Implications of climate change on women in Sub-Saharan Africa
There is a need to focus on the implications of climate change as focused on women in the Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a need to execute preliminary literature studies regarding the topic. The main method will be case study analysis on the implications of climate change on women such as the effects of the latter in the Sub-Saharan region. The climate change threatens to unravel women’s lives putting paid decades of efforts aimed at improving women’s lives and livelihoods. Unfortunately, women in rural areas lack knowledge on the imminent dangers posed by climate change. Despite the fact that women living in poverty are the most threatened by the dangers that stem from global warming, they are also key actors in ensuring their communities’ ability to cope with and adapt to climate change. There is a need to increase women’s economic equality, not only to reduce their vulnerability to the effects of global financial crisis but also as part of the effort to support equality in other priority areas including participation in all levels of decision-making and elimination of violence against women. Policy interventions are also needed that require the active and equal participation of women and men, that fully integrate a gender perspective called for the formal recognition of the links between climate change, health and care-giving and gender equality. Many women depend on the ecosystem, which is threatened by the scale of climate change. Women in Africa, particularly in the rural areas, are responsible for conducting subsistence farming that is the main source of food. As climate change unfolds, it will result in unpredictable weather patterns and most likely affect the quality of soils with negative consequences for the levels of food production. There is need for policy interventions that address the impact of climate change on women’s livelihoods. In particular, it is important to involve women in the design of policies and the implementation of solutions so that there is long-term ownership of potential solutions. Women’s vulnerability to climate change needs to be researched so that solutions meets the specific needs on this already marginalised group in society. In addition, policies need to reflect women’s lived experiences of climate change so that appropriate interventions can be put in place to reduce the impact of such changes. Educating women about the impacts as well as ways to reduce the impacts of climate change is also a crucial component. Providing extension services to women farmers on appropriate technological innovations, improved storage facilities and resource management services is also key to stemming the impact of climate change on women. An extra two million people in sub- Saharan Africa are going to be affected by water shortages and the majority of these are women. Women make up 70 per cent of smallholder farmers especially in sub-Saharan Africa, but somehow funding targets are often disproportionately directed towards men. Improving women’s economic status is a key element in reducing the impact of climate change on women, imperative given the fact that women have direct connection to locally based natural resources. One of the key components of global action on climate change should be measures to adapt to changes that are already unavoidable. Women must find another means of making a living. In contrast to the options open to many men, few women can respond to drought, for example, by relocating to cities or other rural areas in search of work. Women are often tied down by the need to care for children, or social obstacles to mobility; they are also frequently without even the smallest cash savings of their own or assets to sell to bridge hard times. Women have a lot of knowledge useful for adaptation because they work with the environment through their household duties: include fetching water, gathering firewood and fruits and farming. The impact of climate change will affect a whole host of areas including habitats, wildlife, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. There will also be severe adverse changes in soil, arid lands, coastal zones and tropical forests. There is the need to recognize the importance of placing women at the heart of sustainable development. It would be a mistake to solve the climate change impacts without integrating women in the process, or improving their status and economic empowerment since women’s management of local natural resources is crucial. Thus the education of women on the impacts of climate change on their socio-economic activities as well as the provision of extension services to women farmers on appropriate technological innovations, improved storage facilities and resource management services are recommended. Governments are urged to give women an equal say in how funds given to poor countries to help them adapt to climate change, are managed and spent. Improved access to clean fuels would have profound effects not just on the prosperity and health of individual families, but more broadly on the developing countries they live in. Women can be more affected by climate change, but they can also be agents of change in their communities and in their families. Women can push to be more organised in their communities around common issues. Therefore, women’s participation can ensure that problems are solved more creatively. A step ahead for women can be equivalent to a leap for mankind.
Reference
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