posted on 2018-11-01, 11:36authored bySarah Cooper, Paul Hutchings, John Butterworth, Abinet Kebede, Alison Parker, Bethel Terefe, Barbara van Koppen
Recent thinking proposes a more holistic approach to measuring household water security. In addition to conventional service-level based indicators, assessments should account for broader social, political and cultural structures which shape how households interact with water. Contributing to this agenda, the paper introduces new research that aims to evaluate the relationship between emotional wellbeing and water security among pastoralists in the Afar region of Ethiopia. It is hypothesised that the measurement of emotion could have potential value as an indicator of water security among vulnerable populations who have particularly complex water use patterns that are poorly captured by conventional indicators. Within the pastoralist context, preliminary data collection has indicated an emotional response to seasonality in resource availability and distance travelled to infrastructure points. Further research is underway to explore the complexity of emotion and its interrelation with water security to better understanding the needs of pastoralists in Afar.
Funding
This paper forms a preliminary output of research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Department for International Development as part of the Development Frontiers Research Scheme (Grant: ES/R001049/1).
History
School
Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Research Unit
Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC)
Published in
Transformation towards sustainable and resilient WASH services: Proceedings of the 41st WEDC International Conference
Pages
? - ? (6)
Citation
COOPER, S. ... et al., 2018. Emotional wellbeing as a proxy indicator for water security among pastoralists in Afar, Ethiopia. IN: Shaw, R.J. (ed). Transformation towards sustainable and resilient WASH services: Proceedings of the 41st WEDC International Conference, Nakuru, Kenya, 9-13 July 2018, paper 2948, 6 pp.
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