Climante Change Affecting Fisherwomen's Livelihoods

SOUTH AFRICA Climate Change Affecting Fisherwomen's Livelihoods

Lee Middleton

OCEAN VIEW, South Africa, Dec 13 (IPS) - Having observed changes in the sea and the life cycles of the rock lobsters that their livelihoods depend on, a group of fisherwomen from the Western Cape, South Africa are calling on government to adjust fishing seasons to adapt to what they claim are climate change-related alterations.
About 40 kilometres south of Cape Town, the fishing community of Ocean View is mostly made up of "coloured" families forcibly removed from the Cape peninsula's picturesque seaside villages under the apartheid regime in the late 1960s. Most continued to eke out a living through fishing, and until recently, almost all the fishers here were men.

Sahra Luyt is an exception. With her husband, she began fishing West Coast rock lobster (locally called "crayfish") nearly 20 years ago for a company. Eventually Luyt went her own way.

"I felt women were being dictated to in fishing, so I started the association and ladies joined," Luyt recalled of her 1999 decision to found the South African Fisherwomen's Association (SAFWA).

SAFWA now counts some 70 members, most hailing from the peninsula's poorest townships, and many of whom say they have encountered difficulties with men resentful of the women's presence on the sea.

"Before it was very difficult, but now it's not that bad - we've proven ourselves," Luyt said.

With their own single outboard-motor boats and ring nets, the women participate in the near-shore commercial rock lobster fishery, bringing in around 600 to 800 kilogrammes of lobster each season, normally from November to June. A live rock lobster can fetch 14 to 20 dollars/kg. Though gender dynamics have improved, the women now face other troubles.

"Previously where we'd find a lot of fish, we don't find many. Also I've been to sea these days when you go out on a nice normal sea day and all of a sudden the weather is standing up and you have to rush back home," said Luyt of the changes she has observed.

The fisherwomen also cited changing water temperatures, more severe tides, and changes in the life cycle of the rock lobster.

"Over the last few years, the crayfish quality has shifted from November when it used to be good. Now we find they're still molting, or softening their shells to grow, and they're also in berry, which means the female is still carrying eggs," Luyt explained. "I'd say those things are climate change."

SAFWA has called on the South African Marine Resource Management (MRM) to adjust the fishing season to correspond with the changes they say they have observed, and possibly to lengthen it due to the unpredictable conditions they say are a result of climate change.

But fisheries scientists respond that seasons and policy are based on science-based evidence, and so far, the links between fish stocks and climate change are not sufficiently clear. SAFWA can appeal the decision but are yet to do so.

"There have clearly been ecological changes that have driven differences we're seeing, and they may be linked to climate change, but we can't prove it," said Chief Director of MRM, Dr. Johann Augustyn.

Though reports like a 2009 international study led by Edward Allison have made significant progress in linking the impacts of climate change to fisheries around the world - and thus providing some guidance for predictive management changes in those places - data for Africa is sorely lacking.

Tabeth Chiuta, regional director at the World Fish Center, a non-profit research organisation, agreed the science simply is not there yet.

"In Africa, we don't have enough science to make practical changes. Most of the reaction we are seeing in Africa is based on these global assessments, which have not zeroed in to the specific location like that of these small-scale fisherwomen. Is that change which they are seeing due to climate change? It could be due to overfishing. For Africa the science is not there, and it needs to be generated," said Chiuta.

But the fisherwomen, like so many Africans who rely on fishing for their livelihoods, do not have time for the science to catch up. According to Chiuta, 10 million African families are involved in small-scale fisheries and fish for livelihoods, and 15 percent of the working population on the continent is employed in fisheries.

MRM head of research, Kim Prochazka, recognised the urgency of the situation. "Faced with this huge amount of uncertainty there's no small-scale specific directed interventions you can do. But it's going to take us far too long to get to that understanding. We've got to do something now. So you have to take a pragmatic approach that puts you in the best position to cope with whatever changes may come at you," said Prochazka.

According to Prochazka, this means taking a pro-active approach to rebuilding fish stocks to more resilient levels, managing fisheries on an ecosystem wide level rather than for isolated fish stocks, and developing aquaculture technology in order to prevent a food security catastrophe.

Chiuta agreed that these interventions were the best options fisheries management had in the face of uncertainty. She added that building the knowledge base, improving monitoring, developing capacity to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies, and working on policy and institutional reforms were also all critical around the continent.

