Coping strategies for individual and household‐level water insecurity: A systematic review

Abstract

Household water insecurity is a complex socioecological challenge with a range of consequences for health and wellbeing. Understanding individual and household‐level coping strategies, i.e., responses or adaptations to manage water insecurity, can shape future research and development practice. We therefore (a) systematically describe the characteristics and contexts of 173 studies documenting coping strategies and (b) classify the types of strategies within four domains of water insecurity: access, use, quality, and reliability. Most studies were from Sub‐Saharan Africa or South Asia. In the domain of access, the most common coping strategies were building infrastructure, and storing, purchasing, and sharing water. For use, changing food consumption, agricultural practices, and hygiene were most frequently mentioned. For quality, water treatment was the most common strategy. To ensure water reliability, people most frequently reported changing routines or relocating their homes altogether. Our review provides a useful framework to understand coping strategies, but more research is needed to address three gaps in particular. First, we recommend more representative exploration of the range of coping strategies, particularly in middle‐ and high‐income countries. Second, the links between coping with water insecurity and a range of other nutritional, social, financial, and health outcomes need to be better understood to address overall household wellbeing. Third, we recommend the development of a metric to quantify individual and household‐level water insecurity‐related coping strategies. This line of inquiry can enable practitioners to design and implement context‐specific interventions that leverage preexisting strategies to improve experiences of water insecurity. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Engineering Water > Planning Water

Water Insecurity, Water Borrowing, and Psychosocial Stress Among Daasanach Pastoralists in Northern Kenya

“…In many contexts household water managers often experience psychosocial stress as a result of the negotiations, such as borrowing, purchasing, or rationing water, in which they must engage to ensure sufficient water (Wutich & Ragsdale, 2008; Brewis, 2019a; Stevenson et al, 2012). Marginalized households with low socioeconomic status often rely on less costly but more time-consuming coping mechanisms for water insecurity, which may contribute to even greater stress among those households (Achore et al, 2020; Venkataramanan et al, 2020). We found that lower perceived standing was associated with higher odds of borrowing water.…”

“…Studies also show that households experience and cope with water insecurity differently based on their wealth and socioeconomic status (Achore et al, 2020; Venkataramanan et al, 2020). To account for these differences three measures of socioeconomic status were used: livestock wealth, household income, and perceived standing in the community.…”

“…Water insecurity coping strategies, or actions taken by a household in response to unreliable water supplies (Majuru et al 2016), are strategies used to reduce water problems and improve access (Venkataramanan et al, 2020). In a recent meta-ethnographic synthesis of relevant qualitative literature, Achore and colleagues (2020), identified nine common coping strategies for water insecurity.…”

“…The cumulative experience of water insecurity has been linked to emotional distress and poor mental health outcomes (Wutich & Ragsdale, 2008; Wutich et al, 2020). Due to their potential psychosocial toll, many water coping strategies are not sustainable as permanent solutions for water insecurity (Achore et al, 2020; Venkataramanan et al, 2020). For example, many household-level water managers experience psychosocial stress as a byproduct of the negotiations in which they must engage to ensure sufficient water supplies in the household (Wutich & Ragsdale, 2008).…”

Water Security and Nutrition: Current Knowledge and Research Opportunities

“…Households may cope with water scarcity and contamination by consuming less food or changing diets, sometimes replacing preferred foods with less nutrient-dense or more highly processed substitutes that require little or no water to prepare ( 127 ). In Kenya, 2 studies found that households had sufficient food but were unable to use it because they lacked water (e.g., for preparing porridge) ( 81 , 128 ).…”