Gender and water security in Burkina Faso: lessons for adaptation

The report examines water security in Burkina Faso's Nouaho sub-basin, finding that climate-exacerbated hazards like water scarcity and flooding disproportionately affect women and girls due to gendered divisions of labour and social norms. While women primarily manage domestic water collection and often lead off-farm income activities, they are largely excluded from community-level decision-making and water association leadership. The document argues that WASH adaptation must move beyond technical infrastructure to address gender discrimination and empower marginalized groups to ensure long-term water security.

• Residents of the Nouaho sub-basin face water-related hazards exacerbated by climate change, including inadequate water quantities, poor sanitation, and flooding.
• Gendered divisions of labour place the primary burden of domestic water collection on women and girls, increasing their exposure to water scarcity and accessibility challenges, particularly during the dry season.
• Cultural norms and gender roles increase women's exposure to health risks, such as contaminated water from unprotected wells and urogenital infections due to inadequate menstrual hygiene and high levels of open defecation (66% of respondents).
• While men are generally viewed as responsible for paying household water costs (59% of respondents), women's off-farm income-generating activities (conducted by 49% of women compared to 27% of men) provide critical assets for adaptation during environmental shocks.
• Long-term adaptation is hindered by the exclusion of women from community water association decision-making roles, where they are often relegated to hygiene-related tasks rather than leadership.
• There is a widespread lack of empowerment and accountability between residents and local authorities, with 75% of men and 73% of women reporting limited influence over decisions to resolve water problems.
• Adaptation planning in the WASH sector must transition from a narrow focus on infrastructure to a holistic approach that addresses gender disempowerment and utilizes informal learning networks to strengthen adaptive capacity.

APA

Dickin, S. (2018). Gender and water security in Burkina Faso: lessons for adaptation. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/gender-and-water-security-in-burkina-faso.pdf

Chicago

Dickin, Sarah. Gender and water security in Burkina Faso: lessons for adaptation. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2018. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/gender-and-water-security-in-burkina-faso.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dickin |first1=Sarah |title=Gender and water security in Burkina Faso: lessons for adaptation |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=August 2018 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/gender-and-water-security-in-burkina-faso.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dickin2018gender, author = {Dickin, Sarah}, title = {{Gender and water security in Burkina Faso: lessons for adaptation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2018}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/gender-and-water-security-in-burkina-faso.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }