Facing the growing burden of care work exacerbated by climate change, the “Caring for Carers” project—led by the Siaya Muungano Network (SIMUN)—has chosen a distinct path: documenting the wisdom of elderly women, giving them a voice in public discourse, and embedding their priorities into county policies.
Below is the overview of an initiative redefining climate resilience through the lens of care, in an interview with Shirleen Adhiambo, Executive Director of the Muungano Rural Empowerment Centre.
What led the Muungano Rural Empowerment Centre to launch the “Caring for Carers” project, and what specific challenges were elderly rural women facing in Siaya County?
The “Caring for Carers” project stemmed from our realisation that climate change is not experienced equally by everyone. Through the work conducted by the Muungano Rural Empowerment Centre alongside communities in Siaya County, we observed that women aged 60 and older increasingly shoulder a major share of care work while simultaneously bearing the brunt of climate emergencies.
Many of these women are responsible for their grandchildren, spouses, and other family members, all while managing household food security, water supply, and overall livelihoods. Climate-related hardships make these responsibilities significantly more difficult. Erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, flooding, declining agricultural productivity, water insecurity, and food shortages have added severe strain on households.
At the same time, elderly women faced challenges such as limited access to climate information, healthcare, social protection, livelihood opportunities, and decision-making spaces. Their knowledge and contributions to climate resilience were also frequently overlooked.
This leads us to a crucial question – what happens to the caregivers when climate change makes care work even harder?
That is what prompted us to examine climate change through the lens of care, deliberately placing the experiences and voices of elderly women at the centre of our approach.
Could you talk us through the implementation phases of the project, from the initial county-wide study to community activities, validation workshops, and climate justice marches?
Following the project launch meeting—which brought together county and national government officials, development partners, civil society organisations, and representatives of elderly women—we conducted a county-wide study to better understand how climate change impacts women aged 60 and older, particularly regarding their care responsibilities, livelihoods, well-being, and capacity to cope with climate shocks.
This study gathered data on women’s daily realities. We then organised community dialogues and exchange forums, creating spaces for elderly women to share their experiences, identify their top priorities, strengthen community support networks, integrate mental well-being into their daily lives, and exchange coping strategies for climate emergencies.
We also performed a public policy analysis to assess how issues affecting elderly women were integrated into local governance. This review covered county budget documents, agricultural policies, climate action plans and frameworks, land policies, and care-related policies.
Following the community engagement study and policy review, we held a validation and feedback workshop with various stakeholders to enrich discussions and consolidate our findings.
Additionally, we leveraged an existing organisational platform—the Duond Mine Forums—to facilitate deeper discussions on climate change, care work, food security, water, health, livelihoods, land rights, social protection, and local governance participation.
The findings and recommendations were subsequently discussed during validation and stakeholder engagement workshops involving elderly women, community actors, civil society organizations, and public officials. This step was critical because we aimed to move beyond mere documentation to foster genuine dialogue between communities and decision-makers.
The activities culminated in a climate justice march, which provided another high-visibility advocacy platform. It brought elderly women into a public space where they voiced their concerns and engaged directly with government representatives and other stakeholders.
The project followed a deliberate, participatory process at every stage: data collection and research → community dialogue → validation → public advocacy and policy influence.
What were the key takeaways from the county-wide study regarding the impact of climate change on elderly women’s care duties, well-being, and resilience?
A central finding is that climate change directly increases the unpaid care workload carried by elderly women in Siaya.
When rainfall becomes unpredictable, water sources dry up, or floods disrupt livelihoods, women must spend far more time securing water, food, and basic household necessities. When crops fail or household incomes drop, older women must often find alternative ways to feed and support their families.
Thus, climate change impacts them not only environmentally and economically, but also through their time, physical health, emotional well-being, and care responsibilities.
We also found that elderly women possess extensive knowledge and remarkable resilience. They hold critical expertise on local food systems, traditional crops, seed preservation, farming practices, and environmental adaptation. However, this knowledge is rarely recognised in official climate planning processes.
Another key insight is that resilience is inextricably linked to care. If climate adaptation programs focus solely on agriculture, infrastructure, or natural resources without accounting for caregivers and the time and resource costs borne by women, interventions risk missing household realities.
The study ultimately confirmed the necessity of a care-centered approach to climate action—one where the well-being and contributions of caregivers are treated as an integral component of climate resilience, rather than a separate issue.
Since the project’s inception, what concrete changes have you observed among the women, their families, or the broader community?
One of the most significant shifts is the increased visibility and recognition of elderly women as active agents of climate action and knowledge holders.
The project created spaces where older women can speak openly about their experiences, identify their challenges, and propose their own solutions. They are no longer viewed merely as vulnerable victims of climate change; they are increasingly acknowledged as key contributors to household and community resilience.
We have also seen growing interest in practical adaptation measures, such as kitchen gardens, climate-resilient crops, seed preservation, organic farming, and other localized strategies for food security and livelihoods.
At the community level, the initiative strengthened dialogue between elderly women and public officials. Issues traditionally treated in silos—climate change, food security, water, health, livelihoods, care work, and governance—are now increasingly understood as interconnected.
Perhaps the most transformative change, however, is their heightened confidence and voice. Older women were given direct platforms to speak on how climate change affects their lives and to engage directly with service providers and planners.
This shift in visibility is crucial, as inclusive climate solutions cannot be designed if those bearing the heaviest burdens are excluded from the table.
What do you see as the most critical next step to ensure that the needs and voices of elderly women are sustained in local climate and development policies?
The most vital next step is moving from consultation to institutionalised participation and tangible policy influence.
It is not enough to invite elderly women to a workshop or consult them for a single project. Their priorities must be formally integrated into County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs), County Climate Action Plans (CCAPs), public budgets, agricultural programs, social protection schemes, and other local development frameworks.
We also need robust mechanisms that enable elderly women to meaningfully participate in public participation exercises, county planning, and budgeting processes, ensuring their demands translate into actionable priorities, allocations, and programs.
Furthermore, continued data generation on the climate-care nexus is essential. The lived experiences of elderly women can help policymakers grasp dimensions of climate vulnerability that standard assessments often overlook.
Ultimately, we must reframe the fundamental question: moving from “How can elderly women adapt to climate change?” to “How can our policies and systems reduce the disproportionate burdens placed on elderly women by climate change?”
For us, this is the core of “Caring for Carers”: climate resilience can only be truly inclusive when care work is formally recognized, supported, and deliberately integrated into climate and development planning.
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