How Lake Chad Fuelled the Ecofeminist Movement

Feb 15, 2021 | Oladosu Adenike
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Climate change crises create a feminist issue as climate change shadows gender equality in several ways. I am Oladosu Adenike from Nigeria – an ecofeminist, ecoreporter and climate justice activist. I have a story to tell to the world that is an everyday reality of our time, especially to someone like me from the Global South. Over the years, women and girls have been used as a coping mechanism for survival in a climate change-induced environment: trekking long distances to get water, making ends meet for the family, and, in some cases, being married off earlier than the legal age. This affects their education, health and society. In Africa, our economic activities such as agriculture are climate sensitive – that is, affected by droughts and floods, and most importantly the shrinking amount of natural resources – and are increasing hunger and poverty. All these are environmental traps that women and girls fall into as victims. We contribute the lowest footprint, yet we bear the largest burden of the climate crisis. We must not forget that today's  girls are tomorrow's women.