Meanwhile, West Coast rock lobster stocks are the lowest they have ever been, with no clear sign of improving. MRM estimates the population at only 3.5 percent of what it was before people started harvesting them on a large scale.

"The primary issue is the one of resource depletion. Unfortunately we can't tie that to climate change and say that is why the resource is depleted. We have to take responsibility and say the resource is depleted because in the past we caught too much. That is the bottom line," said Prochazka.

Rita Francke is a single mother supporting three children. When Sahra Luyt appeared and taught her to fish, she had not had regular employment for years, and constantly worried about feeding her family. Asked what she would do if the rock lobster fishery moves or collapses, Francke joked, "I'd move!" Then, more sober, she reflected, "I don't know what I'd do. I'd have to find a job, cleaning houses or something. I don't know." (END/2011

Report from Manitoba

On November 28th, a workshop was held at the University of Manitoba, with reports and dialogue with women from northern Manitoba. I thought it interesting as it reflects the voices of our Aboriginal Sisters - 

Workshop on Gender and Environment: Action Agenda in Manitoba

 Messages on the pathway to Earth Summit Rio +20

November 28, 2011, University of Manitoba

We acknowledge that colonization has been and continues to be a disruptive force in Manitoba with the devastating impacts on the health, culture, and freedom of First Nations peoples including women, children, elders, and men. We request:

Cultural restoration

Ø  Collaborating and uniting to rebuild the life of indigenous peoples with due respect to their traditional ways of living, history, social organization, spiritual values, nodes of production, laws and institutions.

Ø  Fostering respect to indigenous people’s culture, values, stories, traditions, language, and identity

Ø  Promoting cultural programs to transfer language and knowledge in First Nations and the entire Canadian society.

Ø  Allocating funding and institutional support to organize an official indigenous history month.

Self-determination

We recognize the self-governance of Pimicikamak peoples with its own governance structure based on traditional Cree democracy and the Pimicikmak unwritten constitution and other customary laws which have been updated to meet modern needs. The laws of Pimicikamak peoples are made by the people, in contrast with Canadian laws, which are made by the Crown.  

We acknowledge the violations of indigenous peoples’ rights over land and other natural resources such as water, air, forests, and rangeland.

Ø  Ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples to their own system of governance, lands, territories and holistic natural resource management.   

Sustainable Development

Ø  Ensuring economic, social, cultural, legal, and organizational empowerment and sustainable development for poverty-free Manitoba, in particular acknowledging high rates of poverty among First Nations peoples.

Education

We acknowledge Canada and Manitoba’s Eurocentric curriculum with the lack of education from First Nations, Metis and Inuit perspectives.

Ø  Taking measures to promote curriculum with emphasis on history of colonisation, marginalization, and exclusion and high resilience of indigenous peoples to the oppression and injustices.

Ø  Participating in the indigenous history month should be a focus of all Canadian Education systems.

Ø  Raising awareness about Aboriginal girls and women’s contribution to peacebuilding and community development.

Gender-based violence

We acknowledge gendered and racialised violence against First Nations and other women in Canada.

Ø  Implementing National Task Force leading to federal legislation that prevents and ends violence against missing and murdered Aboriginal and other women/girls in Canada.

Ø  Ending structural inequities that devalue women’s work, traditional roles and mothering.

Food sovereignty

We acknowledge the high food insecurity rates that result from limited access to healthy food, grinding poverty, lack of infrastructure, and corporate nature of food supply to First Nations communities living in Manitoba.

Ø  Supporting grassroots mechanisms to define community-based food and agriculture systems through reintroducing healthy traditional food practices.

Ø  Enabling food security and sovereignty to meet basic needs to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods.

Health

We acknowledge First Nations health disparities linked with higher rates of obesity, diabetes and diseases due to environmental pollution, lack and/or absence of running water, and lack of adequate healthy housing.

Ø  Addressing barriers related to the delivery of health care services such as quality, accessibility, effectiveness and efficiency.

Ø  Providing access to services and resources for people with disabilities considering the vulnerability of First Nation, Inuit and Metis peoples.

Ø  Providing the infrastructure and local capacity for safe drinking water, food sovereignty, healthy housing, and a safe environment in First Nations communities.

Sustainable Economy

We acknowledge that the corporate global economy reinforces inequalities and disempowers marginalized indigenous women, children, elders, and men.

