Women-Led Climate Change Solution Satellites; a key contributor to social, and economic empowerment of women in Uganda

Abstract

Abstract Background Climate change poses a significant threat to communities across the globe. Whereas low and middle income countries contribute the least to this problem, they are often most affected by the consequences. In addition, women are often disproportionately affected by climate change-related occurrences. To address these issues, Women Climate Centers International (WCCI) Uganda initiated a project to empower women through the promotion of climate change solution enterprises in Uganda. The purpose of this research was to establish the impact of this approach on women social and economic empowerment and quality of life. Methods The study employed a cross-sectional approach, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data among 96 women purposively selected for their involvement in WCCI climate-smart enterprises in Uganda. A digitized structured questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data while a structured focus group discussion (FGD) guide were used to aid qualitative data collection. The quantitative data was analyzed statistically using Stata version 15 to provide descriptive and statistics while Atlas ti9 was used to thematically analyze the qualitative data after transcribing of audios recorded during the interviews. Results About 38% (36/96) of the women make briquettes, 51% (49/96) make soap and 95.8% (92/96) are generating income from the enterprises. More than half 59.4% (57/96) of the women are confident in running their businesses sustainably while 38.5% (37/96) had trained 4–5 community women each, with the knowledge obtained from the satellites. Over 62% (59/96) of women strongly agreed to an improved sense of belonging within their community, 94.8%% (91/96) noticed an improvement in their community engagement and collaboration while 63.5% (61/96) strongly agreed to better treatment from family and neighborhood. Conversely, 22.9% (22/96) of the women had ever experienced intimate or gender-based violence in their life, half of these had experienced it in the previous six months, but only 18.2% (2/11) would attribute their recent experience to engaging in entrepreneurship under WCCI. Economically, 57.3% (55/96) of the women saw a significant increase in their income, and 56.3% (54/96) in their household income. About 76% (73/96) had acquired some personal or household assets using income from the enterprises, and 65% (62/96) had joined a women's group, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCO), or local governing bodies since their training with WCCI. Furthermore, 82.3% mentioned that there was a positive difference in the way their husbands treated them ever since they attained financial independence. Lastly, the majority of the women, 63.6% (61/96) strongly agreed, and 29.2% (28/96) agreed that their quality of life and well-being had improved since becoming part of the climate change solution satellites. The qualitative findings strongly corroborated the quantitative. Conclusions Overall, participation in these entrepreneurial initiatives has brought about tangible improvements in social cohesion, economic empowerment, and the perceived quality of life and well-being for a significant majority of women involved, demonstrating the positive impact of the WCCI climate change solution satellites on their lives and communities.