The Effect of Weather Shocks on Women’s Labor Supply and the Income of Women-Headed Households in Lesotho

This study examines the effect of weather shocks on labor supply decisions and income for rural farming households in Lesotho, disaggregated by the gender of individuals and household heads. Using the Lesotho Agricultural Survey data merged with the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), the study applies multinomial logit and linear fixed effects (FE) models, along with the Heckman selection model, to analyze the effects of weather shocks on labor choices and household income. Upon controlling for time and community FE, the identification relies on the randomness of weather shocks. This article finds that women are more vulnerable than men to weather shocks, as they are likely to have more limited coping strategies. Drought increases the probability of men choosing to farm, supposedly because they are mostly engaged in relatively shock-resistant agricultural activities, but it does not affect labor supply choices for women. These findings have various policy implications: enhancing women’s access to shock-resistant agricultural practices, promoting climate-smart technologies like irrigation systems and improved seeds to reduce vulnerabilities in women-dominated sectors, and implementing short-term, shock-responsive public assistance programs to support households, especially women, during extreme weather events.