Why Are Women in Developing Countries More ...

Why Are Women in Developing Countries More Vulnerable to Climate Change? Climate Change Implications on Women with Reference to Food, Water, Energy, Health, and Disaster Security Golam Kibria; September 2016 Citation: Kibria, G. 2016. Why are women in developing countries more vulnerable to climate Change? Climate change implications on women with reference to food, water, energy, health, and disaster security. 10p. ResearchGate Online Publication. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2577.9683. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267072733_Why_Are_Women_More_Vulnerable_to_Climate_Change

Abstract: Women in the least developed countries (LDCs) and developing countries in Africa and Asia are responsible for food production (agriculture, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture), the collection of water and biofuel (wood), management of natural resources and taking care of children and elderly. Women farmer accounts for 45-80% percent of all food production in poor developing countries. Climate change is projected to cause severe impact on rural women via crop failure, food and water contamination, shortages of biofuel and clean water, diseases and natural disasters etc. The environmental degradation due to climate change will force women to move further to obtain natural resources such as clean water and fuel-wood and increase the likelihood of exposure to harmful chemicals and biological toxins and diseases. Flooding will increase deaths, injuries, and exposure to infectious diseases and toxic contaminants to women. Women as water collectors would face increasing exposure to malaria, dengue, and chikungunya during floods when performing the duties of water collection and food harvesting. Women in poor developing countries are more vulnerable to disasters since they are generally confined to the house, some cannot swim or climb trees or lack of a mobile phone and most are illiterate (women make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population). Moreover, women have less/lack of access to information regarding disasters and have less decision-making power compared to men. Capacity building of women on climate-smart farming, rainwater harvesting, climate change related health issues, disaster risk reduction, natural resource management (afforestation, reforestation, biodiversity conservation) and training to produce their own electricity from biogas (cattle manure) would help reduce risks of women from climate change.

1. Introduction Climate change will cause a rise in temperature, carbon dioxide, sea-level, ocean acidification, and an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme events - like floods, droughts, cyclones, storms, forest fires [1,2]. Droughts, heat waves, floods, cyclones, sea-level rise can cause negative impact on food security (e.g. food availability, food accessibility, food quality/utilisation and food system stability), water security (e.g. water supply/quantity, water quality), and health security (e.g. diseases) in both developed and developing countries [3,4]. Though climate change will impact all countries, however, its impact will be differently distributed among different regions, generations, age classes, income groups, race, caste, ethnicity, occupations and genders (sex). In particular, the women in poor and least developed countries [Figure 1] will be disproportionality affected compared to men by climate change (via impacts on food, water, energy, diseases/health and disaster) and as a consequence of climate change existing gender inequalities will magnify [5]. Women in poor and least developed countries are responsible for agriculture (e.g. sowing, weeding, fertilising and harvesting the staple crops such as rice, wheat and maize), rearing of livestock, farming of fish and prawn, the collection of water and biofuel (fuel-wood). They are caregivers of children, sick and elderly, the home and assets. In particular, women’s in developing countries are exclusively responsible for growing vegetables in home gardens, for example, home gardens accounted for half the farm's total production in Nigeria and in the case of Indonesia, it accounts for more than 20 percent of household income and 40 percent of domestic food supplies [6]. Women in general constitute more than 60 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries [7], for example in Benin, Congo, and Zimbabwe women carried out more than 60 percent of agricultural work [6]. In Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam high percentages of women are also employed in the agricultural sector, with estimates ranging between 60 and 98 percent [8]. Apart from their important roles in household food security, they are also managers of natural resources and biodiversity, although they have restricted access to land, labour, capital and technology and information etc. [6,7,8].

Kibria, G. 2016. Why Are Women More Vulnerable to Climate Change? Climate change implications on women with reference to food, water, energy, health, and disaster security. 10p. ResearchGate Online Publication. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2577.9683. P a g e 1 | 10

Figure 1. Climate change (cyclones, floods, droughts, heat waves, sea-level rise) would cause the significant impact on women in developing countries via crop failure, shortages of clean water, fuel wood, contamination of water, increasing diseases and natural disasters. An example of climate-smart agriculture/floating agriculture as an adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh.

