In Drought-Hit Zimbabwe, Women's 'Second Shift' Burden Grows

Andrew Mambondiyani writes for Reuters about why climate change in Zimbabwe is creating more work for women:

Rhoda Mhlanga looked tired.

Even so, Mhlanga, who lives in a remote village in eastern Zimbabwe, managed to smile as she served food to her customers – mostly long-distance truckers traversing the Mutare-Chiredzi highway.

She serves food 12 hours a day at her small eatery in the Tanganda business centre - but it wasn’t the day job that was overwhelming her.

It was the double shift so many women around the world face – their paid work as shift one, and the second shift of hours of unpaid, domestic work they are often expected to do in addition.

For Mhlanga and many other women, that unpaid work has been steadily increasing over the past few years for what may seem like a surprising reason: climate change.

Over the past decade, Zimbabwe has received erratic rainfall, which experts have linked to climate change. That makes agriculture more unsustainable and unpredictable.

The droughts have taken a toll on the country’s agriculture-based economy. Crops and livestock, starved of water, have died, leaving many families food insecure.