TY - JOUR
T1 - Is household water insecurity a link between water governance and well-being? A multi-site analysis
AU - Miller, Joshua D.
AU - Vonk, Jaynie
AU - Staddon, Chad
AU - Young, Sera L.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the Oxfam staff and consulting teams in Zambia and DRC for their contributions to the Effectiveness Reviews, which included collecting the data used for this research.C.S. was funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a charitable foundation helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement, and the application of research. S.L.Y. was supported by the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program and the generous support of the American people provided to the Feed the Future Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab (SIIL) through the United State Agency for International Development Cooperative Agreement AID-OAA-L-14-00006. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the US Government.
Funding Information:
C.S. was funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a charitable foundation helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement, and the application of research. S.L.Y. was supported by the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program and the generous support of the American people provided to the Feed the Future Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab (SIIL) through the United State Agency for International Development Cooperative Agreement AID-OAA-L-14-00006. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors.
PY - 2020/6/1
Y1 - 2020/6/1
N2 - Improving water governance is a top priority for addressing the global water crisis. Yet, there is a dearth of empirical data examining whether better water governance is associated with lower water insecurity and improved well-being. We, therefore, pooled household data from two Sustainable Water Effectiveness Reviews conducted by Oxfam GB in Zambia (n ¼ 997) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, n ¼ 1,071) to assess the relationship between perceived water governance (using a 12-item indicator), water insecurity [using the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale], and four indicators of well-being: life satisfaction, drinking unsafe water, diarrhea, and resilience to cholera outbreak. Using generalized structural equation models controlling for wealth and primary water source, each point increase in water governance score was associated with a 0.69-point decrease in HWISE Scale scores. Good water governance was also directly associated with greater odds of life satisfaction (aOR 1.24) and lower odds of both drinking unsafe water (aOR 0.91) and severe cholera impact (aOR 0.92). Furthermore, the relationships between water governance and drinking unsafe water, diarrhea, and cholera impact were mediated by household water insecurity. Improving water governance has the potential to meaningfully impact entrenched public health issues through changes in water insecurity.
AB - Improving water governance is a top priority for addressing the global water crisis. Yet, there is a dearth of empirical data examining whether better water governance is associated with lower water insecurity and improved well-being. We, therefore, pooled household data from two Sustainable Water Effectiveness Reviews conducted by Oxfam GB in Zambia (n ¼ 997) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, n ¼ 1,071) to assess the relationship between perceived water governance (using a 12-item indicator), water insecurity [using the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale], and four indicators of well-being: life satisfaction, drinking unsafe water, diarrhea, and resilience to cholera outbreak. Using generalized structural equation models controlling for wealth and primary water source, each point increase in water governance score was associated with a 0.69-point decrease in HWISE Scale scores. Good water governance was also directly associated with greater odds of life satisfaction (aOR 1.24) and lower odds of both drinking unsafe water (aOR 0.91) and severe cholera impact (aOR 0.92). Furthermore, the relationships between water governance and drinking unsafe water, diarrhea, and cholera impact were mediated by household water insecurity. Improving water governance has the potential to meaningfully impact entrenched public health issues through changes in water insecurity.
KW - Cholera
KW - Diarrhea
KW - Household water insecurity
KW - Sub-Saharan Africa
KW - Water governance
KW - Water quality
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U2 - 10.2166/washdev.2020.165
DO - 10.2166/washdev.2020.165
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088030351
SN - 2043-9083
VL - 10
SP - 320
EP - 334
JO - Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development
JF - Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development
IS - 2
ER -