Ø  Facilitating paradigm shift from corporate to community-based economies where decision-making power, management and control of resources is carried out by people in local communities.

Ø  Providing job employment opportunities and community economic development for women and men in the many First Nation communities that have 80% + unemployment.

Ø  Changing the restrictive policies that create third party management of First Nations communities and lack of control over community and territorial resources.

Healthy Environment

We acknowledge the devastating impact of Manitoba Hydro, artificial flooding and other development projects on First Nations communities.

Ø  Ensuring transparency and consent of First nations in designing and monitoring the development projects on the territories of First Nations peoples.

Ø  Preventing flooding of First Nations communities, as these communities have more than economic interests in their land, unlike farmers and other settlers, but have long historical and spiritual connections and relations.

Land is a Women's Issue

by  Katia Araujo

In urban and rural communities across the world, it is mainly poor women who are struggling to own, access, and control land and other core productive assets (such as credit and market spaces). 

These struggles are central not only to reducing the incidence of poverty among women and children but also to attaining women's full, independent rights to property and thus full citizenship. In working with the GLTN, (Global Land Tool Network) the Huairou Commission and its member organizations celebrated this network as a partnership strategy to be modeled and replicated throughout the UN system due to its ability to open up space for grassroots engagement at all levels and promote gendered land tools throughout its work.

One concrete example of the inclusive process that has emerged within the GLTN (lGobal Land Tool Network) partnership is the allocation of a seat for a grassroots representative on GLTN's International Advisory Board. At this year's Partners Meeting, Esupat Ngulupa, from Maasai Women Development Organization (MWEDO), was nominated for a second term as the grassroots representative to the board.

Representatives of the Huairou Commission and its member organizations, Espaco Feminista (Brazil), MWEDO (Tanzania), Network of Organized Women in Lima Este/GROOTS Peru, Las Brumas (Nicaragua), UCOBAC (Uganda), and LAMOSA (South Africa), Grassroots Sisterhood Foundation (Ghana), Slum Women's Initiative for Development (Uganda), Ntengwe for Community Development (Zimbabwe), together with International Land Coalition (ILC), worked to influence the debate and ensure the voice of grassroots women and communities were actively engaged in designing the future direction of GLTN in its second phase. 

This took place through the active participation of Huairou Commission members, who showcased their best practices of actively engaging communities and governments on issues of land reform and women's access to property throughout the meeting.

The GLTN has been a pioneer in promoting grassroots participation by responding to the calls from grassroots organizations and international partners that strongly pushed for a specific strategy of grassroots participation in this global policy debate on land issues. By creating and changing the space for concrete engagement through the Grassroots Land Tool Mechanism, the Huairou Commission and its international peer organizations, such as Slum Dwellers International, ILC and their local member organizations have been working together to concretely demonstrate how grassroots participation brings inevitable legitimacy to the network that has the mandate to work for the poor. As a famous quote from a grassroots leader in the movement says, "Nothing about us, without us."

Women and Water

An interesting report just released looks at the impact for an economy and society of women fetching water - the time, the risks, and the lost opportunities. 

Water for domestic and agricultural use is indispensable for food security and public health. As climate change, population growth, and development affect water availability, internal as well as external cooperative efforts are essential (Barnaby, 2009; Gleick, 2000).

Policies designed to improve infrastructure are needed to increase, not just access towater but, safe access to safe and reliable water or risk losing the health advantage of having a nearby water source (Caldwell, Caldwell, Mitra, & Smith, 2003; Hunter, Zmirou-
Navier, & Hartemann, 2009). Doing so will increase the health of all and the health, safety, education and income of women, the primary suppliers of water to households around the globe.

See more  http://www.womenforwater.org/docs/Paper_water_fetching.pdf

Something to think about - affects of Solar Energy

Even as African countries join the rest of the world in Durban, South Africa to evaluate the impact of climate change on livelihoods, there are concerns about the use of solar energy, rapidly gaining popularity in African countries, which was once heralded as an environmental solution to energy needs.

Along with prior perceptions of environmental friendliness, solar energy is marketed as cheap power for businesses and households in resource poor settings, especially in regions such as Eastern and Southern Africa. However, scientists now warn that solar energy is not all that clean. In fact, they argue, it might be contributing to environmental pollution and diseases in women and children. 

