Gendered Water Insecurity: A Structural Equation Approach for Female Headed Households in South Africa

Intricacies between women and water are central to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gender equality and women empowerment is a key driver in ending hunger and poverty as well as improve water security the study sought to identify and provide pathways through which female-headed households were water insecure in South Africa. Secondary data collected during the 2016 General Household Survey (GHS) was utilised, with a sample of 5928 female-headed households. Principal Component Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling were used to analyse the data. The results show dynamic relationships between water characteristics and water treatment. There were also associations between water access and wealth status of the female-headed households. Association was also found between water access and water treatment as well as between wealth status and water treatment. The study concludes that there are dynamic relationships in water insecurity (exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity) for female-headed households in South Africa. The study recommends that a multi-prong approach is required in tackling exposures, sensitivities and adaptive capacities to water insecurity. This should include capacity–building and empowering women for wealth generation, improve access to water treatment equipment as well as prioritising improvement of infrastructure that brings piped and safe water to female-headed households.

Download Full-text

Analysing the Determinants of Poverty among Female-Headed Households: The Case of South Africa

11th GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES - Global Conference on Business and Social Sciences Proceeding ◽

10.35609/gcbssproceeding.2020.11(134) ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 134-134

Author(s):

Phindile Mdluli

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Employment Status ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

Household Survey ◽

Poverty Line ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Poverty Status ◽

Household Survey Data ◽

Female Headed Households ◽

General Household Survey

Poverty remains a critical and complex phenomenon in developing countries, South Africa included. Over the years, poverty has escalated significantly, particularly in Africa, while it has declined in most developed regions. The worsening statistics in Africa have raised concerns of a lack of understanding of poverty among policymakers and governments. In South Africa, poverty has been increasing, with more than 50 percent of households living in poverty. Additionally, approximately 26 percent of females live in extreme poverty, while at the same time the country is experiencing a growing trend of female-headed households continually identified as vulnerable to the indignities of poverty compared to male-headed households. Although poverty in South Africa has been studied extensively, existing literature shows that it is still a debatable topic, since the dynamics have not improved much, but rather worsened in recent years particularly post-apartheid. Using the 2018 general household survey data with a sample of 19 219 observations collected by Statistics South Africa, the primary objective of the study is to examine the determinants of poverty among female-headed households in South Africa. The study uses the following statistical methods: descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and a binary logistic regression. The estimated results show that factors such as education level, employment status, age, gender, race, household size and marital status determine the poverty status of female-headed households. Females experience higher levels of poverty when compared to their male counterpart using the upper bound poverty line. Keywords: Poverty, household, female-headed household, male-headed households, South Africa

Download Full-text

Determinants of Smallholder Livestock Farmers’ Household Resilience to Food Insecurity in South Africa

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli9070117 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 117

Author(s):

Vuyiseka A. Myeki ◽

Yonas T. Bahta

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

South Africa ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Principal Component ◽

Agricultural Drought ◽

Drought Resilience ◽

Livestock Farmers ◽

The Government

This study identified factors affecting livestock farmers’ agricultural drought resilience to food insecurity in Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Data of 217 smallholder livestock farmers were used in a principal component analysis to estimate the agricultural drought resilience index. The structural equation approach was then applied to assess smallholder livestock farmers’ resilience to food insecurity. The study found that most smallholder livestock farmers (81%) were not resilient to agricultural drought. Assets (β = 0.150), social safety nets (β = 0.001), and adaptive capacity (β = 0.171) indicators positively impacted households’ resilience to food insecurity with 5% significance. Climate change indicators negatively impacted households’ resilience to food insecurity. Two variables were included under climate change, focusing on drought, namely drought occurrence (β = −0.118) and drought intensity (β = −0.021), which had a negative impact on household resilience to food insecurity with 10% significance. The study suggests that smallholder livestock farmers need assistance from the government and various stakeholders to minimize vulnerability and boost their resilience to food insecurity.

