WOMEN AND CHILDREN…MORE VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

 

                                          women displaying their seeds after harvesting 

BY CYNTHIA NKHATA

10/08/2023

Zambia is being hard hit by climate change, which is causing more frequent and severe droughts, flash floods and changes in the growing season. One of the reasons Zambia is so vulnerable to climate change – particularly droughts – is because 300,000 hectares of trees are being lost to deforestation each year because of charcoal production. These impacts are most felt by already marginalized groups such as women, differently-abled people, and young people, who are rarely in decision-making positions. The agriculture sector, which supports the livelihoods of half the country’s population, especially women, has been one of the hardest hit.

Mirriam Chongo of Kaputa village in Northern Province knows what it is like to live on the edge of desperation. Climate change and economic hardship have proved a potent combination for this 47-year-old single Zambian mother of five. Her struggles to keep her family afloat by growing maize and groundnuts after the death of her husband several years ago were dashed by unseasonal weather patterns.

Following the failure of her crops, Mirriam started running a makeshift grocery shop in her village in kaputa Zambia’s Northern Province. But her income – just 300 Zambian Kwacha (USD 15) in a good month – was barely enough to meet her family’s basic needs.

In least developed countries like Zambia, poverty forms a trap around rural families as strong as any prison walls as they struggle to obtain access to finances. When climate change hits in the form of unseasonal rains, droughts and floods – destroying crops and killing livestock - they are unable to spend their way out of trouble. Because rural farmers are poor, they are viewed by potential investors as too high risk. Poor farmers’ inability to receive bank loans essentially cuts off their access to alternative livelihood options. And some villages do not even have commercial banks.

“Banks in the city won’t lend us money because we have no land title or property to put up as collateral,” explains Mirriam Chongo.

Single women like Mirriam Chongo are among the most vulnerable in Zambia’s patriarchal traditional communities, where age-old customs dictate a woman’s life. This vulnerability is compounded by the ravages of climate change.

“There is need to address the challenges that women and girls face due to the adverse effects of climate change.government fully acknowledges the effects that climate change has had on the communities especially women, said the Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.

He said government is determined to address these challenges by finding solutions to the increasing threats that women and the public are faced with.

                                       floods caused as the result of climate change in Singongo

Climate change can sometimes result in migration. In some cases only men migrate, while women are then left with their responsibilities back home, which creates problems as women cannot access resources and ownership in the same way in many places

Mirriam’s life improved during the past few months after ministry of green economy and environment started providing real-time weather advice, using mobile phones to help female farmers adapt to climate change.

She lost everything during floods, but with new training and support, Miriam has moved from just growing maize to venturing into more than five different drought-resistant crops.

"So most of the farmers here including myself, we grow crops such as sorghum, cassava, sweet potatoes and also millet," Mirriam  said. She explained that these crops are climate resilient.

"We have also adapted agroforest where we plant a lot of trees including making our own organic fertiliser, we are not only depending on the artificial fertilisers but we also make our own fertiliser."

Agriculture accounts for 20% of Zambia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs over half of its population of nearly 18 million people.

A year later, Mirriam now has had a total of 30 goats, including additional goats she bought using proceeds from the sale of goat manure. Mirriam sold 10 of her goats and five goat offspring were passed on to help other women. This tiered, multiplier-effect approach capitalizes on initial handouts while promoting solidarity, equity and sustainability within communities. 

                                         Picture of sweet potatoes after been harvested 

Two-thirds of the labor force in Zambia is engaged in agriculture, 78% of whom are women farmers.Authorities though want to encourage many women farmers to remain resolute amid the climate change crisis.

“If Zambia is to develop we need to scale up agro ecology farming as one of the sustainable means to secure our economy and secure our food.  There is need for government to invest more in terms of fighting the impact climate change saying that the 0.6 which is currently channeled towards environmental issues in the national budget is not enough. The impact of climate change has affected us which has also seen a lot of health diseases such as malaria and others,” ActionAid Zambia Public Social Accountability Alliance Project Manager Geoffrey Sinzala said.He is hopeful that as the ministry of finance when presenting the 2024 budget atleast 10% will be allocated towards the fight against climate change.

‘We want to make sure that atleast 10% of the resources is channeled towards agriculture in line with the Malabo declaration,’He noted.

According to the Malabo Declaration, Agriculture should remain high on the development agenda of the continent, and is a critical policy initiative for African economic growth and poverty reduction.

There is not a moment to lose as Zambia is being hit hard by climate change. Since a drought in 2019, the devastating effects of prolonged dry spells coupled with the late onset of the rain season has impacted agriculture severely - reducing food availability and contributing to acute food insecurity across the country.

“Climate change is one of the major factors and challenges contributing to the low productivity of farmers, especially at the small-scale level,” said Ministry of Minister of Agriculture Reuben Mtolo Phiri.

This life changing moment did not just stop with Mirriam’s family. Esther Zulu, 49 year old farmer single mother of six living in Nyimba District in Eastern province says because of the initiate by Climate Risk Insurance and Information in Zambia (CRIIZ) project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) which is helping women in zambia to be incharge of the risk management by joining cooperatives,savings groups and social networks which can scale the insurance products to reach more people.

 "CRIIZ aims to aims to support the access of agricultural actors to private-sector climate risk insurance and information on climate risk. They actively collaborate with the government, institutions such PIA and, insurance companies such as Mayfair Insurance and Hollard Insurance.CRIIZ is helping the private sector to grow a market in climate risk insurance that works for women,"

This initiative has helped her family and now she has a steady and stable income for the first time in her life. As a result, the family now owns 10 goats and counting. Now when crisis hits, farmers like Esther and Mirriam have greater savings and equity. And equity means resilience.

According to The African Union Agenda 2063 Framework, the future prosperity of Africa will be based on inclusive growth and sustainable development. Concerning the environmental aspirations of Agenda 2063, Africa by 2063 will: ‘Be transformed such that natural resources will be sustainably managed, and Forest and vegetation cover would be restored to 1963 levels; land degradation and desertification would have been stopped and then reversed.’ All agricultural land will be managed in a manner that is environmentally and socially sustainable.African countries would have reduced and conserved at least 90 per cent loss of biodiversity and all-natural habitats. By 2030, Africa will be a fully water-secure continent.

''Women play a central role in the conservation, management, and use of biodiversity, yet their contribution is often overlooked. They are relatively 'invisible' partners from the grassroots to the policy making level. If biodiversity is to survive, both women and men must play an equal part in its management''

At COP27’s side events focused on gender and climate change, speakers across multiple panels explained that climate change disproportionately affects women and girls by worsening existing gender inequalities. Climate change worsens sexual and reproductive health care and outcomes, intensifies economic hardship and the gendered opportunity divide, and can increase sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)

                                       Picture of castle for castle for Mirriam Chongo

It’s an important step in realizing Zambia’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, and accelerating progress to end hunger and poverty by 2030 as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Call to action; Because climate change is a relatively new subject among Zambians, more community work is needed for people to assimilate essential information. For example, traditional farming methods locally called “Chitemene system”, imply cutting down trees for farming and wood as a source of domestic energy, which continues to injure the environment at an alarming rate.Additionally, climate change financing is poor among local organizations and the implementation of the 2021 Zambia National Climate Learning Strategy requires momentum.

The question remains: Is government, CSOs, and NGOs doing enough to help women especially in rural areas to fight climate change?