At the Durban meeting, organisations have lined up several activities and meetings to showcase how import solar power and other renewable energies are, but many are silent on the downside of these energies, such as lead poisoning.

The problem is that solar energy relies heavily on lead batteries to store the energy it creates. A recent study is warning that this means solar power is contributing to the atmosphere's pollution, rather than reducing it.

Giving the example of China and India, the study authors, Prof Chris Cherry, assistant professor at University of Tennessee and Perry Gottesfeld of Occupational Knowledge International, note that the solar power's reliance on lead batteries has the potential to release more than 2.4 million tons of lead pollution in the two countries.

Published in a recent Energy Policy Journal, the authors say this will negatively affect public health and contaminate the environment. This in turn will increase the burden of disease, which tends to be shouldered by women as caregivers.

Lead poisoning can lead to adverse health effects on the reproductive system of women and men, as well as learning impairments, and hyperactive and violent behaviour in children. Studies show elevated lead levels in a pregnant woman is more likely to lead to miscarriage, premature babies or those with low birth weights. In men, it can lead to infertility resulting from low sperm count, poor sperm morphology and motility. In many cases, infertility in men results in increased violence against women, especially in African societies where men are considered not to be infertile and women receive all the blame for not conceiving.

However, Dr Joshua Noreh, a fertility expert who runs the Nairobi IVF Centre, says almost half of infertility results from the man. He adds that on several occasions he has counselled women battered and abused by husbands and in-laws because they are "infertile."

"There are times when you run tests and find the woman is perfectly fine. Only to learn later when we do sperm analysis that the man has poor sperm quality or no sperm count, hence the cause of infertility," says Dr Noreh.

In children, the classic signs and symptoms of lead poisoning are loss of appetite, abdominal pain, vomiting, weight loss, anaemia, kidney failure, and irritability. Such children encounter serious impaired development including difficulties in talking and use of words. Living in a society where women are the main caregivers, increased disease burden in children is likely to add to already high levels of care workloads.

Countries like Kenya have set 2017 as a deadline for moving towards green energy. Solar power is a key form of this energy. Yet, with lead poisoning being one of the causes of infertility in men, poor reproductive health outcomes in women, and increase disease burden in children, the ongoing talks at the COP 17 have to address this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Even as we settle on certain so called safe energies, we need to fully interrogate them.

The release of the findings by Prof Cherry and Gottesfeld is critical because it coming at time when major investors are descending on Eastern and Southern Africa countries establishing companies that are going to offer solar panels and gadgets. In Kenya, for instance, there are more than 18 companies manufacturing and selling solar equipments in the country.

Households and business in Southern and Eastern Africa have installed solar panels to counter regular power rationing and rising electricity bills. In rural areas where electricity is out of reach for many, people are increasingly turning to solar power as an alternative. Industry experts estimate that over one million houses in East Africa have installed solar power systems, with more people expected convert to solar energy as electricity bills rise.

As for now, East African and Southern Africa market is full of solar panels, solar DC lights, solar lanterns, solar phone charger, solar radios, television, solar torches, and other gadgets. What this means increased demand for lead batteries.

However, its; important to note that solar power is also having immense positive impact in many areas that that are likely to improve the wellbeing of women and children. In remote areas of many African countries, solar energy makes many things possible: for example, vaccines can now be stored in fridges powered by solar energy, significantly reducing wastages and helping to cut down on child mortality and illnesses.

The solar business is also generating employment for many young people, including women. Among the Maasai's of Kenya, for instance, five women are making a living by installing solar panels to people in their community and beyond.

What is needed is mechanisms that ensure solar power and the lead batteries are utilised in an environmentally friendly manner that safeguards the health and economic interested of women and children.

"Without improvements, it is increasingly clear that the use of lead batteries will contribute to environmental contamination and lead poisoning among workers and children," Cherry is quoted in the Science Daily, an online newspaper published in the United States.

As Cherry notes, "Investments in environmental controls in the lead battery industry, along with improvements in battery take-back policies, are needed to complement deployment of solar power in these countries."

Its obvious that there are many benefits of solar power what is needed is to have this energy produced and utilised in a responsible and accountable manner that will ultimately protect the environment, and be beneficial for protect women and children.

Arthur Okwemba is a writer with the African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWCFS). This article is part of the GL Opinion and Commentary Service and AWCFS special series for the Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence and COP 17 Conference.

