THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON GENDER

BY ALMAZ DEMESSIE

AGRO METOROLOGIST MSc. in Tropical Agricultural Development

(private participation)

Gender Forum Organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation [HBF], held on 27th February 2008 at the Ghion Hotel [Blue Salon]

from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The Impact of Climate Change on Gender

By: Almaz Demessie

Mrs Almaz Demessie has MSc. in Tropical Agricultural Development (Crop Protection) from University of Reading (UK). In addition to that she has got post graduate diploma in agro meteorology from Indian Meteorological Department and Israel Meteorological Office. Besides, she has received different Agro meteorological certificates in Applied Remote Sensing for Rainfall Estimation from University of Reading Meteorological Department, UK; in Remote Sensing, Rainfall estimation and GIS (Arc View) from Kenya Meteorological Department, Nairobi Kenya ; in Agro meteorology Related to extreme events from National Meteorological Services Agency in collaboration with World Meteorological Organization, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.; in Condensed Basic Course in Meteorology from Indian Meteorological Department, India; in Agro meteorology from UN-FAO Regional Early Warning Office Zimbabwe, Harare. Currently she is working as Meteorological Research and Studies Team Leader at National Meteorological Agency. For the last twenty years, Mrs. Almaz Demessie has worked as an agro meteorologist since her graduation in National Meteorological Agency from junior agro meteorologist position to Meteorological Research and Studies Team Leader. Besides, she has been working as a national and international focal point for the Agency in agro meteorological related matter including Gender Focal point for WMO and Participating international workshops and seminars like IPCC, ICTP. etc

1. Introduction

The impacts of global climate change are not only physical and economic, but also social and cultural, jeopardizing environmentally based livelihoods in many areas of the world. As predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “climate change impacts will be differently distributed among different regions, generations, age classes, income groups, occupations and genders” The IPCC also notes: “the impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately upon developing countries and the poor persons within all countries, and thereby exacerbate inequities in health status and access to adequate food, clean water, and other resources.” People living in poverty are more vulnerable to environmental changes.

Today climate change is a burning issue all over the world because of its global nature. Fears have arisen that, climate may be changing for the worse and its impact may be felt on agricultural production, which will reduce the supply of food to growing population, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. As Wlhite, (cited in Climate Variability and Agriculture by Y.P Abrol, S. Gadgil and G. B.Pant 1996) pointed out rain fed agriculture in the semi-arid tropics is limited mostly by high climatic variability with principal limiting factor being rainfall. Adverse climatic conditions are the bottleneck of Ethiopia’s rain fed agriculture development. Besides, rainfall seasonality affects forage availability, livestock production and ultimately the livelihoods of pastoral people. In addition to these, agricultural production suffers from periodic outbreak of crop and livestock pests and diseases in most parts of Ethiopia. The factors involved here are principally wind, precipitation and temperature. Climate change will alter the nature of occurrence of agricultural pests in terms of area. The same is true for human disease like malaria i.e. some areas becoming sensitive (different from the usual phenomenon) due to climate change. Greater economic and individual dependence on agriculture, widespread poverty, and inadequate technologies are likely to exacerbate the impacts of climate change in tropical regions. Climatic and agro-ecological zones would shift, forcing farmers to adapt, as well as threatening natural vegetation and fauna; the current imbalance of food

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production between cool and temperate regions and tropical and subtropical regions could worsen; pests and vector-borne diseases would spread into areas where they were previously unknown and distribution and quantities of fish and sea-foods could change dramatically.

The gender-poverty links show that 70 percent of the poor in the world are women and their vulnerability is accentuated by race, ethnicity, and age. Within the developing world, women represent the majority of low-income earners, with lower education levels and unequal access to social, economic and political resources. Gender differences in property rights and in issues related to access to information and the different cultural, social and economic roles for men and women means that climate change is likely to affect them differentially. Since women form the disproportionate share of the poor in developing countries and communities that are highly dependent on natural resources, they are likely to be disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of Climate Change.

