The
results are summarized in terms of (1) gender roles, responsibilities
and livelihoods; (2) access to resources; (3) exposure to climate risks,
impacts, sensitivity and gender vulnerabilities; and (4) coping and
adaptation strategies.
4.1. Gender roles and sources of livelihoods
Focus group discussions revealed that women and men have different roles and responsibilities in their homesteads ().
The responsibilities among gender groups were different between
cultures while the roles were common across cultures. For example, the
provision of household needs is the responsibility of men in a
matrilineal culture in Manjawira, while it is the responsibility of both
men and women in male-headed households in Mitole. It was, however,
noted that these trends have changed with climate variability; the
responsibilities which were previously for men are now shared between
men and women because of the increased demand at the homestead. Apart
from roles and responsibilities common for men and women, women have
extra roles and responsibilities such as collecting water and firewood,
fetching and preparing food, household chores, taking care of children
and the sick and child bearing.
| TABLE 1 Roles and responsibilities |
|
It
was observed that most of the women's roles are routine activities and
the demand at the homestead is daily, unlike men's roles which are
mostly demanded when need arises. The timeline revealed that women are
engaged in one role or the other throughout the day while men have some
free time in which they engage in income-generating activities.
Culturally, most of these routine activities are carried out by women
and girls and they suffer greatly when the resources are scarce. Even
though some men's roles may have similar effects, their roles are not
regular and pertinent to the daily demands of the household. Reduction
of natural resources results in more demand for labour and time from
women, hence, reducing the quality and quantity of time and labour which
is required for farm activities, income-generating activities, food
preparation and other resources such as education. Consequently, food
availability, access and nutrition are compromised.
The
results also showed that most of the women's roles are dependent on
natural resources such as water and fuel wood. These findings are
consistent with those of similar studies conducted in other developing
countries, for example, Nelson et al. (
200223.
Nelson, V., Meadows, K., Cannon, T., Morton, J. and
Martin, A. 2002. Uncertain predictions, invisible impacts, and the need
to mainstream gender in climate change adaptations. Gender and Development, 10(2): 51–59.
[Taylor & Francis Online], [CSA]
View all references), Babugura et al. (
20103.
Babugura, A., Mtshali, N. and Mtshali, M. 2010. Gender and Climate Change: South Africa Case Study, Cape Town: Heinrich Böll Foundation Southern Africa.
View all references) and Ribeiro and Chaù'que (
201027.
Ribeiro, N. and Chaù'que, A. 2010. Gender and Climate Change: Mozambique Case Study Cape Town Heinrich Böll Foundation Southern Africa
View all references).
In female-headed households, all the roles and responsibilities are
taken by women and sometimes assisted by their elder children. This
renders female-headed households more vulnerable when resources are
scarce. However, complementary roles empower a household which is headed
by a male to have more opportunities than a female-headed household.
The
main livelihoods in the study areas are agriculture, on-farm informal
employment, small-scale businesses including selling charcoal and
firewood. About 78 per cent male-headed and 77 per cent female-headed
households indicated agriculture as the main source of livelihood. The
sources of livelihood are presented in .
| TABLE 2 Sources of livelihood |
|
As
can be seen from the table, more men than women were engaged in selling
charcoal and firewood, with Manjawira having more households engaged in
charcoal business than Mitole; perhaps because the area is not yet
deforested. It was noted that more women than men engage in subsistence
agriculture as a source of food, growing mainly food crops; while men
grow cash crops, such as cotton in Mitole. The discussions with farmers
revealed that in the past, around the 1970s and the 1980s, households
were relying on agriculture because there was surplus from different
types of crops and enough food and income from farm products. But
harvests decreased from the 1990s onwards; the harvest is not enough
even for household food consumption. As a result, the demand for other
livelihoods has increased. One farmer from Manjawira lamented that:
We
used to grow many crops and harvest enough food to feed our families
and sell surplus to meet other household needs. However, farming is no
longer reliable; therefore, we cut down trees for charcoal which brings
income.