International Council of Women and grassroots women.

Did you know that the International Council of Women is a member network of the Huariou Commission? The Huariou Commission develops strategic partnerships and linkages among grassroots women’s organizations, advancing their capacity to collectively influence political spaces on behalf of their communities and enhance their sustainable, resilient community development practices.

 "Established in 1995 at the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Huairou Commission has been committed since its founding to grounding the global women's movement in grassroots community development issues and to ensuring that women are central in the human settlements field. Therefore, we also position grassroots women in important global processes beyond our Campaigns. Through the Huairou Commission, grassroots women have participated regularly in UN Habitat conferences and the UN Commission on the Status of Women since 1996."

Political Will – and Money – Needed for Disaster Management

Climate change is affecting rural women in a very real way. I thought this article interesting, especially when we know much of the "political will" will exclude women. Tailoring to local community needs must include women.

 
Joshua Kyalimpa

DURBAN, South Africa, Nov 30 (IPS) - Managing the impact of increased disasters due to climate change will only be possible if such efforts are led by local communities, say non-governmental organisations working in climate change.

"We cannot use the excuse of money - or the lack of it - not to do anything. Yes, developed countries have to make financial commitments, but what if they don’t?" asks Charles Hopkins of the charity CARE International in Ethiopia, an international humanitarian organisation.

A deal on climate change at Durban might still be a far-fetched dream, but climate change-related disasters are already taking a toll around the globe.

According to a report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), increases in some extreme weather and climate events have already been observed and further increases are projected over the 21st century.

The Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, evaluates the role of climate change in altering characteristics of extreme events. It assesses experience with a wide range of options used by institutions, organizations, and communities to reduce exposure and vulnerability, and improve resilience, to climate extremes.

Speaking at a press conference at United Nations 17th Conference of the Parties in Durban, South Africa, IPCC executive director Dr. Kristie Ebi highlighted that while total economic losses from natural disasters could be high in developed countries; economic losses expressed as a proportion of GDP could be higher in developing countries.

Ebi says the IPCC will soon start meeting policy makers and politicians around the world to urge them take up measures for disaster reduction: "We are committed to outreach events over the coming months with a hope that politicians and policy makers will be encouraged to advance climate change adaptation."

According to the IPCC report, deaths from natural disasters occur much more in developing countries. Information obtained from 1970 to 2008 by the experts’ shows that more than 95 percent of deaths from natural disasters were in developing countries.

Most governments have, however, not put in place policies for disaster risk reduction. Hopkins says governments, especially those in Africa, have to take to protect people and their property.

"People have to be given the right information because information on disaster reduction remains at the top and often the affected people don’t even get it," says Hopkins

Professor Richard Klein, of the Stockholm Environment Institute and a member of the international panel of experts, says people actually don’t have to rely on international agreements.

"Local actions by the people need to be supported because they are the most vulnerable and are more likely to put effort into adaptation measures," says Klein.

Klein says risk management works best when tailored to local circumstances.

But Nurudeen Adebola Olanrewaju of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda, a Nigeria- based policy centre, says that while the report talks about what people are already experiencing, more was needed to drive action.

"Risk management requires actions, ranging from improving infrastructure to building individual and institutional capacity, in order to reduce risk and respond to disasters but these require money which politician must make available," says Olanrewaju.

A separate report released by the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), the technical arm of the Climate for Development in Africa programme, based at the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa shows that of the 29.2 billion dollars pledged since 2009, only between 2.8 and 7.0 billion dollars is "new" (i.e. not previously pledged).

The total amount of funds that are both "new and additional" (i.e. on top of aid budgets) would be less than 2 billion dollars. While 97 percent of the promised 30 billion dollars has been pledged, only 45 percent has been "committed", 33 percent has been "allocated" and only about 7 percent has been "disbursed".

The report released today on the sidelines of the climate talks here in Durban finds that there are many lessons to be learnt from the current "fast start finance" system. This system, agreed at the Copenhagen climate conference, was supposed to deliver 30 billion dollars in "new and additional" funding to developing countries.

Launching the report, Yacob Mulugetta, senior energy and climate specialist at the ACPC said: "The experience with the ‘fast-start’ pledges and discussions of the 100 billion dollars promise suggests that the adequacy and predictability of climate finance may remain very low if the future climate finance architecture reflects current practice."

(END/2011)