Women, Water and Climate Change

This year, COP27 is hosted by Egypt, the conference has been dubbed ‘the African COP’. Each year, the advent of the COP calls us to consider the impact climate change will have on many facets of life. The location of the conference in Africa should enable a focus on the continent in particular. In this blog I aim to outline how climate change-induced changes in the water cycle will impact African women.

Literature generally agrees that climate change threatens to enhance existing gender disparities relating to water in Africa (Williams et al. 2022). The traditional social and economic roles of women in Africa, including water collection, often rely on ecosystem services. As a result, the environmental degradation associated with climate change will likely adversely affect women (Steady 2014: 313).

In Northern and Southern parts of Africa, it is expected that the number and duration of dry periods will increase, shown in Figure 1 (Faramarzi et al. 2013: 99). 

Figure 1: Map showing historic and expected changes in the number and length of dry periods in Africa (Faramarzi et al. 2013: 99)

Water scarcity means that women will have to travel further to collect water, risking exposure to extreme heat associated with climate change and other threats such as sexual assault. The increased burden might force girls to leave school, widening existing gender disparities in educational outcomes. Water scarcity is also linked to food insecurity. In drought-afflicted regions in Africa, women eat last and least as a result of patriarchal systems. Consequently, women experience nutrient deficiencies (BBC 2022). Furthermore, drought has been associated with increased intimate partner violence towards women (Epstein et al. 2020: 17). In other words, water scarcity has worse consequences for women.

On the other hand, the increased temperatures associated with climate change are also generally associated with high-precipitation as a result of the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship (Tabari 2020). A study in 2014 focussing on the Niger Delta demonstrated that the risk of catastrophic floods was likely to increase in most climate change scenarios (Aich et al. 2016: 676). So far in 2022, there have been at least 29 flood disasters across Africa, some of the worst flooding has taken place in West Africa (Dunne 2022). Existing gender disparities mean that women are more vulnerable to the impact of extreme weather events as a result of disparities in information, mobility, decision-making and access to resources and training (UN Women 2022). A study in Nigeria found that women from low income neighbourhoods demonstrated slower recoveries from flooding than women and men of higher income neighbourhoods (Ajibade et al. 2013: 1). This leads us to appreciate the importance of considering the intersectionality of gender with other characteristics, such as class, in compounding vulnerability (Ajibade et al. 2013: 10). Africa contains 70% of the world’s impoverished population and therefore African women could be considered more vulnerable to climate change than women in other regions (Williams et al. 2022: 10).

Figure 2: a map showing the location, significance and type of extreme weather events that have taken place in Africa between January and October 2022 (Source: Dunne 2022)

Climate change will intensify the water cycle, resulting in more extreme climate events. These events have the capacity to enhance existing gender disparities. Moving forward, climate change mitigation strategies will need to be sensitive to the needs of women in Africa. Now, more than ever, it is essential to empower the voices of African women.