Moniza Inam explores the repercussions of changing weather patterns on women

Appearing to be older than her 30 years, Mai Sughran resides in the rural hinterlands of Pakistan. Life has never been easy ever since she was married at the age of 13. She subsequently bore nine children and spent laborious hours tending to their needs, doing domestic chores, fetching water from long distances, herding animals and working in the fields. She has been involved in subsistence farming and cultivation to meet her family’s dietary requirements, while also doing needlework for additional income.

Of late, due to the changing climate, weather conditions have become a lot more unpredictable than in the past, and at times prolonged spells of drought can wreak havoc on livestock and crops. At other times, heavy rainfall causes flooding which can be equally devastating, compelling her to move to safer areas or relief camps where there is no security, food is scarce and different diseases and infections are rampant. It is difficult for Sughran to understand changes in her life which has so drastically transformed her health, farming and livelihood.

Her plight is only the tip of the iceberg, for countless such women across the globe, who have been enduring the vagaries of climate change without the slightest comprehension of the factors contributing to it and this is what experts refer to as its gender dimension. Climate change as a natural phenomenon affects men and women equally; however, due to skewed power relations and inequitable cultural and social norms, women suffer more.

Women are already disadvantaged as compared to men due to their gendered roles, such as caring for children and sick family members, cooking, fetching water and wood, and working in the family-owned farms or as agricultural workers. Globally it is estimated that women comprise 43pc of the agricultural workforce and this number goes to above 50pc in Asia and Africa.

It has been generally accepted that climate change is affecting the most marginalised and deprived sections of the population; women in rural areas are particularly more vulnerable. According to an Oxfam report released in February 2010, nearly 70pc of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty around the world are women. Inherent historical disadvantages, including lack of education, skills and mobility, as well as limited access to decision-making and economic assets make them more dependent on local natural resources. Securing water, food and energy are important to sustain livelihoods and changing weather conditions make it harder to attain these resources. The effects of climate change including drought, uncertain rainfall and deforestation make their job more difficult.

Tahir Hasnain, manager (environment and livelihood), Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre, Karachi, explains further: “Rural women provide subsistence to their families through utilisation of natural resources. They are more dependent on agriculture, which is totally reliant on good weather. Changes in climate usually have more impact on sectors that are traditionally associated with women, such as rice and cotton cultivation, growing vegetables and fishing. Low agricultural activity/productivity and depletion of natural resources are impacting their lives, health and livelihood.”

In the case of Pakistan where climate change has so dramatically altered women’s lives, it transpires as a bitter reality that they are the main sufferers. Azra Sayeed, director of Roots for Equity, an organisation working for farming communities, says: “In Sindh and southern Punjab cotton harvest was almost lost due to floods in 2010 and then lashing rain and storms in 2011. Since across Pakistan women do cotton picking, they lost a much sought-after source of livelihood in these years. Cotton picking is a steady source of income for women who tend to depend on the money to purchase livestock and gold, which is in many ways their savings for a ‘rainy day’ or other family needs.”

Amongst other problems faced by women is violence by men who vent their anger and frustration on them, the easiest victim at hand. Climate disasters tend to disrupt all normal routines of daily life, for instance cow dung, which is a source of fuel, can’t be collected without livestock, while wood for cooking food is wet and useless as a fuel. The floor is wet and it is difficult for poor rural women to provide a safe space for children to sleep. Lack of water also hosts countless diseases and the duty of tending the ill falls upon the women, who are then exposed to an array of contagious infections.

In conclusion, it can be safely said that climate change is not only an environmental issue, it is a human issue as well, and more than that a human rights question as it aggravates existing disparities and impacts the most vulnerable groups including women. It should be the responsibility of the industrialised world to ensure that the effects of climate change are mitigated as they are largely liable for profiting at the developing world’s expense. The governments and international institutions should also help in devising policies and measures to mitigate its detrimental effects and ensure justice.

In Pakistan, we have recently witnessed a democratic transition in which people have expressed their mandate for social justice and inclusive society. This fervour for justice should echo through the implementation of the National Climate Change Policy which has suggested some very progressive measures including mainstreaming gender perspective at the local and regional levels. Now is the time to walk the walk and ensure gender justice for millions of marginalised women.