CLIMATE CHANGE AND GENDER In developing countries, particularly in Kenya, women are responsible for various care giving activities including performing household chores and income generating activities such as agricultural productivity, small businesses to support the family and distributing produce to markets. The effects of extreme weather patterns filter down to men and women and ultimately impact more profoundly on rural women who depend on their environment for their livelihood (UNDP 2009).Their dependence on natural resources based livelihood systems such as agriculture further increases their vulnerability which may threaten the attainment of the millennium development goal (MDGs) and Kenya’s vision 2030. It’s clear that burdens of climate change and climate variability including heavy sporadic rainfalls and extended periods of drought disrupt agricultural activities and hampers the distribution of goods and services to the market. Considering that Kenya’s economy is largely agro based with women constituting over 80% of farm labor, it goes without saying that a lot has to be done for the women. Additional stress factors include 1. Depletion and destruction of natural resources particularly groundwater sources and firewood which they heavily rely on. 2. Restrictions on access to and control of land as ancestral land is inherited by men only and rarely women thus depriving them of a voice in debates and in decision making, 3. Unpredictability of weather patterns which interferes with normal planting and cultivating cycles 4. Destruction and over-utilization of land causes soil infertility, which forces women to distribute their time to provide food for their family and leaving them with limited time to participate in decision-making and income generating activities. Their children further distribute their time in going to school and fetching water and firewood in far areas thus disrupting their education which has led to increased school drop-out levels in the country. The lower capacity to adapt and mitigate such impacts further escalates their vulnerability. In order to facilitate integration of gender mainstreaming in climate adaptation policies, strategies and measures, women in developing countries should be considered as part of the most vulnerable groups in conjunction with children and the disabled to cushion them from the impact of climate change. Strategic interventions that could be put to assist women in their roles should include: 1. Promotion of alternative water sourcing practices, including water harvesting techniques to reduce the pressure on groundwater sources required for drinking and/or household. 2. Enhance development of water harvesting and storage infrastructures with local communities through community development funds for agricultural purposes. 3. Promoting improved soil and land management practices, such as conservation agriculture and agro-forestry to address soil and land degradation. 4. Working in conjunction with local farming cooperatives and associations with local communities to distribute farm inputs such as fertilizers and agricultural lime, which increases production per unit of land. 5. Enhancing farming systems that encourage crop diversification including the cultivation and consumption indigenous and drought-tolerant food crops that are more resilient to the impacts of climate change. 6. Promotion and Provision of energy saving cookers. 7. Recognition and involvement of women by the government in policy formulation and project implementation on matters touching on climate change and sustainable development. 8. Creation of awareness through training and planning workshops at community and national levels, on the impact of climate change on gender. By Denis Kiplagat
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 08:52:39 +0000
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