By Zanji Sinkala
Climate change is altering precipitation patterns and intensities around the globe, increasing climate-related disaster frequencies and intensities and contributing to national and regional food and water insecurity crises, among other direct and indirect impacts.
Agriculture and agribusiness play an important role in the Zambian economy, contributing around 20% of GDP in recent years.Smallholder farmers in Zambia are undoubtedly vulnerable to climate fluctuations and weather extremes, and are left to struggle from the effects of climate change. 2023 proved historic in Zambia as a year of one of the worst sporadic weather patterns, having recorded several complaints and media reports from farmers countrywide.
Smallholder farming households number approximately 1.5 million, over 20% of which are headed by women. Majority of female farmers in the country, when interviewed in late November 2023, were not confident about what climate change was and therefore, were not knowledgeable about crop seasons or adaptation methods of tackling climate change in their villages.
Some heard about climate change in bits, while others deemed it a spiritual issue.“My muzukulu (grandchild) told me briefly about climate change, saying it is what is causing us not to have rain and also causing high temperatures.
But apart from that, I do not know anything else about climate change,” said one female farmer.
“We have been having some mysterious deaths of late. There was a GBV case of a man who killed his wife in a nearby field. Another case was of a chinyau (traditional dancer) who was killed by a group of people. So, the ancestors are angry with us, that’s why we haven’t had rain. Especially this year [2023]. We need to appease them for things to normalize,” said another.
In many nations, male farmers typically achieve yields that are 20 to 30 percent higher than those of women.
Consequently, women face challenges in cultivating sufficient food for themselves and their families, and earn lower income from the sale of crops. This lower productivity is not due to a lack of effort on the part of women.
Instead, systemic factors such as limited access to resources, inputs, and information contribute to this disparity.
Most women farmers experience higher levels of illiteracy hindering climate change adaptation, and are often excluded from decision-making processes both within and outside their homes.
If climate change poses a significant threat to farmers, the repercussions for women farmers are even more pronounced. Women constitute half of the agricultural workforce and contribute to 60 to 80 percent of food crop production in poor regions.
However, in comparison to men, they face restricted capacity to navigate the challenges brought about by climate-related shocks. This inequality persists because, regrettably, women start out on an uneven playing field.
In an interview, Selwin Hart, UN Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition said current policies or strategies were not geared to address the challenges of climate change faced by women.
“When we look at who’s affected worse, who’s on the frontlines of the climate crisis, it’s primarily women — women in poor and vulnerable countries,” said Hart. “And unfortunately, our policies or strategies are really not geared to address this challenge.”
Women farmers bear the additional burden of managing household responsibilities, including preparing meals and caring for children.
After a day of labour, they must also gather water and firewood, and prepare the evening meal.
When climate change alters ecosystems and depletes resources, women are forced to travel longer distances and spend more time gathering these essentials.
This perpetuates a cycle of poverty, leaving little time for women and girls to pursue education or employment opportunities that could improve their future.
On gender day of the recently held COP28 in Dubai last month, UN Women launched its “Feminist climate justice: A framework for action” report.
Among the key four areas that the feminist climate justice approach centered on was ‘Recognizing women’s rights, labour, and knowledge’.
This demanded for policies to prioritize the rights of women and other groups that face discrimination because they undermined their resilience to climate impacts. It also stated that decision-makers needed to recognize the expertise that women—including indigenous, rural, and young women—had in order for effective climate adaptation policies to be developed and implemented.
At the event, Maria Reyes, representative of Fridays for Future MAPA and the Feminist Action for Climate Justice Action Coalition, said data and research such as the Feminist Climate Justice Framework needed to be utilized as tools for transformative change.
“As young people from the Global South, we know what climate justice looks like because, apart from being at the frontlines of the climate crisis, we are also at the forefront of the solutions, building with our communities the systems that we cannot live without as we dismantle the systems that we cannot live within. As we infiltrate institutional spaces like the COP28, we need to make use of data and research, like the Feminist Climate Justice Framework, as tools for transformative change,” said Reyes.
On the same day, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) hosted an event on Climate Mobility and Gender at the Expo City Dubai, which featured a panel discussion with representatives from the IDRC, the IOM, University of Exeter and Media for Environment, Science, Agriculture and Health (MESHA).
The discussion explored the current understanding of the impact of climate change on migration through a gendered lens, emphasizing the gaps in related knowledge and policies.
It also addressed the pertinent issues related to climate migration and its impact on vulnerable populations including women, while outlining the role and use of research in promoting climate action and accountabilities.
“The major gaps that the panel highlighted are that most policies are not operationalized enough in order to lead into specific action that makes it relevant for people in a localized context in countries [and] communities, to actually have their lives changed. So, there is a gap between the policies at the global level and contextualization,” said Dr
Wessam El Beih, IDRC Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, on the sidelines of the event.“IDRC supports high quality research, and we have heard that there is enough information to act, so it cannot be a reason for complacency that we do not know enough. We should act and continue working on improving and filling the gaps in knowledge, and at the same time creating a better link between researchers and policy makers in order to translate the outcomes of research in a way that is also informing the policies.”
Meanwhile, in the spirit of Gender Day at the COP28, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed gave a special message to women and girls, acknowledging that there was a sliver of hope in the climate battle, as evidenced by the various women changemakers who showcased how they were driving the action at the Conference.
“Women stand at the forefront of the climate battle. Whether as scientists, legislators, indigenous leaders, youth activists, they are fighting to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius target alive,” said Mohammed in her video remarks.
This story was produced with support from MESHA and IDRC Eastern and Southern Africa Office.
