BANK WITH UBA

BANK WITH UBA
Click banner for more info....

STUDY AT ECU

STUDY AT ECU
Click banner for more info...

Monday 24 July 2017

Awareness of NDC among women in Zambia: Low to stimulate their participation in climate change activities



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

No comments:

Post a Comment

Galaxy S8

Galaxy S8
Click banner for more info....

Advert Space

Advert Space
"You Have The Products and Services, We Have The Customers"

TRACTORRASTOS CATERPILLAR PARTS

TRACTORRASTOS CATERPILLAR PARTS

Zalatex Paints

Zalatex Paints
Zambia's number one paint, choice of professionals