Premium
Women as managers of village water resources
Author(s) -
Kompaore Scholastique
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
natural resources forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1477-8947
pISSN - 0165-0203
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-8947.1989.tb00355.x
Subject(s) - point (geometry) , task (project management) , business , water resources , economic growth , water resource management , environmental planning , natural resource economics , environmental resource management , operations management , geography , engineering , economics , management , environmental science , mathematics , ecology , biology , geometry
In rural Africa the time‐consuming and burdensome task of securing water for family needs falls to women. Although women benefit the most when water points are built, the responsibility for operating them has by tradition been given to men. Often the results of that approach have been poor and the water points have fallen into disrepair. With the establishment of water points near to the point of use, the burden of collecting water has been lightened considerably. As a result, women have been able to participate in educational programmes and have established highly profitable enterprises at the village level. This paper describes the role women have played in furthering village development, and because of their demonstrated management skills recommends that they be given responsibility for the management of the water points within their villages.