Gender Empowerment and Climate‐Smart Agriculture: Insights and Implications for Achieving Gender Equity and Climate Resilience

This study investigates the effects of male and female empowerment, as well as gender empowerment inequality, on the adoption of climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) practices. Using a conditional mixed process model, we analyse survey data from 743 households across Henan, Shandong and Hebei provinces in China. The results reveal that empowering both males and females significantly promotes the adoption of CSA practices. Male and female empowerment drives the adoption of CSA practices through improving income generation and reducing agricultural production costs. Higher levels of gender empowerment inequality are linked to reduced CSA practice adoption. The positive and negative impacts of male and female empowerment, as well as gender empowerment inequality, on the adoption of CSA practices among wheat growers cultivating medium‐scale farmland are the primary focus. Additionally, empowering women and narrowing gender inequality substantially boost wheat yields, whereas male empowerment shows no significant effect. These results highlight the importance of addressing gender disparities to promote sustainable agricultural practices and ensure food security. The study advocates policies that empower rural women, reduce gender inequality in access to empowerment and foster the widespread adoption of CSA technologies, thereby advancing gender equity and climate resilience in agricultural systems.