The impact of improved ‘water-use security’ on women’s reliance on agricultural incomes in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Since women are the principal food producers in most rural areas, it is argued that enhancing their water-use security would improve agricultural incomes. This study provides empirical evidence of the effect of improved water-use security on women’s dependence on agricultural incomes. Cluster analysis was employed to classify women practising either irrigation or dryland farming in the Msinga rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal, according to their dependence on agricultural incomes. The Binomial Logit model was then used to investigate the effect of improved water-use security on women’s dependence on agricultural incomes. The levels of water-use security and other dominant forms of capital assets were identified through principal components analysis (PCA). The logit results showed that higher levels of water-use security did not correspond with reliance on agricultural-based incomes. Factors such as the fragmentation of farms into smaller sizes through inheritance, poor institutional settings, and the lack of infrastructure were the main reasons why women with higher water-use security were not reliant on agricultural incomes. Other capital endowments, including social capital, access to information, agricultural production skills and land size increase women’s reliance on agricultural incomes. Women from larger households were also more likely to rely on agricultural incomes. On the other hand, dryland farmers were less likely to rely on agricultural income sources. It was concluded that high levels of water-use security can only make a positive contribution to women’s reliance on agricultural incomes when appropriate institutional and infrastructural resources exist.