Rural women and rainwater harvesting and conservation practices: anecdotal evidence from the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2008
TITLE AUTHOR(S): M.Baiphethi, M.N.Viljoen, G.Kundhlande
KEYWORDS: EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE, FREE STATE PROVINCE, RURAL COMMUNITIES, WATER MANAGEMENT, WATER SERVICE DELIVERY, WOMEN
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 5773
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/4926
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/4926
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Access to water for domestic and agricultural use is a common constraint in most arid to semi-arid areas. Rainwater harvesting and conservation (RWH&C) practices provide an opportunity for improved access and/or availability of water for both domestic and agricultural production. Since the majority of the techniques are labour-intensive, they may prove an extra burden on available household labour, specifically for women who in the main are responsible for agricultural production. Based on preliminary cross-sectional survey data of 257 households from four rural villages in Free State and Eastern Cape, this article profiles the users/adopters of rainwater harvesting and conservation practices, and specifically determine the role women play in the adoption and use of the techniques. The majority (70%) of the users are women of whom 40% are single parents, mostly unemployed thus depending largely on social grants. The RWH&C practices used include rooftop rainwater harvesting, infield rainwater harvesting, collection of road runoff and collection of upper slope runoff. From the results, it is concluded that the major users of RWH&C practices are women; however, it is still questionable whether the development and adoption of these practices ensures that they do not overburden the women as they are significantly labour intensive. The article recommends that further research should account clearly for gender roles in the development, adoption and adaptation of rainwater harvesting and conservation technologies.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Rural Women and Rainwater Harvesting and Conservation (RWH&C): anecdotal evidence from the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces
- Women are weak when they are amongst men: participation in rural water committees in South Africa
- Women are weak when they are amongst men: the participation of women in rural water commitees in South Africa
- Trends and policy challenges in the rural economy: four provincial case studies
- An audit of women's travel activities, experiences and needs in rural Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Living with rats
- Women, water and workers in southern Africa: survey of attitudes of women trade unionists in the public sector in southern Africa, 30 July 2008
- Global sugar, regional water, and local people: EU sugar regime liberalisation, rural livelihoods, and the environment in the Incomati River Basin
- Reasons for contemporary food intake of poor households in rural areas of South Africa
- Spatial mapping and analysis of integrated agricultural land use and infrastructure in Mhlontlo local municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- The politics of water management: the case of the Orange River development project
- Audit of pension pay points in South Africa
- Investment into eco-tourism projects: KwaZulu-Natal coastal belt: South Africa
- The politics of decentralisation and donor funding in South Africa's rural water sector
- Research visit to Namibia, Zambia and Botswana
- Research visit to Swaziland, Lesotho and Mauritius
- Municipal commonage administration in the Free State province: can municipalities in the current local government dispensation promote emerging farming? October
- Land redistribution for agricultural development: case studies in three provinces: final report, October
- Filling the gap: civil society organisations and service delivery to farm workers in the Free State
- Muddying the elephant's water: policy and practice in community water supply