Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
THE Zimbabwean government declared the El-Nino-induced drought a state of disaster and as a mitigatory measure, the government is distributing food aid to rural folk and cash assistance to their urban counterparts.
While drought has taken its toll on almost everybody including men and children, women suffer the most given the patriarchal notion of a woman having the role to fend for the family.
Climate change has had significant negative impacts on women in Zimbabwe further increasing the already existing gender inequalities and creating new challenges.
The majority of women in the country rely heavily on subsistence farming which was directly affected by the unreliable rainfall patterns due to climate change.
This has brought with it reduced or no crop yields and reduced food security, further exacerbating the burden on women who are often responsible for household food production and care.
Among other challenges, the drought has also brought with it water scarcity and health risks, which all weigh heavily on women as compared to men.
Given the vulnerability created by climate change, women need protection from the vagaries of climate change, hence the move by the government to distribute food aid and cash assistance as a way of ensuring no one dies of hunger.
Social security and insurance is one way of cushioning women against the effects of climate change but Zimbabwe is found wanting in that area.
According to research, women in Zimbabwe lack insurance coverage hence they face significant climate change-related vulnerabilities resulting in them struggling to afford essential healthcare services, including maternal, and prenatal care which can impact their overall health and well-being.
Insurance and Pensions expert Mrs Charity Nkomo believes there are a number of ways in which to provide social safety nets for women through insurance and customized pension schemes for women in Zimbabwe.
“There is a need to ensure women have access to affordable health insurance through the development and promotion of health insurance plans that are affordable and accessible to women especially those in rural areas. Maternity and reproductive health is also essential and there is a need to provide comprehensive coverage for maternity care including prenatal, delivery and postnatal services. This helps to reduce the financial burden associated with childbirth and related complications,” she said.
Mrs Nkomo said there is a need for public-private partnerships to create inclusive insurance schemes that address the specific needs of women and offer subsidies or support to lower-income families.
She also believes there is a need to deliberate political support through the parliament so that they advocate for policies and regulations that mandate the inclusion of gender-sensitive provisions in insurance policies and promote equitable access to healthcare services for women.
The Insurance and Pensions Commission is also working on introducing the much-needed agriculture index insurance as a way of cushioning the peasant farmers, the majority of whom are women.
“After having realized the gap left by the need to cover farmers in case of losses, we are working on an emerging type of insurance meant to mitigate against climate related risks like drought, as in this case. The payout is based on a determined index and not on actual loss suffered. Development of regulations in this regard is in progress and we hope it will help a lot of Zimbabwean farmers,” said Mrs Sibongile Siwela, director for Pensions and Micro-insurance for IPEC.
National Social Security Authority (NSSA) Director of Social Security, Mr Shepherd Muperi concedes that Zimbabwe has much ground to cover in terms of coverage of women.
Generally, in terms of social security, Zimbabwe currently covers only four out of the possible nine branches of social security through the two NSSA schemes, Pensions and other benefits and the accident prevention and workers compensation schemes.
NSSA only covers employment injuries, invalidity, old age and survivor leaving out sickness, unemployment, family, medical care and maternity un-catered for.
Of those social security contingencies that are not covered, affect women mainly.
Mr Muperi noted that the four branches covered cater for men leaving out women frozen out.
“In the workplace we have more men than women hence it means we need to cast our net wider to cover all the nine branches of social security so that we move more steps towards poverty eradication in line with our mandate. We need to introduce more schemes in place to give more people protection,” he said.
Statistics show that there were a total of 234 546 claims as of July 2024, the biggest being retirement packages.
This is despite the fact that 83.8 percent, according to the latest ZIMSTAT figures, of the country’s population are informally employed.
“In our country, we have very few females formally employed and hence covered by our schemes, it actually entails that in the informal economy, women are disproportionately represented in the informal economy. Our scheme covers only 32 percent of the people who are formally employed, as such we have a huge number that is in the informal economy that is not covered and needs to be covered as we move to eradicate poverty,” he said.
He said it’s an area that needs to be looked at and ensure equitable coverage of both males and females.
“We are working on the exclusion of women from social security schemes as well as coverage of the informal economy. This is work underway as we move to eradicate poverty among the population. We have also introduced non-monetary benefits to complement the monetary schemes and to discourage overdependence on monetary benefits,” he said.
This comes as the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) is set to host the National Gender Forum on September 13 in Gwanda, to address the critical intersection between gender, environment, and climate change, and went on to emphasize the need to urgently address climate change’s impact on gender inequalities.
“Climate change exacerbates gender inequalities, disrupts livelihoods and aggravates water and energy challenges. Women and girls suffer the most as they often travel long distances to get water, which can lead to early child marriages. We aim to empower women to tackle this climate crisis,” said the commission’s chairperson, Mrs Margaret Mukahanana-Sanyangwe.
