Gender dimension of household’s vulnerability to climate change in East Shewa Zone, central Ethiopia

Climate change impacts affect the livelihood of the poor with limited resources that exacerbate their exposure level and reduce their adaptive capacity. In Ethiopia, women-headed households have less access to and control over basic resources than male-headed households. Addressing gender disparities is critical for tackling climate change and reducing vulnerability, as women play a central role in environmental stewardship and food production. Despite this, empirical research on the gender–climate change nexus remains limited. This study aims to (i) analyze gender-based vulnerability to climate change, (ii) assess the level of vulnerability across households, and (iii) identify key determinants of gender-specific vulnerability. This study used a mixed methods approach integrating both qualitative and quantitative methods. Data were collected from 446 respondents through surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI), and multiple linear regression analysis. The LVI reveals that women-headed households (0.84) are substantially more vulnerable than male-headed households (0.571). Multiple linear regression identified nine significant factors influencing male-headed household vulnerability, including increased risk with higher dependency ratio, crop failure, and soil infertility, and reduced risk with education, larger family size, livestock holdings, land size, access to extension services, and experience with recurrent drought. For women-headed households, vulnerability was elevated by dependency ratio, market distance, and soil infertility, while education, family size, off-farm participation, and land size mitigated risk. These findings highlight that reducing women’s disproportionate vulnerability simultaneously advances SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), by enhancing food security, asset accumulation, and livelihood diversification. The study recommends that governments, policymakers, and development stakeholders prioritize strengthening women’s adaptive capacity to climate change in order to promote inclusive and sustainable environmental resilience.