Women's coping and adaptation capacities in pastoralist communities in Africa: Dealing with climate variability and change

abstract

African women, particularly in eastern, western, and northern Africa, still engage in pastoralism as a key livelihood strategy. Pastoralism as it is practised in this part of Africa largely involves the rearing of livestock in climate sensitive and vulnerable environments. Research on pastoralism in Africa identifies climate change as a major factor that adversely impacts pastoral women's livelihood, thus challenging them to develop coping mechanisms to minimise the effects of resultant stresses and shocks. Such coping and adaptive strategies are dependent on several socially differentiated variables which include entitlements and assets, health status and disability, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion and gender. This Briefing is a desk-top study of climate change adaptation among pastoralist women in Africa. The study indicates that women tend to interact with the environment and with livestock (in relation to pastoralism) in ways that differ from men: women have lower coping and adaptive capacities to climate variability and change compared to men. It is therefore imperative that appropriate policies and strategies be developed to improve adaptive capacities among women in these communities.

keywords:

• pastoralism
• vulnerability
• environmental risks
• coping strategies
• agency

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zanele Furusa

ZANELE FURUSA is a doctoral student in Geography and Environmental Management at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban. She holds a Masters Degree in Geography and Environmental Management from the same university and a BSc in Geography and Environmental Studies from Zimbabwe Open University. Her areas of specialisation include environmental management, gender and policy development, as well as climate change and its impact on marginalised communities. Email: [email protected]

Munashe Furusa

MUNASHE FURUSA holds a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in African Literature and Critical Theory from the University of Zimbabwe. He is the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and Executive Director of the California African American Political and Economic Institute (CAAPEI) at California State University Dominguez Hills, United States, where amongst numerous other university positions, he has served as Chair of Africana Studies, Chair of Academic Senate, Chair of the General Education Committee, and Director of the Institute for Global Intercultural Peace Building. He is an esteemed scholar and prolific author who has written dozens of articles and books. His recent publications include his co-authored books, Identity Construction and (Mis)Perceptions on Being Black in South Africa (forthcoming 2014), The Borders in All of Us: New Approaches to Global Diasporic Societies (2006), and African Womanhood in Zimbabwean Literature: New Critical Perspectives on Women's Literature in African Languages (2006). Email: [email protected]