Adaptation to Climate Change: Changing Gender Relations in the Meatu and Iramba Districts in Tanzania

Abstract

Neither the impacts of climate change on people nor the ways in which people respond to climate change are gender neutral. Important gender differences exist regarding the implications of climate change for the lives of females and males of all ages. Gender inequalities and gender roles play a key role in determining the choice of adaptation strategies of both men and women. They may ultimately lead to changing gender relations. The amount of research and documentation on existing coping and adaptation strategies has increased, but rarely are these findings differentiated along gender lines, and they frequently fail to describe how adaptive strategies cause changes in gender relations. Using qualitative data from the Meatu and Iramba Districts in Tanzania, this study examined changes in gender relations in response to climate change. Findings show that men and women react differently to climate change, leading to changes in gender roles and relations to accommodate the impact of the phenomenon. The impacts of climate change are changing gender relations, which can be to the advantage or disadvantage of either gender category. However, it was found that changes in gender relations had more disadvantages for women than for men. Adaptation strategies utilized by both men and women have positive and negative outcomes, which either challenge or reinforce existing gender inequality.