Gender equality cannot be achieved in isolation. Its attainment is dependent upon prevailing national and global conditions.

The period 2005-2009 has witnessed a worsening of the impact of the financial crisis and climate change on the world at large and Africa in particular. The essence of this is to capture the essential global and national factors which are presently influencing the BPfA agenda.

Global conditions
The African Development Bank (2009:1) has established that African countries will be faced with four major shocks resulting from the financial crisis and global recession: They cover capital outflow risk, namely private capital reversal and amplified volatility of private capital flows with the resulting impact on the exchange rate and ability to finance the current account deficit; fiscal risk, arising from declining revenue (especially international trade taxes) as well as rising expenditure occasioned by the need to support financial institutions and to meet public debt service commitments; export risk, related to slowing demand and declining prices of export commodities and liquidity risks affecting the domestic banking sector and the government due to the weakening of global financial markets.

The gender specificities
The gender dimensions of the impact of the crisis may be appreciated from both macro and micro perspectives: At macro level the impact is felt in terms of government revenue, foreign exchange depreciation and potential decreases in Official Development Assistance.

Reduced government revenues: Decreased exports due to fall in commodity prices and reduced demand for African exports leading to lower export revenues. The most affected commodities include crude oil; minerals such as copper; and agricultural products such as coffee, cotton and sugar. For example, in Burundi, coffee earnings fell by 36 percent between October and November 2008 whilst in Angola, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, agricultural export earnings are expected to decline in 2009 when compared to 2008 (UNECA, 2009 c.). Many African countries are highly dependent on export revenue from agricultural, oil and minerals, reduced government revenues will result in government cutting back its budget. Such cutbacks are likely to affect more seriously government activities that have not consistently received enough attention such as those affecting gender inequality.

Depreciation in foreign exchange rates of many African countries: Significant depreciations over 2009 are expected in Ghana (21 per cent), Uganda (22 per cent), Democratic Republic of the Congo (23 per cent), South Africa (27 per cent), Nigeria (27 per cent), Zambia (43 per cent), the Comoros (45 per cent), and Seychelles (84 per cent) (UNECA, 2009). Exchange rate depreciation against the US dollar will impact result in increased costs of imported intermediate inputs, and food.

This will impact on the attainment of MDG 1 which relates to reducing hunger and poverty. Potential decrease in Official Development Assistance (ODA): This is needed for the financing of government programmes that is likely to impact social development programmes that are benefiting women. At the micro level, major shocks are revealed in relation to reductions in remittances, loss of income due to loss of employment, rising food prices and reduced access to social services.

Reduced household income as a result of reduced remittance inflows: Remittance inflows to sub-Saharan Africa had increased from $4.6 billion in 2000 to $20 billion in 2008. Recent data released by the World Bank indicate that the financial crisis will reduce remittance inflows to sub-Saharan Africa by between $1 billion and $2 billion dollars in 2009 relative to 2008 (quoted in UNECA, 2009).

Loss of income due to loss of employment: The decreased demand for African export commodities has resulted in significant loss of jobs especially in mineral dependent countries. In Zambia for example, two major mines have closed operations while others have scaled downsignificantly due to declining demand for copper. This has resulted in the loss of many jobs. In DRC, where artisanal mining was commonly used as an anti-poverty measure; small scale miners have relapsed into poverty because of non-existent demand for their ores. In South Africa, the mining sector has experienced some job losses especially the platinum sector.

The volume of rubber exports from Liberia declined from 135,000 tonnes in 2007 to 88,000 tonnes in 2008 and this decline was accompanied by loss of jobs.
Impact on rising food insecurity and poverty: The high cost of food due to the crisis is adversely affecting women and female-headed families more than other groups in society. Women are involved in all the three pillars of food security that include food production, food access and food utilization (IFPRI, 2005). Many studies have revealed that female- and child-headed families are often the poorest in Africa. They have very little income and often do not own land and other assets. Consequently, when food becomes expensive, they fall deeper into poverty. The prices of basic commodities have shot up and have led to an increase in the gap between the rich and the poor, with social programmes including food security and school feeding programmes rapidly becoming a thing of the past and subsequently negatively impacting on health and education sectors.

Due to the lack of explicit subsidies on food and fuel and on price controls, the burden is being relegated to the population. Women’s agricultural activities are not supported by the much-needed equipment, affordable inputs, extension services, agro-processing and trade capabilities. The effects of climate change are also being felt through the declining of soil productivity and unreliable rainfall patterns. Despite the fact that market prices have declined, the production costs are still high thus pushing women further into the margins of poverty.

All these exacerbate food shortages and higher prices. If African countries are forced to cut back or delay essential investments in infrastructure, agricultural 4 Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action concluded that the number of women living in poverty was increasing some African countries, especially where women headed families. development and green technologies, there will be long-term repercussions for poverty reduction, and food security. Women’s role in securing food security will be affected most.