Livelihoods

Women Confronting Natural Disaster: From Vulnerability to Resilience

Citation:

Enarson, Elaine. 2006. Women Confronting Natural Disaster: From Vulnerability to Resilience. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Author: Elaine Enarson

Annotation:

Summary: 
Natural disasters push ordinary gender disparities to the extreme—leaving women not only to deal with a catastrophe's aftermath, but also at risk for greater levels of domestic violence, displacement, and other threats to their security and well-being. Elaine Enarson presents a comprehensive assessment, encompassing both theory and practice, of how gender shapes disaster vulnerability and resilience. (Summary from Lynne Rienner Publishers)
 
Table of Contents: 
1. Women and Disasters in the United States
 
2. Representations of Women in Disasters
 
3. How Gender Changes Disaster Studies
 
4. Measuring Vulnerability and Capacity 
 
5. Health and Well-Being 
 
6. Violence Against Women 
 
7. Intimacy and Family Life
 
8. Houses and Homes 
 
9. Work and Workplaces 
 
10. Grassroots Groups and Recovery 
 
11. Building Disaster Resilience 
 
12. Fighting for the Future

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Domestic Violence, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Health, Households, Livelihoods, Security, Violence

Year: 2006

Gender and Disasters

Citation:

Fordham, Maureen. 2011. “Gender and Disasters.” In Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, edited by J. O. Nriagu, 834–38. Burlington: Elsevier.

Author: Maureen Fordham

Abstract:

The gendered dimensions of disasters remain underreported and poorly managed. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that women and men (girls and boys) experience disasters and their aftermath in different ways. The differences arise, on the one hand, from women's frequent subordinate status, and on the other, from the socialization of boys and men to take risks and assume dominance, in societies around the world. This can lead to increased female workloads at one end of the scale, to gender-based violence (GBV) and excess female deaths at the extreme end. For men and boys it can create situations where their emotional needs are not met and they adopt negative coping behaviors. Key areas of environmental health including shelter/housing and livelihoods; water, sanitation, and waste management; general environmental health; and food safety and nutrition can be seen to have gender aspects in disaster contexts and require attention on both service delivery efficiency and equity grounds.

Keywords: Gender-based violence (GBV), gender disaggregated data, gender mainstreaming, Rights-based transformative approach, vulnerability approach, women (and child) friendly space

Topics: Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Health, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods

Year: 2011

Gender and Land Tenure in the Context of Disaster in Asia

Citation:

Kusakabe, Kyoko, Rajendra Shrestha, and Veena N., eds. 2015. Gender and Land Tenure in the Context of Disaster in Asia. Vol. 21. SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace. Heidelberg: Springer.
 

Authors: Kyoko Kusakabe, Rajendra Shrestha, Veena N.

Keywords: Asia, disaster, gender, land tenure, Post-disaster Policies, gender roles, land rights, vulnerability

Annotation:

Summary: 
This book explores an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of gender and development studies, disaster and land tenure policy. It is well known that women generally have weaker claims to land. But how does that translate to increased vulnerability during disaster? Using case studies from Asia, this book argues that land tenure is a key factor in mitigating the impact of disasters on women. The scale and frequency of disasters have been increasing in recent decades due to human impact on the landscape and climate. Unsustainable farming and land management systems have increased environmental risks and social vulnerabilities. However, around the world the costs of disasters are disproportionately borne by women, due largely to their reduced mobility and lack of control over assets. In post-disaster settings, women’s vulnerabilities increase due to gendered rescue and rehabilitation practices. As such, a gendered approach to land rights is critical to disaster preparedness and recovery. (Summary from Springer)
 
Table of Contents:
1. Gender and Land Tenure in the Context of Disaster
Veena N. and Kyoto Kusakabe
 
2. Gender Impact of Large-Scale Deforestation and Oil Palm Plantations Among Indigenous Groups in Sarawak, Malaysia. 
Carol Yong and Wee Aik Pang
 
3. Displacing Women, Resettling Families: Impact of Landslides on Women's Land Tenure Rights in Sri Lanka 
Subhangi M.K. Herath
 
4. Impact of Flash Floods on a Matrilineal Society in West Sumatra, Indonesia 
Yonariza and Mahdi
 
5. Urbanization and Disaster: Loss of Women's Property Ownership in Leh, Ladakh
Bhuvaneswari Raman
 
6. A Coir Mill of Their Own: Women's Agency in Post-tsunami Sri Lanka 
Ramanie Jayatilaka
 
7. Gender, Land Tenure, and Disasters in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Carol Yong, Frans R. Siahaan and Andreas Burghofer

 

Topics: Development, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Indigenous, Land Tenure, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights Regions: Asia

Year: 2015

Human Security and Disasters: What a Gender Lens Offers

Citation:

Enarson, Elaine. 2014. “Human Security and Disasters: What a Gender Lens Offers.” In Human Security and Natural Disasters, edited by Christopher Hobson, Paul Bacon, and Robin Cameron. London: Routledge.