2. Climate change impacts on women Climate change would severely impact rural women in the Least Developing Countries (LDCs) and developing countries via crop failure, shortages of biofuel, clean water, natural disasters, and diseases. It is widely acknowledged that women in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change and will be affected most than men because they depend on natural resources and the environment for all of their activities, the basic needs of their families and livelihood. Climate change has a significant impact on securing food, household water, and fuel—activities that usually are the responsibility of women and girls. In times of drought and erratic rainfall, women and girls must walk farther and spend more of their time collecting water and fuel (see Table 1) 2.1: Food security Climate change is projected to reduce crop yields and food production in low altitudes, semi-arid and tropical areas and rainfed dependent agriculture in Asia and Africa, of which the sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia is projected to be most affected [17,18]. Furthermore, disasters like floods and cyclones would cause loss of crops (e.g. rice, wheat, maize, nuts, chillies, and lentils), trees, seeds, livestock (cows, goats, and buffaloes), poultry (chicken, ducks), animal fodder, fisheries and aquaculture. Sealevel rise (SLR) can cause loss of agricultural land due to flooding of lands and intrusion of seawater, as a result, agriculture in the low-lying coastal area or adjacent to deltas may be affected [12]. Global warming may enhance bio-accumulation of algal toxins (freshwater toxins- Microcystins and marine toxins- Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, Ciguatera Fish Poisoning) in seafood and fungal toxins (mycotoxins- aflatoxins, fusarium toxins) in wheat and maize, posing a significant threat to food security. Crop loss and reducing crop yields due to climate change would cause significant impacts on women farmers (women make up 45-80% food production workforce in developing countries) (see Table 1 for climate change impacts on food security, impact on women and adaptive strategies for women). 2.2: Water security Droughts, water contamination, sea-level rise and increasing demand for irrigation water may exacerbate existing shortages of water. However, in the face of climate change, the ability of women to obtain these indispensable resources is reduced. In addition, the environmental degradation due to climate change will force women to move further to obtain natural resources (clean water). For example,


Table 2. Climate change impacts and adaptive strategies to minimise and reduce risks of women in poor developing countries (2,9,10,11,12,13, 14, 15,16) Security aspect Food security

Climate change impacts

Impact on Women

Adaptive strategies for women and opportunities (policy)

i) Agricultural production changes (low yields in low latitudes, semi-arid and tropical areas in Africa, Asia, and Latin America); ii) Loss of crops (inundation of crop fields and aquaculture facilities due to sea-level rise and floods); iii) Food contamination (terrestrial and seafood) by bacteria Salmonella spp, Vibrio spp; fungal Mycotoxins (aflatoxins, fusarium toxins) in wheat and maize, algal toxinsMicrocystins and marine toxins PSP, CFP in fish, shrimp, mussels, oysters). i) Lack of water (water shortages due to droughts); ii) Poor water quality (contamination of water resources with pathogens, inorganic and organic chemicals, salt and algal toxins due to floods, cyclones, sea-level rise, forest fires and the rise of temperature).

i) More time and energy needed for food production which may cause lower Scholl attendance or enrolments or lower literacy rates or early marriage of women; ii) May increase household work burden; iii) Women may lose income as well as harvests bringing severe economic hardships: iv) Increase in calories/micronutrients deficiencies in women (as women generally sacrifice their diets for their male family members in poor countries).

i) Switching to drought, heat, and salt tolerant crops, shifting cropping seasons; accepting climate smart agriculture, integrated agriculture-aquaculture farming, culturing fish tolerant to higher temperature, salinity and low quality water; ii) Better nutrition supplements for needy families; iii) Involve women in conservation and biodiversity; iv) Encourage to save food; v) Make provision for land right for women; v) Capacity building (skills, knowledge, competencies) of women in agriculture and fisheries extension; vi) Managing fish stocks for local fishing communities.

i) More time and energy needed for water provision since women have to walk long distances that may cause lower Scholl attendance or enrolments; ii) May increase household work burden.

i) Promote water saving practices; ii) Promote rainwater harvesting; iii) Promote reuse and recycling of water (where feasible); iv) Purchase water from water vendor; v) Empower women and facilitate equal participation in management of water resources; vi) Safeguard drinking water sources; vii) Capacity building of women on water management and water quality monitoring.

