Woman-headed households in rural South Africa need water, sanitation and energy to fight hunger – G20 could help

By Adrino Mazenda and Hunadi Mapula Nkwana

Rural homes headed by women in South Africa have many problems getting water, sanitation and energy. Electricity from the grid, flush toilets and piped water are’t always available.

Without all of these essential services, families are likely to struggle to produce enough food to meet their daily needs for a healthy life. 

Water, energy and sanitation are all needed for growing food, cooking and storing it, and keeping it free from contamination.

We are research specialists in food systems and public policy. Using statistics from the 2022 South African General Household Survey, we looked at how water and sanitation influence food security in 2 369 female-headed households in South Africa’s poorest provinces, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

We also looked into how energy acts as a link or pathway through which water and sanitation affect food security.

We chose to research the plight of rural, women-led families because even though these women have some access to land and grow crops, they face many problems in growing enough food for their families to survive.

These problems include inadequate