Poverty and Water Nexus: Understanding ‘Poverty Production’ Through Water Availability and access

Abstract

This article reviews literature on studies dealing with the link between poverty and water over the past decade in an effort to search for an alternative approach to the analysis and the link between poverty-water researches. It covers topics ranging from the role of water to societies, research on poverty and water, the measurement of the relationship between poverty and water, efforts to make available water for the poor, stakeholder participation in water projects, economic approaches in addressing the water poverty relationship, the environmental dimension of poverty and water nexus, among others.  Future research challenges are seen in the form of work on the areas of further development of a conceptual link and analytical framework of water to poverty to include the different relevant facets, related factors, and their temporal aspects.  In this vein, unavailability of adequate quantity and quality of water as an agent of poverty production should be investigated and empirically established at various levels and situations. These should include consideration of economic allocation efficiency aspects, social equity considerations, and environmental dimensions of water resources availability, management and use.