Energy security

i) Lack of biomass fuel wood (droughts, low rainfalls, sea-level rise would cause biodiversity loss including herbs, shrubs, and trees); Dysfunctioning hydropower due to less rainfall/drought; iii) Disruption in electricity.

i) More time and energy needed to collect fuel wood (due to loss of forest plants, trees); ii) May increase house work burden.

Health security

i) Increased infectious diseases (due to contamination of water, and food with chemical and biological pollutants); Flooding can increase deaths, injuries, and incidence of infectious diseases; iii) High rainfall and higher humidity may influence mosquito breeding; iv) The rise of temperatures may increase the risk of

i) Women are more vulnerable to water related diseases since they are often come into contact with poor and contaminated water as they are responsible for collection of water; ii) May increase health problems since women and girls have to walk long distances to fetch water, fuel and wood; iii) Burning of biomass for cooking would cause indoor pollution (smoke, smogs, particulates) and increase health risks to women and children (respiratory illness, premature deaths); iv) Women are less tolerant to heat stress due

i) Switching to other energy sources; ii) Provision of clean renewable energy (solar, the wind) sources in rural areas; iii) Training of women on production of their own electricity from biogas (cattle manure); iv) Provision of and training of women on ecological restoration; v) Capacity building of women on natural resource management (afforestation, reforestation, biodiversity conservation). i) Increasing local health care facilities and services for women; ii) Enhance capacity building of women on emerging health issues relevant to climate change; iii) Provide training on identification and propagation of medicinal plants and application of other preventive or alternative healing methods against diseases; iv) Increase health-care services, immunizations, family planning, hygienic supplies, reproductive

Water security


food poisoning by bacteria; v) The rise of temperature, salinity and plankton blooms may enhance cholera outbreak; iv) Loss of medicinal plants and biodiversity.

Disasters security

i) Climate change would increase the frequency and intensity disasters/extreme events (floods, cyclones) which would cause increase human casualties (mortality, injury) including women, and children; ii) Floods, cyclones would destroy housing infrastructure, rural houses and roads, bridges; iii) Disaster events can lead to forced displacement/migration of poor people

to heatwaves and climate change may increase heat-associated death in elderly women; v) the number of hungry and malnourished people in the world could increase by ~10% due to climate change and it is women who are likely to experience a decrease in nutritional health, as they are often the first to go hungry in an attempt to protect their families; vi) With the increasing frequency and intensity of floods, women regularly have to navigate through waterlogged areas for fetching water and cooking wood, which would expose them to the risks of drowning, snakebites, and skin diseases; vii) Pregnant women are vulnerable to malaria because they are twice as attractive to malaria-carrying mosquitoes as non-pregnant women. i) More women would die than men or injured (do not know how to swim or climb trees, cultural dress such as ‘sharee clothes in Bangladesh prevent to run fast during disasters, religious or cultural barrier on female mobility or to remain at home); ii) Disasters would cause more male out migration to seek jobs elsewhere leaving women in cyclone and flood prone rural areas

health care in disaster zones or relief shelters for pregnant, lactating or menstruating women.

i) Provision for safe shelter for both women and men; ii) Improving homes and houses in vulnerable areas; iii) Disaster preparedness including training on gender sensitive disaster risk reduction, gender sensitive early warning systems and women’s participation in policy and programme cycles; iv) Providing access to education/information about weather; v) Teaching how to swim and climb trees; vi) Include women in all disaster recovery decision-making.


