Heavy loads: children's burdens of water carrying in Malawi
This paper documents water carrying by children aged 9-18 years across Malawi in Southern Africa and evaluates impacts on health and school attendance. At 12 urban and rural field sites quantitative data were collected by questionnaire interviews with 1,504 children. Qualitative data collection preceded the survey. Overall 89 per cent of girls and 66 per cent of boys carried water, with 68 per cent of girls, but just 32 per cent of boys, carrying water daily. Water as the heaviest load routinely carried was reported by 57 per cent of children and 35 per cent reported pains and health problems from load carrying. Up to 10 per cent of girls and 6 per cent of boys responded that carrying water made them late or absent from school. Geography, age, and other factors influence these patterns. We conclude that girls in rural and remote rural communities have the heaviest burdens of daily water carrying detrimental to their health and school attendance. Improving water access and challenging gender stereotyping should reduce burdens on children, especially girls.Bourdillon, M. (2009) ‘Children's work in Southern Africa’, Werkwinkel 4: 17-36.
Dube, L. (2000) ‘Child domestic work’, in M. Bourdillon (ed.), Earning a Life: Working Children in Zimbabwe, pp. 95-107, Harare: Weaver Press.
Geere, J.L., Hunter, P.R. and Jagals, P. (2010) ‘Domestic water carrying and its implications for health: a review and mixed methods pilot study in Limpopo Province, South Africa’, Environmental Health 9: 52 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-9-52≯.
Grieco, M., Apt, N. and Turner, J. (1996) At Christmas and on Rainy Days: Transport, Travel and the Female Traders of Accra, Aldershot: Avebury.
Hawkins, R. and Seager, J. (2010) ‘Gender and water in Mongolia’, Professional Geographer 62: 16-31 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00330120903375852≯.
Katz, C. (2004) Growing Up Global: Economic Restructuring and Children's Everyday Lives, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lehohla, P. (2001) Survey of Activities of Young People in South Africa 1999: Tables on Children's Work-Related Activities, Pretoria: Statistics South Africa and South African Department of Labour.
Pickering, A.J. and Davis, J. (2012) ‘Freshwater availability and water fetching distance affect child health in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Environmental Science and Technology 46: 2391-97 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es203177v≯.
Porter, G. (2010) ‘Transport planning in sub-Saharan Africa III: The challenges of meeting children and young people's mobility and transport needs’, Progress in Development Studies 10: 169-80 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146499340901000206≯.
Porter, G., Blaufuss K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2007) ‘Youth, mobility and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: perspectives from Ghana and Nigeria’, Africa Insight 37: 420-31.
Porter, G., Blaufuss, K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2011) ‘Filling the family's transport gap in sub-Saharan Africa: young people and load carrying in Ghana’ in L. Holt (ed.), International Perspectives on Geographies of Children, Youth and Families, pp. 189-202, London: Routledge.
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Mashiri, M., Tanle, A., Maponya, G., Dube, S. (2012) ‘Child porterage and Africa's transport gap: evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa’, World Development 40: 2136-54 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.004≯.
Punch, S. (2003) ‘Childhoods in the majority world: Miniature adults or tribal children?’ Sociology 37: 277-95 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038503037002004≯.
Reynolds, P. (1991) Dance Civet Cat: Child Labour in the Zambezi Valley, London: Zed Books; Athens, OH: Ohio University Press and Harare: Baobab Books.
Robson, E. (1996) ‘Working girls and boys: Children's contributions to household survival in West Africa’, Geography 81: 403-407.
Robson, E. (2004) ‘Children at work in rural Northern Nigeria: Patterns of age, space and gender’, Journal of Rural Studies 20: 193-210 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0743-0167(03)00047-0≯.
Seager, J. (2010) ‘Editorial - Gender and water: Good rhetoric, but it doesn't “count”’, Geoforum 41: 1-3 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.07.006≯.
Sutton, S. (2011) ‘The jerry can: Greatest development in the water sector in the last 30 years’, Waterlines 30: 292-94 <http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.2011.038≯.
Thompson, J., Porras, I.T., Tumwine, J.K., Mujwahuzi, M.R., Katui-Katua, M., Johnstone, N. and Wood, L. (2001) Drawers of Water II 30 Years of Change in Domestic Water Use and Environmental Health in East Africa, London: IIED.
UNICEF (2010) ‘Water, environment and sanitation: The role of women and girls’ [website] <www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm≯ [accessed 9 March 2010]. www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm
Bourdillon, M. (2009) ‘Children's work in Southern Africa’, Werkwinkel 4: 17-36.
Dube, L. (2000) ‘Child domestic work’, in M. Bourdillon (ed.), Earning a Life: Working Children in Zimbabwe, pp. 95-107, Harare: Weaver Press.
Geere, J.L., Hunter, P.R. and Jagals, P. (2010) ‘Domestic water carrying and its implications for health: a review and mixed methods pilot study in Limpopo Province, South Africa’, Environmental Health 9: 52 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-9-52≯.