This statement was echoed by many women and men in
different focus group discussions from both areas. The farmers noted
that the shift in livelihoods is attributed to climate variability which
has rendered agriculture unreliable. As an adaptation, communities have
diversified their livelihoods and depend more on either selling
charcoal or informal employment than before. However, charcoal
processing is a challenge to most of them, especially among women when
there is a food shortage. Hence, most women were engaged in selling
charcoal while processing was done by men. The high demand for charcoal
in urban areas has rendered charcoal selling a profitable business.
Consequently, more trees are being cut down and thus increasing
deforestation. It was stated by the respondents that charcoal business
was not an appropriate way of adapting. The activity is being undertaken
because the communities have few alternative ways to adapt. It was also
observed that most men engage in on-farm employment while women work in
the gardens. Perhaps this is due to prescribed roles and
responsibilities of men and women as income earners and food producers,
respectively.
4.2. Access to resources
Adaptation
to climate variability demands that households have resources (natural,
physical, human and financial). But the discussions and interviews
revealed that access to and control over these resources are different
for men and women, with men having more access.
presents a summary of the resources attained by male-headed and
female-headed households. For example, male heads of households had
attended at least primary education (mean 1.12 for Manjawira, 1.04 for
Mitole) while most female heads of households had no formal education
(median 0.88 for Manjawira and 0.63 for Mitole). The availability of
food through production is influenced by the availability of land,
inputs and human labour. All these factors are gendered. For example,
the quality of labour for women is constrained by household chores whose
demand increases as the resources become scarce due to climate
variability. Access to nutritious foods depends on the availability of
income or social networks. However, income is influenced by access to
diversified livelihoods which is also a constraint for women. Moreover,
women are responsible for household food preparation and nutrition. Poor
access to resources and livelihood implies poor quality of food for the
household. Therefore, adaptation can be gender biased if gender
vulnerabilities are not taken into consideration and this can lead to
different food security status.
| TABLE 3 Access to resources |
|
4.3. Climate variability impacts
There
are direct and indirect impacts of droughts, increased temperatures,
late rains, floods and low amount of rainfall on communities in the
study areas. The direct impacts are mainly caused by disasters that
cause physical harm or stress while indirect impacts are manifested
through their roles and livelihoods. The group discussions revealed that
increased temperature has resulted in heat stress, increased cases of
health problems such as Malaria and increased demand for water at the
homestead. This affects the quality of human labour in farming and
income-generating activities. In addition, reduced amount of rainfall,
floods, droughts, late rains and short rain have reduced the crop yield
due to crop failure and destruction, water quality and quantity, water
sources because some rivers and wells have dried up, firewood supply,
and increased cases of water-related diseases. Since most of the farming
activities and households chores are carried by women in the area, they
are the most affected by the effects of climate variability and are
therefore the most vulnerable to food insecurity.
provides a summary of climate risks, exposure to risks through roles
and responsibilities, impacts, sensitivity and gender vulnerability to
risks.
| TABLE 4 Climate risks, gender roles and responsibilities, impacts, sensitivity and gender vulnerability |
|
4.4. Coping and adaptation measures: Capabilities and challenges
Similar coping and adaptation strategies were observed in Mitole and Manjawira ().
The findings from the group discussions and household interviews showed
that coping strategies for shortage of food due to less rainfall, dry
spells and droughts included skipping meals or reducing the number of
meals per day so that food can last longer; reducing the quantity of
food; substituting usual meals (
nsima) with less preferred meals
like vegetables, fruits, porridge and locally diluted drinks. In the
case of reduced water and firewood resources, households cope by using
water sparingly and using energy-saving technologies for cooking. Other
strategies like selling livestock and other assets, food for work,
finding alternative livelihoods like selling charcoal and off-farm
employment also provide a temporary relief for the households. It was,
however, noted that few male-headed households could skip meals because
men had diverse livelihoods that complemented other sources of food and
income in the homestead. Skipping or reducing the number of meals is
also documented as a common coping mechanism in the SADC region (Norton
et al.,
199424.
Norton A., Owen D., Milimo J.T., 1994, Zambia Poverty Assessment, Report No. 12985 – ZA, 3, World Bank.
