Water, Gender and Development in Africa

Areas across Africa, including Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), are not connected to water infrastructure such as water pipes. This means that about two-thirds of people living in SSA must leave their homes to collect water. This is due to limited water infrastructure, investment, and water sources. This forces individuals and communities to travel long distances and wait in lines to access water sources. Women and children are often the ones to bear the burden of this responsibility as they collect and manage the use of water . In the last blog, we explored the role of culture in assigning gender-based roles. The responsibility of water collection is a further example of this as it manifested through patriarchal cultural norms .   This blog, however, will highlight the extent to which the collection and use of water is a gendered issue   whilst also exploring the consequences of this burden on young girls and women. Impacts of water collection Although water fetching is ph...

The previous post introduced the relationship between water and gender, and this post will add to this by understanding how cultural and social norms across the continent affect women and their relationship with water. At the household level, water is needed for people’s livelihoods but also to complete d ifferent tasks , including cooking, bathing, washing clothes and dishes. Gender, as a social construct, has manifested social norms and gendered roles in society. In South Africa, as is the case in many other countries, men are often considered the breadwinners , whereas women are typically responsible for completing domestic duties. Despite these common patriarchal views , such clearly split roles are hard to maintain in reality, as some households will not have a male head or the presence of both genders (male and female). This can occur for reasons such as death- which leaves women widowed – or migration in which men seek work abroad or in a different part of the country to bette...