Water Journeys: Using Walking Interviews and Videos to Explore Household Water Insecurity, Environmental Risks, and Health in Urban Slums

Keywords: Walking interviews, household water insecurity, environmental risks, urban slums, Malawi, Africa
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 28

Abstract

Water insecurity remains a critical livelihood and public health challenge globally, especially in the urban informal settlements of Sub-Saharan Africa where most of the urban population lives. In urban informal settlements, the water collection journey exposes women and girls to diverse environmental and physical risks. However, the literature on water insecurity has predominantly focused on household experiences, often overlooking how environmental and physical risks on the water collection path amplify water insecurity experiences and affect the health of women and girls. Innovatively combining walking interviews and videos from Blantyre, Malawi, and using insights from embodied political ecology of health, this paper examines how everyday struggles for water in urban informal settlements expose women and girls to environmental health risks and potentially compromise their health and wellbeing. We identify and discuss three main sources of risk that worsen women’s everyday water journeys: terrain, built environment, and people and behavior.