Women at Risk: The Gendered Dimension of Climate Change and Migration in West Africa

Women at Risk: The Gendered Dimension of Climate Change and Migration in West Africa

. 6 min read

Despite comprising 49.6 percent of the global population, women comprised only 34 percent of the delegates at the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference. Additionally, a significant lack of gender-disaggregated data on the economic and social effects of climate change limits our ability to understand the impact of climate change on women specifically. Globally, involvement by women in conversations surrounding climate change is limited, despite an increasing number of findings that climate change disproportionately impacts them. Women’s representation facilitates stronger gender-sensitive action; therefore, the group’s underrepresentation in climate change conversations and decisions limits our ability to fight climate change in a gender-sensitive way.

From 2008 to 2022, the number of people displaced by climate change increased by 41 percent. The UN estimates that 80 percent of those displaced by climate change are women, and restrictions of their economic, sociocultural, and literal mobility make them particularly vulnerable. The gendered dimension of climate change is particularly pronounced in West Africa, where the climate is especially vulnerable to disasters caused by climate change. In 2024, more than 1.2 million people in the region were displaced by flooding. Patriarchal social structures—and their effect on women’s health, safety, and financial well-being—make climate change migration particularly difficult for women in Nigeria and other West African countries. To combat these problems, it is crucial to bring women into the conversation by funding gender-specific research about climate change, promoting women in leadership, and promoting gender-sensitive climate change legislation.

The West African Landscape

West Africa’s particular environmental vulnerability to climate change compounds the social vulnerability of its inhabitants. West Africa lacks significant bodies of water and mountain ranges, so seasonal shifts in temperature and weather can have large impacts. The changing climate in West Africa has led to increased flooding, wind storms, water scarcity, coastal erosion, and land degradation. These changes force people to leave their homes because of safety concerns, instability, crop failures, and diminished opportunities for work. Climate migration is likely to intensify as climate change worsens and the incidence of natural disasters increases. Up to 32 million people in West Africa could be forced to move within their countries by 2050. Furthermore, 116 million people in the region could live in low-lying coastal areas—which are particularly vulnerable to climate change—by 2030. Drought pushes pastoral farmers to new regions while flooding forces other individuals to abandon their homes.

Niger will experience the most internal climate migration of all West African countries with up to 19.1 million climate migrants by 2050. Climate change has exacerbated violence in Niger, leading to drastic increases in the number of displaced people. Soil degradation decreased agricultural yields and led to massive rural-urban migration. Nigeria will have up to 9.4 million climate migrants by 2050, followed by Senegal with 1.0 million. Reduced catches by small-scale fishermen in Senegal, where fishing is a key economic industry, have led to mass migration. Sea level rises in Senegal are also forcing coastal communities to move inland. Furthermore, extensive flooding caused by heavy rains recently displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Central and West Africa. Climate change is already reshaping West Africa, and it is predicted to worsen. These developments will greatly impact the status of women in the region.

Restrictions on Movement

Women’s social restrictions and economic disadvantages contribute to the fact that they are 14 times more likely to die in climate disasters. Women are often literally left behind by climate change migration: Cameroon, for instance, prevents women from applying for a passport without the written consent of a male family member. Given that 70 percent of people living in poverty globally are women, women generally have fewer resources to migrate. Traditional gender roles also give women domestic responsibilities—such as raising children, collecting food, and cooking—that are severely impacted by resource scarcity and make it more difficult for women to relocate.  According to the United Nations, 37 percent of people living in Africa currently live 30 minutes or more from their closest source of safe drinking water; notably, women and girls in Africa are disproportionately responsible for fetching water. These responsibilities tie women to their homes with less time to participate in paid work. Women’s unique vulnerabilities and responsibilities—coupled with their decreased mobility—means they are less capable of migrating when necessary.

