We are searching for a post-extractivist, eco-feminist development alternative

The women of the Somkhele and Fuleni communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa have taken matters into their own hands. As primary caregivers and livelihood creators, women have been impacted the most and worst by the water crisis that is a combination of drought and heavy coal mining not far away from their homes.

“The first thing that disturbed us about the mine is, where it’s built, where they are extracting coal and where they have built their offices. That’s where we used to live. That’s where we farmed and that’s where we drew our water. They arrived and blocked our rivers, so now we can’t fetch water. Right now we don’t have water anywhere, we buy water.”

– Smangele Nkosi from Somkhele, featured in “No Good Comes from the Mine”, a documentary by WoMin

With the involvement and support of WoMin, an African gender and extractives alliance, women from these two communities have been collectively strengthening their organising and resistance against coal mining and, specifically the Tendele mine. 

According to WoMin, this kind of local organising by community-based working class and peasant women should be on the agenda of the 61^st session of the Committee on the Status of Women, currently taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. It is imperative to “building an analysis of what women’s empowerment in the changing world of work should look like” as well as having a clear and sharp assessment of the current contexts, so that our movements’ work has a stronger influence.

Gendered Impact

“Extractivism’s impacts on women’s bodies, sexuality and autonomy cannot be underestimated… Extractive industries have a huge impact on land and water – the communal resources women use to sustain the livelihoods of their families and communities. “

WoMin explains that “because of inequality and gendered divisions of labor” women take on a social reproduction role (unpaid labor) within the African working class communities and among peasant women.  As such, they are heavily affected by extractive industries.

The alliance also highlights that regional policy analysis has firmly neglected the gendered impact of extractive industries, specifically the link between mining, extractivism and violence against women.

This violence manifests itself in different ways, for example through conflict as corporates and States employ divide and rule tactics to force community decisions in favour of extraction. Land dispossession that forces communities off their lands to make way for extractive interests and then left with scarce resources to support their lives and livelihoods. This means there is need for development alternatives that address high levels of interpersonal violence against women in families, communities and draw the links to state and corporate-sponsored violence that take place in areas where extractives industries. Another major impact of mineral-based industrialisation is climate change, causing drought and water scarcity, which also negatively impacts agricultural production. And because of the gendered divisions of labor division and women’s reproductive role, they experience disproportionate negative impact.

“It often seems, from women’s perspectives and that of communities, that the costs of mineral and oil extraction outweigh the benefits, principally enjoyed by the local and ruling elite, corporates and investors.” 

Relevant and Urgent - Women must lead and define the change and alternatives

WoMin’s work is both extremely relevant and urgent in the current global context. The alliance not only focuses on exposing the negative impacts mining has on women, but they also work to provide eco-feminist and post-extractivist development alternatives.

“The current development paradigm is not designed to take into account the voice of women, let alone communities most directly affected by minerals-based industrialisation and other extractives industries (including corporate agriculture).”

Women that organise locally, and are part of grassroots movements “must lead and define the change and alternatives.” Working with national and local organisations, communities, and movements in countries including South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Nigeria, this is an extremely important component in WoMin’s work. Even though the communities in these countries deal with diverse forms of extractive industries, “they each tell a similar story of corporate impunity alongside state collusion that is constantly violating the rights to lives and livelihoods of communities and women.”

Resistance and resilience

In order to develop resilient and effective local organising, create strategies for the ‘now’, and strengthen analysis to inform a long-term transition to a post-extractivist society, WoMin strives to craft national and regional campaigns and projects.

The Women Building Power booklets provide practical solutions to energy issues affecting communities so they can sustain themselves, while also organising for wider changes, including climate justice. The seven ‘how-to’ booklets are research, information and tool all in one.

It is also a pre-cursor to the upcoming African women-led regional campaign on Energy, Fossil Fuels and Climate Justice. “The campaign aims to build a women’s movement to make deep change in the way energy is produced and distributed in our countries and in Africa more widely.”

To showcase the powerful resistance of Somkhele and Fuleni women and of women in communities in Uganda and potentially Niger or DRC, WoMin is working on “No Good Comes from the Mine” a character-driven Pan-African documentary.

