Although several nations have agreed on mitigation measures for climate change, more specifically drought, there is no direct global solution that has been implemented or agreed upon to change the current direction of rising temperatures.
This means that women in drought hit areas like Karamoja will be exposed to various injustices, unless a “climate justice” intervention project is designed. In districts like Nabilatuk, Moroto, and Kotido, women experience more severe drought conditions than men due to their over-reliance on nature for survival, particularly in crop farming. The drought significantly affects crop farming, causing women who rely on it for income to suffer greatly, leading them to turn to charcoal burning as an alternative source of income for their families’ survival. However, charcoal burning requires extra time and energy, with women often having to sleep in the bush to monitor the activity. Additionally, when spouses work together on charcoal burning during drought periods, women tend to work more than men. For example, after charcoal burning, both men and women pack charcoal into sacks.
However, women then have the additional task of carrying the sacks of charcoal on their heads to the road side for sale. Along the road from Moroto to Namalu via Nabilatuk, women involved in charcoal burning on the roadsides appear miserable, skinny, and vulnerable. As Karamoja prepares for the drought season, there is a need for a climate justice project to intervene so that the women of Karamoja can fully enjoy their rights.
The problem of drought, as a result of climate change, leads to food deficits in the region. Women, who are responsible for providing meals for their families, resort to harvesting leaves and wild fruits from the rangelands to survive. For example, women harvest leaves from the Balanites aegyptiaca tree, locally known as “Ekoret” which they prepare, cook, and eat as vegetables. While some prepare wild fruits as Mrs. Pulkol Christine Logit from Katanga ward in Nabilatuk Town Council, Nabilatuk district shared, “In the 1980’s famine, when there was no salt, I would harvest tamarind fruit (Apedur), from the tree, mix it with green vegetables, cook, and solve the salt problem.” Harvesting wild fruits is a laborious and cumbersome activity. Women have to walk long distances under the scorching sun, in addition to climbing thorny trees like the Ekoret to harvest the leaves.
Climbing these thorny trees to harvest wild fruits exposes women to other risks, such as injury, in a region where health services are below the international standards. This also increases their vulnerability during the drought period.
The brutal fact is that the drought in Karamoja is causing inequalities and socio-economic injustices for women.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of interventions for “climate justice” in the region. Therefore, the donor community, state actors, and CSOs need to educate, engage, and take action. Otherwise, in the next 40 years, climate change will have a significantly negative impact on women and society in Karamoja.
Author: Ayub Mukisa (Ph.D.), is the Executive Director for Karamoja Anti Corruption Coalition (KACC). Email: ayubmukisa@gmail.com
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