Women’s Access to Natural Resources in the Context of Climate Change in Ndanga Communal Area, Zaka District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

From time immemorial, access to resources by women has been a challenge due to cultural beliefs and the patriarchal nature of the society. In recent years, international conventions and national laws to promote gender equality were promulgated. While great strides have been made to achieve gender equality, climate change is reversing the gains made so far, forcing societies to ‘march forward to the past’ as men have re-invigorated their ‘old ways’ that disadvantage women access to resources. Using data collection methods inspired by the case study research design, this paper discusses how climate change induced natural resource scarcity had influenced mechanisms used by women to access depleting natural resources that underpin their livelihood systems. The study focused on women in Ndanga communal area, Zaka district. A central theme on which this paper is anchored argues that climate change reduced women’s ‘control of access’ of natural resource. As resource decline, women lose control over resources to the men and local institutions and because women are resource constrained they are forced to employ illegal and riskier mechanisms (such as theft and negotiation to offer sexual favours to ‘maintain access’ to natural resource. Resource-constrained women also expend physical and financial resource to ‘gain and maintain access to natural resources, making them more vulnerable to climate change as they use the few resources they have. In view of this, it is argued in the paper that to reduce women’s vulnerability, authorities in Zimbabwe should design programmes that directly resource women and not households as control will end up with the husband or male relatives. Functional markets and cooperatives should be established so that local women don’t interact with middle women/men from towns but sell their products directly in towns where prices are high, hence acquire resources that make them independent to men and to adapt to climate change.