intersectional approach to analysis—that is, to explore how other identities (for instance, poverty or class) interact with gender to reinforce the vulnerability of local women. A study on the adaptation experiences of local Black African women offers an excellent opportunity for such intersectional analysis.
political and social situations that may shape vulnerability (Cutter et al 2009; Adger and Kelly 2009).
Some studies use the term ‘place-based approach’ to describe an approach to adaptation and vulnerability analysis that looks at a specific vulnerable population to understand how and why they adapt to hazards in a particular way, and what role local contextual factors play in the way they adapt. For instance, according to Cutter et al (2015, p.793), “it is crucial to understand the process by which poverty and group-based marginalisation are created and maintained”.
Group-based marginalisation refers to a systematic marginalisation of a particular social group, for example, a specific ethnic group, gender group, or race group. Satterwhite (2007) argues that though the vulnerability of low-income populations is usually ascribed to poverty, “it is far more the result of government failures and limitations” (cited in Cutter et al 2015, p.793).
Since adaptation is local, it is therefore plausible, as Djoudi et al (2016) assert, that findings from studies of gendered vulnerability to climate change impacts in one locality may not be generalisable across contexts. This applies also even across the multiple African cultures or across cultural contexts within a country or region. For instance, within South Africa alone, there are various racial and ethnic groupings, with their distinctive cultural and institutional practices. The fact that the power dynamics that determine gender vulnerability are more forceful at the local level makes vulnerability nearly contextually determined. The contextual nature of vulnerability also justifies the need for context-specific studies to inform a local adaptation program. Many studies on gender and climate change adaptation within the Southern African region usually conclude that despite the similarity in findings, it is still requisite that adaptation policy actions in every locality or municipality should be informed by evidence drawn from that particular context.
For example, Angura (2014, p.4) conducted a study in two localities in Namibia: Epyshona village and Daures constituency to understand the relationship between gender and climate impacts. The questions asked by Angura’s research included the following:
• Does climate change differently impact women and men?
• How are men and women impacted by climate change?
• What are the physiological, political, economic, and societal causes of the differences experienced, if any?
• What are the current coping and adaptation strategies and capacities?
• How can the capacity of women and men be strengthened to better adapt to climate change and climate variability? (Angura 2014, p7).
The methods used in the study included participatory rural appraisal, role play, life histories, and semi-structured interviews. The local men and women (households), as well as crucial community officials, participated in the study. The study found that women and men in the study context experienced climate impacts differently. Women were more vulnerable than men, and that was due to the social construction of gender role expectations that saw women as the ones responsible for maintaining the households and other low-ranked domestic duties.
Similar studies to Angura’s were conducted in villages in Mozambique and Botswana by Chauque (2015) and Omari (2014), respectively), using the same study methods and asking the same questions. The common findings among these studies are that women's greater vulnerability was a result of the power dynamics within the local contexts of study. It appears pertinent to source data from the adaptation experiences of the community members in contexts if one is to obtain informed and applicable findings from the context, as well as understand the climate change adaptation needs of the local community members (Demetriades & Esplen, 2008; Daoud, 2016; Resurrección & Huynh, 2017).
Few to no studies seem to be available exploring the experiences of local Black African women's vulnerability and adaptation to climate change within localities in eThekwini municipality, South Africa, with the exception of Babagura’s (2014) study, which was conducted in the context of uMzinyathi and uMhlathuze municipalities, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Babagura (2014, p.3) found that women's heavier workloads at home and the expectation of them to work longer hours in the office to get equal pay with men put extra stress on them and made them particularly vulnerable to climate risks.
Studies on gender and climate change impacts (for instance, Alston, 2010 and Fajber & Ahmad, 2009), conducted outside the context of Africa, seem to show different findings from that of studies done in the context of Southern Africa. For instance, a study in Australia by Alston (2010) and that in the Gujarat community, India by Fajber & Ahmad (2009) found that men were more vulnerable than women to the impacts of natural disasters. The findings here differ from those in African societies due to differences in societal norms and power dynamics, which all the more justify the need for locally fine-tuned studies that analyse the local social, political, and structural causes of gendered vulnerability.
This study seeks to explore how climate change adaptation programs in the eThekwini municipal area of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa respond to the underlying causes of local Black African women’s vulnerability to climate impacts in the area, with a specific focus on adaptation to impacts of flood disasters. In its ‘Integrated Development Plan for 2030’19, the eThekwini municipality has reiterated its vision to transform unequal gender relations in the municipal area through recognising and supporting community initiatives and projects that promote gender equality and build women's capacity in the area (eThekwini Municipality, 2019). The municipality seeks to achieve this through women empowerment, social integration projects, gender machinery, and institutional development (Ibid). This study also responds to the broader United Nations’ call for prioritisation of vulnerable local women in climate change adaptation action as a means of achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring Gender Equality (UNESCO, 2017; UN women 2018; UNFCCC, 2015).