Violence and Conflict

Climate change creates resource scarcity, exacerbating conflict and crisis in West Africa. The phenomenon has been recognized by the UN Security Council as a “threat multiplier,” meaning it magnifies existing security risks. As violent conflicts in the region escalate, women and girls experience higher rates of gender-based violence and forced marriage. National instability can also contribute to disasters like famine. In times of food scarcity, women are often forced to trade sex for food, and girls are often sold into marriage.

Economic Impacts

Women’s economic disadvantages are exacerbated by climate change. The phenomenon hinders progress to close the gap between women and men experiencing food insecurity, which is predicted to remain through 2050. By that year, 236 million more girls may experience food insecurity, and 158 million more women and girls may experience poverty globally. Women are much more likely to live in poverty than men. As of 2022, 388 million women and girls are living in extreme poverty, compared to 372 million men and boys. Notably, 62.8 percent of the women and girls living in extreme poverty globally are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poverty limits opportunities for adaptation to climate change. Limited income means that it is more difficult for individuals to migrate or invest in technologies that would allow them to continue their lives where they are. West Africa is one of the most “climate-vulnerable” regions worldwide, yet foreign financing for climate adaptation programs and infrastructure from the wealthier Global North—which is disproportionately responsible for climate change—is poor. These economic effects present a clear problem for developing nations—such as those in West Africa—that lack the infrastructure and resources of their Global North counterparts.

Women’s role in West African agriculture makes their economic well-being even more vulnerable to climate change. Currently, roughly 70 percent of Africans attain their livelihoods from agriculture. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 60 percent of employed women work in agriculture. In the region, about 80 percent of food is produced by women. However, women often do not own the land on which they work; women own less than 15 percent of the world's land. Climate change is predicted to diminish harvests in West African nations by an average of 15 percent and damage the agricultural sector, posing a threat to every woman who earns her livelihood through agricultural work. Many women may suffer economically if their farms cannot adapt,  making it more difficult for them to migrate when necessary.

Health

Climate change and migration exacerbate women’s health poverty. Special needs related to menstruation, pregnancy, and caregiving mean that women often require more water to maintain sanitation. Unstable conditions in times of disaster and migration make it difficult for women to access adequate medical care, pre-and postnatal treatments, menstrual products, and clean water. This lack of sanitation can lead to the spread of disease and worse healthcare outcomes.

The uncertain conditions associated with climate migration have compounded consequences for pregnant women. Increased temperatures, decreased sanitation, malnutrition, poor air quality, and dehydration are all associated with poor prenatal and postnatal outcomes. Climate change also increases the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever, Zika Virus, and malaria, which are especially dangerous for mothers in West Africa. Combined with a lack of monetary resources, the impacts of climate change and climate migration on health can be life-threatening for women.

Future Changes: Addressing the Gendered Dimension of Climate Change and Migration

Ultimately, the best strategy to combat the disproportionate impact of climate migration on women’s health, economic status, and safety is supporting women as agents of change on the community, government, and international levels. This can be done by financially supporting women-owned businesses (especially in sectors with majority-female workforces, such as the agricultural and garment industries); improving girls’ access to education; supporting female policymakers and women-led action organizations; and including women in climate change discussions. The “We Are the Solution” movement in West Africa, which works to support female farmers, has brought more than 115,000 women into its campaign. This movement has promoted women’s leadership while empowering thousands of women in the agricultural sector. The Women’s Climate Assembly gathered more than 200 women from across Africa to discuss gender-sensitive climate policy because their voices were excluded from the conversation at COP28. The women in West Africa are already advocating for this change; they just need support.

Women are aware of the gendered issues in their communities and have a vested interest in making change. If the key to safe migration for women in the wake of natural disasters is policies that are mindful of the gendered dimension of climate change, women should be empowered to create those policies. If the key to bringing women out of climate-exacerbated poverty is giving them safe and well-paid careers, women’s businesses should be supported. If the key to limiting gender-based violence—which is exacerbated by resource scarcity—is gender-sensitive policies, women should be writing them.