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Factsheet No#7: GENDER & WOMEN'S ISSUES |
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A total of about 31.7 million people live in the Zambezi Basin and more than half are women. Although women are also environmental managers, users and activists for the protection of the environment, they are poorly represented in sectors related to environment and development. In general, the balance sheet of the Zambezi Basin reveals that women do not have an equal share of land and political power compared to men. This is despite the fact that women comprise more than half of the total population in the basin. The need for a gender perspective The concept of gender can be explained by distinguishing it from sex. One's sex is biologically determined: male or female. Gender, on the other hand, recognises that boys and girls are brought up differently, or are socialised to play different roles in accordance with the norms, attitudes, beliefs, practices and expectations of their societies. Unlike sex roles, which are biologically determined, gender roles are taught or learnt; they are the result of socialisation and are, therefore, changeable. Roles, responsibilities, constraints and opportunities of people are crucial in the areas of environment and development. Major questions that need to be addressed in future development planning are, for example: How do women and men impact on different environmental issues in their day-to-day undertakings? What are the implications for the future? What decisions are in place and who makes them? How can the inclusion of women in plans, decisions, programmes and activities possibly help? A clear analysis and understanding of how responsibilities are shared in a community, and maintained by the unwritten "code" to which people adhere, is necessary if environment and development goals are to be achieved. Stakeholders or communities are not a homogenous group of people that is not differentiated by gender. Box 1: Mainstreaming gender
Source: Beijing Platform for ActionGender difference in the Zambezi Basin Key gender differences that relate to the environment within the Zambezi Basin are reflected in household responsibilities, productive uses of natural resources, access to and control over these resources, priorities for the development and management of resources, bargaining power and decision-making. The gender statistics in the Zambezi River Basin reveal among other things that: • Women constitute a majority of the population, up to 65 percent, as most men have migrated to urban cities outside the basin in search of employment; • Women constitute a larger number of the poor; • Women are rural based to a larger extent than men, and remain on the periphery to human development and governance; • Women have access to a lower educational level than men; • Women work longer hours than men; and • Most of women's work is unpaid, and their share of households' income and decisions is not in proportion to their labour.
Table 1: Gender gaps in power sharing and income
UNDP Human Development Report 1995* Note: n/a – not available Even though progress has been made in integrating women in mainstream politics and decision-making positions, large gaps still exist. Gender and the environment Key gender issues that impact on the environment include among others: access to means of production, technology, wetland resources, and water and sanitation; energy provision and human rights. Access to means of production Throughout the region, the pattern is that women have less access to the means of production such as land, and support services such as credit. While women constitute the majority of the agricultural labour force in the region, their land rights are limited in all the countries in the basin. In Zambia, for example, 90 percent of the land available for agriculture falls under traditional land controlled by chiefs who follow patriarchal principles in its allocation. Women have no direct access to land in this situation. Closely related to the issue of land is livestock ownership. Men generally own more cattle than women throughout the Zambezi Basin. In Botswana, for instance, of the total national herd, women own 14 percent. This marginalisation from cattle ownership of women not only reflects female poverty, but also means that those that have land but no access to cattle have no access to draught power for ploughing. They end up ploughing late, ploughing less hectares and getting lower yields. Access to technology In technology development, the use and maintenance of the resource base and the problems identified by women are often neglected. New technology in agriculture is developed and targeted specifically at men, marginalising women farmers. Technology development is mainly for crops grown by men, and for the large part, men are the ones who receive master farming training. Access to wetland resources Large areas of wetlands are found in the Zambezi Basin. Major economic activities in the wetlands include agriculture, fishing and tourism. Gender stereotypes in wetland exists in the agriculture, fishing, hunting and gathering activities. In many wetland communities, women harvest renewable resources such as wild fruits and firewood for cooking, thatching grass, reeds and grasses to make mats, bowls and other crafts that are sold to hotel owners and tourists in the area. Women, therefore, play an important role in the craft industry that contributes to the tourism industry. Despite the existence of stereotype gender roles in wetland resource use, much of the work on wetland conservation and wise use, has not considered gender issues and the