Dorcas Shumba

Citation

Thesis Title
The Gender Dimensions of Environmental Change: An Exploration of the Experiences and Perceptions of Rural Men and Women in Zimbabwe

Read article at Massey Research Online:

In recent times, occurrences of environmental change have become more sophisticated as new patterns of change are threatening the livelihoods of agrarian communities in developing countries, undoing many developmental gains. Basing her research on Zimbabwe, Miss Shumba critically considered the experiences and perceptions of rural men and women to environmental change to ascertain gendered impacts and differential vulnerabilities. She stressed the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities of Zimbabwean rural men and women within a well-conceived notion of context. For the environmental changes that these rural men and women encounter interact with forces from a prolonged economic recession and an unstable political environment. Their coping strategies are also nested within this changing and fluctuating economic and political climate. Making allowances for the complexity surrounding Zimbabwe at present, Miss Shumba found both rural men and women to be vulnerable, albeit in ways which differ qualitatively and quantitatively.

Supervisors
Associate Professor Rochelle Stewart-Withers
Dr Sharon McLennan