Climate Change and the Feminization of Poverty in Africa: Insights from Rural Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study analyzed how climate change contributes to the feminization of poverty particularly for rural women in Zimbabwe given that their livelihoods are dependent on natural resources that are climate sensitive. The study adopted a qualitative content analysis as its research design. The study established that gendered norms and power inequalities leave especially rural women exposed and vulnerable to climate change, resulting in them being trapped in poverty as they experience severe food and water shortages in addition to being exposed to climate-induced diseases and gender-based violence. The study also noted that the effects of climate change have negative consequences on rural women’s earnings and incomes. The study concludes that the vulnerability of women to climate change is something that is gendered and socially constructed given that the degradation of the environment is largely an outcome of patriarchy.