The disadvantaged position of women means
greater difficulty in coping with disasters, environmental
change and climate variability. Gendered
divisions of labour often result in more women
represented in agricultural and informal sectors,
which are more vulnerable to environmental variability
and climate change. Women in general are
also responsible for reproductive tasks such as
food and energy supply for the household as well
as many care-giving tasks, such as caring for the
children, sick and the elderly. Women’s responsibilities
and vulnerabilities are often amplified
by environmental and climate change. Climate
change therefore magnifies existing inequalities,
reinforcing the disparity between women and men
in their vulnerability to and capability to cope with
climate change.
This has prompted The Heinrich Böll Foundation
(HBF) to commission a study to investigate the
gender differentiated impacts of climate change in
Southern Africa; specifically Botswana, Mozambique,
Namibia and South Africa. This report
presents the findings of the Botswana case study,
conducted between July and November 2008.