Climate Change and Sustainable Development

Gender imbalance and climate change are real in the District. Gender imbalance can be noticed by the patriarchal nature of the family set-up. Men are canalized to grow into real male and are initiated into manhood at the early teenage stage through the male circumcision ceremony known as ‘HOKO ’. Men are taught to be tough so that they can be able to fend for their families. On the other hand, girls are initiated into womanhood through the female initiation ceremony. Girls are prepared for marriage, so that they can be good mothers who can properly look after their families when they grow up. To further exacerbate this, Chiredzi District shares borders with South Africa and Mozambique. Local men cross borders and move to surrounding towns for search of formal employment. Women are left to do all the households chores, and tilling the land is to be done women instead of men. Climate change is further worsening the burden on women, persistent droughts are causing women to work hard to fend for the children. They walk long distances in search of pastures for the livestock. To mitigate this, Chiredzi Rural District Council resolved to mainstream Gender and Climate Change into development, through awareness creation, capacity development and funding of some gender and climate change adaptation related projects with assistance from other stakeholders in the district.

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