When natural disasters and environmental change happen, women and men are affected differently because of traditional, socially based roles and responsibilities. It is widely known and accepted that disasters affect women and men differently. The vulnerability of women is much greater because of their subordinate position in the family arising out of patriarchy and traditionally embedded cultural values. These effects have also a different impact depending on culture and socio-economic contexts. In all societies, in many parts of the world, gender equality is not yet realized. Men and women have different roles, responsibilities and decision-making powers. Much of the agricultural practices and knowledge are performed and maintained by women in local societies in many regions of the world. The role of women for maintaining those skills and knowledge is of fundamental importance. Most climate change issues, policies and programs are not gender neutral. In light of this several areas deserve, attention specifically: gender specific resource-use patterns; gender specific effects of climate change; gender aspects of mitigation and adaptation; gender and decision-making on climate change; women’s capacity to cope with climate change; and gender related pattern of vulnerability. 1.1 Definition of Climate and Climate Change

1.1.1 Climate

It is the average weather parameters, usually 30 years of a given locality. The measures of climate include mainly the estimates of average values of weather parameters and measures of variability near to the average value.

1.1.2 Climate Change

As Biswas, (cited in Climate Variability and Agriculture by Y.P. Abrol, S. Gadgil and G. B. Pant 1996) has stated in most cases, some deviation of average values between two reference periods is mainly due to large weather variability. There may be real shifts of the

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average or changes in variability between two periods. These deviations from the mean value constitute variation or change.

The Global warming leads climate change and its consequences include a rise in the sea-level, changes in precipitation patterns, increased risk of droughts and floods, threats to biodiversity, and potential challenges for public health. Rainfall in large parts of Ethiopia shows a high level of year-to-year variability. The rainfall variability in the rainy seasons is the most serious problem encountered by Ethiopian farmers. Small-scale farmers are the largest group of poor people in Ethiopia. Their average land holdings are less than 1 ha, their productivity is low and they are vulnerable to drought and other adverse natural conditions. As a result, particularly in drought prone regions of Ethiopia agriculture production is determined by rainfall variability (rain fed agriculture is the dominant practice in Ethiopia). 1.1.3 Some Examples of Climate Change in Ethiopian Context Many research studies have stated that meteorological parameters like rainfall, temperature and wind play an important role in changing agricultural production more than other parameters. Any deviation from the mean climatic condition would affect agricultural activities negatively. Agriculture can show little sensitivity to moderate variations around those means. If the condition persisted a bit longer it could affect the overall physiological activities of the plants and result in crop damage and final yield reduction. The examples presented in this paper are selected randomly from pastoral and crop producing areas just to indicate the situation of climate change in Ethiopia.

Example 1

Example 2

Jijiga As can be seen from the above examples (Example 1 & 2) there is a decreasing trend in mean decadal rainfall amount during 1976 - 2006 in most cases. Besides the percent deviation of mean annual rainfall shows negative deviation in most cases as of 1979.

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Comparison of means for Neghele during the two

different periods (1953-983) and (1976-2006)

0102030405060708090

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35

dekads

wat

er in

mm

Mean 1 Mean 2 DETo DETo/2 WR Maize WR Sorghum WR Wheat Example 3

Neghle Here we can see both decreasing and increasing trend in mean decadal rainfall during the first rainy season while there is a decreasing trend during the second small rainy season particularly the time when high rainfall amount is the normal feature of the season (Example 3).

Example 4

Dire Dawa There is a shift of rainfall season and an increase in rainfall amount in most cases during the first half of the year while the reverse is true during the second half of the year, particularly the mean decadal rainfall pattern shows decreasing trend in most portion of the second season during 1975-2005(Example 4).

Example 5

In this case, 80% probability of exceedance is taken for the rainfall season instead of mean annual rainfall and mean monthly Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the other component to analyze Agricultural Rainfall Index (ARI). According to this concept-growing period is considered when ARI is greater than 100. Thus, from this analysis we can see sift in Length of Growing Period (LGP) as we compare ARI 1 to that of ARI 2. There is an extension of Length of Growing Period (LGP) in case of ARI 2.

