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How empowering women can help Southern Africa combat climate change

A Zimbabwean farmer, Anna Chitiyo, surveys her drought-stricken maize crop in Mutare. The stunted plants illustrate the devastating impact of El Niño on the region's agriculture and food security.

Anna's maize crop, stunted by El Niño, threatens her livelihood and millions more in Zimbabwe, fueling a deepening food crisis. Photo: Tanaka Chitsa/CARE

Anna's maize crop, stunted by El Niño, threatens her livelihood and millions more in Zimbabwe, fueling a deepening food crisis. Photo: Tanaka Chitsa/CARE

Southern Africa is reeling from its most severe drought in a century, driven by the extreme short-term effects of El Niño, and the relentless long-term effects of climate change.

In nations like Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, crops have failed, livestock and wildlife are dying, and food insecurity is placing over 20 million people at risk.

Despite the scale and scope of this crisis, the international community can come together to help. Urgent and strategic actions – actions that help empower women-led organizations in particular – are necessary to address these dire challenges, save lives, and build more resilient communities capable of facing future emergencies. The time to act with urgency, deliberation, and strategic planning is now.

Dried-up maize plants in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, illustrating the devastating effects of drought on agriculture in the region.
The drought in Southern Africa has decimated crops and increased food insecurity across the region as evident in this picture where maize plants have dried up in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. Photo: CARE

Across Southern Africa, the drought is wreaking havoc on communities, especially in rural areas where women and girls bear the brunt of the suffering. With water sources drying up, people are forced to share what little they have with animals, increasing the risk of disease. Fields lie barren under the relentless sun, leading to widespread hunger. Children are too weak to rise in the morning, and many families survive on a single meal a day.

This drought is not just robbing people of food and water—it is stripping away their humanity, health, and hope.

Women and girls are particularly at-risk. As they travel longer distances to find water, they face increased risks of gender-based violence (GBV). At the same time, to get food, the susceptibility to resort to activities such as prostitution or transactional sex is high, a grim reality that has been documented in past crises.

 

Reicco Mudenda Kamwaya, a 56-year-old Zambian farmer, stands amidst her withered crops, affected by the El Niño drought. The image depicts the widespread devastation caused by the drought to agriculture in Zambia.
Reicco, a 56-year-old mother of five and leader of 25 farmers in Sikalongo village, Zambia, shows her withered crops. The ongoing El Niño drought has devastated farms across the country. Photo: CARE Zambia

In Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the prolonged dry spell has led to complete harvest failures. In Malawi, a critical maize shortage has driven prices skyward, leaving 4.4 million people in crisis. In Zambia, 9 million people across 84 districts are already grappling with the harsh consequences of this disaster. In Zimbabwe, at least 2.7 million people face food insecurity, though the true number is likely higher. Mozambique’s southern and central regions are also suffering, with below-average rainfall delaying the rainy season and exacerbating drought conditions.

Over 565,000 people in Inhambane and Gaza provinces are at risk of severe food insecurity. Even in Madagascar, where rains from Cyclones Alvaro and Gamane provided brief relief, the outlook is bleak, with over 262,000 children under five facing acute malnutrition.

Two women, CARE project participants, are seen fetching water from a deep well in a drought-affected region in Mozambique.
Empowering women-led organizations is one of the keys to building resilience in drought-stricken Southern Africa regions. Photo: CARE

Supporting women-led organizations and Humanitarian Partnership Platforms is essential to address community-level needs and mitigate the risks of gender-based violence exacerbated by the hunger crisis. We need to focus on helping communities become more resilient, especially by empowering women and girls. This includes programs like Climate-Smart Agriculture, which have shown great results in helping people adapt to change and creating a more equal future. The situation in Southern Africa demands urgent action from governments, humanitarian organizations, and international partners. By addressing funding gaps, prioritizing direct and flexible funding, enhancing access to funds, and streamlining funding mechanisms, we can provide life-saving assistance, restore essential services, and lay the groundwork for resilience and recovery.

Empowering women and girls is not just a moral imperative; it is a practical strategy for building resilience.

The situation in Southern Africa demands urgent action from governments, humanitarian organizations, and international partners. Funding gaps must be addressed, and donors must prioritize direct and flexible funding that can reach those most in need. By enhancing access to funds for local actors and international NGOs with strong community ties, we can ensure that life-saving assistance is delivered where it is most needed.

A female farmer in Chivi district, Zimbabwe, works in her field with her child tied to her back. The arid landscape and dry crops highlight the challenges faced by communities in the region due to drought and poverty.
In the arid southern central region of Zimbabwe, a solar-powered community borehole and garden, established by the local community with support from the USAID-funded Takunda project, led by CARE Zimbabwe, has been instrumental in mitigating the effects of these recurring droughts. Photo: Tanaka Chitsa/CARE

Immediate funding is critical to prevent the crisis from deepening. Timely and strategic allocation of resources is essential to cover all sectors and regions in the Southern Africa Humanitarian Response Plan. Donors must commit to providing additional funding that is predictable, multi-year, and flexible. This will enable humanitarian actors to not only address the most pressing needs but also to restore essential services and lay the foundation for long-term resilience and recovery.

Successful initiatives like the USAID Takunda project in Zimbabwe and the Community-Based Adaptation: Scaling up Community Action for Livelihoods and Ecosystems in Southern Africa and Beyond (CBA-SCALE Southern Africa+) project in Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe offer blueprints for how resilience strategies can effectively tackle the impacts of El Niño. These programs focus on improving agricultural practices, natural resource management, and community-led adaptation strategies, playing a crucial role in mitigating climate-related challenges and fostering sustainable development.

The world cannot stand by as millions in Southern Africa face the bleak reality of hunger and despair. Let’s come together, address the crisis, and prevent further devastation. Let’s give hope a chance to bloom again in Southern Africa.

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