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| Image credit: Africa Up Close |
By Winston Muleba
Junior
“Accelerating development efforts
towards the Vision 2030 without leaving anyone behind” is the theme for the Seventh National
Development Plan (7NDP) as stated in the document’s foreword by His Excellency,
President Edgar Chagwa Lungu.
The document could not have come at a better time; it indicates
that “the impact of climate change will cost Zambia approximately 0.4 percent
of annual economic growth”.
7NDP further highlights that without action, rainfall variability
alone could lead to losses of 0.9 per cent of GDP growth over the next decade,
thereby keeping a significant section of Zambia’s population below the poverty
line.
In the past few decades, climate change has been the subject of
widespread attention and for Zambia it has
emerged as one of the biggest threats to the economic and social development.
Experts define it as a change in average weather
conditions lasting for an extended period of time of not less than 30-years to
millions of years.
Many reports on women and climate change indicate that everyone
has experienced, for example, some kind of seasonal change, whether from winter
to summer, or rainy season.
The country’s Second National Communication (SNC) to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) highlights
that Zambia is already experiencing climate
induced hazards which include drought and dry spells, seasonal and flash floods
and extreme temperatures.
Some of these hazards, especially the droughts and floods have
increased in frequency and intensity over the past few decades and have
adversely impacted on the food and water security, water quality, energy and
livelihoods of the people especially rural communities.
A combined report by Government and United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) on ‘enabling
activities for the preparation of Zambia’s SNC to UNFCCC project’ states that climate change is real and its adverse impact on natural resources
is contributing to environmental degradation.
The report further explains that such degradation and depletion
contribute significantly to the low productivity of the primary sectors like water, agriculture, forestry, wildlife, tourism, mining, energy,
infrastructure and health, thereby also contributing to Zambia’s
prevailing extreme poverty which affects more than 68 percent of the
population; moreover as they become
more impoverished, poor communities tend to adopt less sustainable practices of
production and harvesting from the already declining natural biomass thereby
contributing to its further degradation.
This creates a vicious spiral where both poverty and resource
degradation increase as they mutually re-enforce each other.
To
address this, the First Communication on climate change
originates from the studies conducted years ago under the Agriculture Sector
Investment Programme (ASIP), which revealed the linkage between climate change,
environment degradation, food security and poverty, and urged the Government to
start integrating climate change concerns in the development processes.
And as a result of adverse impact that climate change has posed on
primary sectors and people in general people, there is a growing recognition of the
differential impact of climate change on gender.
Efforts to adapt and mitigate climate change
threats and in accordance with decision 1/CP.19
and 1/CP.20 of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework on
Climate Change, countries across the globe committed to create a new
international climate agreement by the conclusion of UNFCCC Conference of the
Parties (COP21) in Paris in December 2015.
On 12 December 2015, 196 Parties to UNFCCC adopted
the Paris Agreement, a new legally-binding framework for an internationally
coordinated effort to tackle climate change.
The
Agreement represents the culmination of six years of international climate
change negotiations under the auspices of the UNFCCC, and was reached under
intense international pressure to avoid a repeat failure of the Copenhagen
conference in 2009.
As a country which is vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate
change and a party to UNFCCC, Zambia among other countries submitted the nationally determined
contribution (NDC) as a ‘National Climate Action Plan’ on adaptation and
mitigation as well as finance and investment requirements for both.
In preparation, countries that committed agreed to
publicly outline what post-2020 climate actions they intend to take under a new
international agreement, known as their Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions (INDCs).
The INDC from different countries were developed
on the understanding that the Paris Agreement would be binding, fair, effective
and incorporate a ‘no-backsliding’ and a ‘progressive’ approach to enhance
climate change mitigation and adaptation implementation and ambition.
Zambia’s INDC includes both mitigation and
adaptation components based on her national circumstances and is in line with
decisions 1/CP.19 and 1/CP.20.
And it is believed that the successful
implementation of it will result in an estimated total emission reduction of 38,000Gg CO2eq
which translates to 47 percent (internationally supported efforts) against 2010
as a base year.
This emission reduction is conditional and subject
to the availability of international support in form of finance, technology and
capacity building.
The total budget for implementing both components
is estimated at US$ 50 billion by the year 2030, out of this USD 35 billion is
expected to come from external sources while $15 billion will be mobilized from
domestic sources.
However, the reality on the ground is that key
players especially women have limited knowledge about the NDC and majority do
not even know it yet it has an indirect proportion effect on their livelihoods
and lives.
Assessments conducted in different parts of the
country shows that most women in Zambia do not know what climate change really is
and the impact it pose on their livelihood activities.
And lack of knowledge about contents of NDC and
climate change in general, does not bother them to participate in climate
change activities; a situation that makes women not to foster the country’s
adaptation and mitigation efforts toward climate change threats.
Mrs Mulenga Katebe, a farmer from a selected focus
group in Luapula province says she has only heard of the term climate change
from her children but she doesn’t know what it is about.
Bwalya Chileshe, a student pursing Natural
Resources majoring in Forestry at Robert Kapasa Makasa University in Muchinga
province says climate change should be included as a course in many programmes
of study such as agriculture, geography and environmental related at various
higher institution of learning.
She says even though she is pursuing Natural
Resources, she doesn’t know anything about NDC.
And Mrs Cleopatra Chembo, a farmer on the
Copperbelt’s Masaiti district says she knows climate change by definition but
what causes it and how to mitigate it she doesn’t know.
Meanwhile, Ms Choolwe Mweemba, a livestock farmer in
Southern province says all she knows about climate change is that the president
of United States of America (USA) does not support it.
