marginal producers, mainly women, gain stability and security as a result of targeted financial solutions that address specific climate challenges. When initial investments are activated, women producers reported sustained increases in their income, and a reinvestment of their income into their businesses and to climate friendly solutions linked to livelihood security. Furthermore, opportunities for expanded investments by SEWA and AIF to sustain and scale up successful models can provide further wrap-around support to deepen resilience against climate shocks for workers and communities.

En Afrique, près de 85 % de la population active dépend de l’économie informelle pour son emploi et ses moyens de subsistance. Si les conditions sont généralement difficiles pour les travailleurs du secteur informel, les femmes, elles, sont confrontées à des inégalités entre les sexes et à des barrières sociétales qui créent des obstacles supplémentaires. Les travailleuses de l’économie informelle sont souvent obligées de travailler de longues heures pour gagner un minimum d’argent et vivent dans des environnements où les services essentiels ne sont pas garantis. Dans l’ensemble, la participation des femmes à la main-d’oeuvre reste inférieure à celle des hommes. Ces conditions créent des obstacles à l’autonomisation économique des femmes, qui présentent de multiples facettes et ne sont pas faciles à démêler.

Women compose a majority of members within worker associations and unions, however, leadership positions and high-ranking offices remain dominated by men. Although progress has been made over the past half century towards achieving gender equality in the fields of employment, business, political participation, and leadership, the situation of informal women workers remains harsh, and the implementation of programs targeting gender equalities and societal changes has been slow and uneven. This report investigates the underrepresentation of informal women workers in Africa’s organizing movement, with a focus on six African countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia. It underscores why womenare not joining organizing movements (unions and workers’ associations), and when they do, why do they continue to face discrimination and seldom reach leadership positions. Through examining the context of informal women workers’ participation, we can outline and understand the challenges that stymie their ability to obtain leadership positions, and what are the opportunities for overcoming these barriers.

The world of work has been steadily transitioning to a data-driven economy where development priorities, policy advocacy, and socio-economic strategies are being generated and extracted at a high level with minimal input or ownership from worker organizations on the ground. Multiple barriers have prevented informal workers and grassroots organizations from playing a central role, foremost of which has been the limited capacity of the informal sector to collect, assess and disseminate essential information to development advocates and policy-makers. Global Fairness Initiative believes that local, grassroots-based entities have the right to set the standards for data collection. By working with partners in anchor locations, GFI is instituting a model of data collection that is worker-centric and locally produced and owned. We work within the local context to empower organizations to define key issues and create sustainable solutions rooted in equity and women’s empowerment. With knowledge building being core to the model, we use a bottoms-up, comprehensive Trainer of Trainer (TOT) strategy to augment the internal capacity of community partners, research enumerators, and worker unions. In collaboration with regional data specialists, grassroots entities have hands-on experience learning and using proper methodologies and research techniques, planning implementation strategies, conducting questionnaires and facilitating focus group discussion, using data collection software, compiling information, and analyzing results to enhance awareness about workers and their rights. This responsive, real-time data is retained by those closest to the issue to provide them with targeted information necessary for effective bargaining power with government and external stakeholders, thus leading to more effective and sustainable changes for workers. Engagement at the grassroots level serves to bridge the ‘data divide’, and engenders local communities to make informed decisions and fosters social and economic development driven by workers themselves.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that approximately 62% of the global employed population operates within the informal economy.1 However, this figure is even higher in low-income countries, where informal employment may account up to 90% of total employment. In Kenya specifically, the informal sector provides employment to 83% of the total employment (16 million jobs), contributing an estimated32.8% to the GDP (World Economics, 2024). Recognizing the importance of the informal sector, the government of Kenya has implemented various policy measures, initiatives,and strategies to support it. These efforts include improving access to finance, and fostering collaboration among government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to support informal businesses. The objective of this study was to determine the reasons why informal workers are unable or unwilling to join unions and what are the opportunities to increase union membership and participation. The research study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods adopting participatory and consultative approaches. The study was developed and conducted through collaboration between GFI, SEWA, DRL, AUKMW and BOTTAX Kenya, and incorporated grassroot enumerators in designing and execution of the study. The study established the following as barriers preventing informal sector workers from joining unions include; First, is the lack of awareness among informal workers on the registration process, the role of trade unions, and the benefits associated with union membership. Secondly is the inconsistency in income hampering workers’ ability to commit financially to union membership. Thirdly is the poor governance strategies within the unions, making them less appealing or effective for potential members. Lastly, is the presence of selfish interests among union officials further preventing informal workers from seeking union representation. This report makes the following recommendations: First, trade unions must prioritize awareness campaigns among informal workers to highlight the benefits of union membership. Secondly, trade unions should increase advocacy around fair wages and improve working conditions ensuring compliance with minimum wage requirements and legally mandated work protections. Third, a mechanism should be established by trade unions to certify individuals who qualify through on-the-job training. Lastly, trade unions should apply a gender lens into the design and Implementation of their work to ensure that the needs and inputs of women, are mainstreamed into their operations.