An Analysis of Water Collection Labor among Women and Children in 24 Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract

BackgroundIt is estimated that more than two-thirds of the population in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) must leave their home to collect water, putting them at risk for a variety of negative health outcomes. There is little research, however, quantifying who is most affected by long water collection times.ObjectivesThis study aims to a) describe gender differences in water collection labor among both adults and children (< 15 years of age) in the households (HHs) that report spending more than 30 minutes collecting water, disaggregated by urban and rural residence; and b) estimate the absolute number of adults and children affected by water collection times greater than 30 minutes in 24 SSA countries.MethodsWe analyzed data from the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) (2005–2012) to describe water collection labor in 24 SSA countries.ResultsAmong households spending more than 30 minutes collecting water, adult females were the primary collectors of water across all 24 countries, ranging from 46% in Liberia (17,412 HHs) to 90% in Cote d’Ivoire (224,808 HHs). Across all countries, female children were more likely to be responsible for water collection than male children (62% vs. 38%, respectively). Six countries had more than 100,000 households (HHs) where children were reported to be responsible for water collection (greater than 30 minutes): Burundi (181,702 HHs), Cameroon (154,453 HHs), Ethiopia (1,321,424 HHs), Mozambique (129,544 HHs), Niger (171,305 HHs), and Nigeria (1,045,647 HHs).ConclusionIn the 24 SSA countries studied, an estimated 3.36 million children and 13.54 million adult females were responsible for water collection in households with collection times greater than 30 minutes. We suggest that accessibility to water, water collection by children, and gender ratios for water collection, especially when collection times are great, should be considered as key indicators for measuring progress in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector.

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“…These findings also support the works of Khaka et al, (2006) who found out that 330 million people in Africa are living under water scarcity despite Africa having a huge potential for rain water harvesting. The findings of this study are also in agreement with the UNICEF report of 2017 and Graham, Hirai & Kim, (2016) findings which stated that 25% of Kenyan women and girls spend more than 30 minutes on water collection, just like in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.…”

Water Gender Indicators in Agriculture: A Study of Horticultural Farmer Organizations in Senegal

“…Indeed, it is demonstrated that, when the plot is closer to the home (less than 500 m), generally women spend less time cultivating it and are more motivated. Some authors [68,69] showed also a strong connection between the distance of the water source from the household (and the related time dedicated to women and children to collect water) and its positive effects in terms of productivity, nutrition, health and general empowerment, especially if the water source (especially clean water) is located less than 1 km from the village.…”

Water Access, Women’s Empowerment, Sanitation and Children’s Anthropometric Status: A Study of Ethiopian Mothers With Children Under Five

“…Time fetching water was recoded into two categories: 0-30 minutes and 31-481 minutes. A cut-off of 30 minutes was used because the literature argues that the total water collection time should be less than 30 minutes for basic access levels [15]. To assess the association between community water supply and type of water used for drinking, washing and sanitation types, chi-square analyses were conducted.…”