Improving Gender Equity in Irrigation: Application of a Tool to Promote Learning and Performance in Malawi and Uzbekistan

This paper provides a brief synthesis of research conducted on gender in irrigation, and the tools and frameworks used in the past to promote improvement for women in on-farm agricultural water management. It then presents results from the pilot of the Gender in Irrigation Learning and Improvement Tool (GILIT) in locations in Malawi and Uzbekistan in 2015. Through the results of the tool, the paper looks at benefit sharing between men and women farmers: (i) access to irrigation scheme resources (including information, for example, in the design phase; land, water and other inputs); (ii) participation in scheme management; and (iii) access to scheme benefits, including access to market information, packaging and payments. The indicators for the tool were modelled after principles reflected in existing gender policies and strategies, and intended to improve performance at field level in line with national and regional goals. The paper concludes with informal and formal constraints to gender-equitable outcomes from irrigation investments identified during the pilot, and suggests how the tool can be used by various development actors to improve the benefits for women from investments in agricultural water management

How Important is Gender in Transboundary Groundwater Governance?: A Question for the Ramotswa Aquifer in Southern Africa

In semi-arid Sub-Saharan Africa, groundwater is a critical resource for rural livelihoods given the pressures on surface water and lack of piped delivery. Socially defined gen- der roles in water management often create disparities and inequalities regarding water access, use, and labour, making consideration of gender issues an important component of groundwater governance. Resources shared across borders raises the question about the relevance of and approach to gender in transboundary ground- water governance. This paper explores this question in light of the lack of gender responsive governance arrangements over transboundary groundwater resources. It uses qualitative methodologies to examine the need for institutional approaches to improve gender sensitivity and equality in transboundary groundwater cooperation. The paper seeks to assess how legal instruments on gender and transboundary water resources influence equality for women and men in terms of: reach of water access, benefits of water use, and empowerment. First, it analyses the level of gender sensi- tivity in international and regional instruments that provide the governance frame- work for transboundary groundwater. It then proposes a new integrated framework for analysis, which it applies to the case study of the Ramotswa aquifer – a resource shared between South Africa and Botswana. The paper examines the extent to which international instruments, national law and local programmes and projects related to transboundary groundwater governance correspond with the realities on the ground. The results uncover constraints in both countries regarding equal participation in decision-making, deficiencies in meeting gendered needs and ensuring benefits, and disempowering legal frameworks. The paper concludes with entry points that link transboundary water governance and local level water management, offering potential indicators that can inform governance and programming, and enable improved moni- toring of the implementation of gender responsiveness at multiple levels