Insights into Gender and the Environment
Gender and Sustainable Land Management
By Svanhild-Isabelle Batta Torheim
and Anna Tengberg
Land degradation leads to a significant reduction of the productive capacity of land. Human activities contributing to land degradation include unsustainable agricultural land use, poor soil and water management practices, deforestation, removal of natural vegetation, frequent use of heavy machinery, overgrazing, improper crop rotation and poor irrigation practices. Natural disasters, including drought, floods and landslides also contribute.
The links between land degradation and gender are well documented in the “Land use change, impacts and dynamics (LUCID)” project that was implemented in East Africa by UNEP and co-funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Secure land tenure is a strong incentive to invest in sustainable land management. Looking at land ownership in East Africa, the gender imbalance is striking. In some places, 90 % of the land is owned by men. In the rare cases where land is owned by women, they are usually widowed, and this also includes young women who are widowed due to the effects of HIV/AIDS.
Out-migration of men has increased the work burden of women who are left behind to manage the natural resources. Today, for example, women play a far more significant role in raising livestock than they traditionally did. Yet, women’s increased work loads and responsibilities have not affected their right to inherit land. Furthermore, the growing involvement of men in casual labour reduces the labour supply on the farms and thus hinders improvements in land management and farm productivity.
High levels of poverty often lead to a vicious circle related to land management and land degradation. The poorer the household is, the less it invests in sustainable land management. Female-headed households are the poorest and are therefore more inclined to adapt less sustainable management practises compared to male-headed households who control more resources.
LUCID also looked at the conflict between people and wildlife and found that encroachment into established wildlife corridors was linked to gender and age, as it was particularly youth and widows that were given land in the corridors.
In conclusion, in order to succeed in arresting land degradation, it is crucial to incorporate gender considerations in land management policies, programmes and projects. This is recognised by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and in UNEP’s strategy on land use management and soil conservation.