For the past couple of years, we’ve experienced unusual weather patterns; we’ve felt the temperatures constantly rise, and seen the glaciers steadily melt away, creating rising sea levels. Water and food shortages have become grave issues too, and climate change may have contributed to these problems as well. In 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that “925 million people do not have enough to eat and 98 percent of them live in developing countries.” Changes such as these affect the lives and livelihoods of families and individuals—both men and women. I recently read a couple of articles that examined in particular the ways in which women are affected by these changes and the scarcity of natural resources.

I read some articles from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and MENAFN.com (Middle East North Africa-Financial Network) that describe how climate change particularly affects women in Africa.  According to these articles, in developing countries, it is often the responsibility of the women to collect water and food for their families, causing them to face a number of disadvantages. For instance, as water collectors, women are more vulnerable to water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery, and they are also more prone to contracting malaria. As droughts are becoming more common, these women are forced to walk much further to search for water and sacrifice time they could have otherwise spent on education or other activities.

The article from MENAFN.com highlighted a forty year old woman living in Ghana, Akos Matsiador, who sells fish for a living. About a year ago, rising sea levels caused powerful tidal waves to destroy much of her village. She is now homeless and jobless, because the smoked fish she had stored to sell were washed away in the disaster. Akos is one of many women who are suffering from these hardships. Mercy Hlordzi, another fish seller, laments the loss of her occupation too and says “We are just there; we don’t do anything because our work has been destroyed by the sea.”

Furthermore, the articles also asserted that in most places, women are excluded from the discussion of decisions and policies made concerning climate change. Memuna Sandow, a government official in northern Ghana, claims “They maintain the environment more than men, but when it comes to decisions regarding climate change, women are not represented.” Both of these articles argue that while women lack formal education, they do possess knowledgeable indigenous information and skills about our natural resources and the environment. As primary caregivers, women have become aware of patterns of sicknesses, and women who collect water as a regular chore have the ability to detect changes in water quality. Including women in decisions involving climate change could help communities create the best plans to combat climate change and would ensure that their needs and priorities of women are heard and met.

Some countries are currently in the process of moving towards gender equality and have taken steps to create more opportunities for their female citizens. Nigeria is implementing a skills development program designed to educate women on international climate change negotiations. In this program, women will learn about the gendered aspects of climate change adaptation and develop strong leadership skills. The United Nation’s Africa Adaptation Programme is actively working to provide more climate information and education for women. The AAP is present in several African countries including Malawi, which has hosted several workshops on “gender-sensitive adaptation approaches.” The workshops acknowledge how separated roles and responsibilities for men and women require different types of support.

To find out more about climate change and gender, check out these articles: Gender and Climate Change: Advancing Development Through an Integrated Gender Perspective and The Woes of Women Amid Climate Change.