Water and Gender in Africa

I recently came across a report highlighting that in many developing countries, it is the case that the proportion of women involved in water collection is close to being equal to men in both rural and urban areas (Geere, 2017) as shown in figure 1. Interestingly however, this trend is less significant in Sub-Saharan Africa (with the exception of Mombosa and Kenya) where in both rural and urban areas, women proportionately are the main bearers of water. With this finding, I came across an interesting case study in Ghana, which will provide an insight into the influence of cultural norms tied in with women in African societies and the influence of socio-economic status affecting the roles of women in water collection in both rural and urban areas. Figure 1: Responsibilities of water collection in rural and urban areas  In Kumasi city, the 2 nd largest metropolitan areas in Ghana, there is an increasing need for water to meet the needs for in...

When picturing water in Africa, the first image that appears in my mind are young girls and women carrying large buckets of water on their head. This is largely due to the influence of websites and pamphlets from charities portraying this very image when bringing attention to the water crises in Africa. So are women the main carriers of water?  Majority of the time, yes “Women Carry Most of the World’s Water”, and this falls with the traditional responsibilities of women as the main water bearers in most African societies. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, women accounts for 56% of water collection, with female children at 31%, hence 87% of water bearers are actually female (Caruso, 2017). However, it is also these very girls and women who are disproportionately affected in securing access to safe and adequate water supply, especially the rural female.     This inequity to water access lies in understanding the role of women in water collection, the differe...