The Nexus of Climate and Gender in Nigeria’s North-West Conflict
The impact of climate change is already pervasive across the world. Instances of abrupt seasonal change, sea level rise and extreme weather affect people in many ways. This impact takes on a different manner in conflict zones, especially in areas where livelihoods, or the lack thereof, fuel the disillusionment that pushes people to extremes. Studies show that women face unique disadvantages in conflicts. In Nigeria’s ongoing skirmishes in the North-West, climate change has intensified these challenges. In such a context, women’s roles in their communities, and their level of access to resources and opportunities, determines their vulnerability to climate risks and their capacity to prepare for and manage the impacts of such risks and security challenges. As such, there is a need to build the resilience of vulnerable communities and marginalised groups, especially women to adapt to these events. In some cases, it can also mean the difference between burial and survival.
More Than the Weather
Due to climate change, Northern Nigeria is seeing greater heatwaves. Extreme heat already negatively impacts cognitive development, productivity, and concentration and the extra strain might have a disastrous effect on Nigeria’s under-recognised groups. Earlier in 2024, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) called for immediate action and a declaration of a state of emergency in severely impacted settings. To address these challenges, citizens need access to early warning systems that can encourage stronger climate-resilient farming practices as well as preparedness to adapt.
Yet while averting the heat might be unavoidable, there is a far more easily manageable impact that regretfully remains largely unattended to: flooding. A recent forecast estimated that 31 of Nigeria’s 36 states were at risk of high flooding in 2024, with its impact on lives and livelihood, mostly. The absence of mitigation strategies to more erratic rainfall in the region compounded by the periodic release of water from the Lagdo Dam in neighbouring Cameroon have led to increased death rates among women due to their behavioural restrictions. To avoid greater loss in the future, proper land use planning, education, and adequate warning systems have to be employed. As such, the Federal Ministry of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in collaboration with other partner agencies set up a web-based Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) to monitor various locations in the country for flood signs, and issue 5-day alerts to minimise loss of lives and property.
The impact of climate change on yields of cereals, especially maize, millet, and sorghum is negative across the region. Daily living has been impacted by climate change, and many individuals have had to adjust their lifestyles to cope as the impacts of climate change affects people’s socio-economic status nationwide. Farmers have abandoned their encroached and burned down farmlands to take on cattle rearing and unfamiliar trades in the midst of growing intercommunal tensions. Members of pastoralist groups have also migrated to urban livelihoods and are facing strong social divisions and stigmatisation from co-pastoralists that have not migrated.
Impact On Women in The North-West
One of the well-documented areas where climate change impacts women involve rising criminal activities by bandits in Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Sokoto states in Nigeria’s North-West. These activities are fast spreading to other northern states. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project, bandit attacks have been increasing for over a decade in North-West Nigeria, rising by 731% between 2018 and 2022 (from 124 to 1031 incidents). There were approximately 13,485 banditry-related deaths between 2010 and May 2023. The poverty and hunger scourges have exacerbated conflict in the region through intensified competition for limited resources which are used to meet basic needs. Hence, the food search has been alternated from legitimate to violent conflict, kidnapping for ransom, and seizure of properties. Illicit gold mining in Zamfara state particularly is exacerbating land and water shortages, forcing women and girls to travel longer distances and spend longer time to fetch insufficient quantities of water for domestic use. Disappearing rivers and watering holes are increasing the competition over remaining sources of groundwater in an area where cattle-rearing activities are intensive. The land use disputes in a semi-arid region are leading entire communities to deforestation and vice versa. Women and girls in the region are at a more alarming risk of exploitation and sexual violence, endangering their rights to education.
Climate change affects women in differently from men due to the nature in which they obtain their livelihoods while also being threatened by sexual violence. The impacts of climate change through water scarcity and agricultural dependence are especially severe for women who make up a large population of poor communities but are seldom given the chance to better understand the risks that they face and to prepare, respond, and recover from environmental risks. With strong ties to the environment, women have the knowledge to be key agents for building resilience to climate change. The response to climate change must ensure that women who are invisible experts benefit and have equal opportunities to lend their voices and lead action just as men do.
Bridging The Gap
While women have historically been marginalised in this regard, this need not be the case in the future. Federal and state governments, as well as groups carrying out local and targeted interventions, can make the necessary changes to correct this gap. For starters, necessary investment in adaptation measures needs to happen at the local level, and must be designed to meet the different needs of gender and social status, ensuring women are not excluded from planning and decision-making. Women’s traditional knowledge and skills related to water harvesting and storage, food preservation and rationing, and natural resource management, make them agents of change in diverse settings and help dispel the possibility of reinforcing inequality.
Young women in North-West Nigeria are often relegated to the periphery because of societal obstructions such as early marriage and street-hawking practices known as “talle”. Female education which stands at 52% is often considered a waste of resources by many parents who are apprehensive about supporting women regardless of technological advancements Women who do attain higher education are derided as intimidating. Women who try to overcome these obstacles are often stigmatised and rejected. Norms, traditions, and policies that perpetuate gender inequality are a barrier to women realising their rights in North-West Nigeria. Policies need to ensure that women can access and control the resources they need for adaptation, including training services, technology transfer and capacity-building for sustainability. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are matters of fundamental human rights, and social justice, and are a pre-condition for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Many demographic characteristics shape women’s experience with climate change, including age, family structure, educational and income level. This means that gender is intersectional and not in isolation and so the response to climate change must reflect that intersectionality. On a general level, race, disabilities, and indigenous identities play a role. However, considering that women are found across those demographics, we must address a gender-responsive approach to climate change in the North-West.
The climate crisis impacts us all, but not equally. Farmers in the region are on the frontline of adaptation. They are planting nymph trees to buffer encroachment from the bordering Sahara Desert, which advances at an extent of 3km per year. Additionally, they use rice chaff for soil amendment as it improves drainage and soil aeration for agricultural productivity under their micro-climate. Urban and peri-urban agriculture can feed urban dwellers while helping reduce floods, and urban heat islands, and provide a green belt to halt urban sprawl. This highlights that agricultural practices are important in urban planning and renewal designs.
Policies aimed at engaging women should be prioritised as every woman is a leader with the right to speak up and act on the climate crisis. Their voices need to be heard and the contributions recognised as they often bear a disproportionate burden of climate impacts despite the valuable knowledge and leadership skills that they possess. This inclusivity is the pathway to sustainability.
Gachomo Pam-Hworo is Social Media Manager at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-West Africa)