Women and Water in Peri-Urban Tanzania: Supply, Access and Accountability

This study examined how women are involved in water supply and management in peri-urban Tanzania on the outskirts of Dar-es-Salaam. Women are the most important category of water users, compared to men. Because of women’s socially constructed role as ‘care-takers’ in the household, and of children and the husband, Women have this role inside the household although some of them also have work outside of the household. Tanzania has a very high rate of female involvement in the labour force. Despite this, the burden of fetching water on a daily basis falls on women and to some extent on children, particularly the girls. This study was based Kimara ward which is peri-urban area in Dar-es-Salaam region, the capital of Tanzania. Through focus group discussion, interviews and observation with women (water users), formal water providers officer and informal water providers, information was generated about the question of who are the key actors in water supply in the area, how women access water, and problems of supply, access, affordability and accountability. Findings of the study provided an overview of the problems of the water supply as women experience it on a daily basis, and the study concluded with some modest suggestions for how women might be supported in their role of ensuring household water supplies.