Introduction
Climate change is particularly hard on women’s unpaid work in Africa. This is because the rising temperature increases the workload of domestic and family work by threatening food security and health; and hardening access to clean water and cooking fuel. According to OxFam International, women and girls are engaged in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid work every day, which amounts to a global economic value of approximately 10.8 trillion dollars (1). In Africa, women bear most of the load of domestic unpaid work. They spend hours taking care of the home and carrying out duties such as taking care of children, the elderly, cooking and fetching wood used for cooking and water.
Africa is particularly hard-hit by climate change although it contributes only to about a fraction of greenhouse gas emission. The continent already faces water scarcity and it is predicted that by 2030, more than 230 million Africans will be living in water shortage conditions coupled with deforestation (2). Even though Africa has challenges to transit to clean energy in the fight against climate change, clean energy appears to be the technological tool that will alleviate women’s unpaid care work in Africa.
Hence, this paper examines how clean energy can alleviate women’s unpaid care work in Africa.increased by climate change. This article highlights to policy makers, energy providers, women, civil society and the general public the important role that clean energy plays in reducing the burden of unpaid work for women in Africa, while protecting the environment. The rest of the article presents women’s unpaid work burden in the context of climate change in Africa, the role of clean energy and finally the conclusion and policy recommendations.
- Women’s unpaid workburden in the Context of Climate Change in Africa
Africa appears to be the region of the world where the effects of climate change are particularly felt really hard due to low institutional capacity, development and economic capacity encountered by African countries. This is particularly crude in the Sub-Saharan African region which appears to be more vulnerable to climate change, because it depends greatly on precipitation to provide energy, food, fuel, and water to its people (3).
In the context of Africa, climate change and gender are deeply intertwined. As a result, climate change has significant impact on women’s unpaid work in Africa. Across the region, women tend to be overburdened with more unpaid work than men, and when disasters such as droughts and floods strike, women are at greater risk of injury and less likely to survive. This is because most of their activities are highly dependent on natural resources, which in turn are related to climate change. For instance, East African women in periods of extreme weather phenomena have to walk longer distances to fetch water and collect firewood (4).
Since 80% of domestic work is carried out by women in Africa (5), the ill health of children caused by rising temperature also increases the workload of women’s unpaid care. In the context of climate change evolution, if nothing is done, natural resources are going to be more scarce and as years pass by, women and girls will have to spend less of their time on other activities such as education and paid work (6). This will also deepen gender inequalities in the continent.
- The role of clean energyfor women in Africa
Clean energy is critical to lessening the burden of unpaid care work for African women. Access to clean energy will reduce the time and effort required for African women to conduct home duties such as cooking, cleaning, collecting wood, and fetching water. Clean energy technologies have the potential to ease the burden of domestic unpaid care work in several ways:
To begin with, renewable energy saves time: Improved cook stoves and solar-powered appliances, considerably reduce the time and effort required for domestic chores. According to Shandar and Hopkins (2015), modern and efficient cook stoves would reduce cooking time by 50%, and increase fuel efficiency by 30% (7). This would give women more time to pursue income-generating activities and education.
Also, clean energy gives physical relief for African women who do unpaid care work because it is typically physically demanding, with duties such as carrying water, cooking over open flames, and cleaning (8). Clean energy alleviates physical strain by providing less labor-intensive alternatives. Access to clean water sources for example, via solar-powered water pumps, eliminates the need for women to spend hours fetching water, hence decreasing their physical workload.
Furthermore, the negative effects of climate change, such as droughts, floods and food insecurity, frequently increase women’s unpaid care work obligations as they seek alternative sources of food preservation for their families. Clean energy options, such as solar-powered irrigation systems or energy-efficient food storage methods, can help alleviate these impacts by ensuring consistent availability of water and the preservation of food supplies. In Rwanda for instance, there has been the use of solar-powered irrigation systems for the cultivation of a lot of food crops such as cassava, maize and beans, and in Tanzania, biogas is used to preserve dairy products (6). This alleviates the additional strain placed on African women and allows them to focus on other activities that can improve their economic opportunities and financial independence, ultimately lessening their reliance on others and allowing them to make decisions about their own lives.
Finally, clean energy provides some health benefits in addition to reducing the stress of unpaid care work and empowering women. Traditional cooking techniques, such as the use of open fires or inefficient stoves, contribute to indoor air pollution, which can have serious effects for women in Africa and their families’ health. Clean energy solutions, such as upgraded cook stoves, reduce indoor air pollution and increases women’s respiratory health in Africa. This, in turn, improves their overall well-being and capacity to carry out other activities.
Conclusion and Policy Recommendations
The aim of this article was to analyse the role played by clean energy in alleviating women’s unpaid care work in Africa, increased by climate change. In conclusion, clean energy is vital in addressing women’s unpaid care work in Africa by reducing their workload, enhancing their economic opportunities, promoting gender equality, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. African governments should invest in clean energy in order to recognize, reduce, and redistribute women’s unpaid care work by supporting the development of clean energy policies in Africa. Hence:
- African governments should create a mentorship and incubation initiative in order to build the capacity of women, young entrepreneurs and innovators in the sector of green energy. This also includes training women on efficient and improved carbonization techniques.
- Governments should provide time-saving technology and equipments, access to health insurance and basic public infrastructure to reduce women and girls’ time on unpaid care duties. This technology including solar millet-mills, mini solar hullers, improved cooking stoves and biomass value chain, will permit women to attain education and income-generating activities. Therefore, African women should be provided with reliable and affordable clean household electricity and safe drinking water.
- Women, especially indigenous ones should be included in the green development initiative and economy policies in Africa and other developing countries like in Asia or Latin America. This can be done by integrating women in land restoration, management of tree nurseries, reforestation activities, restoration of degraded lands and establishing forest management mechanisms led by women.
- More projects should be centered around the development of the unpaid caresector in Africa, which could create many green jobs. A majority of these jobs should be occupied by women while offering solutions to reduce women’s unpaid care work in the region.