women in Bangladesh need to travel long distances (sometimes up to 10 km) due to salinisation of drinking water sources which requires sometimes travelling up to ten kilometres on foot every day in search of water. The extra travel (for water) will increase the likelihood of exposure of women to harmful chemicals and biological toxins and diseases or even the risk of women and girls being assaulted or missing education and Scholl. Water logging due to heavy rain and floods may cause differential health impacts in women than men in developing countries (Asia) since the situation will force to drink unhygienic water as tube wells are frequently contaminated where women are forced to stay close to the community [11] (see Table 1 for climate change impacts on water security, impact on women and adaptive strategies for women). 2.3: Energy security In the rural areas of Africa and Asia, women are highly dependent on biomass, such as wood, agricultural crops, wastes and forest resources for their energy (cooking) and livelihoods. Climate change (droughts, low rainfalls, sea-level rise) would cause biodiversity loss including herbs, shrubs, and trees and would make fuel wood sources more unreliable. This would cause women to move further to obtain fuelwood. For example, women in Nepal were able to collect fuel-wood in 2 hours during 1970 but their collection time has now increased to an entire day and involved walking through rough terrain. The extra travel (for fuel) will increase the likelihood of exposure of women to diseases or even the risk of women and girls being assaulted or missing education and Scholl [11] (see Table 1 for climate change impacts on energy security, impact on women and adaptive strategies for women). 2.4: Health security Climate change (the rise of temperatures) may cause increased spread of vector and waterborne diseases, heat stress (heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat strokes) and respiratory illness to both women and men. Flooding due to climate change can increase deaths, injuries, and increase the incidence of infectious diseases as well as exposure to toxic contaminants to women. Due to the shortage of water, contaminated water can be used which increases the risk of diarrhoeal diseases to women and children. Women can be more exposed to the mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, zika and chikungunya during floods when performing the duties of water collection and food harvesting for the family members. High rainfall and higher humidity may influence mosquito breeding. Women as water collectors would face increasing exposure to malaria (as global warming would amplify mosquitoes), which is endemic in many parts of Africa and Asia and parts of Central and South America [2,12]. Further rising in temperatures may increase the transmission of malaria to pregnant women since they are twice as appealing as non-pregnant women. Sea level rise can increase the risk of cholera in many countries including Bangladesh since cholera bacterium, Vibrio cholerae survive longer in salinity range from 2.5 ppt to 30 ppt and need sodium ion (Na+ ) for growth [12] (see Table 1 for climate change impacts on health security, impact on women and adaptive strategies for women). 2.5: Disasters Climate change is projected to increase the intensity and frequency of extreme events such as cyclones and floods. Cyclones and floods caused significant human mortality between 1918 and 2009 in Bangladesh [Table 2]. Globally more women deaths were recorded during disasters, for example, various research conducted found that women are fourteen times more likely to die than men during a disaster. In the 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh about 71 percent of who died was women (138,882 deaths, ratio of male: female death rate was 1:14) [19,20,21]. Similarly, during the extreme heat wave in Europe (2003) significantly more elderly women died than men; in 2004 Tsunami (Aceh, Indonesia), more than 75 percent of those who died were women [19]. Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans, USA, in 2005, predominantly affected African American women—already the region’s poorest, most marginalized community [15]. An estimated 87 percent of unmarried women and 100 percent of married women lost their main source of income when Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwaddy Delta in Myanmar in 2008 [15]. Women’s greater vulnerability to disasters can be linked to the fact that women in poor developing countries are less mobile (women are generally homebound, responsible for cooking, cleaning or looking after others and more often confined to the house, in some cases need