“It tells the story of women whose lives are being negatively affected by mining and other forms of extractives. It also tells the story of their struggle to protect and reclaim their land, their livelihoods, their bodies and their lives. The film shows their day to day realities and how they are mobilising to resist and protest the injustices…”

Watch the documentary trailer:

“Land is an asset which needs to be carefully managed and handled for the benefit of current and future generations.” - WATED

In the Kola village of Kisarawe district in Eastern Tanzania, Women’s Action Towards Economic Development (WATED) managed to secure 15 acres of land in 2014. Many seeds of growth can be nurtured by this land, it can provide work, livelihood, sustainability, and knowledge. The organization envisions this growth in the form of a training center specifically focusing on issues of “women´s economic empowerment and to that effect land”.

"Our focus is on land because results received from monitoring land rights for women in Ulanga and Kisarawe informed us that women rely on land to sustain their families, but unfortunately many do not know their rights and how to facilitate them."

Rural women, roundtables, and land ambassadors

For the past few years, since their establishment at the end of 2013, WATED has been working closely with women in rural settings, as well as with the local government on issues concerning land rights and economic justice. Rural women are a focus group for the organization as the majority of them “are residing in rural communities and these are the areas that have been earmarked for the development sector.” This sector includes fields such as agriculture and mining for example, mining being one of the predominant industries in Tanzania with nine major mines.

WATED has created ‘Land Rights for Rural Women’, a training program, developed to give voice, and support women  in ensuring  their rights to own land, and to enhance their capacity on issues of land rights. With the program the organization also aims to start a working partnership with the government, as well as legal and interested partners, to ensure that women’s issues are placed on the agenda. It’s important for “women to help other women to inherit land as part of their right and to be able to use that land for economic advancement of their families.” Part of the training includes learning about legal protection against cultural and investment practices which undermine women’s land ownership rights.

“Given the nature of African land, where many have ancestral connection, it is important to take into account the interests of those dwelling in the identified/earmarked areas of development.”

Many of the identified development areas have traditionally been used for agricultural practices, and because some of the investment is in extractive industries (EIs), it is crucial that communities, and women in particular, are engaged and equally included in all the decision-making processes. “We find that EIs are directly linked to land rights, hence issues of consent and due compensation that should be equally considered as it is provided in Land Act.”

To take into account women’s interests and needs, WATED conducted roundtable discussions on extractive industries (EIs) and women’s land rights. Participants included female lawyers and other professionals to discuss the impact of EIs, both in terms of opportunities and challenges. The aim was also to identify issues which related to investments and EIs, and how women can holistically participate and economically, both as investors and service providers. Additionally, the roundtable group looked at potential impacts of EI investment and the  effects on water resources and climate change.

WATED’s projects have so far trained 400 women, and there is a team of 20 ambassadors focusing on “empowering women and the community to ensure that land gives equal economic value to both women and men.” They look into starting farming activities and pay attention to investment agreements, taking into account particularly women’s economic needs and making sure their perspectives are part of discussions and future decisions.

Roadblocks

Besides building success stories as part WATED’s work, there are certain roadblocks in terms of sustaining their land rights project. One of the challenges is the lack of information given to the public and communities in terms of decision making, especially concerning EIs and investment.

“Most agreements are not transparent, and citizens are not really involved in discussion, let alone in decision making processes. The established institutions give way (as per existing laws) to corporate establishments to get a license and at times exemptions (TAX).”

If the affected people are not included in the negotiations it will be difficult to reason and negotiate the terms together. One example is the 2013 Mtwara riots, “caused by lack of transparency and understanding between government and the public.”

Another challenge are cultural and traditional practices at various localities. This is due to the fact that Tanzania has more than 120 tribes, each having a certain set of traditional norms. These impact access to knowledge and legal understanding of land rights, particularly for women; as well their access to the justice system.

WATED also mentions that in addition to climate and weather effects, funding and sustainability in terms of women's rights related budgetary allocation at the local government level hamper realization of projects. Specifically, with regards to the 15 acres land in Kola village, “despite the preparation and trials to start agriculture activities, failure to have available water hinders our goals and reduces the morale of women and volunteers.” A practical solution would be to drill a water pump which will allow for flow and availability of water. “By having water women will be able to cultivate vegetables and fruits throughout the year.” This year, WATED hopes to fundraise in order to dig a well, install a water pump, and start farming.

“Land is source of life, and end of life if not properly utilized.”