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Example 6

In the case of Michew we can see the increasing trend in most cases when we compare mean decadal rainfall 1(1953-1982) with that of mean decadal rainfall 2 (1976-2006). Thus there is a change almost in all cases.

Example 7

As can be seen from the mean decadal rainfall analysis of Hosaina during the two different periods (Example 7) the change is observed during the first half while the rainfall situation is remaining similar towards the second half.

1.2 Definition of Gender and Gender Analysis

1.2.1 Gender

The concept of gender, which refers to the social constructions of women and men in accordance to their sex, facilitates an elaboration on the patterns of access and control over resources, benefits and decision-making processes, as well as power relations between women and men. It is worth noting, however, some general confusion over the concept of gender. One of the prominent confusions is that gender is a western feminist principle whereby women take the lead and exercise power over men. This notion is misleading. It creates tensions, suspicions, avoidance and, worse, rejection.

Gender, as a time and space-bound social construction, embraces a certain cultural context which can be any culture. As a movement, the alternate goal is a society in which women and men relate equally; partnering and helping each other for a better world.

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The reason why climate change is both a poverty and gender issue relies on the fact that climate change affects the poor more than the affluent and is not a gender-neutral process. Different access and control over resources, decision-making processes, and their benefits, make women and men experience and respond to the effects of climate change differently.

* Generally the meaning of gender refers “not to women or men per se, but to the relations between them, both perceptual and material. Gender is not determined biologically, as a result of sexual characteristics of either women or men, but is constructed socially. It is a central organizing principle of societies and often governs the processes of production and reproduction, consumption and distribution. Gender roles are the "social definition" of women and men, and vary among different societies and cultures, classes and ages, and during different periods in history”.

1.2.2 Gender analysis

Analyzing gender in the human causes and impacts of climate change is important. It provides a substantial ground for the development and implementation of appropriate policies and practices, especially on mitigation and adaptation.

* “Gender analysis seeks answers to fundamental questions such as who does or uses what, how and why. The purpose of gender analysis is not to create a separate body of social knowledge about women, but to rethink current processes - such as natural resource use and management, economic adjustment and transformation, or demographic changes - to better understand the gender factors and realities within them. Armed with this knowledge, it should be possible to avoid the mistakes of the past and tailor interventions to better meet women's and men's specific gender-based constraints, needs and opportunities”.

2. The Impact of Climate Change on Gender The effects of climate change affect women and men, sometimes in the same way, sometimes differently. It is widely accepted that disasters affect women and men differently. The effects of climate change manifested in the increase of extreme weather conditions such as hot summers, droughts, storms, or floods, impact women more severely than men, both in developing and in developed countries. When natural disasters and environmental change happen, women and men affected differently because of traditional socially based roles and responsibilities. Degradation of water sources is usually a consequence of drought and natural disasters especially in a context of poverty. Because of their roles in ensuring the household water supply and being in charge of domestic chores, women more exposed to diseases, which thrive in such conditions such as diarrhea and cholera. Moreover, since women are often the primary caregivers for children and the elderly, they may also have less mobility. Cultural

*http://www.fao.org/sd/wpdirect/wpdoe001.htm Gender: the key to sustainability and food security Posted May 1997