permission of the husband to move out, therefore are at greater risk from collapsing houses or buildings when disaster strikes), some cannot swim, or lack of a mobile phone and most are illiterate (women make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population) and they have less/lack of access to information regarding disasters and have less decision-making power. According to-a-study of natural disasters that struck between 1981 and 2002 found that, in countries where women don’t have the same social and economic status as men, they’re more likely to die in the aftermath of calamities [22] (see Table 1 for climate change impacts on disasters, impact on women and adaptive strategies for women). Table 1: Historical records of major cyclone and floods in Bangladesh and the numbers of people affected and mortality (note: Bangladesh has experienced extreme cyclones (e.g. Bhola cyclone 1970, Bangladesh cyclone 1991, Cyclone Sidr 2007, Cyclone Aila 2009 and extreme floods (during 1974, 1987, 1988, 1998, 2004, and 2007; see Table 1 for details) [20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,29,30]. Year 2013 (16 May)

Area affected Cyclone: Cyclone Mahasen, with winds of 95 kilometres per hour, hit coastal area of Patuakhali, Cox’s Bazar, Barguna; 1 m storm surge.

2009 (25 May)

Cyclone: Cyclone Aila, hit coastal area of Patuakhali, Chandpur; wind speed of 95 km/h; a storm surge of 3 m (10 ft) impacted western regions of Bangladesh, submerging numerous villages. Cyclone: Cyclone Sidr, winds of 224 km/h, max 260km/h; hit hard coastal area of Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalokati, storm surge of over 5 meters.

2007 (15 November)

2004 1998 (19–22 November)

Flood Cyclone: A cyclonic storm, wind speeds up to 90 km/hour, and a storm surge of 1.22 to 2.44 metres. Hit coastal islands and sand shoals near Khulna, Barisal, and Patuakhali.

1998

Flood

1997 (25–27 September)

Cyclone: A severe cyclonic storm, hit coastal islands near Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Noakhali and Bhola, wind speeds of up to 150 km/hour, and a storm surge of 1.83 to 3.05 metres.

1991 (31 May-2 June)

Cyclone: A cyclone hit the coastal islands and chars near Patuakhali, Barisal, Noakhali, and Chittagong. Maximum wind speed reached 110 km/h. The storm surge was 1.9 m. Cyclone: The maximum wind speed (observed at Sandwip) reached 250 km/h. At other places, the maximum wind speed was reported as follows: Chittagong 160 km/h, Khepupara (Kalapara) 180 km/h, Kutubdia 180 km/h, Cox's Bazar 185 km/h, and Bhola 178 km/h. (The NOAA-11 satellite estimated the maximum wind speed to be about 240 km/h at 1.38 pm on 29 April). The maximum storm surge height reached about 5 to 8 m. Cyclone: A severe cyclonic storm struck Jessore, Kushtia, Faridpur and coastal islands

1991 (29–30 April)

1988

Damage statistics In the Patuakhali District, at least 100 huts were destroyed, roughly 128,000 hectares of crops in Patuakhali were damaged (mainly sweet potatoes); tidal flooding affected 70 villages in the Cox's Bazar District; At least 17 people were killed across the country. 330 deaths and at least 8,208 more are missing, an estimated 58,950 animals were killed by the storm with up to 50,000 deer missing.

Caused over 4234 deaths (including 94 deaths in Kalapara) and severe damage. The cyclone Sidr affected 21,000 people, destroyed 27895 houses and 195 educational institutions and 45% crops loss in Kalapara, Patuakhali alone. 700 deaths and 3,900,000 people affected Damage data are not available.

1050 deaths and 15,000,000 people affected; flooded area- 68% of Bangladesh (100000 km2), crop damage 4.5 million tonnes. Damage data are not available.

Damage data are not available.

Casualty: 150,000 people, 70,000 cattle, crops damaged and loss of property were estimated at about Tk 60 billion, as many as 10 million homeless.

