Women are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources — freshwater, cropland, forests and fisheries; with changes in climate, such traditional food sources become more unpredictable and scarce, exposing the women to loss of their (sometimes sole) source of food and income, writes Rizwana Naqvi

For long, environmentalists have been warning us about the impacts of climate change. Now that the effects have begun to show and the world is facing quite a few serious threats like dwindling water resources and lower food production, another aspect that is coming to light is that its impacts are distributed unevenly among different regions, communities, ages, income groups, occupations and genders. Ironically, the most affected by climate change are the poorest countries and the most deprived people who have contributed the least to it.

Many factors contribute to and compound the impacts of climate change as well as our ability to cope with them. These include poverty, illiteracy and lack of information, skills and technology, lack of healthcare, poor access to resources, low management capabilities, weak institutions, limited infrastructure and armed conflicts. The overexploitation of land resources including forests, increase in population, desertification and land degradation poses additional threats.

In developing countries, the marginalised status of women and dependence on local natural resources renders them particularly affected by climate change. They generally do not have secure, affordable access to and control over land, water, livestock, etc., and have to make do with limited resources and alternatives when their subsistence needs and livelihoods are threatened.

In many countries, women make up a larger share of the agricultural workforce and have less access to income-earning opportunities than men. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that women produce 60-80 per cent of food grown in the developing world — often small scale crops critical to their family’s sustenance. Falling water tables and changing patterns of rainfall affect the availability of water, which in combination with extreme weather events like higher temperature and heavy storms or droughts will lead to low crop yield per acre and will affect the world’s food supply, depriving women of income and food.

Women are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources — freshwater, cropland, forests and fisheries; with changes in climate, such traditional food sources become more unpredictable and scarce, exposing the women to loss of their (sometimes sole) source of food and income.

Reduced crop yield in many developing countries as a result of climate variability can compromise food security. It is an established fact that when food is scarce and/or expensive women and children, who are already vulnerable, face further malnutrition and starvation. Malnutrition is expected to be especially severe in countries where large populations depend on rain-fed subsistence farming. Food shortage forces the women to work for paid income outside the home, eat less and find ways to prepare less expensive food from scratch. Malnutrition, in turn, results in greater susceptibility to infectious diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses.

Temperature changes, lack of clean, adequate water and sanitation infrastructure along with lack of adequate, nutritious food can result in the spread of malaria and waterborne diseases. During epidemics women suffer more, especially in developing countries, as they often have less access to health services than men and as primary care givers in the families their workload increases when they have to care for the sick family members. Also, women and children form the majority of the world’s poor, and indigent households which are affected by disease and have fewer resources to adapt.

In most developing countries, women and girls are responsible for collecting water, fuel and fodder — a time consuming and physically demanding task in places where streams or wells are not easily accessible. Due to droughts and erratic rainfall, women have to walk or travel farther to obtain water and fuel/fodder in many countries. This increases the women’s workload as they have to put in more effort and time to fetch these necessities.

In some cases, girls are pulled out of school (if they are able to attend at all) to help their mothers do these tasks or perform other chores at home while the mothers are busy in other income-generating activities when farming, etc., are not possible due to shortage of water. Moreover, in some places, it is dangerous for women and girls to travel far to get water — they run the risk of being raped and abducted as they walk long distances through conflict-ridden territory, sometimes unaccompanied.

In some areas, the effects of climate change such as floods and droughts create resource shortages and unreliable job markets; this forces the men to migrate to other areas in search of livelihood, leaving women behind with additional agricultural and households duties.

As Wangari Maathai of Kenya, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on sustainable development, once said, “Men can trek and go looking for greener pastures in other areas, in other countries ... but for women, they’re usually left on site to face the consequences… So when there is deforestation, when there is drought, when there is crop failure, it is the women and children who are the most adversely affected.”

Poor women, due to their lack of access to and control over natural resources, technologies and credit, have fewer resources to cope with. They are forced to work harder to secure food, water and energy for their homes. In such cases the traditional roles of women are reinforced; girls’ education suffers, and women’s ability to diversify their livelihoods (and therefore their capacity to access income-generating jobs) is diminished, thus continuing the cycle of deprivation, poverty and inequality that is so important to deal effectively with climate change. Understanding how the different social expectations, roles, status and economic power of men and women are affected differently by climate change will improve to take actions to reduce vulnerability. If women are at a greater risk of being severely affected, climate change adaptation strategies need to be formulated keeping their vulnerability in mind so as to reduce their risks; this includes improving their access to information, education, skills, strengthening their ability to cope with change. At the same time, despite being vulnerable and at greater risk, women have shown greater adaptability and coping strategies, especially in times of crises and natural disasters like earthquakes and floods, and these skills need to be channelised to cope with the effects of climate change. Women need to be involved in implementing strategies related to overcoming resource degradation, population growth, transition to an efficient low carbon energy system, etc., to reduce global warming.