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restrictions on women's mobility can compound the problem. As Lorena Aguilar (a senior gender advisor for the World Conservation Union) said “During emergencies women are less likely to have access to information about assistance than men," Extreme weather effects such as flooding, landslides, and storms, cause death and injury, may affect women and men differently, depending on the means at the disposal of each to ensure their own safety and to re-establish their lives after the disaster. Fore instance during the 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh many more women died than men because early warnings displayed in public spaces where women prohibited and women delayed leaving their homes because of fears of indecency. Besides, as Oxfam International, based in Oxford, England has pointed out 80 percent of the 2004 tsunami victims were female due to the above-mentioned reason. In case of developed countries, the 20,000 people who died in France during the extreme heat wave in Europe in 2003 included significantly more elderly women than men. Pursuant to the IPCC analysis, “the impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately upon developing countries and the poor persons within all countries, and thereby exacerbate inequities in health status and access to adequate food, clean water, and other resources.” People living in poverty are more vulnerable to environmental changes. The gender-poverty links show that 70 percent of the poor in the world are women and their vulnerability accentuated by race, ethnicity, and age. In natural disasters that have occurred in recent years, both in developing and in developed countries, it is primarily the poor who have suffered-and all over the world, the majority of the poor are women, who are all levels earn less than men. In developing countries, women living in poverty bear a disproportionate burden of climate change consequences. Because of women’s marginalized statues and dependence on local natural resources, their domestic burdens increased, including additional work to fetch water, or to collect fuel and fodder. In some areas, climate change generates resource shortage and unreliable job markets, which lead to increased male-out migration and more women left behind with additional agricultural and households duties. Poor women’s lack of access to and control over natural resources, technologies, and credit mean that they have fewer resources to cop with seasonal and episodic weather and natural disasters. Consequently, traditional roles reinforced, girls’ education suffers, and women’s ability to diversify their livelihoods (and therefore their capacity to access income-generating jobs) diminished. As Irene Dankelman (vice-chair of the Women's Environment and Development Organization), has pointed out in her opening remarks at the annual roundtable meeting of the U.N.general assembly. "Not only are women adversely impacted by climate change, they also contribute differently from men to its causes and its solutions”. Understanding how the different social expectations, roles, status, and economic power of men and women affect, and are affected differently by, climate change will improve actions taken to reduce vulnerability and combat climate change in the developing world.

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2.1 How climate change will affect men and women differently? Climate change has many gender-specific characteristics: Women affected differently, and more severely, by climate change and natural disaster because of social roles, discrimination, and poverty; Women still underrepresented in decision-making about climate change, greenhouse gas emission, and adaptation/mitigation; There are gender biases in carbon emissions. They should be included not only because they are most vulnerable but also because they have different perspectives and expertise to contribute. Gender is a significant dimension to take into account when understanding environmental change. Perspectives, responses, and impacts related to disaster events are different for men and women, as men and women have different social responsibilities, vulnerabilities, capabilities, and opportunities for adjustment and unequal asset and power relations; they experience environmental change and disaster differently. According to recent studies, climate change predicted to reduce crop yields and food production in some regions, particularly the tropics. Women are responsible 70-80 percent of household food production in sub-Saharan Africa, 65 percent in Asia, and 45 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. They achieve this despite unequal access to land, information, and inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizer. Traditional food sources may become more unpredictable and scarce as the climate changes. Women’s specific knowledge of maintaining biodiversity, through the conservation and domestication of wild edible plant seeds and food crop breeding, a key factor to adapting to climate change more effectively. Climate change may exacerbate existing shortage of water. Women, largely responsible for water collection in their communities, are more sensitive to the changes in seasons and climatic conditions that affect water quantity and accessibility that make its collection even more time-consuming. As primary caregivers in many families, women may see their responsibilities increase as family members suffer increased illness. Further, in the developing world, women often have less access to medical care than men do. Although climate change impacts will affect all countries, its impacts will differently distributed among different regions, generation, age classes income groups, occupation and gender. Pursuant to IPCC’s prediction:-

• 75-250 million people across Africa could face more severe water shortage by 2020.

• Agriculture production and access to food will be severely compromised in many African countries: agricultural land will be lost, and there will be shorter growing seasons and lower yields. In some countries, yields from rain-fed crops could be halved by 2020.

• Rising water temperatures will decrease fish stocks in large lakes, already depleted by over fishing.

