Women most affected by climate change

Vaidah Mashangwa
CLIMATE change is a long shift in the climate of a specific location, region and planet. The shift is measured in relation to weather features such as rainfall, temperatures and windfall. The term climate change has become synonymous with the term global warming. While global warming refers to surface temperature increases, climate change includes global warming and everything else that is affected by greenhouse gas levels.
It has emerged that the world is getting warmer and Zimbabwe like most countries worldwide has not been spared by climate change. Climate change has devastating effects on the environment and this poses great challenges to the socio-political situation in any given country.

Natural resources in Zimbabwe are dwindling at an increasing rate due to uncontrolled veld fires, siltation, pollution, deforestation and land degradation. This clearly demonstrates that by and large climate change is caused by human activity as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of the earth’s natural processes.

Environmental Management Agency (EMA)   has records of small scale miners who continue to dig deep trenches which are left uncovered thereby becoming a danger to animals and humans. The ditches also become breeding places for mosquitos. Sand poaching is also rampant in most areas and has the same devastating effects. Apart from that, raw sewage continues to flow into rivers and dams thereby affecting the quality of water.

Natural disasters such as floods, volcanos, drought, and hurricanes are a result of climate change. The Tokwe Mukosi and Tsholotsho floods bear testimony of climate change.

Women are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts than men especially as it relates to agriculture and food security, water resources, human health, women settlements, migration, energy, transport and industry. According to the United Nations Watch, women constitute the majority of the poor and are largely dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.

Apart from that, women face social, political and economic barriers that naturally affect their coping capacity. In cases of disasters women have to fetch water and secure food and fuel for cooking. Generally, their menstrual hygiene management is greatly affected due to limitations of water sources and lack of proper sanitary facilities.

Women account for more than 90 percent of food production in many African countries and climate change affects food availability, accessibility and utilisation. Women therefore face loss of income and low food productivity and at times this translates to increases in food prices which affects the poor, in particular women.

Furthermore, increase in women tasks due to climate change results in women having less time to do their chores, engage in social and political activities, learn to read and write, acquire other skills resulting in failure to rest adequately. Movement and women in search of basic commodities also exposes them to sexual abuse such as rape.

According to the Sadc Gender Protocol Barometer 2013, climate change is also likely to increase school dropout rates for girls as increased household chores affect the girl child. Women are the most affected by ill health in communities and climate change may result in nutrition related diseases and epidemics like malaria, water borne diseases, heat stress and respiratory illnesses.

A study of disasters in 141 countries revealed that women and children are 14 times more likely to die than men.
In Zimbabwe, it is unfortunate that very few women are in decision making positions in ministries directly related to climate change that is ministries of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Lands and Rural Settlement, Environment, Water and Climate, Energy and Power Development, Tourism and Hospitality Industry and Mines and Mining Development. Only 33 percent women are permanent secretaries in the said ministries and there are no women ministers. Since women are directly affected by climate change, it is imperative that they be part of decision makers in climate change initiatives.

It is important to note that developed and developing countries are working together to find solutions to climate change. In 1992, The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by 154 countries that agreed to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to levels that will not cause harm.

The Zimbabwean government must be applauded for phasing out ozone-depleting substances in 2010 and the country has set targets too to phase out hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC’S) by 2030. The National Gender Policy highlights gender, environment and climate change as one of its priority areas. Zim-Asset also highlights the effects of climate change such as long droughts and flooding.

To date, Zimbabwe has experienced two cyclones namely Eline and Japhet. Cyclone Eline of February 2000 affected Manicaland, Matabeleland South, Midlands and Masvingo. 2,7 million people were affected, there were 91 deaths, 357 injuries and 59,187 huts were destroyed. Cyclone Japhet of March 2003 affected Masvingo, Midlands South, Manicaland South and parts of Mashonaland East. There were 6 deaths.

Vaidah Mashangwa is the Provincial Development Officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development. She can be contacted on 0772 111592 or email: vmashangwa@gmail.com.