Who Adapts, Who Decides: A Synthesis of Gender and Climate Adaptation in Pastoralist Socio-Ecological Systems

Pastoralist socio-ecological systems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are undergoing profound transformation under climate stress, with adaptation processes shaped by gendered power relations. This systematic review analyses 35 empirical studies pub-lished between 2013 and 2025, following PRISMA 2020 guidelines and the SWiM pro-tocol to synthesise qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods evidence. Gender is treated as a structuring force in adaptation, shaping labour, resource access, authority, and knowledge recognition. The results demonstrate that women’s workloads have in-creased, often without concurrent gains in authority or resource control, while institu-tional and cultural norms continue to restrict formal participation. Nevertheless, in-formal networks and collective strategies enable some women to navigate constraints, with outcomes contingent on social location and governance context. Adaptation in-terventions have sometimes reinforced exclusions, but also fostered negotiated agency, particularly under matrilineal systems or inclusive planning. The review concludes that equitable adaptation requires recognition of diverse knowledge, including indig-enous expertise, attention to intersecting exclusions, and reform of underlying power relations. These insights inform the development of adaptation policies that are re-sponsive to the lived realities of pastoralist communities.