6th UF Water Institute Symposium Abstract

   
Submitter's Name Nargiza Ludgate
Session Name Poster Session - Human Water Needs/Use
Poster Number 34
 
Author(s) Nargiza Ludgate,  Author (Presenting Author)
   
  Gender roles in household water resource management in water-scarce countries: Does greywater treatment technology empower rural women in Jordan
   
  Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is one of the driest countries in the world that struggles to cope with the limited freshwater resources to meet the growing demand from the economy and the domestic sector. To cope with water shortage, Jordan is considering all possible alternatives of water supply and demand management including the reuse of treated greywater in the households. A number of international organizations, including the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas and International Fund for Agricultural Development, in collaboration with Jordan’s National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension, have implemented the community-based interventions that tested 27 and installed more than 400 constructed wetland systems to treat greywater within household compound in eight governorates in Jordan. This research fills the gap of examining how the introduction of greywater technology impacts the bargaining power and gender relations within the households and whether women’s economic power, defined as access to and control over productive resources, income and assets, is impacted. This research evaluated the impact of greywater treatment technology on intra-household water demand management and resource allocation, and by looking at changes in the bargaining power between men and women in the household, using sex-disaggregated data. The fieldwork compared data between technology users and non-users, males and females, and assessed the impact of greywater reuse on men and women’s roles in relation to resource management and allocation for home garden production, and whether benefits received from greywater treatment technology adoption and use lead to greater women’s bargaining power within the household This research contributes to the understanding of how interventions promoting water saving technologies affects intra-household bargaining dynamics in Jordan.