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Women often face additional challenges in this kind of situation. several women in rural communities have limited access to information regarding weather and early warning systems. this makes it harder for them to prepare themselves and their communities for potential floods.
one of the prominent examples was what happened with Kodijah, a 56-year-old farmer woman who lives in Pulau Raman village, Batanghari Jambi region. jambi. she had planned to harvest her corn and use the money for her child's education, but due to flooding during March and April, she was forced to harvest early, disrupting her plans.
Halimah, who owns a rice field near Khadijah's, also experienced a similar situation. She failed to harvest her rice and or store it as usual, and was forced to buy rice and work as a freelance laborer to get by.
the flood at that time had a higher water level than those in 2022–2023. The water even overflowed into raised houses in the downstream areas of the Batanghari River.
this flood was caused by climate change and made worse by damage in the upstream areas due to deforestation and land-use change. when forests are cut down, there is less land to absorb rainwater. this makes water flow faster into the river and raises the risk of floods in the downstream areas.
the damage in the upstream area of the batanghari river, especially in kerinci regency, has greatly increased the risk of flooding along the river. the degraded upstream area has reduced the land’s natural ability to absorb water, making floods worse in downstream areas like jambi city and its surroundings.
khodijah and halimah are two women with decades of experience as farmers. however, in malay culture, they are still seen as having a subordinate role. both are involved in sustainable farming supported by the non timber forest products (ntpf gagga) even so, it’s not easy for them to access information about floods and climate change, as agricultural programs and policies in their village still do not fully include women.
in fact, in many other places, empowering women by improving their access to information, training, and active participation in decision-making is regarded as very important for building community resilience against climate change and disasters.