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The poor (of which 70% are women) will disproportionately affect. Women are also powerful agents of change by playing a key role in energy consumption, deforestation, burning of vegetation, population growth and economic growth. 2.2 Gender issues and UN Conventions This paper focuses on the three Rio Conventions i.e. UNFCCC, UNCCD and CBD, which are the main international legally binding agreements for sustainable development and Ethiopia is one of the countries that have ratified these Conventions. In all societies, in many parts of the world, gender equality is not yet realized. Men and women have different roles, responsibilities, and decision-making powers. Fore instance until very recently, gender issues have not played a major role in climate protection discussions in case of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It does not mention either a gender perspective or women and men as specific stakeholders in the convention. In the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the issue of women and men is mentioned only in the preface, which states: “Recognizing also the vital role that women play in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and affirming the need for the full participation of women at all levels of policymaking and implementation for biological diversity conservation, (…)” (CBD, 1992). The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the only one of the three Rio conventions to have clearly addressed the importance of targeting participation of women as well as men at all stages of the process. The UNCCD has mainstreamed the concept of gender by recognizing the role of women in ensuring rural livelihoods and by explicitly encouraging the equal participation of women and men in capacity building. It is through the full participation of local people, particularly at the local level, especially women and youth, with the cooperation of non-governmental and local organizations that the efforts to combat desertification can be most effective. Desertification is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations and occurs because dry land ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world's land area, are extremely vulnerable to over-exploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, conflict, deforestation, overgrazing, and bad irrigation practices can all undermine land fertility. According to FAO/UNCCD investigation, over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification. In addition, about one billion people in over one hundred countries are at risk. These people include many of the world's poorest, most marginalized, and politically weak citizens. Recognizing the link between desertification and poverty, the UNCCD stresses the importance of a “bottom-up participatory approach in identifying, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating projects that combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought”. The UNCCD approach thus seeks to combine science and technology with local knowledge, to come up with effective solutions for sustainable dry land development. Given the intimate relationship between desertification and poverty, a local-level gender-sensitive understanding of livelihood roles is all the more relevant for finding solutions. Whatever the difference in roles may be, the specific targeting of sex and age groups in

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needs assessment and solution design and implementation is an essential factor of programme success. 3. The situation of Gender Issue in Ethiopia 3.1 The general situation of Gender Issue in Ethiopia

Even though their contribution is very significant to the country's economy, mainly in the agricultural and the informal sectors, and given the importance of their social role, women in Ethiopia do not have equitable access to economic resources and have little decision making power. Besides, though the Ethiopia has a great ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, attitudes towards women's rights are relatively homogenous in rural societies. Eighty-seven per cent of women in Ethiopia are engaged in agriculture, contributing about 50 percent of income based on subsistence agriculture. However, little attention has been given to involving women in rural development efforts and enabling them to benefit directly from agriculture extension services. With regard to livestock production, Ethiopia is the home for thousands of pastoral people who herd their livestock in the semi-arid to arid areas of the country. Rainfall seasonality affects forage availability, livestock production and ultimately the livelihoods of those people. Ethiopia’s rural poor include many of the country’s seven million people who depend on herding for a livelihood. About 20 per cent of herders’ households are headed by women. Households headed by women are particularly vulnerable. Women are much less likely than men to receive an education or health benefits, or to have a voice in decisions affecting their lives. 3.2 The Federal Democratic Government of Ethiopia’s attention on

gender equality

Until recently, governments in Ethiopia have not had any policy on women's affairs. Although women have made substantial contributions to the struggle Ethiopian people have waged to ensure their rights and freedoms, their struggle up to now has not been sufficiently institutionalized. Gender issues do not only concern women. Women's problems cannot be solved by women alone, but by the coordinated efforts of the society as a whole, including government. Careful planning in full consultation with women is essential, drawing lessons from past failures and experiences.

In 1992 the creation of a Women’s Affairs Office within the Prime Minister’s Office mandated to coordinate and facilitate conditions to promote gender equality in areas of development.

The Federal Democratic Government of Ethiopia has declared its clear commitment to the development of women with the announcement of the National Policy on Women in 1993. Moreover the Government in 1995, under its new constitution, renewed its commitment towards this policy

The Women's Policy primarily aims to institutionalize the political, economical, and social rights of women by creating an appropriate structure in government offices and institutions

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so that the public policies and interventions are gender-sensitive and can ensure equitable development for all Ethiopian men and women. The ultimate goal here is to achieve a level where government policies on economic, political and social spheres and all development intervention plans become gender-sensitive and gender inclusive.

