About Yonge Nawe

Programmes

Resources

Press Information

Membership

Links

Search

Contact Us
 

Women play a key role in managing and preserving biodiversity, water, land and other natural resources, yet their importance is often ignored or exploited.  Last week we discussed the relationship between biodiversity and gender.  This week we examine gender in the context of a second topic of great relevance to Swaziland; desertification and land degradation.

Women in drylands generally play important roles in preserving their land for food, fuel (cooking, heating and lighting) and shelter.  In many of the dry agricultural areas of the world, including Swaziland, women traditionally devote much of their time and effort to the land.  They grow, process, manage and market food and other natural resources.  They may have gardens, work in the fields, collect feed for animals, process tree products for sale and collect fuel and water.

Despite all those efforts, women living in drylands tend to rank among the poorest of the poor, with little power to bring about real change.  They are often excluded from participation in land conservation and development projects, from agricultural extension work and from policies that directly affect their livelihoods.  Ownership and decision making over livestock is normally in the male domain, and even in female-headed households there is still an element of male decision making in the form of extended family members.

Desertification is defined as the conversion of productive cropland into desert through intensive land use (overgrazing & agriculture) and climate change, and it affects men and women differently given their differing productive roles.   Women usually end up travelling longer distances to compensate, often under harsh and unsafe conditions.  Their workload grows as they struggle to collect food and fuel.  Erosion and diminished soil fertility cut into agricultural production and additional sources of income.  And if a family can no longer survive using its traditional production strategies, there is often a seasonal or permanent migration of young men from rural areas.  This puts a strain on those left behind (very often the women) as labour increases but results in less output because of the declining carrying capacity of the soil.  Women also take over roles traditionally handled by men. Other scenarios that result from the loss of livestock involve men turning to gambling and drinking cheap brew, leaving women as the sole breadwinners.

Gender and Land Ownership
Women worldwide enjoy little autonomous access to natural resources, or to ownership of land and other resources.  With land reform taking place in many countries in Africa and elsewhere, Governments are amending rural land legislation, which could be an opportunity for redressing imbalances.  The gender aspects of land tenure, which are often bypassed, need full attention. Protecting customary rights should not accentuate inequalities within communities or sanction harmful environmental behaviour.

Summary
Desertification is a complex and serious environmental and social phenomenon. However, communities have developed important strategies and a repository of knowledge and expertise that allows them to respond to and survive in challenging conditions. Although women’s social position is often subordinate, they perform many essential survival tasks and have developed valuable skills and practices that complement men’s knowledge. Severe environmental degradation, however, puts extra burdens on women, who are often left behind to run households when men migrate.

Watch this column for more articles on environment and sustainable development in Swaziland. 

Back to Newspaper Columns

Back to Press Information