Grieco, M., Apt, N. and Turner, J. (1996) At Christmas and on Rainy Days: Transport, Travel and the Female Traders of Accra, Aldershot: Avebury.
Hawkins, R. and Seager, J. (2010) ‘Gender and water in Mongolia’, Professional Geographer 62: 16-31 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00330120903375852≯.
Katz, C. (2004) Growing Up Global: Economic Restructuring and Children's Everyday Lives, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lehohla, P. (2001) Survey of Activities of Young People in South Africa 1999: Tables on Children's Work-Related Activities, Pretoria: Statistics South Africa and South African Department of Labour.
Pickering, A.J. and Davis, J. (2012) ‘Freshwater availability and water fetching distance affect child health in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Environmental Science and Technology 46: 2391-97 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es203177v≯.
Porter, G. (2010) ‘Transport planning in sub-Saharan Africa III: The challenges of meeting children and young people's mobility and transport needs’, Progress in Development Studies 10: 169-80 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146499340901000206≯.
Porter, G., Blaufuss K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2007) ‘Youth, mobility and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: perspectives from Ghana and Nigeria’, Africa Insight 37: 420-31.
Porter, G., Blaufuss, K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2011) ‘Filling the family's transport gap in sub-Saharan Africa: young people and load carrying in Ghana’ in L. Holt (ed.), International Perspectives on Geographies of Children, Youth and Families, pp. 189-202, London: Routledge.
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Mashiri, M., Tanle, A., Maponya, G., Dube, S. (2012) ‘Child porterage and Africa's transport gap: evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa’, World Development 40: 2136-54 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.004≯.
Punch, S. (2003) ‘Childhoods in the majority world: Miniature adults or tribal children?’ Sociology 37: 277-95 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038503037002004≯.
Reynolds, P. (1991) Dance Civet Cat: Child Labour in the Zambezi Valley, London: Zed Books; Athens, OH: Ohio University Press and Harare: Baobab Books.
Robson, E. (1996) ‘Working girls and boys: Children's contributions to household survival in West Africa’, Geography 81: 403-407.
Robson, E. (2004) ‘Children at work in rural Northern Nigeria: Patterns of age, space and gender’, Journal of Rural Studies 20: 193-210 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0743-0167(03)00047-0≯.
Seager, J. (2010) ‘Editorial - Gender and water: Good rhetoric, but it doesn't “count”’, Geoforum 41: 1-3 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.07.006≯.
Sutton, S. (2011) ‘The jerry can: Greatest development in the water sector in the last 30 years’, Waterlines 30: 292-94 <http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.2011.038≯.
Thompson, J., Porras, I.T., Tumwine, J.K., Mujwahuzi, M.R., Katui-Katua, M., Johnstone, N. and Wood, L. (2001) Drawers of Water II 30 Years of Change in Domestic Water Use and Environmental Health in East Africa, London: IIED.
UNICEF (2010) ‘Water, environment and sanitation: The role of women and girls’ [website] <www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm≯ [accessed 9 March 2010]. www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm
Bourdillon, M. (2009) ‘Children's work in Southern Africa’, Werkwinkel 4: 17-36.
Dube, L. (2000) ‘Child domestic work’, in M. Bourdillon (ed.), Earning a Life: Working Children in Zimbabwe, pp. 95-107, Harare: Weaver Press.
Geere, J.L., Hunter, P.R. and Jagals, P. (2010) ‘Domestic water carrying and its implications for health: a review and mixed methods pilot study in Limpopo Province, South Africa’, Environmental Health 9: 52 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-9-52≯.
Grieco, M., Apt, N. and Turner, J. (1996) At Christmas and on Rainy Days: Transport, Travel and the Female Traders of Accra, Aldershot: Avebury.
Hawkins, R. and Seager, J. (2010) ‘Gender and water in Mongolia’, Professional Geographer 62: 16-31 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00330120903375852≯.
Katz, C. (2004) Growing Up Global: Economic Restructuring and Children's Everyday Lives, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lehohla, P. (2001) Survey of Activities of Young People in South Africa 1999: Tables on Children's Work-Related Activities, Pretoria: Statistics South Africa and South African Department of Labour.
Pickering, A.J. and Davis, J. (2012) ‘Freshwater availability and water fetching distance affect child health in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Environmental Science and Technology 46: 2391-97 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es203177v≯.
Porter, G. (2010) ‘Transport planning in sub-Saharan Africa III: The challenges of meeting children and young people's mobility and transport needs’, Progress in Development Studies 10: 169-80 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146499340901000206≯.
Porter, G., Blaufuss K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2007) ‘Youth, mobility and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: perspectives from Ghana and Nigeria’, Africa Insight 37: 420-31.
Porter, G., Blaufuss, K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2011) ‘Filling the family's transport gap in sub-Saharan Africa: young people and load carrying in Ghana’ in L. Holt (ed.), International Perspectives on Geographies of Children, Youth and Families, pp. 189-202, London: Routledge.
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Mashiri, M., Tanle, A., Maponya, G., Dube, S. (2012) ‘Child porterage and Africa's transport gap: evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa’, World Development 40: 2136-54 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.004≯.
