Valuing Women's Work in Africa

Highlighting the Issue: Water Collection

Figure 1: A woman from carrying water from a well in Northern Kenya, Furlong (2016).

Women in Africa are critical figures in the collection of water, but their work is still heavily undervalued. We tend to see images and videos of women collecting water and travelling long distances with a baby attached to their back on TV and on social media, but do we actually think about the implications for women's development? Do we understand the problems that women experience on a daily basis? We often take water for granted, as most of us can just get water from a working tap or buy a bottle of water at our local convenience store, but I want us to understand the struggles that women in Africa have to battle in their everyday lives. 

Some Stats for You:

Did you know that women and girls spend over 200 million hours collecting water? (UNICEF, 2016). 200 million hours amounts to 22,800 years (UNICEF, 2016), and so imagine how much women could have achieved if it was not for the burden of collecting water. One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to achieve improved clean water and sanitation by 2030 (United Nations, 2022) and this includes universal access to improved drinking water sources. However, in 24 Sub-saharan countries, 13.54 million women and 3.36 million girls invest over 30 minutes on water collection (UNICEF, 2016). They have to travel long distances to fetch improved drinking water sources due to a lack of pipelines and fewer access points. 

Gender Dynamics:

Women are disproportionately affected by water collection in comparison to men. Women bear more water responsibilities and caring responsibilities and this is rooted in the unpaid work that women are typically associated with. It is seen as the woman's job to do household chores and water collection would primarily be seen as their job as access to water affects domestic duties such as cooking, cleaning, laundry etc (Khandker et al, 2006). In Tanzania, it was found that women spend double the time on water collection in comparison to men (UNICEF, 2016), and such unpaid work results in women having poorer health. In a survey collected from six villages in South Africa, women were reported to experience back-pain, spinal pain, and headaches due to little sleep and it was found that women sleep for fewer hours compared to men (Hallett, 2016). 

Lack of Socio-economic Development:

 Many women in Africa are involved in subsistence farming, whereas men would generally cultivate crash crops (Food and Trees for Africa, 2021). Women must ensure food security for their children and families and so they would spend long hours on the farm. Young girls are then forced to leave school and help out with water collection. As a result of long hours spent on unpaid work, in the form of water collection alongside gendered responsibilities, women are unable to participate in the labour market. If women are partially freed of these responsibilities, they could contribute to growth through economic activities (Khandker et al, 2006). Women would be able to contribute to better child care and schooling, better health care and their financial dependence would allow for their increased involvement in household-making decisions. 

Two SDGS come hand in hand, that being to achieve gender equality by 2030 and to eradicate all forms of poverty by 2030. Economic participation can be increased through investments in water infrastructure to enable reduced times of water collection. Thus, young girls can spend more time in school, allowing for socio-economic development, and also allowing for women to be empowered through financial independence.  However structural reforms, alongside cultural reforms, will have to be made to allow for women's participation in the market. 

It is easier said than done, but it is something that we can walk towards to in small steps.