A lotus grows in the mud

Successful gender-inclusive schemes 

Maria and Richard left some insightful comments on my previous posts regarding the external actors such as NGOs and government agencies and how their roles are important when it comes to including women in water management.

Richard directed me to the following picture:

Photo credit: Grofutures 

This picture is symbolic of many of the water management schemes across Africa – there is evidently lack of women in water management. This post will explore what has been done and can be done by external agents to facilitate participation through financial and educational support. This post will look at a women-led vegetable farming project through the assistance of Lutheran World Relief(LWR) to show what a successful scheme looks like. The vegetable- farming project works with 500 female farmers in Bihar to participate in vegetable farming by teaching them innovative farming techniques, such as using poly-houses that provide perfect conditions for seedlings to grow.

One of the main characteristics of the scheme is effective targeting and prioritization – the project is led by women for women. The supports women in poor women in rural Bihar, including Dalit women who are often marginalized in society. This kind of targeting is important because agriculture is usually seen as masculine and secondly because many women in these communities do not have access to land, and subsequently water rights (see previous post). Such schemes go beyond subsistence farming but provides women with an opportunity to participate in economic activities by selling the vegetables they produce. One particular woman, Sumitra Devi earned 32,000 rupees from farming. When women are earning, they are not financially dependent on their husbands and so have greater bargaining power in the household (Van Koppen, 1998).

Another barrier in when it comes to full and active participation is confidence, especially when speaking public (Mohanty,2002). Through the vegetable farming project women are not only able to participate in farming but also hold group meetings within themselves which gives them a space and time to express their resource needs and build up their knowledge and confidence. One particular quote that is striking from Sumitra is “Before we came together, we used to not have any confidence or abilities to stand up for ourselves. Now we are able to talk to anyone: men, women, government, whoever”. 

In many resource management schemes, women are often reluctant to participate in management because they are fearful of speaking in public and people perceived to be of higher authority – men and government officials, therefore having women only and women-led management meetings will provide them with a platform to voice their opinions. 

Furthermore, while the Lutheran World Relief helps set up the project and assist in the running but it is sustained by community self-help groups (SCH). So the women are given the full control of the scheme, so they are not just participants but managers. The women have set up saving groups within the self-help groups. They use the credit earned by the savings and revolving SHG to setup and maintain micro- enterprises for vegetable farming. Therefore, the women are not fully reliant on their husbands or LWR, therefore further enhancing their confidence and independence.

LWR have replicated similar schemes in other areas, for example shallot production and marketing in Mali. The project provides women training in not only the production on high-yield farming practices but also the marketing of the shallots to maximize the number of sales to increase profit. This resulted in the production of 209 toms of shallots in over 5 years and an increase in individual earning from shallot farming from $55 to $300 per growing season (Lutheran World Relief, 2016).

In conclusion, external actors and organisations can help facilitate inclusive schemes through effective targeting of poor women who may not otherwise have access to land and water rights or women who are not already taking part in economic activities. The external agencies can provide technical support for example through training and educational material. Such participation will then help women feel more confident and independent and so willing and able to take part in community resource management. In addition, these projects need to allow top level, active participation – they should not be mere participants but active managers.

Exclusion of women in irrigation schemes

The aim of this post is to provide a brief insight into women’s water needs for productive activities, such as irrigation, looking beyond the reproductive, domestic activities. The post will begin by exploring women’s need for water for both productive and reproductive activities. Secondly, it will discuss the link between land and water rights. Finally, the major impediments in inclusionary irrigation will be briefly discussed.

Productive and reproductive activities

In many parts of Africa, women are expected to take responsibility for domestic tasks while the males perform the role of breadwinners. Therefore, it is assumed that working in a farm is a masculine job. Men are seen as the main farmers, while women are expected as merely assist as a secondary farmer, in addition to doing the housework (Zwarteveen,1997). So a woman’s interest and need for water is often confined to the domestic domain.  Some agencies may use this narrow focus as a basis for the allocation of water and so help reinforce the idea of women as housekeepers and therefore disregard their potential for production activities (Rathgeber, 1996).

However, women have always used water for both household use and productive farming activities. In many rural female-headed households, women will work in farms as the sole providers for the family. For example, Schaap et al (1994, cited in Van Koppen, 1998) found that widows in Niger relied solely on irrigated faming for their livelihood. Furthermore, in poorer areas where the man’s income is not enough to sustain the family, women are required to work in farms and contribute to the financial running of the household (Van Koppen, 1998). So like men, women also have an interest in accessing an managing water for irrigation

Land and water rights

Another, important factor that hinders women’s participation in productive irrigation activities is women’s lack of land rights. In many countries in Africa, land right is generally a precursor for water right. Women don’t usually own land and when they are involved in farming practices, it is often in their husband’s or fathers land. This puts them in a vulnerable position as any change in position of their relationships (for example, separation or divorce) with her husband could result in her land access being taken away(IFAD,2007). In addition, without land rights, it becomes difficult, if not impossible to get memberships to water user associations or credit for agriculture. As a consequence, women are reduced to a secondary participant with little or no control over water management.

So what can be done?

1)    First and foremost, I feel that it is important to categorise women beyond the domestic sphere and agencies should recognise their potential as productive and effective farmers.

