Women in community action against climate

change (WCAACC)

MUIDA ISSAHAQUE
 INTRODUCTION
Women in community action against climate
change (WCAACC) is a project that seeks to
use women as change agents in the fight
against climate change in rural communities.
 LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
LED is an approach to economic development,
especially in developing nations that focuses
on activities in cities and towns by introducing
micro-economic measures to complement
national macro-economic measures.
 CLIMATE CHANGE
• Climate Change refers to a change in the state
of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using
statistical tests) by changes in the mean
and/or the variability of its properties and that
persists for an extended period, typically
decades or longer. It refers to any change in
climate over time, whether due to natural
variability or as a result of human activity.
 BACKGROUND
• agricultural and craft based livelihoods of
women in northern Ghana is threatened by
the increasing vulnerability to climate change.
• Africa is vulnerable to climate change, not
only because of its high exposure to climate
change, but also because many African
communities lack the capacity to respond or
adapt to the impacts of climate change.
 BACKGROUND CONT’D
• Women in rural communities are usually the most
vulnerable due to a myriad of socio-cultural and
historical antecedents.
• It is also the economic structure of rural communities
that are the underlying causes of vulnerability.
• To this end, disaster risk reduction, interventions that
address the underlying causes of vulnerability and
increasing access to resources are critical to
improving the situation of rural women in taking
action against climate induced poverty
 Challenges / constraints
• Cultural traditional belief systems
• Poor resource access and control at rural level
• Unfavourable decision making processes at rural level
against women
• Economic disadvantaged women
• Low participation of women in resource exploitation eg
fertile plots ,wetlands, water sources, forest products eg
shea, dawadawa
• No dedicated local government structures focusing on
women and climate change
 Potentials/ opportunities
• Good local government structures eg
decentralized Social welfare and children
protection department, MOFA
• Government interventions like: NHIS, Planting
for food and jobs, LEAP, GSOP etc
• Several farmer/ community based organizations
• Growing political influence of women (magajia,
queen mothers)
 RECOMMENDATIONS
• Increase women participation in local governance eg
women representation in general assembly as assembly
women
• Sensitization of communities on climate change adaptation
and mitigation strategies (improved seed varieties,
irrigation farming, crop water requirement, climate
information.
• Advocate for women participation in social accounting on
local level projects in communities
• Introduce community level Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
strategies in communities
 RECOMMENDATION CONTD
• Work with traditional authorities to do away
with unwanted cultural practices that impede
women’s economic development
• Increase women’s access to credit facilities
• Encourage women groups formation and
increase access to sustainable livelihoods in
the face of climate change