Africa: Women and Sustainability

10.11.2005

As a part of the coalition supporting the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, Pambazuka News is profiling various aspects of the Protocol over a six week period. This week we will look at the environment and sustainability in relation to African women. This is what the protocol states:

Article 18 – Right to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment:

“States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: ensure greater participation of women in the planning, management and preservation of the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources at all levels.”

Women are, in many parts of Africa, more involved in agricultural work than many men. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, women in Africa comprise only 33% of the workforce, yet make up 70% of agricultural workers. They provide 60-80% of the labor it takes to produce food, for both household consumption and sale, while are in charge of processing all basic foodstuffs. Women are responsible for 90% of household water and wood for fuel. Ninety percent of hoeing and weeding is done by women, as is 60% of harvesting and marketing. Their ability to provide for themselves and their families is, however, being threatened by environmental degradation and the decline in wellness and abundance of natural resources.

Article 18 – Right to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment:

The principles of sustainable development offer theories and practice to deal with this current situation. Sustainability, first discussed on a global level in the Brundtland Commission, can be defined as a process of development (of land, communities, etc.) that “meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The United Nations Environment Programme lays out the following description: “The intensified and unsustainable demand for land, water, marine and coastal resources resulting from the expansion of agriculture and uncontrolled urbanisation leads to increased degradation of natural ecosystems and erode the life supporting systems that uphold human civilization. Caring for natural resources and promoting their sustainable use is an essential response of the world community to ensure its own survival and well being.”

Due to human practices, and the limitation on the world’s resources, it is becoming more and more urgent to address long-term concerns regarding energy, food security, infrastructure, etc. Practicing sustainability requires massive changes in lifestyles. In many ways, this requires wealthy countries, as well as individual wealthy people to consume less, produce less waste and leave a lighter “ecological footprint” on the earth. But it also requires changes to many current practices in Africa.

Farming, for example, is a pertinent issue for Africa. There are many problems with the way that farming is done, and proponents of sustainability argue that there is a need for the eradication of the use of dangerous fertilizers and pesticides, which are unhealthy for human beings and the earth. Genetically modified, and “terminator” seeds also pose a specific challenge to the agricultural sector. Not only must they be bought at high prices from international firms, but they are only good for one season, meaning that more seeds must be bought for the next season. They also often rely on chemicals to make them grow properly. This leads to the pollution of water sources, which leaves people without access to clean, safe water, a basic need. Increasingly, children, and specifically girls, are being taken out of school to help with the maintenance of farms, while their mothers, aunts and grandmothers are responsible not only for the manual labor that goes into agricultural work, but must also care for other family members, maintenance of the home and the cooking of meals.

Energy is also a cause for concern in Africa. Resources such as fuel are not only inaccessible to many, but for those who can afford it, there must be some recognition that it is not renewable. Many African women are responsible for gathering fuel sources, and this can be difficult, dangerous and is becoming increasingly impossible, due to deforestation or environmental ruin. Not only is this unsustainable, but it is also unhealthy for the girls and women that must inhale the smoke that results from this fuel. Respiratory infections, lung diseases, cancer and eye problems all result from breathing in this smoke.

The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa calls for greater participation in environmental sustainability at the levels of planning and management. Currently, women’s involvement in decision-making bodies that influence the environment and sustainability in Africa is considerably lower than the rates of their physical labor. Women are underrepresented politically across the African continent. According to the UNDP, the numbers of women in parliament have increased in Africa between the years 1990 and 2005. In Sub-Saharan Africa the percentage of women in parliamentary seats in the single or lower house only increased from 7.2% to 9.0% in 1997 and has finally reached 14.2%. In Northern Africa these percentages have been 2.6, 1.8 and 8.5, respectively. Where there is participation, however, it must be noted that this does not necessarily translate into environmental policies.

In order for Africa, and indeed, the rest of the world, to come to policies and practices of sustainability, much will need to change. Including women in not only the physical, but intellectual and political aspects of the goals of sustainability is among the changes that must occur for African women and their families to enjoy food security, access to energy and healthy lives.

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Africa: Women and Sustainability