Women bear brunt of climate change
SITTING under a mango tree on a hot day in December, in a pensive mood, Martha Mangwiro (not her real name) is pondering the next move as she watches her maize crop wilt in the arid Dande area in Mt Darwin.
Mangwiro (36), a single mother of four, is lamenting the hot spell that has caused a serious impact on her crop.
Over the past few years, Martha’s family has been battling to stomach the agony of watching their crops destroyed due to high temperatures as climate change becomes a reality in Zimbabwe.
“It’s now close to 10 years and we have been experiencing this every year. Rains used to come early and we used to have bumper harvests. We wonder where the problem lies,” she laments in a recent interview with the Zimbabwe Independent.
The vigilant efforts by the village heads and their faith in the spiritual realm has culminated in rainmaking ceremonies, something that was last done more than 20 years back.
The village is desperate and it looks like there are no immediate answers on the horizon. The dry spells, according to experts, have proven to be the effects of climate change.
Mangwiro’s family has for years relied on subsistence farming. She and her ex-husband used to live a decent life together. But the husband left her to seek employment in urban areas and never returned, leaving Mangwiro to fend for her children on her ing gender-sensitive when allocating land,” she said.
“Education and awareness for women and girls on climate change and other cross-cutting issues like asset ownership is crucial. Literacy improvement programmes for young pregnant women and married women are needed.
Climate Change and Energy Governance lead Byron Zamasiya said access to information was important for decision making especially for the women. He urged the government to make deliberate efforts to educate women about climate change.
“Given the increased frequency of climate induced disasters, it is important to promote livelihood diversification. This may require the household to not only rely on crop-based farming, but to blend it with the rearing of small livestock such as traditional chickens and goats,” he said.
He added that educating women was important in promoting effective participation of women in policy making.
“When consultations on laws or policies are made, they can engage in discussions on these matters. This results in the crafting of policies that are gender sensitive and responsive to the needs of the women.” he said.