Gender, food security, and climate adaptation : indigenous resilience in Indonesian local communities

Abstract

This research investigates how climate change impacts Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in Indonesia, by focusing on local food systems and Indigenous women's access to and control over natural resources. Using an intersectional lens, it explores how traditional ecological knowledge underpins community-based adaptation. Fieldwork was conducted in 2025 over four months in four locations: Mentawai, West Sumatera (Mentawai), Tebo, Jambi (Talang Mamak), Maros, South Sulawesi (Bara and Cindakko), and Lebak, Banten (Baduy and Kasepuhan), with support from the Estungkara Program run by Kemitraan, which is part of the Australia-Indonesia INKLUSI partnership. The research employs ethnographic and participatory action research methods. It focuses on one central question: How does climate change affect the vulnerability and resilience of Indigenous women in securing food and preserving cultural practices, and what locally rooted adaptation strategies can be supported to ensure equitable and sustainable responses? Across the four cases, this study finds that Indigenous women are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change. It also reveals that Indigenous women are key agents of local adaptation. They draw on diverse traditional practices— seed conservation, poly-cropping, forest stewardship, communal food sharing—to buffer their families against climate shocks. As primary providers of food, water, and family health, they are particularly vulnerable to catastrophic weather, crop failures, and environmental stresses, yet they are often excluded from decision-making. Despite these vulnerabilities, traditional agroforestry and food systems remain central to resilience, though they are overlooked in formal adaptation policies. Indigenous knowledge systems rooted in spiritual values, communal ties, and ecological stewardship enable adaptive responses to environmental change, but face erosion due to pressures from modern, chemically intensive agriculture, cultural disconnection, and migration. The research underscores that effective adaptation must be locally grounded, gender-responsive, and participatory, recognizing both the legitimacy of Indigenous knowledge and the gendered dimensions of vulnerability. Ignoring these factors risks perpetuating systemic marginalization. The study contributes empirical insights to policy debates on climate resilience, gender equity, and Indigenous knowledge by providing field evidence and community perspectives for shaping inclusive, gender-sensitive, rights-based adaptation frameworks in Indonesia and comparable contexts.