IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wodepe/v21y2021ics2452292921000011.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Empowering rural women for sustainable development through the provision of water infrastructure in north-western Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Akurugu, Constance Awinpoka
  • Jatoe, Mathias Mwinlabagna
  • Domapielle, Maximillian Kolbe

Abstract

This article examines the role of the ‘Water for Resilience’ intervention in empowering poor women for sustainable development in the semi-arid and deprived settings of rural north-western Ghana. The Water for Resilience project aimed at equipping poor women, with enhanced income-generating opportunities to overcome poverty and to enhance resilience. This was done by drawing on agro-ecological methodologies, strategies that encourage the use of environmentally sustainable practices such as composting, organic-based pesticides, mulching, and the provision of enhanced water resources. We employed qualitative in-depth interviews, focused group discussions and observation with women beneficiaries and project staff to gather data in four intervention communities. Based on the analysis of the field data, our study shows that the Water for Resilience approach has enormous prospects for reducing poverty and eradicating vulnerability in these deprived settings. We further show that this innovative intervention can promote the transformation of unequal gender relations and empower women. Nonetheless, these can only be achieved if the intervention is executed within a framework that incorporates strategic gender interests, including issues of status relative to men, improved capacity for action, equitable access to household productive resources and access to decision-making and influencing power. We conclude that these structural issues, which remain untouched by this instrumentalist intervention require critical attention if women’s empowerment is to achieve meaningful results in the male-centric settings of rural northern Ghana and beyond. We explore lessons to emerge from our analysis for the empowerment of women in these and similar resource-scarce and patriarchal contexts for sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Akurugu, Constance Awinpoka & Jatoe, Mathias Mwinlabagna & Domapielle, Maximillian Kolbe, 2021. "Empowering rural women for sustainable development through the provision of water infrastructure in north-western Ghana," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:21:y:2021:i:c:s2452292921000011
    DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100287
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292921000011
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100287?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sylvia Bawa, 2016. "Paradoxes of (dis)empowerment in the postcolony: women, culture and social capital in Ghana," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 119-135, January.
    2. Goetz, Anne Marie & Gupta, Rina Sen, 1996. "Who takes the credit? Gender, power, and control over loan use in rural credit programs in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 45-63, January.
    3. Srilatha Batliwala, 2009. "Feminism's Coming of Age: Celebrating diversity and power," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 52(2), pages 140-143, June.
    4. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai & David Hulme, 2015. "The Politics of Regional Inequality in Ghana: State Elites, Donors and PRSPs," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 33(5), pages 529-553, September.
    5. Alsop, Ruth & Heinsohn, Nina, 2005. "Measuring empowerment in practice: structuring analysis and framing indicators," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3510, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Helen M. Haugh & Alka Talwar, 2016. "Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 643-658, February.
    2. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    3. Astrid Sneyers & Anneleen Vandeplas, 2013. "Girl Power in Agricultural Production: How Much Does it Yield? A Case-Study on the Dairy Sector in India," LICOS Discussion Papers 34113, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    4. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.
    5. Sabina Alkire, 2007. "The Missing Dimensions of Poverty Data: Introduction to the Special Issue," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 347-359.
    6. Hébert, Sophie T. & Lanctôt, Nadine & Turcotte, Mathilde, 2016. "“I didn't want to be moved there”: Young women remembering their perceived sense of Agency in the Context of placement instability," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 229-237.
    7. Asad K. Ghalib & Issam Malki & Katsushi S. Imai, 2012. "Microfinance and its role in household poverty reduction: findings from Pakistan," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 17312, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    8. Alkire, Sabina & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes & Seymour, Greg & Vaz, Ana, 2013. "The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 71-91.
    9. Islam, Asadul & Nguyen, Chau & Smyth, Russell, 2015. "Does microfinance change informal lending in village economies? Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 141-156.
    10. Lídia Farré, 2013. "The Role of Men in the Economic and Social Development of Women: Implications for Gender Equality," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 22-51, February.
    11. Augsburg, Britta & Malde, Bansi & Olorenshaw, Harriet & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2023. "To invest or not to invest in sanitation: The role of intra-household gender differences in perceptions and bargaining power," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    12. van den Bold, Mara & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Gillespie, Stuart, 2013. "Women’s empowerment and nutrition: An evidence review:," IFPRI discussion papers 1294, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Mahmudul Alam & Rafiqul Islam Molla, 2012. "Limitations Of Microcredit For Promoting Microenterprises In Bangladesh," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(192), pages 41-54, January –.
    14. Md. Mahmudul Alam & Rafiqul Islam Molla, 2012. "Inside Productivity of Microcredit in Bangladesh: A Surgical Analysis," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 2(3), pages 478-490, July.
    15. Caroline PERRIN & Laurent WEILL, 2021. "No Men, No Cry? How Gender Equality in Access to Credit Enhances Financial Stability," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2021-02, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    16. Stephen Baffour Adjei, 2015. "Assessing Women Empowerment in Africa," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 27(1), pages 58-80, March.
    17. Rao, Smriti, 2008. "Reforms with a Female Face: Gender, Liberalization, and Economic Policy in Andhra Pradesh, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1213-1232, July.
    18. Rie Makita, 2009. "The visibility of women’s work for poverty reduction: implications from non-crop agricultural income-generating programs in Bangladesh," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 26(4), pages 379-390, December.
    19. Nilakantan, Rahul & Datta, Saurabh C & Sinha, Priyanjali & Datta, Samar K, 2013. "The impact of microfinance on women empowerment: Evidence from Eastern India," International Journal of Development and Conflict, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, vol. 3(1), pages 27-40.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:21:y:2021:i:c:s2452292921000011. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development-perspectives .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.