Author: Elaine Enarson

Abstract:

This chapter explains the need for gender analysis in the ostensibly gender-neutral domains of human security, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation, emphasizing that gender is more than a cross-cutting concern and introducing the main outlines of the subfield of gender and disaster. Human security discourse is surprisingly silent on some of the most critical human rights challenges of disasters while highlighting specific threats. Gender is a fundamental social organizing principle in all societies with implications throughout the disaster cycle and across all dimensions of human security. Nontraditional skills training for women postdisaster and such reforms as jointly titling post-disaster housing in both partners' names are further examples of how post-disaster recovery work can enhance human security by advancing gender equality. Gender-sensitive thinking about human security potentially strengthens civil society as it suggests the need for increased capacity in women's organizations, self-help groups, and networks, and highlights gender-focused work to enhance security in both the private and public sectors. (Taylor & Francis)

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Analysis, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Health, Mental Health, Livelihoods, Security, Human Security

Year: 2014

The Role of Microcredit in Reducing Women’s Vulnerabilities to Multiple Disasters

Citation:

Ray-Bennett, Nibedita S. 2010. “The Role of Microcredit in Reducing Women’s Vulnerabilities to Multiple Disasters.” Disasters 34 (1): 240-60.

Author: Nibedita S. Ray-Bennett

Abstract:

This article explores the relationship between microcredit and vulnerability reduction for women-headed households in ‘multiple disasters’. Here multiple disasters are understood as disasters that occur in one specific place and cause severe devastation. The case study covers the super-cyclone in 1999, floods in 2001 and 2003, and drought in 2002 in Orissa, India. The study entailed eight months fieldwork and interviews with several governmental and non-governmental officials and 12 women-headed households from different social castes. The findings suggest that micro-credit is a useful tool to replace women’s livelihood assets that have been lost in multiple disasters. But inefficient microcredit delivery can cause microdebts and exacerbate caste, class and gender inequalities. It is posited that microcredit delivery cannot achieve vulnerability reduction for women in multiple disasters unless it is complemented by effective financial services, integrated policy planning and disaster management between government, non-governmental organisations and the community.

Keywords: microcredit, multiple disasters, Orissa, vulnerability, women-headed households

Topics: Caste, Class, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Livelihoods, NGOs Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2010

Gender, Water, and Climate Change in Sonora, Mexico: Implications for Policies and Programmes on Agricultural Income-Generation

Citation:

Buechler, Stephanie. 2009. “Gender, Water, and Climate Change in Sonora, Mexico: Implications for Policies and Programmes on Agricultural Income-Generation.” Gender and Development 17 (1): 51–66.

Author: Stephanie Buechler

Abstract:

This article focuses on the sustainability of gendered agricultural income-generating activities in Sonora, near the Mexico–USA border, in the context of climate change. Farming, and fruit and vegetable home-processing enterprises, still predominate in the area. However, several types of fruits can no longer be produced in this area due to warmer temperatures. Climate change has implications for the sustainability of these activities, which will affect women and men differently, affecting control over their livelihoods and food security. The article makes recommendations for development policies and programmes, for these and similar agricultural communities worldwide.

Keywords: Gender, climate change, water, agriculture, Sonora, mexico

Topics: Agriculture, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2009

Gender and Climate Change in the Indian Himalayas: Global Threats, Local Vulnerabilities, and Livelihood Diversification at the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve

Citation:

Ogra, M.V., and R. Badola. 2015. “Gender and Climate Change in the Indian Himalayas: Global Threats, Local Vulnerabilities, and Livelihood Diversification at the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.” Earth System Dynamics 6: 505–23.

