Paper short abstract:

Climate crisis is gendered due to prevailing patriarchal structures reflected in social conditions and cultural practices biased towards men. The paper reviews gendered responses to the climate crisis whilst acknowledging women farmers’ agency in resisting marginalisation to mitigate climate risks.

Paper long abstract:

Climate crisis in Southern Africa has widened the inequality gaps further impoverishing vulnerable farmers whose livelihoods are being threatened by increasingly erratic rainfall patterns. In Zimbabwe, most poor farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture due to inadequate irrigation infrastructure and depleting water levels. Monoculture promoted as part of agriculture commercialisation has wiped out most drought resistant indigenous crops, compromising food security and biodiversity. Women bear the brunt of these natural disasters and declining food sources due to the prevailing patriarchal structures and gendered roles ascribing them the nurturing duties. The paper interrogates how climate change impacts on social conditions and cultural practices. It draws empirically from a qualitative study on historiography of 23 elderly women farmers in Mashonaland Central which is the second poorest province in Zimbabwe. It reviews gendered responses to the climate crisis whilst acknowledging women farmers’ agency in resisting marginalisation and their application of indigenous knowledge to mitigate climate risks.