Master thesis

Saunak Sinha Ray (2019)
Household water insecurity in a coupled human and natural system: Empirical evidence from rural and peri-urban communities of Limpopo, South Africa.
Master thesis, Technische Universität Dresden, August 2019
(joint supervision with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education)

Abstract

Water security is a central global issue in today’s world across geographies from international to local scales. At a household level, water insecurity has severe implications for wellbeing, livelihood and health across the globe. Despite its importance, there remain multiple definitions of water insecurity and lack of an appropriate analytical tool to measure household-level water insecurity. Through present research scope, I used a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to develop a novel, reliable and validated household-level water insecurity (HWI) scale to measure, characterise and analyse the multi-dimensional determinants of water insecurity. The developed scale is then put in a broader context of coupled human and natural system (CHANS) framework to link and analyse the interrelation amongst various socio-ecological, socio-hydrological and institutional stressors. In a South African context, although the consequences of water insecurity are well documented, the variation in social and physical determinants of household-level water insecurity in rural and peri-urban landscapes is a growing concern and research focus which this current research help advance.

South Africa is one of the forty driest countries in the world, and the nation’s economic development is closely linked to its water security. Statistical analysis of past climate data showed the presence of a highly variable climatic regime with a decreasing number of rainy days, total seasonal rainfall and increasing chances of sporadic extreme events. An integrated top-down and bottom-up institutional framework analysis highlighted the existing societal perceptions and issues to water access within the study system amongst the various actors. To study the societal responses, a cross-sectional household survey was conducted (n = 132), and statistical analysis of survey data was used to develop the HWI scale. Three domains of household water insecurity emerged: (1) perception of poor water access, (2) perception of unsafe water quality and (3) perception of lost opportunity and social networks. The developed scale thus helped understand the latent construct of emotional distress as caused by water insecurity. The research also highlighted a statistically significant correlation between household water and food insecurity. Despite advancements made by the local governments in recent past in vastly improving water service delivery households are stuck in waterscape of poor water access, quality leading to poor quality of life in these marginalized communities. The willingness to pay survey inferred that households are willing to pay for improved water services.

The results thus indicate that increasing water stress, population growth, supply-demand ratios, climate variability, reduced water quantity, poor quality, institutional and socio-eco-hydrological barriers can thus affect the economic growth and sustainable development. Improved groundwater management, source protection measures, local water treatment can enhance reliable and adequate domestic water supply. Additionally, increased awareness amongst the various actors and implementation of a sustainable cost recovery mechanism can be useful in improving the water infrastructures and society-local government relationship.