Download Full-text

Burden of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) in Rural and Peri-Urban KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Findings from a Population-Based Household Survey

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3487816 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ayesha Kharsany ◽

Lyle R. McKinnon ◽

Lara Lewis ◽

Cherie Cawood ◽

David Khanyile ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Sexually Transmitted Infections ◽

Household Survey ◽

Population Based ◽

Sexually Transmitted ◽

Kwazulu Natal

Download Full-text

Modeling energy requirements for a biogas-supported decentralized Water treatment systems for communities in chambishi (Zambia) and diepsloot (South Africa) townships

Renewable Energy Focus ◽

10.1016/j.ref.2021.02.003 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 ◽

pp. 20-26

Author(s):

Gershom Mwandila ◽

Moses Mwanza ◽

Keneiloe Sikhwivhilu ◽

John Siame ◽

Shingirirai S Mutanga ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Water Treatment ◽

Energy Requirements

Download Full-text

Addressing Water Insecurity with a Greywater Hydroponics System in South Africa

2020 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) ◽

10.1109/ghtc46280.2020.9342850 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Carson Edgerton ◽

Alex Estrada ◽

Katya Fairchok ◽

Michele T. Parker ◽

Andrew Jezak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Water Insecurity

Download Full-text

Farmers’ Perceptions of Commercial Insect-Based Feed for Sustainable Livestock Production in Kenya

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13105359 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 5359

Author(s):

Afrika Onguko Okello ◽

Jonathan Makau Nzuma ◽

David Jakinda Otieno ◽

Michael Kidoido ◽

Chrysantus Mbi Tanga

Keyword(s):

Food Systems ◽

Large Scale ◽

Principal Component ◽

Farm Income ◽

Purchase Decisions ◽

Wealth Status ◽

Feed Formulation ◽

Alternative Protein ◽

Livestock Products ◽

The Impact

The utilization of insect-based feeds (IBF) as an alternative protein source is increasingly gaining momentum worldwide owing to recent concerns over the impact of food systems on the environment. However, its large-scale adoption will depend on farmers’ acceptance of its key qualities. This study evaluates farmer’s perceptions of commercial IBF products and assesses the factors that would influence its adoption. It employs principal component analysis (PCA) to develop perception indices that are subsequently used in multiple regression analysis of survey data collected from a sample of 310 farmers. Over 90% of the farmers were ready and willing to use IBF. The PCA identified feed performance, social acceptability of the use of insects in feed formulation, feed versatility and marketability of livestock products reared on IBF as the key attributes that would inform farmers’ purchase decisions. Awareness of IBF attributes, group membership, off-farm income, wealth status and education significantly influenced farmers’ perceptions of IBF. Interventions such as experimental demonstrations that increase farmers’ technical knowledge on the productivity of livestock fed on IBF are crucial to reducing farmers’ uncertainties towards acceptability of IBF. Public partnerships with resource-endowed farmers and farmer groups are recommended to improve knowledge sharing on IBF.

Download Full-text

Household Water Insecurity Affects Child Nutrition Through Alternative Pathways to WASH: Evidence From India

Food and Nutrition Bulletin ◽

10.1177/0379572121998122 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 170-187

Author(s):

Neetu Choudhary ◽

Roseanne C. Schuster ◽

Alexandra Brewis ◽

Amber Wutich

Keyword(s):

Water Availability ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Child Nutrition ◽

Diarrheal Disease ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Water Access ◽

Child Stunting ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Household Water ◽

Regional Water

Background: Household water security matters greatly for child nutrition outcomes in the global South. Water’s role in sanitation/hygiene, via diarrheal disease, is cited as a primary mechanism here. Yet, the relationship between Water along with Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and child stunting remains inconclusive. Water-related mechanisms outside of the traditional scope of WASH might assist with explaining this. Objective: We aim to test the mediating role of reduced dietary diversity as an additional potential mechanism in linking worse household water access to increased risk of early childhood stunting, separating its effects from sanitation and diarrhea among children (as a proxy for hygiene) and taking into account regional water availability. Method: We use nationally representative India Demographic and Health Survey (2015-16) data for 58 038 children aged 6 to 23 months, applying generalized structural equation modelling to estimate water’s direct and indirect effects (as mediated through dietary diversity and access to sanitation) on a child’s likelihood of being stunted. Results: Suboptimal water access is significantly associated with elevated likelihood of child stunting. More than 30% of the effect is indirect. In the context of low water access and availability, children’s dietary diversity alone mediates more than 20% of its total effect on child stunting. Conclusion: Beyond the WASH mechanisms, household water access affects child stunting indirectly, mediated through its impacts on children’s dietary diversity. These mediating effects are also moderated by regional water availability. Water interventions in low-water regions should help reduce children’s risk of nutrition-related stunting in households with lowest water access.

