An Introduction to Africa, Development, Water and Gender

Welcome to my first blog entry! Over the next few months, I aim to examine the complex link between water, gender and development in Africa. What drew me to this theme was the opportunity to examine the inequality women have faced with such an integral part of life and development – water, to understand why this inequality exists and what is being done to eradicate it. My interest also stems from being female myself. To begin, my first post aims to provide some initial context on Africa and how we write about it, as well as the link between water, gender and development. 

Africa: Context and Portrayals

Europe’s undeniable influence on the continent of Africa has had a significant impact on part of its history over the past few centuries. Colonialism during the Scramble for Africa, the slave trade and continued exploitation echoes through the development issues in the present day. Subsequently, when Europeans have spoken about Africa in literature and film, it seems to be framed as a place that needs to be saved. 

Following Wainaina’s satirical article, not only did they provide an entertaining read, but also a reminder to us all on how literature from the Global North on Africa can be extremely reductive. I always found it puzzling how Africa is referred to in such a homogenous and simplistic way. Africa inhabits over 50 countries and over 2000 languages with a myriad of cultures, yet it is so harshly generalised by the global north. Being of European descent, I deem it especially important to provide a commentary on the continent of Africa does not fall under performative allyship or the white saviour complex. Therefore, I aim to be mindful of my positionality and in my way of approaching my discussions about the countries of Africa throughout the course of my blog by providing a true, unbiased commentary to the best of my ability. 

Water, Gender and Development: Where is the link? 

Mainstream discourse has often pushed forward the agenda that Africa is drought-ridden is in a water crisis, which from an outsider’s perspective can lead to inaccurate conclusions of Africa having no water supply. In reality, Africa’s water situation is not a case of supply but instead a case of distribution and access. Just under 10% of the global freshwater resources are situated in Africa but aren’t used unanimously as different countries have different rates of withdrawal. The reasoning for this comes from different ends of the spectrum with one side being interannual precipitation variability, limited resources for distribution, and on the other side of the spectrum being factors such as poverty and urban sprawl. Complex and entangled reasons contribute to an inequality in safely managed water access despite the fact that water is integral to providing security and is key for the development of communities. Therefore, SDGs have made an effort to want to make water accessible to all. SDG’s also touch on combating gender inequality. In relation to gender and water accessibility, this would link to menstrual health, sanitation, water collection, work and development and more, which I aim to delve into in the subsequent entries of my blog. 

Concluding thoughts 

While I have only provided a brief introduction on the link between water, gender and development in Africa in this initial post, my aim with my subsequent entries is to go into extensive depth of these matters.