Punch, S. (2003) ‘Childhoods in the majority world: Miniature adults or tribal children?’ Sociology 37: 277-95 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038503037002004≯.
Reynolds, P. (1991) Dance Civet Cat: Child Labour in the Zambezi Valley, London: Zed Books; Athens, OH: Ohio University Press and Harare: Baobab Books.
Robson, E. (1996) ‘Working girls and boys: Children's contributions to household survival in West Africa’, Geography 81: 403-407.
Robson, E. (2004) ‘Children at work in rural Northern Nigeria: Patterns of age, space and gender’, Journal of Rural Studies 20: 193-210 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0743-0167(03)00047-0≯.
Seager, J. (2010) ‘Editorial - Gender and water: Good rhetoric, but it doesn't “count”’, Geoforum 41: 1-3 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.07.006≯.
Sutton, S. (2011) ‘The jerry can: Greatest development in the water sector in the last 30 years’, Waterlines 30: 292-94 <http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.2011.038≯.
Thompson, J., Porras, I.T., Tumwine, J.K., Mujwahuzi, M.R., Katui-Katua, M., Johnstone, N. and Wood, L. (2001) Drawers of Water II 30 Years of Change in Domestic Water Use and Environmental Health in East Africa, London: IIED.
UNICEF (2010) ‘Water, environment and sanitation: The role of women and girls’ [website] <www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm≯ [accessed 9 March 2010]. www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm
Bourdillon, M. (2009) ‘Children's work in Southern Africa’, Werkwinkel 4: 17-36.
Dube, L. (2000) ‘Child domestic work’, in M. Bourdillon (ed.), Earning a Life: Working Children in Zimbabwe, pp. 95-107, Harare: Weaver Press.
Geere, J.L., Hunter, P.R. and Jagals, P. (2010) ‘Domestic water carrying and its implications for health: a review and mixed methods pilot study in Limpopo Province, South Africa’, Environmental Health 9: 52 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-9-52≯.
Grieco, M., Apt, N. and Turner, J. (1996) At Christmas and on Rainy Days: Transport, Travel and the Female Traders of Accra, Aldershot: Avebury.
Hawkins, R. and Seager, J. (2010) ‘Gender and water in Mongolia’, Professional Geographer 62: 16-31 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00330120903375852≯.
Katz, C. (2004) Growing Up Global: Economic Restructuring and Children's Everyday Lives, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lehohla, P. (2001) Survey of Activities of Young People in South Africa 1999: Tables on Children's Work-Related Activities, Pretoria: Statistics South Africa and South African Department of Labour.
Pickering, A.J. and Davis, J. (2012) ‘Freshwater availability and water fetching distance affect child health in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Environmental Science and Technology 46: 2391-97 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es203177v≯.
Porter, G. (2010) ‘Transport planning in sub-Saharan Africa III: The challenges of meeting children and young people's mobility and transport needs’, Progress in Development Studies 10: 169-80 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146499340901000206≯.
Porter, G., Blaufuss K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2007) ‘Youth, mobility and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: perspectives from Ghana and Nigeria’, Africa Insight 37: 420-31.
Porter, G., Blaufuss, K. and Owusu Acheampong, F. (2011) ‘Filling the family's transport gap in sub-Saharan Africa: young people and load carrying in Ghana’ in L. Holt (ed.), International Perspectives on Geographies of Children, Youth and Families, pp. 189-202, London: Routledge.
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Mashiri, M., Tanle, A., Maponya, G., Dube, S. (2012) ‘Child porterage and Africa's transport gap: evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa’, World Development 40: 2136-54 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.004≯.
Punch, S. (2003) ‘Childhoods in the majority world: Miniature adults or tribal children?’ Sociology 37: 277-95 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038503037002004≯.
Reynolds, P. (1991) Dance Civet Cat: Child Labour in the Zambezi Valley, London: Zed Books; Athens, OH: Ohio University Press and Harare: Baobab Books.
Robson, E. (1996) ‘Working girls and boys: Children's contributions to household survival in West Africa’, Geography 81: 403-407.
Robson, E. (2004) ‘Children at work in rural Northern Nigeria: Patterns of age, space and gender’, Journal of Rural Studies 20: 193-210 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0743-0167(03)00047-0≯.
Seager, J. (2010) ‘Editorial - Gender and water: Good rhetoric, but it doesn't “count”’, Geoforum 41: 1-3 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.07.006≯.
Sutton, S. (2011) ‘The jerry can: Greatest development in the water sector in the last 30 years’, Waterlines 30: 292-94 <http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.2011.038≯.
Thompson, J., Porras, I.T., Tumwine, J.K., Mujwahuzi, M.R., Katui-Katua, M., Johnstone, N. and Wood, L. (2001) Drawers of Water II 30 Years of Change in Domestic Water Use and Environmental Health in East Africa, London: IIED.
UNICEF (2010) ‘Water, environment and sanitation: The role of women and girls’ [website] <www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm≯ [accessed 9 March 2010]. www.wunrn.com/news/2008/05_08/04_28_08/042808_water.htm
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