Poverty Reduction in the Face of Climate Change: The Case of Women in The Rural Eastern Part of Botswana

Abstract

Poverty reduction is not a preserve for the policy and decision makers only. It is a concern among the poor who by any means come up with local adaptation and mitigation strategies. The majority of the rural poor communities are currently challenged by the impact of climate change as it is threatening their sources of livelihoods. This research investigates how rural communities of women are making an effort to reduce poverty. These women live in Eastern Botswana and depend on natural resources and their products to sustain their livelihoods. The research investigates how women of Eastern Botswana exploit natural resources for subsistence and commercial purposes. It examines different ways in which they benefit from exploiting the resources, the skills they derive from processing these resources, and how they cope with the challenges of climate change to promote sustainability. The research generated data through documents analysis, observations, focus groups and interviews.

Keywords: Poverty, natural resources, climate change, livelihoods.