‘I Don't Know Anything Else Besides Gardening’: Exploring Sensitivities to Climate Change in Vanuatu

ABSTRACT Across the globe, the escalating impacts of climate change threaten food security by disrupting agricultural production, reducing crop growth and yields and decreasing food availability. In Vanuatu, women market vendors play a substantial role in maintaining food security throughout the country through the production and sale of local produce. However, there is limited understanding of the vulnerability of these women vendors to climate change and how they can best be supported to adapt. Crucial to understanding vulnerability is the degree to which people and communities are affected by climatic stressors—their sensitivity—which is largely overlooked in vulnerability studies. This paper therefore aims to uncover the specific factors exacerbating the sensitivity of women vendors to climatic stressors in Vanuatu. Drawing on interviews with 69 women vendors and 18 government officials and civil society representatives, we have identified six immediate factors that exacerbate women vendors' sensitivity: Heavy reliance on agriculture, marketplaces as sole income source, overburdened workloads, constrained decision‐making, limited or poor infrastructure and weakened traditional practises. Broader geographical, economic, environmental and socio‐cultural contexts and conditions allow these driving factors to develop and persist. It is crucial to consider these specific factors and broader conditions when developing adaptation strategies to effectively and sustainably address the impacts of climate change.