To enhance the status of women, the Government formally adopted a National Program of Action in 1997. The program seeks to expand educational and work opportunities for women, improve women's access to health care, and educate women about certain unhealthy traditional practices such as early marriage. There have been few improvements in the status of women since the inception of this program; however, girls reportedly attended school in greater numbers in some regions, and according to a study done by the National Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (NCTPE), certain harmful traditional practices such as early marriage and marriage by abduction appeared to be on the decline. Land redistribution programs undertaken in some regions had treated women equally with men. In addition, the Government has put in place policy and legislative measures, which empowered women to have access to credit facilities and extension services and improved agricultural technology. Thus, the position of women to mitigate the effect of natural disaster and climate change at large would be improving time to time. However, more work and effort has par amount importance from both women and men to eradicate poverty and to ensure sustainable development for the future. Sustainable Development defined as a process of use of natural resources in a wise manner with a full participation of the people in the effort to eliminate poverty and work towards the general improvement of the livelihood of society. Sustainability is hence development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development encompasses social, economical, cultural, security and participatory in decision-makings.

According to recent findings, interventions for women largely consist of ad hoc and unconnected self-standing projects, which, if continued, will remain gender neutral and ineffective in delivering benefits to women. The biggest challenge faced by the regional governments is that top-down activities do not reach women effectively due to lack of institutional capacity at the sub-regional level and because of lack of participation in delivery assistance services. Moreover, the development plans for women were not demand-driven and therefore failed to recognize substantial variations across regions. This resulted in disconnected women from all development interventions.

NGO'S and women groups are major partners in the implementation of the policy at grass roots level. Development organizations, Religious and community organizations and women professional associations, and movements are involved in the implementation of the National Plan of action whereby poverty eradication being the priority focuses.

Various women's associations formed to promote women issues in different areas like women's health association, women lawyer's association, women education association, women association of the disabled target to tackle the problems in the respective areas and target women's interests; they bring out issues where women are disadvantaged and find solutions. They work in collaboration with other similar organizations in and outside the

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country. They promote Women's capacity by providing training programs and experience sharing forums.

The national committee for the eradication of harmful traditional practices has been playing major roles in brining about a change of attitude, knowledge and practice of various target audience, through training and information campaign with the involvement of government machineries health personnel's, school teachers and grassroots community members, traditional and religious leader, Youth groups and government officials.

There are also indigenous women associations that work at grass roots level in communities with a focus on the specific needs of women in their respective communities. This are part of larger development associations but focusing and targeting women. They provide skill-training, credit and introduce labor saving devices to minimize the labor of women concerning household chores and assist women to develop their leadership skills and participate in the democratization process.

The grass roots women have access to credit, training, and get self-employment through their associations. Besides, they tried to create various activities that are productive and beneficiary. They also look for sources of fund and have projects that improve their lives and satisfy their necessities of course there is still a long way to go.

4. Gender and adaptation polices and strategies

There is a suggestion that vulnerability and adaptation are largely social issues, however the issue of gender is not yet playing a more explicit role in adaptation studies, projects and policy. Because of the feminization of poverty, other existing gender inequalities, and men’s and women’s gendered roles in society and in the division of labor, there are gender differences in climate change impacts and in adaptive capacities. Such differences, in vulnerability and also in adaptive opportunities, should be recognized in the adaptation process to avoid further increases in gender inequality and to ensure the successfulness of adaptation policies and measures.

The extent and nature of negative impacts imposed by climate change can be managed by effective adaptation. In the context of climate change, adaptation refers to adjustments in human and natural systems to respond to actual or expected climate impacts. Climate change adaptation is a process of socio-institutional co-learning that recognizes often-competing goals and processes and uses information at various levels and in many ways to reduce vulnerability to climate risks. Adapting to climate change will depend on adjustments and changes at every level - from community-based to national and international. However, the capacity to adapt will vary significantly from country to country, community to community and in particular to the level of development. In general, the preferred adaptation strategies are actions with multiple economic and environmental benefits, including for current and future conditions and needs to be based on sound scientific assessment. The range of practices that can be used to adapt to climate change is diverse, and includes changes in behavior, structural changes, policy based responses, technological responses or managerial responses.

