A new study from Northwestern University provides a new snapshot of global experiences relating to water insecurity. The study draws on anthropology to provide a more holistic measure to understand the impact of water scarcity upon millions of people. This used data that are more comparable across time, infrastructure, climates, and cultures.
The research is of particular application to parts of Latin America, Asia and Africa that have experienced severe droughts and unprecedented floods throughout the past twelve months. Across the various low-to-middle-income countries, the research, led by anthropologist Sera Young, considered it is estimated that 436 million of 3 billion adults are water insecure.
In many cases, people were found not to have enough water, being unable to wash their hands, or having to change what they ate because of problems with water. According to Young: “These data bring a human face to the water sector, thereby revealing life-altering problems with water that have long gone hidden.”
The study reveals that 14.2 percent of the populations covered were classed as ‘water insecure’. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Cameroon (63.9 percent) and Ethiopia (45 percent), experienced the highest rates of water insecurity, while countries in Asia like China (3.9 percent) and Bangladesh (9.4 percent) were the least likely to experience it.
The study established that no single characteristic was always predictive of water insecurity. Individuals who earned a lower income, lived in city outskirts, and those who were more affected by COVID-19 were more likely to be water insecure; however, this was not always the case.
Women represented approximately half (51.7 percent) of those who experienced water insecurity
Another general finding was that women are typically thought to experience higher rates of water insecurity than men because they are responsible for more water-intensive chores and collecting water. However, it also stands that men and women experience similar rates of water insecurity in all but six of the 31 countries.
The researchers used the Individual Water Insecurity Experiences (IWISE) scale to measure water insecurity at the individual level to provide more holistic and precise data about water availability and access. This scale provides granular data about individual experiences with water by examining how water affects cooking, bathing and emotional wellbeing, and hence these act as a more proximal predictor of human well-being than availability or infrastructure.
For these reasons, Young requests that policymakers to look beyond water availability and infrastructure when examining water insecurity in order to fully capture the scope of the global water crisis. This is a better way for organizations to create interventions that best target the most vulnerable groups.
The research appears in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health. The study is titled “Estimating national, demographic, and socioeconomic disparities in water insecurity experiences in low-income and middle-income countries in 2020–21: a cross-sectional, observational study using nationally representative survey data.”
