Transcript Development in a time of climate change

Development in a time of
climate change:
Putting women at the
heart of solutions
Kate Raworth, Oxfam Great Britain
Charles King, Liberia Finance and Trust Corporation
Anyaa Vohiri, Fauna and Flora International
Heather Grady, Realising Rights
1. Why is gender relevant to climate change?
2. How will climate change affect
rural West Africa?
3. Development in a time of climate change:
- Stopping deforestation
- Getting clean energy to communities
- Adapting agriculture to climate impact
What does this family need to get out of poverty?
What does this family need to get out of poverty?
Physical
Financial
Social
Human
Natural
Women and men have:
- different roles in the household
- different resources to deliver them with.
P
P
resources
roles
roles
S
F
H
N
F
S
H
N
Men provide food and cash from
farming by:
- Growing cash crops to sell
- Growing food to eat or sell
i
And they provide cash through:
- Small-scale manufacturing
- Trading goods
- Selling labour
i
Rural women produce much of the family’s food
• on marginal lands
• without irrigation
• using saved seeds
• with no formal training
• without access to credit
They provide the household water
And the household fuel supply
They cook, clean and care for the sick
while caring for children at the same time.
while caring for children at the same time…
…all for no payment.
Women and men have:
- different roles in the household
- different resources to deliver them with.
P
P
resources
roles
roles
S
F
H
N
F
S
H
N
Men’s physical resources:
Bodily strength
Inherit crop land
House
Livestock,
Stored food
Machinery
Transport
Women’s physical resources:
Few belongings, but:
Bodily strength
Children
Common, marginal land
Stored food
Some tools?
Forced to sell sex?
Men’s human resources:
More likely to be educated and to
benefit from agricultural training services
Women’s human resources:
Less likely to be educated
Far less likely to get training
for agriculture or other
livelihood opportunities
Men’s financial resources:
Women’s financial resources:
Minimal savings
Micro-credit
Schemes
Limited access to
selling in markets
Men’s natural resources:
better land
more likely to have
irrigation and tools
to cope with
climate uncertainty
Women’s natural resources:
Poor quality land. Few tools.
Rain-fed agriculture
Wild crops for extra food & medicine
Wells and rivers for water
Bush and forest for fuel
Men’s social resources:
Networks:
Voice in village committees
More access to official power
Norms:
Mobility, independence
Authority,may use violence
Controls divorce decisions.
Women’s social resources:
Networks: women’s groups, cooperatives
Norms:
Less mobility and independence
Household roles are assumed to be hers
Women and men have:
- different roles in the household
- different resources to deliver them with.
P
P
resources
roles
roles
S
F
H
N
F
S
H
N
One household?
P
P
resources
roles
roles
S
F
H
N
S
F
H
N
Women invest more in their children
Income in women’s hands goes
further towards children’s nutrition,
education, health and well-being.

In sub-Saharan Africa, if women had equal access to land,
seed and fertilizer, then agricultural productivity would rise
by up to 20%.

An educated woman is 50% more likely to have her children
immunised.

In Africa, children whose mothers got at least 5 years of
education are 40% more likely to live beyond the age of five.
Over to you…

Is this story true for rural women and
men in Liberia?

Which differences between women and
men are the greatest challenge?
What role does climate change
have in Africa?
Average temperature
of Earth’s surface, 0C
Who has produced CO2 emissions to date?
But who is already bearing the worst impacts?
Number of people affected by climate-related disasters in sub-Saharan Africa, 1960
to date
140
Droughts
Total affected (millions)
120
Floods
100
80
60
40
20
0
1960-69
1970-79
1980-89
Source: "EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database
www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium"
1990-99
2000-06
“…climate change will negatively impact on the full
range of human and economic development in Africa:
reducing people’s ability to feed themselves;
threatening people’s health;
reducing livelihood opportunities and
economic growth prospects”
Dr. Anthony Nyong,
Coordinating Lead Author, Africa Chapter,
IPCC 4th Assessment Working Group Two
Expected climate change in
West Africa
Uncertainty in models and data but…

Temperatures: rising

Sea level: rising

More or less rain?

Less predictability of rainfall
Expected climate impacts in West Africa
Agriculture: much shorter growing season in some
areas, with serious impacts on food security
Livestock: animals likely to suffer from heat stress,
drought and spreading disease
Water resources: likely increase in water stress
Coastal settlements: low-lying lands will be inundated,
threatening coastal cities across the region
Health: increased diarrhoea and malnutrition, likely
impacts of malaria, dengue, cholera
Social change: risk of land conflicts, mass migration,
more frequent humanitarian crises
African agriculture coming under stress
UNDP 2006
Expected climate impacts for
rural communities in Liberia:
• How will women’s and men’s
roles be affected?
• How will women’s and men’s
resources be affected?
• What social and economic
pressures could there be?
Development in a time of climate change:
3 challenges for gender equality
1.
How can we stop deforestation – and
ensure that women benefit?
2.
How can we get clean energy to rural
communities – and ensure that women
benefit?
3.
How can we adapt agriculture to cope
with climate impacts – and ensure that
women benefit?
1. Stopping deforestation
•How can we stop deforestation
in Africa?
•Will women benefit or lose out?
Logging in Congo DRC
2. Getting clean energy to communities
Solar panels for electricity
Wind power, Kenya
How can clean energy most
benefit rural women?
Wind power, Kenya
Constructing biogas plant, Rwanda
3. Adapting agriculture to climate impacts
Conservation tillage
Extending irrigation
How can communities adapt
to climate change?
What role must women play?
Drought-tolerant crops