Women's rights are imperative to combat desertification, land degradation and drought

A new study by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) reveals that gender inequalities are pervasive when it comes to land, and that securing women’s rights is imperative to achieve the intertwined global goals on gender equality and land degradation neutrality by the 2030 deadline.

As emphasized by UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw, “Women are major actors in the global efforts to reduce and reverse land degradation. They restore land, they protect land, they cherish, nourish and care for the land, while also caring for others. However, in the vast majority of countries, women have unequal and limited access to and control over land. We cannot achieve land degradation neutrality without gender equality, and we cannot exclude half the population from land management decisions because of their gender."

The new study titled “The Differentiated Impacts of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought on Women and Men” showcases how and to what extent desertification, land degradation, and drought raze the life and livelihoods of women and girls. The study advocates that gender inequalities should be addressed as part of biodiversity conser­vation, land restoration, adaptation, and mitigation of climate change. It also emphasizes the importance of efforts to transition to an inclusive and regenerative green economy, espe­cially in the post-pandemic world.

“Gender continues to be one of the world’s strongest mark­ers of disadvantage. Like all crises, the ongoing environmental crisis caused by land degradation, desertification, and drought has a more severe impact on women than men. Women and girls are doubly affected—first by the crisis itself and further by enduring repercussions specific to women’s lives, which we should tackle as an equal priority,” says the study lead author Lorena Aguilar.

The study shows that land degradation, desertification, and drought have a more severe impact on women than men and offers lessons on the changes needed to address gender inequalities in land access and tenure.

Based on extensive literature research, expert interviews, data analysis and case studies from 55 countries, the study provides compelling evidence that without swift action, legal systems that promote equal land ownership might fail to harness the most needed transformative power of half of the global population.  

Gender equality remains unfinished business

The study clearly shows that gender equality remains an unfinished business in every region of the world. The non-recognition of women as farmers, lack of land ownership, the restricted access to resources, technology, education, and training, as well as limited participation in decision making continue to be main barriers preventing women and girls to thrive and prosper.

In many countries, women have unequal and limited opportunities to access or own or inherit land in their name. For instance, discrimination against women’s rights to own, use and control land and non-land assets was found in over two-thirds of the countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region. In the Middle East and North Africa only 4% of women hold land titles. In sub-Saharan Africa, women represent half of the agricultural workforce but only 18% of agricultural holders. Even in countries where women have the same legal rights as men to own and access land – as is the case in Costa Rica – only 15.6% of farm ownership is in the hands of women.

While strengthening women’s land rights enables better protection of ecosystems and benefits household incomes, food security, children’s education and health, women’s rights to inherit their husband’s property continue to be denied in 102 countries under customary, religious, or traditional laws and practices, and disinheritance of the surviving spouse still occurs in 96 countries.

The fact that it doesn't have to be that way and that change is possible is demonstrated by the advocacy campaign called “I want my inheritance” in Egypt. The cam­paign aimed to promote women’s rights to inheritance through raising the community’s awareness and mobilizing local relevant actors in Sohag. At the end of the advocacy campaign, 100 Christian and Muslim public fig­ures and community leaders had promoted women’s rights to inheritance. In addition, 87 conflicts were settled amicably, 26 cases were referred to the courts and 10 women obtained their inheritance (they became role models encouraging other women to claim their rights). Furthermore, 17 Members of Parliament representing Sohag Governorate advocated a reform of the law to increase sanctions against those who deprive women of their inher­itance rights.

“I am the last one to eat”

Women and other disadvantaged groups are more susceptible to climate shocks due to the lack of diversification of their assets, as well as less access to resources to cope with and recover from the damages. Once again, not having land titles that can be used as collateral, or the lack of secure tenure, hinder women’s access to loans and credit and limit their access to extension services and technology rendering drought preparedness to a real steeplechase for women and their families. 

Glob­ally, women already spend a collective 200 million hours every day collecting water. Droughts tend to increase the burden of unpaid care and do­mestic work shouldered by women and girls. When droughts become full-fledged disasters, women bear the primary responsibility for the family’s daily survival, even during natural disasters. Not only, that the result of “caring for others” is expressed partly by standing in line and waiting for water, walking, and carrying water long distances, women often tent to eat less or adjusting portions of food. In rural Latin America, women use the expression “I am the last one to eat” highlighting the dire common practice in many societies to distribute food according to sex, age and status. Under this system, males usually get served first, followed by boys, then girls, and lastly, the women.

Despite these stark realities, women continue to push the needle for change. Bhungroo a women-led irriga­tion system developed by Indian women farmers that relies on rainwater harvesting. A water management system injects and stores excess rainfall under­ground and lifts it out for use dur­ing dry spells. The system serves more than 18,000 impoverished farmers (with over 96,000 de­pendent family members) and is a fully women-driven process.

Advancing global gender and land restoration goals

“Effectively facing the interconnected challenges of land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change requires profound structural changes. It is crucial to recognize that resolving gender inequalities is not only a matter of righting a wrong but also a significant opportunity to use previously underused and under-recognized abilities, knowledge, and talents,” UNCCD Executive Secretary Thiaw adds. 

UNCCD has a long track record in placing gender equality firmly at the core of its mandate as a vital catalyst of progress. By adopting the Gender Action Plan back in 2017, Parties to the Convention already acknowledged the specific role of women in land restoration and sustainable land management, as well as the importance of gender equality as a guiding principle in all policies and decisions associated to the fulfillment of the objectives of the Convention.

At the UNCCD COP15 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in May 2022, the Convention’s 197 Parties called for improving women’s involvement in land management as important enablers for effective land restoration, by addressing commonly encountered land tenure challenges by people in vulnerable situations, and collecting gender-disaggregated data on the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought.