The Gendered Scorch: Heat Stress, Labour, and the Growing Food Insecurity Crisis in Ethiopia's Pastoral Lowlands

Abstract

Escalating heat stress is a clear indicator of global warming across the world’s drylands, deepening food insecurity and reinforcing gendered and intersectional vulnerabilities in communities such as Hamer—a pastoral district recognised as one of Ethiopia’s most ecologically fragile and socially marginalised. The research adopted a grounded, mixed-methods approach to analyse how climate change affects household food security, gender relations, and intersectional vulnerability among the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in Hamer district. Drawing on household survey data from 384 households (192 female-headed and 192 male-headed), ERA5 climate records (1979–2025), and qualitative insights from interviews, FGDs, and case studies, we developed a composite Food Security Index (FSI), performed intersectional vulnerability analysis, and examined experience-based food insecurity scales to investigate these challenges. Our findings reveal a community in acute crisis, driven by a rapidly changing climate. Hamer has experienced significant warming (+0.50°C per decade, totalling 2.25°C since 1980) and a decline in rainfall (–26.57 mm/decade), resulting in a 65% median reduction in cattle holdings. Regression analysis identifies climate stress, livestock loss and low income as key drivers of climate-induced food insecurity. Results highlight pronounced gendered and intersectional inequalities: female-headed households have lower FSI scores and rely more on unsustainable coping strategies. Women in polygamous relationships, female heads of households, and people with disabilities are especially vulnerable, often excluded from asset ownership and local decision-making. A "responsibility–power disconnect" emerges, where those most affected by climate stresses bear the greatest responsibilities yet have the least influence over adaptation and resource control. Despite these challenges, pastoral women continue to strategise and adapt, drawing on indigenous knowledge and adaptive practices to cope with intensifying climate and social pressures. This paper advocates for gender-transformative policy reforms that address not only the immediate needs of pastoralist women but also the deeper structural inequalities and the "responsibility–power divide" identified in this research. Policies should integrate women’s indigenous agency into formal support systems to achieve equitable and sustainable resilience outcomes.