Female cotton workers launch climate literacy campaign in Matiari

HYDERABAD: In a significant move for achieving climate justice and labour rights, women agricultural workers and leaders from women-led cotton trade unions in Matiari district have launched a district-wide climate literacy campaign.

The initiative seeks to raise awareness among women workers and growers about the intensifying risks of climate change and the pressing need for safer, more dignified working conditions.

The campaign stemmed from the two-day Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop on climate change and health literacy in Matiari organised by the Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) in partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation.

The workshop brought together 42 women from 21 villages, equipping them with vital knowledge and practical tools to act as community-based climate campaigners. “Climate change is not only an environmental crisis but also a gender and justice issue,” said Javed Hussain, the SCF executive director, at the inauguration ceremony of the workshop.

He said that women agricultural workers were on the frontlines of this crisis, and they must be at the centre of its solutions. The technical sessions covered a range of topics including climate impacts on agriculture, health and rural livelihoods. Experts such as Dr Hira Arain, Zubaida Turk and Dr Bakhtwar discussed how rising temperatures had been affecting livestock, worsening working conditions and leading to serious health risks among women workers such as heatstroke, dehydration and even reproductive and mental health issues.

Afroz, a cotton worker leader from Long Khan Jiskanai village, said she now understood how climate change was harming both their health and our livelihoods. “If we don’t act now, the situation will only worsen,” she added.

She urged the landowners and growers to plant more trees and create shaded areas to protect workers during cotton picking. The participants also demanded fixing of minimum wage for cotton pickers and stronger occupational health safeguards, especially when climate extremes were making their labour work more hazardous.

As a follow-up, the trained women said they will launch a climate literacy week aiming to reach over 1,000 women cotton workers across Matiari. They will advocate for eco-friendly shade structures in fields and mobilise for long-term climate resilience in the region, marking the start of a bold, women-led climate movement in rural Sindh.