 |
|
| News | Events | Sites | Database | Knowledge Base | Forum |
|
FACTS ABOUT WOMEN AND WATER (2) Women are most often the collectors, users and managers of water in the household as well as farmers of irrigated and rainfed crops. Because of these roles, women have considerable knowledge about water resources, including quality and reliability, restrictions and acceptable storage methods, and are key to the success of water resources development and irrigation policies and programmes Women are the main producers of the world's staple crops (rice, wheat, maize), which provide up to 90% or the rural poor's food intake On average women and children travel 10-15 kilometers per day collecting water and carrying up to 20 kilos or 15 litres per trip Some 30% of women in Egypt walk over 1 hour a day to meet water needs. In some parts of Africa, women and children spend 8 hours a day collecting water In some mountainous regions of East Africa, women spend up to 27% of their caloric intake in collecting water It has been calculated that in South Africa alone, women collectively walk the equivalent distance of 16 times to the moon and back per day gathering water for families The economic value of this unpaid contribution is enormous: in India it is estimated that women fetching water spend 150 million work days per year, equivalent to a national loss of income of 10 billion Rupees 70% of the world's blind are women who have been infected, directly or through their children, with trachoma, a blinding bacterial eye infection occurring in communities with limited access to water. Information from: International Year of Freshwater, 2003 FAO focus: Women and food security
|