We will not achieve the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) for sustainable agriculture (SDG 2)
and sustainable water management (SDG 6) without
supporting the agency of rural female farmers. And
yet, this group is often marginalised and particularly
vulnerable to current and future climate variability and
water insecurity.
The El Niño phenomenon in 2015-2016 had devastating
impacts on countries in Africa that primarily rely on
agriculture. In the Horn of Africa, up to 15 million
people required food aid in early 2016 as a result of failed
spring rains compounded by El Niño weather conditions
(UNOCHA, 2016a). In Southern Africa, El Niño
droughts have affected up to 40 million people, mostly
poor rural populations who rely on rainfed production
and subsistence livelihoods (WFP, 2016). The impacts
of climate shocks are worse for the poorest, who often
bear a disproportionate share of the costs (Scheierling
et al., 2014:4). Drought, loss of livestock, and failed or
ruined harvests push poor households into food stress and
emergency coping strategies, such as reducing household
assets, removing children from school, and temporarily
or permanently migrating (Jones et al., 2010). Improved
water security is central to improving people’s resilience
to climate variability and extreme weather events (Sadoff
et al., 2015).