Multifaceted effects of climate dynamics and other environmental stressors on women farmers in the Pamir Mountains
摘要
Climate change among other biogeophysical and socioeconomic stressors affects livelihoods of poor farmers and pastoralists in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. Here, women play an important role in agriculture despite facing challenges related to land ownership, child rearing, spousal migration, water management, lack of training, and exposure to natural hazards. Climate change exacerbates these challenges but is not constant nor well documented in this region. Women manage most of the 1.3 million kitchen gardens and some small dehkan farms scattered across the terrain, many of which are in confined valleys on debris fans that represent some of the only relatively flat land. These fans are highly vulnerable to periodic debris flows and snow avalanches with all 30 fans with farms in the lower Gunt River valley (below 3000 m) populated. While temperatures in the Pamir have increased from May through July since 1950, precipitation is more complex with some increases in June. These patterns affect hazard occurrence and water availability creating challenges for woman farmers and begging the need for granular climate assessments. Given little government support for woman farmers along with the male-dominated agricultural and water management sectors, international donors and NGOs need to increasingly support rural women as agents of climate change adaptation and mitigation by providing science-based solutions and effective training.