Casualty: 5,708 people, and numerous wild animals at The Sundarbans (deer 15,000, Royal Bengal Tiger 9),


(24–30 November)

1988

of Barisal and Khulna. The maximum wind speed was 162 km/h. The storm was accompanied by a storm surge of 4.5 m at Mongla Port. Flood

1987

Flood

1986 (8-9 November)

Cyclone: A severe cyclonic storm hit the coastal island and chars near Chittagong, Barisal, Patuakhali, and Noakhali. Maximum wind speed was 110 km/h at Chittagong and 90 km/h at Khulna. Flood

1984 1983 (5-9 November)

1977 (9-12 May)

1974

1975 (9-12 May)

1973 (6-9 December)

1971 1970 (7 November-13 November)

1968 1966 (1 October)

1965 (14-15 December) 1965 (10-12 May)

Cyclone: A cyclone hit Chittagong, Cox's Bazar coast near Kutubdia, St Martin's Island, Teknaf, Ukhia, Moipong, Sonadia, Barisal, Patuakhali, and Noakhali. The maximum wind speed reached 136 km/h. The storm surge was 1.52 m. Cyclone: Khulna, Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barisal, Chittagong and offshore islands were hit by a cyclone. Maximum wind speed was up to 112.63 km/h. Flood

Cyclone: A strong cyclone pummelled Bhola, Cox's Bazar and Khulna. Maximum wind speed was 96.5 to 112.6 km/h. Casualty: 5 people. Cyclone: The coastal areas near the Sundarbans were hit by a cyclone, accompanied by storm surge. Coastal areas near Patuakhali and nearby islands were submerged under the tidal bore, 122km/h wind speed. Flood Cyclone: 1970 Bhola cyclone hit the entire coast of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). Most affected were Chittagong, Barguna, Khepupara, Patuakhali, north of Char Burhanuddin, Char Tazumuddin and south of Maijdi, Haringhata. Maximum wind speed reached about 223 km/h. The maximum storm surge was about 10.6 m. Flood Cyclone: A cyclone hit Sandwip, Bakerganj, Khulna, Chittagong, Noakhali and Comilla. The maximum strong surge was 4.7-9.1 m. The maximum wind speed was 146 km/h. Cyclone: A strong cyclone hit the coast near Cox's Bazar and Patuakhali. The storm surge rose up to 4.7-6.1 m. The wind speed was up to 210 km/h in Cox's Bazar. Cyclone: A strong cyclone hit Barisal and Bakerganj. The wind speed reached a maximum of 162 km/h. The storm surge was 3.7 m.

cattle 65,000. Total damage to crops reached Taka 9.41 billion

2379 deaths and 73,000,000 people affected; flooded area- 52% of Bangladesh (77700 km2); crop damage1.5 million tonnes. 1657 deaths and 73,000,000 people affected; flooded area- 38% of Bangladesh (57491 km2); crop damage3.2 million tonnes. Casualty: 14 people. Damages: 972 km² of paddy fields were inundated; Schools, mosques, warehouses, hospitals, houses and buildings were destroyed at Amtali upazila in Barguna District. 513 deaths; flooded area- 19% of Bangladesh (28314 km2); crop damage- 0.7 million tonnes. Casualty: 300 fishermen with 50 boats missing. Damages: 2,000 houses destroyed.

Damage data are not available.

1987 deaths and 38,000,000 people affected; flooded area- 35% of Bangladesh (52720 km2); crop damage1.4 million tonnes. Damage data are not available.

183 people were killed.

120 deaths; flooded area- 24% of Bangladesh (36475 km2). The official death toll was 500,000 but the number is likely to be higher. Damages include destruction of approximately 20,000 fishing boats, and also property and crops. Total loss of cattle reached more than one million. More than 400,000 houses and 3,500 educational institutions were destroyed.

126 deaths; flooded area- 25% of Bangladesh (37300 km2); crop damage- 1.1 million tonnes Total people affected: 1.5 million people. Casualty: 850 people, 65,000 cattle.

Casualty: 873 people. Damage: 40,000 salt beds destroyed.

Casualty: 19,279 people (out of that, 16,456 in Barisal).