Authors: M.V. Ogra, R. Badola

Abstract:

Global climate change has numerous implications for members of mountain communities who feel the impacts in both physical and social dimensions. In the western Himalayas of India, a majority of residents maintain a livelihood strategy that includes a combination of subsistence or small-scale agriculture, livestock rearing, seasonal or long-term migration, and localized natural resource extraction. While warming temperatures, irregular patterns of precipitation and snowmelt, and changing biological systems present challenges to the viability of these traditional livelihood portfolios in general, we find that climate change is also undermining local communities’ livelihood assets in gender-specific ways. In this paper, we present a case study from the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (Uttarakhand, India) that both outlines the implications of climate change for women farmers in the area and highlights the potential for ecotourism (as a form of livelihood diversification) to strengthen both key livelihood assets of women and local communities’ adaptive capacity more broadly. The paper intentionally employs a categorical focus on women but also addresses issues of inter-group and gender diversity. With this special issue in mind, suggestions for related research are proposed for consideration by climate scientists and social systems and/or policy modelers seeking to support gender justice through socially transformative perspectives and frameworks.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Migration, Environment, Climate Change, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Justice, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2015

Local Gender Contract and Adaptive Capacity in Smallholder Irrigation Farming: A Case Study from the Kenyan Drylands

Citation:

Caretta, Martina Angela, and Lowe Börjeson. 2015. “Local Gender Contract and Adaptive Capacity in Smallholder Irrigation Farming: A Case Study from the Kenyan Drylands.” Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography 22 (5): 644–61.

Authors: Martina Angela Caretta, Lowe Börjeson

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
This article presents the local gender contract of a smallholder irrigation farming community in Sibou, Kenya. Women’s role in subsistence farming in Africa has mostly been analyzed through the lens of gender division of labor. In addition to this, we used the concept of ‘local gender contract’ to analyze cultural and material preconditions shaping gender-specific tasks in agricultural production, and consequently, men’s and women’s different strategies for adapting to climate variability. We show that the introduction of cash crops, as a trigger for negotiating women’s and men’s roles in the agricultural production, results in a process of gender contract renegotiation, and that families engaged in cash cropping are in the process of shifting from a ‘local resource contract’ to a ‘household income contract.’ Based on our analysis, we argue that a transformation of the local gender contract will have a direct impact on the community’s adaptive capacity climate variability. It is, therefore, important to take the negotiation of local gender contracts into account in assessments of farming communities’ adaptive capacity.
 
SPANISH ABSTRACT:
Este trabajo presenta el contrato local de género de una comunidad de pequeños agricultores de agricultura de riego en Sibou, Kenia. El rol de las mujeres en la agricultura de subsistencia en África ha sido mayormente analizado con una óptica de la división generizada del trabajo. Además de esto, utilizamos el concepto de “contrato de género local” para analizar las precondiciones culturales y materiales que dan forma a las tareas específicas de cada género en la producción agrícola, y consecuentemente, las diferentes estrategias de hombres y mujeres para adaptarse a la variabilidad del clima. Mostramos que la introducción de cultivos comerciales, como disparador para la negociación de los roles de las mujeres y los hombres en la producción agrícola, resulta en un proceso de renegociación del contrato de género, y que las familias que participan del cultivo comercial se encuentran en el proceso de cambio de un “contrato local de recursos” a un “contrato de ingresos del hogar”. Basado en nuestro análisis, sostenemos que una transformación del contrato local de género tendrá un impacto directo en la capacidad adaptativa de la comunidad a la variabilidad del clima. Es por lo tanto importante tener en cuenta a los contratos de género locales al evaluar la capacidad adaptativa de las comunidades agricultoras.
 
CHINESE ABSTRACT:
本文呈现肯尼亚希普(Sibou)中的一个小农灌溉农业小区的在地性别契约。女性在非洲口粮耕种中的角色,多半透过性别劳动分工的视角检视之。除此之外,我们运用“在地性别契约”的概念,分析形塑农业生产中特定性别工作的文化与物质先决条件,及其所导致的男性与女性调试气候变异的不同策略。我们将显示,经济作物的引进,做为协商女性与男性在农业生产中的角色之触媒,导致性别契约的再协商过程,从事经济作物耕作的家庭,则正在经历从“在地资源契约”转向“家户收入契约”的过程。根据我们的分析,我们主张,在地性别契约的转变,将直接影响小区对气候变异的调适能力。因此,在评估农业社群的调适能力时,考量在地性别契约的协商是至关重要的。

Keywords: local gender contract, climate variability, East African drylands, smallholder irrigation farming, gendered adaptive capacity, contrato de género local, variabilidad climática, tierras secas del África Oriental, agricultura de riego a pequeña escala, capacidad adaptativa generizada, 在地性别契约, 气候变异, 东非旱地, 小农灌溉农作, 性别化的调适能力