Download Full-text

After Mazibuko: Exploring the responses of communities excluded from South Africa's water experiment

Journal of African Law ◽

10.1017/s0021855317000055 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 57-81 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nathan John Cooper

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Resource Allocation ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Water Allocation ◽

Constitutional Court ◽

Water Access ◽

Cultural Phenomenon ◽

Legal Provisions ◽

Constitutional Right ◽

The Right

AbstractDespite a constitutional right to water, challenges remain for access to sufficient water in South Africa. This article considers the degree to which current legal provisions perpetuate approaches that are antithetical to genuinely eco-socio-sustainable water access. Water in South Africa has largely been re-cast as a commodity, exposed to market rules, proving problematic for many and giving rise to various responses, including litigation. In the seminal case of Mazibuko, the Constitutional Court failed to provide robust protection to the right to water, providing impetus for the formation of “commons” strategies for water allocation. Indeed, “commoning” is beginning to represent not only an emerging conceptual strand in urban resource allocation, but also a dynamic, contemporary, eco-sensitive, socio-cultural phenomenon, driving innovative, interactive and inclusive forms of planning and social engagement. Against the backdrop of unequal water access, commoning offers glimpses of an empowering and enfranchising subaltern paradigm.

Download Full-text

Intersectional (in) equities in contact coverage of maternal and newborn health services in Nepal: insights from a nationwide cross-sectional household survey

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-11142-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Resham B. Khatri ◽

Yibeltal Alemu ◽

Melinda M. Protani ◽

Rajendra Karkee ◽

Jo Durham

Keyword(s):

Institutional Delivery ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

Newborn Health ◽

Household Survey ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

Maternal And Newborn Health ◽

Multiple Forms ◽

Wealth Status ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Maternal And Newborn

Abstract Background Persistent inequities in coverage of maternal and newborn health (MNH) services continue to pose a major challenge to the health-care system in Nepal. This paper uses a novel composite indicator of intersectional (dis) advantages to examine how different (in) equity markers intersect to create (in) equities in contact coverage of MNH services across the continuum of care (CoC) in Nepal. Methods A secondary analysis was conducted among 1978 women aged 15–49 years who had a live birth in the two years preceding the survey. Data were derived from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2016. The three outcome variables included were 1) at least four antenatal care (4ANC) visits, 2) institutional delivery, and 3) postnatal care (PNC) consult for newborns and mothers within 48 h of childbirth. Independent variables were wealth status, education, ethnicity, languages, residence, and marginalisation status. Intersectional (dis) advantages were created using three socioeconomic variables (wealth status, level of education and ethnicity of women). Binomial logistic regression analysis was employed to identify the patterns of (in) equities in contact coverage of MNH services across the CoC. Results The contact coverage of 4ANC visits, institutional delivery, and PNC visit was 72, 64, and 51% respectively. Relative to women with triple disadvantage, the odds of contact coverage of 4ANC visits was more than five-fold higher (Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 5.51; 95% CI: 2.85, 10.64) among women with triple forms of advantages (literate and advantaged ethnicity and higher wealth status). Women with triple advantages were seven-fold more likely to give birth in a health institution (aOR = 7.32; 95% CI: 3.66, 14.63). They were also four times more likely (aOR = 4.18; 95% CI: 2.40, 7.28) to receive PNC visit compared to their triple disadvantaged counterparts. Conclusions The contact coverage of routine MNH visits was low among women with social disadvantages and lowest among women with multiple forms of socioeconomic disadvantages. Tracking health service coverage among women with multiple forms of (dis) advantage can provide crucial information for designing contextual and targeted approaches to actions towards universal coverage of MNH services and improving health equity.

Download Full-text