role of women in wetland conservation and utilisation. Both women and men have specific roles in wetland agriculture, fishing, gathering and water resource use, which are often neglected. In reality, wetland resource users have very different and sometimes opposing interests, depending on their direct or indirect relation to other resources. Access to water and sanitation Access to safe water supplies and sanitation in the region is generally limited. With the scarcity of water in many riparian countries, women, particularly those in rural areas, are forced to walk long distances to fetch water. According to a World Bank estimate, some African women use 40 percent of their daily nutritional intake travelling to collect water. While estimates vary in the various countries, in Zambia, for example, access to protected water sources in the rural and peri-urban areas range between 25-60 percent. Access to sanitation lies between 40-50 percent in rural and peri-urban areas. Due to environmental degradation and deforestation, women in the region now spend more time looking for fuelwood, water and food, and have less time to cook, forcing them to cut back on the number of cooked meals and their nutritional value. In addition, as a result of their tasks as water suppliers, women are more subject to water related diseases. Energy provision Fuelwood is used for domestic purposes such as cooking and heating. It is also used in crop processing, beer brewing, making pottery, fish-smoking, brick-burning and in other small-scale rural based industries. About 80 percent of the total energy consumed in the southern African region come from biomass - fuelwood, charcoal and crop residues such as maize stalks. In Malawi, for example, 90 percent of the country's energy source comes from fuelwood and main consumers are rural households who use fuelwood for cooking and heating. Forests cover 38 percent of Malawi but are disappearing at the rate of 3.5 percent per year. Since collecting fuelwood is mainly a woman's task she is most affected by fuel scarcity. On average, women spend six to nine hours per week collecting fuel wood for household consumption. Human rights Studies indicate that while women carry a heavier load in production and reproduction, they do not enjoy similar rights in terms of access to resources. However, efforts have over the years been made to advance women's status as well as to protect and safeguard human rights in the basin. At the regional level, heads of State and Government from the southern African region have committed themselves to protecting and promoting human rights of women and children by adopting the Gender and Development Declaration in September 1997. Among others, the declaration commits SADC governments and states to: • Promote women's full access to, and control over productive resources such as land, livestock, markets, credit, modern technology, formal employment, and a good quality of life in order to reduce the level of poverty among women. Gender specific research Information on the extent and severity of the various environmental problems and their impact on women as compared to men in the Zambezi Basin is very scanty. This is due to lack of gender specific research in the basin. There is need for more data to highlight the important gender disparities in the Zambezi Basin. Conclusion Understanding gender issues is a logical part of the resource-sensitive approach to development. Therefore, gender differences and inequalities must be taken into account if development interventions are to be effective in serving the needs of women as well as men, now and into the future. This approach is also recognised in Principle 20 of the Rio Principles were it is stated that: "Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development."
Sources for Further Information Action for Rural Development and Environment (ARDA) Praceta Farinha Leitao-NO.27, IDTO C.P. 3788, Luanda Angola Tel: 244-2-395132 Fax: 244-2-396683 E-mail: adra-ang@ebonet.net
Zambia Association for Research and Development (ZARD) First Floor Design House P.O. Box 37836, Lusaka Zambia Tel: 260-1-224536 Fax: 260-1-222883 E-mail: zard@zamnet.zm Ditshwanelo The Botswana Centre of Human rights P Bag 00416, Gaborone Botswana Tel: 267-306998 Fax: 267-306998 E-mail: ditshwanelo@info.bw University of Namibia Social Sciences Division (SSD) Training and Research Programme Namibia P Bag 133301, Windhoek Tel: 264-61-2063951 Fax: 264-61-2063268 E-mail: eiipinge@unam.na Zimbabwe Women Resources Centre and Network (ZWRCN) 288 Hebert Chitepo Avenue P.O. Box 2198, Harare Zimbabwe Tel: 263-4-737435 Fax: 263-4-720331 E-mail: thoko@zwrcn.org.zw University of Malawi Centre for Social Research P.O. Box 278, Zomba Malawi Tel: 265-522916/522800/523194620 300 Fax: 265-522578/522760 E-mail: pmvula@unima.wn.apc.org Tanzania Gender Networking (TGNP) P.O. Box 8921, Dar es Salaam Tanzania Tel: 255-51-118030 Fax: 255-51-122971 E-mail: tagnet@ud.co.tz Bibliography IUCN, 1997, Zambezi Basin Wetlands Conservation and Resource Utilisation Project, Gender Integration Strategy. SADC, 1997, Report on the SADC Gender Strategy Workshop. SARDC, 1999, Beyond Inequalities, Women in Southern Africa (forthcoming). SARDC-IMERCSA, 1996, Water in Southern Africa. SARDC-IMERCSA, 1999, "State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin" (forthcoming). SARDC-IMERCSA, 1999, The State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin, Inception Mission Report. Sida, 1997, A Gender Perspective in the Water Resources Management Sector. UN Department of Public Information, 1996, Platform for Action and Beijing Declaration.
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