The Gender Dimensions of Water Poverty: Exploring Water Shortages in Chitungwiza

Water poverty in Chitungwiza has become the poverty of mainly women. Yet the effects of water poverty on the economic well-being of women remain little understood at least empirically. This article seeks to explore the gender implications of water poverty in Chitungwiza and strategies that can be adopted to sever the gender-water poverty nexus. The study revealed that acute water shortages in Chitungwiza have impoverished mainly women as they are the managers of water at household level. Thus, there is need to balance the gender composition of water managers at all levels so that water-management decisions are gender sensitive.