Climate change is far from being just an environmental concern, it also deeply affects bodies, communities lifespans and social relationships. The study “On our lands, on our bodies” highlights a connection that remains largely unexplored yet increasingly urgent: the intersection between climate change, gender and sexual and reproductive health in three countries, Brazil, Kenya and Tanzania. This research does not merely document a reality, instead provides robust evidence and proposes concrete recommendations to support fairer policies linking together climate, gender and sexual and reproductive health. The study, conducted by WeWorld with the support of Avur Social and ARCO’s Inclusive Development Unit, was presented at COP30 in Belem (11-21 November 2025, Brazil) by activists Lydia Wanja Kingeru (Kenya) and Glaubiana Alves (Brazil).
Action-research to foster sexual and reproductive health and justice in rural context affected by climate change
The report ‘On our lands, on our bodies’ aims to explore how the climate crisis is profoundly transforming the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls in rural and indigenous communities. In particular, it focuses on the Ceará region of Brazil, in the counties of Isiolo, Kwale and Narok in Kenya, and on the island of Pemba in Tanzania.
In all these local contexts, women report how drought, erratic rainfall, heat waves and food insecurity have deeply impacted their access to health services, their right to have a safe pregnancy, their menstrual health or use of contraception. Additionally, water and food shortages increase their physical and emotional stress, while deteriorating infrastructure makes it difficult to reach hospitals and clinics. At the same time, rigid social norms and economic instability exacerbate pre-existing inequalities and increase the risk of violence.
Yet, within this complex picture, signs of strength emerge. Women are reinventing forms of solidarity, keeping traditional knowledge alive, and seeking solutions to ensure that they and their daughters have access to information, care, and protection. The research shows that in Brazil new female leadership are rising within indigenous communities. In parallel, in Kenya, researchers collected interesting stories of resilience in managing increasingly scarce resources; while in Tanzania, local communities cope with these challenges by integrating traditional practices and official health systems services.
The key principle that guided the work was, as a matter of fact, to produce knowledge together with communities, and not simply about them. This perspective ensures a complete and in-depth understanding of the impacts of the climate crisis on daily life, health and rights. At the same time, the research process has also significantly strengthened the skills and capacities of the people involved.
ARCO’s research team focused primarily on methodology and comparative analysis, working side by side with local groups to ensure that each stage of the process was technically rigorous and at the same time rooted in the knowledge and priorities of the communities involved, using a decolonial, feminist and intersectional approach.
Researchers from the Inclusive Development Unit co-defined the research questions, developed data collection tools suitable for very different contexts, and coordinated a mixed approach – quantitative and qualitative – capable of bringing out not only the numbers but above all the stories, the experiences, and adaptation strategies of women.
The study results invite us to look at the climate crisis through the lives of the women who experience it every day, and to develop responses that focus on rights, autonomy and justice.
To know more on results, read the study here:
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