The climate crisis is recognized as a global crisis – the disastrous consequences of humanity’s collective global capitalistic system. Record-high temperatures, unpredictable weather, flash floods, wildfires, and excessive carbon emissions threaten the future of the natural world.
This is a topic that has been thoroughly deconstructed and well-researched by journalists and environmental scientists who have put forth ways in which all countries can reduce their carbon footprint and turn to alternative methods of production. However, it must be made very clear that those living in the Global South, who are the most vulnerable to environmental disasters, can do very little to mitigate these harsh conditions or adapt to an ‘environmentally-conscious lifestyle’ because many must do what they can to survive. In Kenya and Sudan, for instance, the climate crisis has worsened the living conditions of agrarian societies. More specifically, Kenyan and Sudanese female farmers are one of the groups most severely impacted by climate change yet the most resilient despite not having contributed to its exacerbation.
The World Bank estimates that between 70-80% of Kenyan farmers work in “small-scale subsistence farms,” (Allen, et al.). However, this divide is highly gendered – female farmers account for “75% of the labour force in small-scale agriculture,” (Fenn). The gender inequality in small-scale farming is therefore quite extensive. More often than not, female farmers are responsible for the entirety of their household, from labouring to provide their family with a source of income to preparing meals and other significant household responsibilities. As the environment becomes increasingly unpredictable, Kenyan female farmers face the added looming dangers of suddenly losing their farmable land and the resulting food insecurity.
In Kenya, the climate is often characterized as arid or semi-arid with ‘prolonged droughts’ that threaten the food security of agrarian-based households (UN Women). One farmer in Laikipia County, Julia Nyambura, says severe droughts would dry maize and bean crops completely (UN Women). New agricultural practices are being implemented to combat unpredictable weather patterns, including water-based farming, vertical gardens, and installing water harvesting systems to mitigate the effects of long droughts. However, the sustainability of these alternative approaches requires sufficient capacity-building and the short-term aid of international and grassroots organizations.
The climate in Kenya’s neighbouring East African country, Sudan, is quite similar. Like Kenya, Sudan is prone to long droughts and has an arid a semi-arid, unpredictable climate that makes it difficult for farmers to grow crops securely and consistently (UNEP). With similar traditional social structures, female farmers also endure disproportionate impacts of the changing climate,since they make up the majority of small-scale subsistence farmers. Female farmers are oftentimes excluded from access to resources such as fertilizers and pesticides that can “boost productivity and enhance livelihoods,” (ZWD).
According to a Sudanese women’s rights organization Zenab for Women Development (ZWD), one of the biggest problems facing female farmers’ cultivation of farmable land is the degradation of Sudanese soil. The impacts of soil erosion can make it extremely dangerous for “water consumption, water-borne illnesses,” and increase the chances of flooding (ZWD). To mitigate these disastrous effects of climate change, international organizations such as the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and ZWD have contributed to capacity-building initiatives that aim to strengthen the knowledge and technical skills of Sudanese female farmers because of their vulnerability to unpredictable climate.
Conservation of water to protect against flooding is one of the most impactful approaches for the Wadi El Ku project in Darfur, Sudan (UNEP). The goal of this project was to train female farmers, many of whom have experienced severe emotional loss from the political conflict, on how to efficiently harvest, store and market produce by developing ways to conserve rainwater (UNEP). This project has led to greater economic opportunities for female farmers not only because it has provided capacity-building skills, but because has also lowered the high risk of flooding, one of the most devastating effects of climate change for farmers in Darfur.
The effects of climate change impact vulnerable groups in developing countries in a dramatically different way than those living in developed nations. Those using traditional farming methods must rely on favourable weather conditions or face dire consequences to their livelihood. The agricultural productivity of female farmers in Kenya and Sudan is essential, as it not only provides sustenance for their individual households but also mitigates levels of food insecurity in their respective countries.
And while it is important that we support organized, climate-conscious initiatives implemented and developed in Kenya and Sudan, we must not forget that this crisis, in the long run, cannot simply be resolved by adopting alternative methods among extremely vulnerable groups, but by must be met by encouraging the people of the world to pressure governments and corporations into action.