According to the Population and Demographic Projections 2011 -
2035 Report, Zambia’s population is estimated at 15.9 million in 2016; out of
these, 7.9 million are males and 8.0 million are females resulting into a
relationship of more women than men in the country.
Philosophers and environmental ethicists have made the direct connection
between gender and climate change, arguing that women’s lives in particular
worsen indirect proportion to local ecosystem damage.
A book
titled ‘staying alive: women, ecology, and development’ indicates that women
suffer disproportionate economic and other harms in consequence of climate
change impacts.
And Volume 1 of the Oxfam handbook of development and relief also
explains that given the feminization of poverty and the vulnerability of the
poor to climate change hazards, it is no surprise that globally, women are
disproportionately threatened by climate change and are the first affected by
it.
According to UNFCCC, climate change will mainly
affect population economically dependent on natural resources and that are
situated in places that present extreme conditions such as scarcity or floods.
In addition, poor people are even more exposed to
the impacts in climate change and since women represent majority of people
living in poverty this becomes a disturbing picture concern to women
development and in general economic growth since in most of the cases they are
the base of economic support in their families.
Analyzing climate change impacts in main sectors,
it can be seen that agriculture is one of the main sector that suffers the
consequences of it.
FAO reports indicate that it is estimated that
under the scenario of an increase of 1.5 ºC, by 2100 productivity of the land
will decrease by 50 percent and revenues will drop by 90 percent.
Likewise, according to a FAO investigation, in
2011, 43 percent agricultures in the world were women, and in places like
India, Pakistan, Kenya and Ethiopia could reach levels over de 70% as indicated
in a 2005 World Bank report.
And reports show that women makeup up to the
majority of small scale farmers in Zambia and produce up to 80 percent of the
food consumed locally.
Significant
data have existed for some time concerning the important part women play in the
struggle against poverty in their role as farmers.
Many reports suggest that women in both rural and urban areas
contribute to environmental degradation as they access diminishing resources
like wood and water in the ongoing need to support their families adding that when the feminization of poverty is put
together with the connection between climate change and poverty, it is clear
that women are especially vulnerable to climate change threats.
In addition, it takes worldwide 200 million hours per day by women and children to
get water according to UN Water.
And Zambia has a relatively abundant supply of surface water and
groundwater.
However, surface water is unevenly distributed throughout the
country, and the southern region often experiences water shortages.
During drought periods and following declines in precipitation,
there have been reductions in the flow and volume of rivers, streams, and
lakes, which have affected the accessibility and availability; women mainly are
the ones who suffer most as are the ones who have to go and fetch water from
the nearing river, borehole or reservoir.
But not only is this a concern, the use of biomass
for cooking is also a relevant issue related not only to premature dead of
children and women but to the contribution to 25 percent of global black carbon
emissions, number that will continue growing in parallel to population growth
if no changes towards sustainable energy sources is made.
Climate-sensitive diseases that have persistently increased
mortality and morbidity rates in urban and rural Zambia include malaria, diarrhea,
cholera, and respiratory infections, with malaria having the highest rate of
incidence.
In light of increases in heavy rainfall events and rising
temperatures, both of which facilitate mosquito breeding, the spread of malaria
is of particular concern.
Increases and changes in geographic coverage and survival of
mosquito populations may expose more of the Zambian population, including some
that previously may not have been exposed to the disease; in cases like this,
women still are the ones who suffer most when a member of the household is
sick.
Following that climate change has an effect on people’s
lives, gender has been included in the climate change agenda and many could
still wonder why a social topic is a priority in the environmental world plan,
and the answer might seem confusing in the sense that women are more vulnerable
to the climate change challenges but at the same time they are seen as a main
key for the development of new ideas and solution to climate change issues.
It is therefore considered that women are an
important group that are and will be affected by climate change, in COP 22 they
reinforce the idea that women are also consider a key factors in the reduction
of emissions.
Due to their capacities, their role in society,
their determination and as decision makers, women participation, both in
developed and developing countries, are necessary in the development of
projects for agriculture adaptation for climate change, developing new projects
for sustainable energy production, they are also de ones that can make changes
in the amount and sources of energy they use in the houses and finally they are
the ones that could help to design new mechanism that will contribute to
climate change mitigation at the same time that helps them improve their life
conditions and with this moving forward in poverty issues.
Zambia has made progress in implementation of
climate change measures over the years.
However, women as critical-players and agent of
change in climate action and management of natural resources is often
overlooked in climate negotiations, investment and policies.
Vested with good understanding of NDC among other
climate change knowledge, women could
communicate with one another their knowledge of coping strategies and expertise
in ecosystem management in the face of a changing climate.
Since
swift climate change impacts are likely, however, to reduce the capacity of
women to cope with changes, women’s knowledge, needs, and input require
immediate integration into policy- and decision-making at local, national, and
international levels.
To address this, Zambia Environmental Management
Agency (ZEMA) among other stakeholders involved in the fight against climate
change has embarked on a sensitization programme at provincial level that is
aimed at improving understanding of the NDC; enhancing levels
of awareness on climate change related issues and
create ownership in
the implementation of NDC. However, the
capacity of the sensitization programme is still low to stimulate women
participation in climate change activities.
About the Author
Winston Muleba
Junior is a Citizen Journalist, Aquaculturist, Researcher, Writer and Disaster
Management Practitioner who uses media and ICT to promote environmental
conservation; science, technology and innovation. He gravitates towards environment,
disasters, water, aquaculture and agriculture as he is skilled at juxtaposing
the latest research and expert opinion with the everyday lives and struggles of
people on the ground.
Email: mwenyamuleba@gmail.com
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