Social Factors to Consider When Using Aqueduct Food Data

The guide argues that water and food security decisions must be accompanied by social analyses to identify and protect vulnerable groups based on sex, ethnicity, income, and race. It outlines the core objectives of social analysis, such as ensuring inclusivity in decision-making and protecting customary rights to land and water. The text illustrates potential negative impacts through scenarios, including the increased burden on women in Malawi and the marginalization of pastoralists in the Sahel. It further warns that irrigation projects in Bangladesh and Pakistan can divert domestic water to farms, and that large-scale infrastructure, such as India's UKP dam, can cause mass displacement. To support these analyses, the document lists resources from organizations like the World Bank, FAO, and UNDP, and provides a framework of critical questions regarding who benefits from and who is adversely impacted by development projects.

• Social analysis is a process used to identify the social dimensions of development projects by analyzing stakeholder perspectives, with the goal of ensuring results are socially equitable and identifying trade-offs for social safety nets.
• Water insecurity disproportionately affects women and girls, who often bear the primary responsibility for domestic water collection. In Mitawa village, Malawi, women had to travel further or use lower-quality sources when boreholes failed during dry seasons.
• In the Sahel, climate change and government-led agricultural expansion threaten traditional negotiated access to land and water, increasing the vulnerability of pastoralists and potentially leading to social conflicts with agriculturalists.
• Agricultural and water management projects can have adverse social consequences, such as the diversion of domestic groundwater to farms in Bangladesh and Pakistan, or the displacement of approximately 300,000 people caused by the construction of India's UKP dam in the 1960s.

APA

World Resources Institute (2021). Social Factors to Consider When Using Aqueduct Food Data. https://www.wri.org/update/social-factors-consider-when-using-aqueduct-food-data

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Social Factors to Consider When Using Aqueduct Food Data. 2021. https://www.wri.org/update/social-factors-consider-when-using-aqueduct-food-data.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Social Factors to Consider When Using Aqueduct Food Data |date=22 January 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/update/social-factors-consider-when-using-aqueduct-food-data |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2021social, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Social Factors to Consider When Using Aqueduct Food Data}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.wri.org/update/social-factors-consider-when-using-aqueduct-food-data}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }