Paper short abstract:

Participation in the water sector gives communities the responsibility to manage their own water security without knowledge, financing and power. We analyse these dynamics at the household and community level, revealing that water-related responsibilisation is fundamentally gendered.

Paper long abstract:

In the water literature, little attention is given to responsibilities in specific adaptation approaches to water risks from climate hazards and poor management of water supply systems. A dominant narrative in natural resources governance states that community ownership of natural resources, and participation in governance processes, enables and enhances sustainability of resources and management systems. This has enabled decentralised, community-based water management which is poorly funded, while key skills for adaptation and system management are insufficiently transferred from experts to community members. Some scholars claim that community participation in the water sector improves water security. We directly refute this claim by arguing that community participation in the water sector gives communities the responsibility to manage their own water security through labour, financial and materiality, without knowledge, financing and power. Drawing on two case studies, one of flood adaptation in Kenya, and one of rural water supply in Ethiopia, we reveal the ways in which responsibilisation plays out differently for men and women. In particular, we find that responsibilisation without capability creates maladaptive coping mechanisms, leaving communities, and particularly women, entrenched in socio-environmental vulnerability. We analyse the tension of power and responsibilities, continuing the emerging academic discussion of responsibilisation as a transfer of responsibilities from the government to people, without financing or power. It is essential to analyse whether people have capabilities to undertake these responsibilities, without compromising their values, revealing that water-related responsibilisation is fundamentally gendered.