Of Rural Women Building Resilience to Face Climate Crisis

The international day of the rural women is commemorated every October 15^th as way to recognize their efforts towards humanity. Just with a hoe, these women and girls continue to make significant contributions in ensuring the sustainability of rural households, communities, towns and cities.  UN Women however recognizes that these “women account for a substantial proportion of the agricultural labour force, including informal work, and perform the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work within families and households in rural areas. They make significant contributions to agricultural production, food security and nutrition, land and natural resource management, and building climate resilience”. Yet they continue to live in abject poverty and misery. The paradox is that the UN also recognizes that these women produce about 80% of the food in Asia and Sub Saharan Africa, serving as breadbasket to2.5 billion people.

Un Secretary General-Antonio Guterres describes the rural women "as early adopters of new agricultural techniques, first responders in crises and entrepreneurs of green energy, rural women are a powerful force that can drive global progress”.

One of the biggest threats the world is facing today is the phenomenon of climate change. As humanity is on bended knees in the face of this global quagmire, the UN has decided that this year’s theme should reflect the role and contribution by the rural women and girls. The theme: Building Resilience to face climate crisis. Literally, this is great recognition given that the rural woman is the custodian of nature and her surrounding yet she owns absolutely nothing. Imagine that a woman who passes 6 out of 7 days of the week in the farm doesn’t even own a tree and not to talk of land. For example, she take a pear to the farm, eats, sows the seed and when it germinates, she takes care and when it starts producing, that tree becomes the property of the husband who goes to the farm three times in a year ( to clear, assist in planting crops like maize and to assist in carrying the harvest home). If the rural woman can plant and own trees, the fight against climate change will be an easy ride but if she still suffers from the male artificial barriers, the world will remain vulnerable to climate change. The time is now.

If not there is no doubt that these women will keep adapting to the changes in climate like a toad placed in a heating gar that keeps adapting to the changing temperature without any support.

Climate change adaption needs to move from conference hall, symposiums and seminar halls into the field where the most resilient actors are. If the UN can make it in such a way that every rural woman and girl plants just a tree each, take care to ensure that it survives, the fight against climate change will be very successful one and less stressful. 

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