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2015

Globalization, Agriculture and Food in the Caribbean: Climate Change, Gender and Geography

Citation:

Beckford, Clinton L., and Kevin Rhiney, eds. 2016. Globalization, Agriculture and Food in the Caribbean: Climate Change, Gender and Geography. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Authors: Clinton L. Beckford, Kevin Rhiney

Annotation:

Summary: 
"The last decade has seen a growing body of research about globalization and climate change in the Caribbean. This collection is a significant addition to the literature on a topic that is of critical importance to the region. It explores research from a number of Caribbean islands dealing with a range of issues related to agriculture and food in the context of globalization and climate change. Using a broad livelihoods perspective, the impacts on rural livelihoods are explored as well as issues related to community level resilience, adaptability and adaptations. The volume is strengthened by gendered analyses of issues and discussions informed by a diverse range of research methods and methodologies. Scholars of Caribbean studies and studies pertaining to social, cultural, economic and environmental issues facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS) will greatly benefit from this book." (Summary from Palgrave MacMillan)
 
Table of Contents: 
1. Globalization, Climate Change and Food and Agriculture in the Caribbean: Perspectives of Caribbean Geographers
Clinton L. Beckford and Kevon Rhiney 
 
2. From Plantations to Services: A Historical and Theoretical Assessment of the Transition from Agrarian to Service-based Industries in the Caribbean
Kevon Rhiney
 
3. Securing the Female Future and Reframing Rural Resilience in Post-Sugar St. Kitts
Joyelle Clarke
 
4. Globalization and Fair Trade Bananas in St. Lucia: A Solution to Building Resilience?
Chanelle Fingal-Robinson
 
5. The Decline of the Preferential Markets and the Sugar Industry: A Case Study of Trade Liberalization in Central Jamaica
Dorlan Burrell
 
6. The Jamaican Coffee Industry: Challenges and Responses to Increased Global Competition
Mario Mighty
 
7. The Gendered Dimensions of Climate Change: Women, Indigenous Knowledge and Adaptation
Ayesha Constable
 
8. Impacts of Climate Change on the Quality of Planting Materials for Domestic Roots and Tubers; Mitigating Potential of In-vitro Plant Production and Protected Agriculture
Clinton L. Beckford and Anthony Norman
 
9. Livelihood Vulnerability to Global Change amongst Carib Communities in North Eastern St. Vincent
Rose-Ann J. Smith 
 
10. Impacts Of Climate Change On Coastal Artisanal Caribbean Fishers
April Baptiste
 
11. Future of Food and Agriculture in the Caribbean in the Context of Climate Change and Globalization: Where Do We Go From Here?
Clinton L. Beckford and Kevon Rhiney.

Topics: Agriculture, Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gender Analysis, Globalization, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Livelihoods, Food Security Regions: Americas, Caribbean countries

Year: 2016

Contemporary Feminist Analysis of Australian Farm Women in the Context of Climate Changes

Citation:

Alston, Margaret, Josephine Clarke, and Kerri Whittenbury. 2018. “Contemporary Feminist Analysis of Australian Farm Women in the Context of Climate Changes.” Social Sciences 7 (2): 16.

Authors: Margaret Alston, Josephine Clark, Kerri Whittenbury

Abstract:

Climate changes are reshaping agricultural production and food security across the world. One result is that women in both the developed and developing world are increasingly being drawn into agricultural labour. Yet, because the labour of women has historically been marginalised and ignored, these changes remain largely unacknowledged. In this paper, we examine gender changes in agricultural labour allocations on Australian irrigated dairy farms impacted by climate-related reductions in water available for irrigation. In the Murray-Darling Basin area of Australia, long years of drought and the need to address ecological degradation have led to the introduction of water saving methods and these have had major impacts at the farm level. We present research indicating that a major outcome has been an increase in women’s labour on- and off-farms. Yet, the lack of attention to gendered labour distribution continues the historical neglect of women’s labour, maintains patriarchal relations in agriculture, significantly impacts women’s views of themselves as agricultural outsiders, and reduces attention to a gendered analysis of climate change outcomes. We argue that gender mainstreaming of climate and agricultural policies is long overdue.

Keywords: feminism, climate change, rural women, agricultural labour

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Oceania Countries: Australia

Year: 2018

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