2)    Secondly, effective targeting and prioritising allocation to women-  land and water rights should be allocated on a needs-based analysis Van Koppen, 1998). Furthermore, plots given to women should be the same size as those provide to men In a small-scale rice irrigation schemes in central Burkino Faso, women were given the rights to 0.5 out of 50 land plots (Projet Sensibilisation, 1993).

3)    Furthermore, the number of women on the scheme should be representative of the local population. Secondly, women need to be involved in the decision making process – ensuring these schemes are not only gender aware but participatory (see blog 2).

4)    Women’s land rights should be protected - once land and water rights have been allocated, the women should be provided with legal protection to maintain her rights (IFAD,2007).

5)    Rights for non-land users- irrigation agencies need to extend water rights beyond land owners to include land users to (IFAD,2007)

IFAD, 2007. Gender and water: securing water for improved rural livelihoods. Rome: IFAD.

Projet Sensibilisation et Formation, 1993. Attribution des parcelles aux femmes dans les périmètres en aval des barrages: Possibilités et limites

Projet Sensibilisation et Formation des Paysans Autour Des Barrages, Ouagadougou (1993)

Rathgeber, E., 1996. Women, men, and water-resource management in Africa. Water management in Africa and the Middle East: Challenges and opportunities. Rached E., Rathgeber EM and Brooks D.(eds). International Development Research Center, Ottawa, Canada, pp.49-69.

Van Koppen, B., 1998. Water rights, gender, and poverty alleviation. Inclusion and exclusion of women and men smallholders in public irrigation infrastructure development. Agriculture and Human Values, 15(4), pp.361-374.

Zwarteveen, M.Z., 1997. Water: From basic need to commodity: A discussion on gender and water rights in the context of irrigation. World development, 25(8), pp.1335-1349.

Fish out of water 

Not so participatory development 

From 1990s, there has been a rising trend in participatory development. Participatory approaches aim to be inclusive of local communities, including women, in the decision making process. Increasingly, we see many policy documents stating the need to include women, most famously - the Dublin principles. The third principle states that ‘women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water’. Other organisations such as the UN make bold claims that adopting this approach will make significant positive impact on poverty reduction and gender equality in Africa, however, the reality is quite different. This blog post will highlight that while woman are participants in the management of water resources, they are not influencers (Cornwall, 2003). It will do so by giving a particular focus to the case study of water user association (WUA) of a catchment area in the Thukela river basin in South Africa, by Kemerink et al (2013).   

Image Credit: Instagram, @dailydoodlegram

One of the biggest problems with these approaches is that while they are “gender aware”, they are far from “participatory” (Cornwall, 2003). Kemerink et al (2013) study of the water user association in the Thukela River Basin highlights this very well. The WUA were set by the post-apartheid South African government to transfer the water management controls back to those who had been historically disadvantaged - blacks and women. However, out of the 10 committee members, 5 are white and 5 black, despite the community being made of 85% Blacks and 5% Whites. And, out of the 5 black members, only one of them were female. Not INCLUSIVE or REPRESENTATIVE. The woman was given the role of gender representative however her role wasn’t clearly defined. It was clear to the researchers that she had been elected purely for the purpose of ticking boxes (Kemerink et al 2013). She is able to have little impact or  influence when committee and herself are unaware of who she represents and what she is advocating. So while the need for women to be involved in water management is recognised implicitly, the exact role women of women is not explicit.  

Another reason for the lack of participation is the perception of what a woman’s role and capabilities are. As mentioned in the first post, in many communities and households in Africa, women are considered subordinate to men.  So while men go out to work in public sphere, women are often restricted to the domestic sphere. They are often just seen as users of domestic water and lacking in knowledge of water management. So when involved in the decision making process, their expertise and authority is often undermined (Mohanty, 2002). One particular thing that stuck with me from the Kemerink et al paper was a quote from a white male committee member - ‘the black woman from the township who sits in the management committee is growing some tomatoes in a little garden or so. I don’t know what she will use more water for, she does not need it'. Firstly, he assumes her role is one of a home-keeper - quickly placing her within the home space and away from public space.  Secondly, he claims that she doesn’t 'need' any more water, which suggests that he cannot see beyond his own needs and interests and is clearly unaware how other actors may use and need water for very different reasons. Without a change in attitudes and perceptions about women's role with water, it is highly unlikely that participatory water management approaches will be successful.  

Image Credit: Instagram, @dailydoodlegram

So while women are included in water management schemes, it is obvious that their participation is at the lowest end of the scale. Yes they do attend interviews and are informed  about the decisions and plans, however they are hardly active participants. The case of the South African WUA shows how the governing body needs to make a better effort at defining the role of female representatives to ensure the work is focused and effective. Secondly, the committee needs to be truly representative of the local population. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that while change in perception of women's position in society is possible through their active participation as water managers, these changes are not likely to be as bold and drastic as some organisations suggest.  

List of references 

Cornwall, A., 2003. Whose voices? Whose choices? Reflections on gender and participatory development. World development, 31(8), pp.1325-1342.

Kemerink, J.S., Mendez, L.E., Ahlers, R., Wester, P. and Van der Zaag, P., 2013. The question of inclusion and representation in rural South Africa: challenging the concept of water user associations as a vehicle for transformation. Water Policy, 15(2), pp.243-257.

Mohanty, R., 2002. WomenÕs participation in JFM in uttaranchal villages. Mimeo.