1962

Flood

1960 (30-31 October)

Cyclone: A severe cyclonic storm hit Eastern Meghna River estuary near Noakhali, Bakerganj, Faridpur and Patuakhali. The storm had wind speeds of up to 201 km/hour. The maximum storm surge was 3.05 metres. Flood

1954 1876 (27 October-1 November) 1822 (May) 1585

1584

Cyclone: A cyclone with a storm surge of 12.2 metres (40 ft) hit the Meghna River estuary near Chittagong, Patuakhali, and Noakhali. Cyclone: A cyclone, accompanied by storm surge and tidal bores hit Barisal, Hatiya Island and Noakhali. Storm: A tropical storm hit the eastern side of Bakerganj (now Barisal) near the mouth of the Meghna River estuary. A five-hour hurricane and thunderstorm destroyed houses and boats in the coast near Bakerganj (presently in Barisal) and Patuakhali.

117 deaths; flooded area- 25% of Bangladesh (37404 km2); crop damage- 1.2 million tonnes It caused devastating damage in Char Jabbar, Char Amina, Char Bhatia, Ramgati, Hatiya and Noakhali. Casualty: 3,000 people. Other effects: 62,725 houses destroyed. Crops on 94,000 acres (380 km²) of land were destroyed. 112 deaths; flooded area- 25% of Bangladesh (36920 km2); crop damage- 0.7 million tonnes Casualty: about 400,000. The storm also caused epidemic and famine, and vast property damage

Total casualty: 40,000 people, 100,00 cattle.

Caused devastation of crops. Casualty: unknown.

Only Hindu temples with a strong foundation were spared. Total casualty: about 200,000.

3. Adaptive strategies and policies for women Seventy percent of the 1.3 billion people who live in extreme poverty worldwide are women and girls. As mentioned above (section 1) that women in poor developing countries are responsible for food production (section 2.1), collection of water (section 2.2), firewood (section 2.3) and natural resources management, but they are at risk of diseases (section 2.4) and suffer most during disasters (section 2.5). To reduce risks from climate change, adaptation strategies for women may include i) capacity building (skills, knowledge, competencies) of women on agriculture, livestock, aquaculture, fisheries (climate smart farming); ii) encourage to harvest rainwater; iii) clean renewable energy (solar, the wind) supply in rural areas and training to produce own electricity from biogas (cattle manure); iv) capacity building of women on emerging health issues relevant to climate change; v) increasing health-care services in disaster zones or relief shelters; vi) improving homes and houses in vulnerable areas; vi) training on gender-sensitive disaster risk reduction; vii) capacity building of women in natural resource management (afforestation, reforestation, biodiversity conservation) viii) recruiting women to participate in developing emergency evacuation plans, and hiring equal numbers of female and male trainers to teach climate-adaption farming strategies (see Table 1 for adaptive strategies for women). 4. Conclusion Women make up the majority of the world's poor and are more dependent than men on natural resources for their livelihood and survival. Climate change is not gender neutral. Climate change would cause more harm on developing countries women than men because of the roles and responsibilities played by women in growing food; collecting water and fuel wood; taking care of children and elderly. As discussed in sections (2.1-2.5), that the impacts of climate change could be severe for women living in developing countries since with climate change there would be increasing scarcity of water, reductions in crop yields and forest biomass, and increased risks to public health. Climate change would also increase the intensity and frequency of disasters (cyclones, floods) and women in poor developing countries are more vulnerable to disasters since they are generally confined to the house, some cannot swim or climb trees or lack of a mobile phone and most are illiterate (women make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population). Moreover, women have less/lack of access to information regarding disasters and have less decision-making power compared to men. Capacity building of women on climate-smart farming, rainwater harvesting, climate change related health issues, disaster risk reduction, natural resource management (afforestation, reforestation, biodiversity conservation) and production of own electricity from biogas (cattle manure) would help reduce risk on women from climate change. Kibria, G. 2016. Why Are Women More Vulnerable to Climate Change? Climate change implications on women with reference to food, water, energy, health, and disaster security. 10p. ResearchGate Online Publication. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2577.9683. P a g e 8 | 10

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