View all references; SADC, 2002; De Waal and Whiteside,
20039.
De Waal A., Whiteside A., 2003, New Variant Famine: AIDS and Food Crisis in Southern Africa [available at www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu].
View all references).
| TABLE 5 Coping and adaptation strategies |
|
Results
from the discussions and key informants' interviews showed that the
adaptation strategies to address effects of dry spells, droughts and
less rainfall include soil and water conservation technologies, planting
trees to establish community woodlots, community grain banks in
Manjawira, planting early-maturing and drought-resistant crops, planting
different types of crops such as maize, cassava, groundnuts, sweet
potatoes, millet, cotton and sorghum (intercropping and mixed farming),
using modern agricultural technologies such as hybrid seeds and
conservation agriculture, and using energy-saving stoves. Migration was
also common among communities in Mitole. However, it is mostly men who
migrate to look for employment or food because, culturally, women do not
provide for the needs of the household. Besides, engaging in
small-scale businesses is a common adaptation strategy among women while
men engage in selling charcoal and firewood. It may be interesting to
note that women were more active in establishing community woodlots by
participating in tree nurseries and planting trees. This was so because
woodlots provided solutions to the depleted firewood, thereby reducing
their workload. Additionally, it was found that women had strong and
organized networks that could easily be used for interventions.
There
were challenges in implementing and adopting adaptation strategies.
Firstly, the workload of house chores increases when there is increased
temperature, dry spells and droughts because of high demand for
resources and scarce of resources such as water and firewood. Hence,
women do not have enough time to engage in income-generating activities
like off-farm employment and business. It is mostly men who look for
off-farm employment. In some cases, the demand for on-farm employment is
too much for women. For instance, in Mitole, both men and women start
work before dawn at Illovo Sugar Company and go back to their homes in
the evening. The discussions with men and women groups from Mitole
revealed that the work is sometimes so hard for women that some engage
in sexual relationships with men in order to get assistance to complete
their pieces of work. This behaviour has brought mistrust in marriages
and therefore most men do not allow their spouses to engage in such
types of employment.
Other challenges
include poverty, inadequate alternatives for livelihoods, unavailability
of farm inputs, inadequate extension services, illiteracy, inadequate
income and low producer prices for farm products like cotton. Some
community initiative ways of adapting, such as community grain banks,
are a challenge because of lack of appropriate post-harvest handling
technologies. Women complained of high demand for unaffordable
pesticides in grain banks. Other technologies, such as marker ridges,
are labour intensive and time consuming especially for women, resulting
in low adoption. In addition, some adaptation strategies introduced by
non-governmental organizations and other partners have few
beneficiaries. Therefore, the impact at community level is low, and this
sometimes promotes conflicts and theft between the beneficiaries and
non-beneficiaries.
It was also observed
that the implementation of adaptation strategies was different at the
household level due to differences in access to resources. Households
with a higher income were more able to adopt the use of hybrid seed and
other technologies to adapt to climate variability. This finding
complements the diffusion of innovation theory by Rogers (
199528.
Rogers, E. M. 1995. Diffusion of Innovations, 4, New York: The Free Press.
View all references)
that high-income households have the required knowledge and resources,
and can understand the benefits of adopting new ideas (see also
Mkwambisi et al.,
201122.
Mkwambisi, D. D., Fraser, E. D.G. and Dougill, A. J.
2011. Urban agriculture and poverty reduction: evaluating how food
production in cities contributes to food security, employment and income
in Malawi. Journal of International Development, 23(2): 181–203.
[CrossRef]
View all references).
The
analysis from discussions and household interviews implies that women
are more vulnerable to household food insecurity than men because they
have inadequate alternative ways to adapt. This is because of increased
work pressure at the homestead and overdependence on agriculture and
natural resources which are highly affected by climate variability.
Furthermore, women are faced with unequal distribution of resources at
the household level, influenced by culture. However, women were keen to
implement strategies that reduce their workload at the homestead. The
willingness to implement adaptation strategies is an opportunity for
introducing appropriate strategies.