Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

very low or zero crop yield. Increase of pest and diseases fromchanging temperature are affecting farmharvests. Livestock production would also beaffected. 2 Changing water temperature in seasand oceans impacts on the livelihood ofindigenous women living along coastalareas and subsisting on fishing. Rising sea levels causing saline water intrusion into freshwatersystems would result to fishing difficulty. 3• High Health Risks. Food insecurity may force women to eat last andeat least even if they are pregnant or nursing mothers, 4 making themsusceptible to illness and diseases,with the unborn and newbornsfacing malnutrition. The womenare also at risk of contractingwater-borne diseases duringfloods. Even frequent forest firescause health problems and destroyhealth services provided by theforest to them.• Loss of Traditional Knowledge.Indigenous women may lose theirtraditional ecological knowledge,practices and sustainable livelihoods with the destruction of theirresources to climate change. The loss of traditional plants or medicinalplants due to droughts or floods means the reduced opportunitiesfor the coming generations to learn and practice traditional health,biodiversity conservation and protectionand food security knowledge, amongMore than 50% - percentof 1.2 billion people who donot have access to water arewomen and girls.6 km - the average distancewomen in Asia and Africa walkto collect water.20 kgs - the average weightof water that women in Asia andAfrica carry on their heads.Source: Obando, A. Op cit.A Tuareg woman from Malirevealed that plants they used astraditional medicine are in dangerof being extinct or have alreadyvanished due to desertification.They also find difficulty in tanninganimal hides because the treesthey used in the tanning processhave disappeared. 5others.• Water Conflicts. Water is an essentialresource that is needed to pursuewomen’s productive and reproductivetasks. With the changing weatherpatterns affecting water availability andaccess, indigenous women would comeinto conflict with other indigenouswomen over water resources.• Increasing Chores. As water becomescarce, women’s chores wouldPART VII: Indigenous Women and Climate Change 111