Climate linked to mental health crisis among rural women

A study has indicated that 48.3 per cent of women in rural Kilifi are depressed due to the effects of climate change.

Conducted by the Aga Khan University’s Brain and Mind Institute, the report found a significant association between climate shocks and depression as well as suicidal tendencies among women living in informal settlements without access to running water or adequate sanitation.

The study also revealed that rural women who have lost their major sources of livelihood to drought and floods experience severe psychological distress.

Released last week, the study analysed data from 14,801 women whose livelihoods are in the informal agricultural sector. The data was collected between July 2021 and April 2022.

The data revealed a 10.8 per cent rise in depressive symptoms among women in informal settlements compared to their counterparts in more stable rural households and 28.7 per cent higher rates of suicidal ideation following low rainfall, 14.9 per cent increases due to heatwaves, and a 36.7 per cent increase during droughts.

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The combined effect of climate shocks and soaring food prices was associated with a 48.3 per cent increase in suicidal thoughts among women in Kilifi.

Lead researcher Cyprian Mostert told The Standard that climate variability was a silent driver of psychological harm in communities with the fewest resources to cope.

“These findings highlight an overlooked consequence of climate change and its destabilising impact on mental health, especially among women already facing structural disadvantages,” he said.

He said that for people who rely on informal agriculture for their survival, climate shocks can wipe out entire livelihoods, thus turning lives upside down.

The study used Kenya Meteorological Data (KMD) to identify sub-counties that experience various types of climate shocks, as well as collected the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) data.

Mostert said this was one of the first studies in Africa to clearly show that climate shocks like droughts and heatwaves directly worsen mental health by using strong statistical evidence to prove the link.