Assessment of Gender Roles in Climate Change Adaptation in Kisarawe, Tanzania

Abstract

Climate change has received global attention as it poses challenges to climatesensitive sectors; and affects natural, social, and economic systems, resulting in changing gender roles. This paper assesses the relationship between climate change adaptation and gender roles to understand the effects of climatic stresses on a wide range of gender roles in Kisarawe district, Tanzania. The study investigated the effect of climate change on rainfall and temperature patterns. It further looked at sex-based division of work at the home level. The study employed a mixed research design. Data collection involved gender-disaggregated survey data, focus group discussions (FGDs), and key informant interviews (KIIs). The latter two were employed in collecting qualitative data, whereas quantitative data were collected using a household survey that involved a total of 120 heads of households, who were selected using simple random sampling techniques. Participants for FGDs and KIIs were obtained through purposive sampling. People’s perceptions were validated using temperature and rainfall data. The results suggest that from 1987 to 2018, there were climate changes in both minimum and maximum annual rainfalls and temperatures, which led to a change in traditional gender roles, and a switch to shared roles. The differences in perceived changes in gender roles were statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). The study results recommend that gender-responsive and bottom-up-oriented policies, together with locally-led adaptation plans are fundamental in resolving climate change impacts in Kisarawe district.

Keywords: climate change, climate variability, gender, gender roles, adaptation.