Religion, Food Security, and Climate Change Mitigation: A Case of Luangwa Valley Women of Eastern Zambia

Using the work of women farmers in the Luangwa Valley of Eastern Zambia, this chapter explores how Zambian women utilize indigenous knowledge systems to mitigate climate change and promote food security. Conceptually anchored on women as agents of a healthy environment, the chapter draws on a case study research design and employs interviews with purposively selected women farmers and document analysis as data collection methods. It shows that in a context characterized by recurrent impacts of different on-going climatic changes and food shortages, women were using indigenous knowledge to address climate change and food insecurity through conservation farming which restored soil health, boosted production, and enhanced food security. It further shows the value which women drew from pro-climate and food security activities, such as being enabled to increase the nutrition of their households and the community at large, to sell the surplus for additional income, and uphold their identity as indigenous women farmers. The chapter also draws lessons from the Luangwa Valley women’s utilization of indigenous knowledge to address climate change and foster food security centred on indigenous knowledge as a resource for mitigating climate change and food insecurity. The chapter contributes to discourses of religion, food security, and climate change by showcasing that rural women were active agents of change through their utilization of indigenous beliefs and practices to address the environmental crisis and in turn foster food security and contribute to promoting healthy organic foods that are of nutritional value to people.