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As a great portion of women in Ethiopia are involved in agricultural activities any adaptation measure taken towards that activity is directly linked women’s day to day life. Adaptation process has the potential impact to reduce adverse effects of climate change and enhance beneficial developmental activities which can be the driving force for sustainable development. The capacity of human nature to adapt to and cope with climate change depends on such factors as wealth, technology, education, information skill, infrastructure, access to resources, and management capabilities. In line with this attention should be given for the following possible adaptation processes in Ethiopian context.

• Applying improved knowledge to develop better techniques and to resist the effect of climate change in a given locality (developing different water points and water collecting systems; developing alternate energy source for fuel; etc).

• Change in land use by using deferent techniques such as changing farm area,

change to crops with higher thermal requirements and drought-tolerant crop, a switch to crops with lower moisture requirements and change in crop location.

• Change in management in terms of the use of irrigation, fertilizer, in the control of

pests, in soil drainage, infrastructure.

• Create favorable environment for research activities to define the gender-differentiated impacts of global climate change, including a focus on gender differences in capabilities to cope with climate change adaptation process.

• Create awareness among people about the gender aspect of adaptation process and

the causes of climate change so that the vulnerable groups (women, youth and girls of the poor society) could change their wrong management practices such as deforestation, overgrazing, collecting dung form the ground for fuel, using fire around vegetation and forest areas with negligence, etc. which are the main causes for land degradation, desertification and climate change at large.

5. Gender issue and mitigation At both international and national levels, it remains difficult for women to gain recognition in the field of climate protection. As indicated in the above statement the Ethiopia government gives attention in this matter and there is also favorable stricture to implement any issue related to gender mainstreaming. Women are not only victims of climate change, but also effective agents of change in relation to both mitigation and adaptation. Women have strong body of knowledge and expertise that can be used in climate change mitigation, disaster reduction and adaptation strategies. Women’s responsibility in households and communities towards natural resources has positioned them well for livelihood strategies adapted to changing environmental realities. Women tend, however, to be underrepresented in decision-making on sustainable development, including on climate change, and this impedes their ability to contribute their unique and valuable perspectives and expertise on climate change.

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As the expert group meeting (held in Ankara, Turkey, 6-9 November 2001) has pointed out strategies and policies to cop with climate change are neglecting the gender dimensions of climate change and the current gender-climate change agenda. Women are poorly represented in planning and decision-making processes in climate change policies, limiting their capacity to engage in political decisions that can impact their specific needs and vulnerabilities. The level of women’s participation in planning and decision-making on climate protection is very low even in industrialized countries, and this is linked above all to the heavily technical nature and male dominance in key areas of work; energy, transport, town planning. Women are able to map their risks and vulnerabilities from their own standpoint and to play an important role in early warning. Drumming women’s interest in disaster mitigation and preparedness has led to improved community welfare during and after disasters. Ensuring strategies, including gender-sensitive target group analysis, identification and preparation of safe areas for villagers to escape floods, establishing local early warning, monitoring and communication systems, research on indigenous resilience practices and the creation of women-accessible emergency loan funds, help the poor reduce their risks in natural disasters.

In the context of climate change, mitigation refers to a human intervention to reduce the "sources" of greenhouse gases or enhance the "sinks" to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Climate change mitigation in agriculture includes measures that prevent greenhouse gas emissions such as reducing energy demand and using biomass energy and other alternative energy sources. Other measures increase carbon storage by reducing land clearing, avoiding deforestation, afforestation, improving soil, and crop and grazing land management. Offset measures include planting trees to capture carbon dioxide.

