In what ways are rural women’s health and well-being in developing countries uniquely impacted by climate-induced events, such as floods, or droughts, and what are the associated social and economic consequences?
Short answer
Key finding
Women and girls are severely impacted by events like droughts and floods. Such events add to increased workloads, food insecurity, and migration. This can result in health issues, malnutrition, and limited education. Focussed and gender-sensitive programs are needed to strengthen this group’s resilience.
Short summary
Water scarcity, increased workload, food insecurity, and displacement further add to the vulnerable conditions of women due to climate change. To build resilience, policies must prioritize access to safe water, diverse livelihood options, food security, and women’s empowerment. In India, employment programs such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act can provide temporary relief, however, long-term solutions are needed to address the root causes and prevent future crises.
Long answer
Long summary
What is this summary about?
This summary discusses the impact of extreme climatic events (in this case, drought) on women and children in India, primarily to assess impacts from a policy or program perspective
What evidence is this summary based on?
This summary is based on one systematic review:
Algur, K. D., Patel, S. K., & Chauhan, S. (2021). The impact of drought on the health and livelihoods of women and children in India: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 122, 105909
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740920323318?via%3Dihub
What are the main findings?
Droughts often lead to male outmigration, leaving women to manage households and care for families. This increased workload can negatively impact their health and well-being. Women and men often adopt different coping strategies. While men may migrate, women often rely on traditional knowledge and practices to adapt to food scarcity. Understanding these gendered differences is crucial for effective drought response and recovery efforts.
Water scarcity and food insecurity, exacerbated by climate change, disproportionately affect women and children. Increased water collection burdens and reduced food access can lead to malnutrition, waterborne diseases, and maternal mortality.
The evidence is based on one review with low confidence ratings, as assessed using the AMSTAR tool for systematic reviews.
Review summaries
The impact of drought on the health and livelihoods of women and children in India: A systematic review
Review
Geography
Year
Citation
Number of included studies
Review type
Critical appraisal of included studies
Assessment review
1. Key finding
Overall
Climate-induced events such as droughts disproportionately affect women and children in India. Increased workload, food insecurity, and migration lead to health issues, malnutrition, and limited educational opportunities for women and children. Policies and programs must target these groups for better resilience
Women and girls related
This review emphasizes the gendered impacts of drought. Women and girls face increased workloads, heightened food insecurity, and increased health risks. The review also highlights the need for gender-sensitive drought mitigation strategies that address women's specific needs and empower them to cope with these challenges.
2. Short summary
Droughts and other climate-related events have negative effects on the lives of women and children in India. Water scarcity, increased workload, food insecurity, and migration exacerbate their vulnerability. Women face additional burdens, including managing households and caring for families. To address these issues, policies should focus on providing safe water, promoting livelihood diversification, ensuring food security, and empowering women. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), while potentially helpful, may not effectively prevent migration. A comprehensive approach is needed to build long-term resilience and mitigate the effects of future droughts.
Long summary
3.1 PICOS
Population:
Women and children in India
Intervention:
Impact of drought including increased workload, stress, and malnutrition.
Outcome:
Children’s health and women’s health and livelihoods. Only to determine impacts from a policy or program perspective
Study design:
Complete peer-reviewed reports, and documented experimental and observational studies published in English since 2000
3.2 Risk of bias: Not assessed
3.3 Publication bias: Not assessed
3.4 Findings
Droughts disproportionately affect women and children, especially those already facing social and economic hardships. Water scarcity increases their workload, forcing them to travel long distances for water, which limits time for education, income, or community involvement. Climate-related crop and livestock losses worsen food insecurity and malnutrition, with women often reducing their food intake and nutritional quality, leading to health issues like anaemia and child stunting. Droughts also raise risks of waterborne diseases and maternal mortality. Male migration in search of work adds further pressure, leaving women to manage households alone. Gender differences in coping strategies are evident, with women relying on traditional knowledge while men often access more resources or migrate. To address these issues, policies must target the specific needs of women and children, ensuring access to clean water, sanitation, food, healthcare, and tailored employment programs. While initiatives like MGNREGA can offer support, their impact is limited by delays and insufficient job availability during crises. Long-term solutions must combine sustainable agriculture, knowledge sharing, and community resilience-building.
3.5 Sensitivity analysis: Not assessed
4. AMSTAR 2 assessment of the review
| 1. | Did the review state clearly the components of PICOS (or appropriate equivalent)? | Yes | |
| 2. | Did the report of the review contain an explicit statement that the review methods were established prior to the conduct of the review and did the report justify any significant deviations from the protocol? (i.e. was there a protocol) | No | |
| 3. | Did the review authors use a comprehensive literature search strategy? | Yes | |
| 4. | Did the review authors perform study selection in duplicate? | No | |
| 5. | Did the review authors perform data extraction in duplicate? | No | |
| 6. | Did the review authors provide a list of excluded studies and justify the exclusions? | No | |
| 7. | Did the review authors describe the included studies in adequate detail? (Yes if table of included studies, partially if other descriptive overview) | No | |
| 8. | Did the review authors use a satisfactory technique for assessing the risk of bias (RoB) in individual studies that were included in the review? | No | |
| 9. | Did the review authors report on the sources of funding for the studies included in the review? | No | |
| 10. | If meta-analysis was performed did the review authors use appropriate methods for statistical combination of results? | N.a. | |
| 11. | Did the review authors provide a satisfactory explanation for, and discussion of, any heterogeneity observed in the results of the review? | N.a. | |
| 12. | If they performed quantitative synthesis did the review authors carry out an adequate investigation of publication bias (small study bias) and discuss its likely impact on the results of the review? | N.a. | |
| 13. | Did the review authors report any potential sources of conflict of interest, including any funding they received for conducting the review? | Yes | |
| Overall (lowest rating on any critical item) | Low |
5. Count of references to the following words
| Sex | 0 |
| Gender | 10 |
| Women | 19 |
| Intra-household | 0 |