Knowledge

The following study was designed by IFAD in order to contribute to the knowledge about the relationship between gender, water investment and time saving. It is also intended to contribute to gender mainstreaming in IFAD’s water projects. The focus of the study is to see how much time women and men gain when they have improved access to sources of water and to establish what individuals, particularly women, do with the time they save by not having to walk long distances in search of water. The study further aims to discover to what extent the projects/investments contribute to reducing drudgery and to achieving equitable workloads between men and women. The survey targeted ongoing projects from the five regions in which IFAD operates that were either in their second phase or a mature stage of operation. In each project, one community was covered and 24 households were targeted. The survey successfully covered seven communities and 140 households and was mainly conducted through project officers facilitated by country programme managers or country programme officers.

Water lies at the heart of sustainable development and is essential for economic growth, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. It is the basis of human and environmental health, energy security, sustainable urbanization and the ability of rural women and men in developing countries to pursue productive activities. 

But one billion people still lack access to safe water and even more lack access to basic sanitation. Around three quarters of the world’s poorest and hungriest people live in rural areas, often forgotten and bypassed by economic growth and development programmes. The majority of rural people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, but face numerous barriers in accessing services and securing vital resources, including water.

Under the Programme de Développement des Oasis (PDDO), the Government of Mauritania, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) have introduced and piloted solar-powered water pumping for agricultural use in the oases. 

Water is of fundamental importance to human development, the environment and the economy. Access to water and water security is paramount to improving food security, incomes and livelihoods of rural communities. Reliable access to water remains a major constraint for millions of poor farmers, mostly those
in rainfed areas, but also those involved in irrigated agriculture. Climate change and the resulting changing rainfall patterns pose a threat to many more farmers, who risk losing water security and slipping back into the poverty trap.The need, therefore, to strengthen the communities’ capacity to adopt and disseminate agricultural water management technologies cannot be overemphasized.

The primary objective of the project was to promote innovative approaches and ICT-based technologies for timely transfer of weather, water-and crop related information and advice to relevant end users in Africa for informed decision-making and enhanced negotiation capacity with water and farm-related service providers.