6. Conclusion To be successful, adaptation policies and measures within both developed and developing countries need to be gender sensitive. To understand the implications of adaptation measures for all people involved, it is necessary that all members of an adapting community be represented in climate change planning and governance processes. Taking the different daily realities of women and men into account can produce a qualitative improvement in climate change policy and measures. It is therefore important to integrate gender into all mechanisms, policies and measures, and tools and guidelines within the Climate Change debate. Women must be recognized as agents of change who have a significant role to play in creating sustainable models for energy consumption and production, and in responsible climate change mitigation adaptation efforts. There is an urgent need to include gender equality and involvement of women at all environmental planning and decision-making levels. Empowerment through capacity building and technical training will increase women’s capacity to effectively participate in energy policy-making and decision-making bodies.

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Addressing the absence of the gender dimension in the UNFCCC, and the scarcity of research focusing on the gender aspects of climate change will also help to build a more consistent and solid approach regarding climate change policies.

Equal involvement of men and women in adaptation planning is important not only to ensure that the measures developed are actually beneficial for all those who are supposed to implement them, but also to ensure that all relevant knowledge, (that is, knowledge from men and women) is integrated into policy and projects.

Technological development related to climate change should take in to account women’s specific priorities and needs and make full use of their knowledge and expertise, including traditional practices. Women’s involvement in the development of new technologies can ensure that they are user-friendly, effective and sustainable. Women should also have equal access to training, credit and skills-development programs to ensure their full participation in climate change initiatives. Financing mechanism must be flexible enough to reflect women’s priorities and needs. The active participation of women in the development of funding criteria and allocation of resources for climate change initiatives is critical, particularly at local levels. Gender analysis of all budget lines and financial instruments for climate change is needed to ensure gender- sensitive investments in programs for adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer and capacity building.

7. The way forward

The important role played by women in regions affected by desertification and/or drought, particularly in rural areas of developing countries like Ethiopia should be assessed, and the importance of ensuring the full participation of both men and women at all levels of activity to mitigate the effects of adverse climatic effects that can causes climate change.

Favorable environment should be available to create a balanced and equal participation of both women and men in formulating and implementing policies and programmes will allow utilizing the maximum talent available. Such an approach can help identify the different needs, perception and roles.

It is necessary to build capacity and resilience to enable women and men to cope with the negative impacts of climate variability and climate change.

Funds should be mobilized for greater research in understanding the complex links between gender and poverty (with regard to climate change) and how to build the adaptive capacity of the poor.

The development plans for women should be demand-driven in order to improve and increase their participation in social, economical and political activities.

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Create favorable environment at regional level in order to reach at grass root level to implement the top-down activities and to understand the situation of the poor and more vulnerable society appropriately as well.

Women must be recognized as agents of change who have a significant role to play in creating sustainable models for energy consumption and production, and in responsible climate change mitigation adaptation efforts.

Gender is an important dimension should be taking into account. Environmental management is not gender neutral and it is important that climate vulnerability assessments adequately reflect the different circumstances of men and women within communities.

Last but not least gender issues should be mainstreamed in the climate debate and the climate negotiations. The relevant bodies should ensure that this issue gets attention.

8. References

Demessie, A (2004). Effect of Climate Change on Agriculture Particularly in Semi-Arid Tropics of the World with some example of Ethiopian Agriculture. Published in BALWOIS Website (http://balwois.net), Republic of Macedonia, 25-29 May 2004 (International Workshop).

Demessie, A (2002). Agorclimatical Analysis of Ethiopia with a Particular Emphasis of Crop Production and Protection Aspect. MSc. Thesis, UK: University of Reading.

Doorenbos, J. & Pruitt, W. O. (1984). Guidelines for Predicting Crop Water Requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 24. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Doorenbos, J. & Kassam, A. H. (1979). Yield Response to Water. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No 33. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Frere, M. & Popov, G. F. (1979). Agrometeorological Crop Monitoring and Forecasting. FAO Plant Production Paper No 17. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Frere, M. & Popov, G. F. (1986). Early Agro meteorological Crop Yield Assessment. FAO Plant Production Paper No 73. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of

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the United Nations.

FAO (1994), http://www.FAO.ORG/AG/AGLW/WCROP.HTM

Oldeman L.R. & Frere, M. (1982). A Study of the Agro meteorology of Humid Tropics of

South-East Asia. WMO Technical Note No 179. Geneva: World Meteorology

Organization.

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