 In recent years the definition of poverty has broadened from its traditional focus on per capita income, to encompass other dimensions such as lack of empowerment, opportunity, capacity and security (World Bank 2003). Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women. Unlike men, women’s opportunities and options for working their way out of poverty are restricted by cultural norms that control their social and economic mobility. Analysts argue that improving women's access to economic opportunities is critical to the MDG of halving world poverty. Some of the causes of poverty are embedded in how resources are distributed, and this is linked to the power relations between men and women (Kabeer 2003). The MDGs of gender empowerment and poverty eradication are therefore seen as mutually reinforcing. Understanding women’s relationships to the environment plays an important role in developing solutions for more sustainable use of natural resources. Ignoring gender distorts the understanding of human impacts on the environment and the role that poverty plays in environmental degradation.
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