Women’s Informal Water Vending as An Economic Activity and Its Effects on Household Bargaining Dynamics in Northern Ghana

Abstract

This article elaborates the importance of informal women’s work in northern Ghana in general and specifically in Tamale with particular attention to water vending. Particular attention is paid to an examination of the different forms of water vending and the ways in which they are gendered as well as their seasonal variations. The bargaining strengths of women who are engaged in water vending as an economic activity is also highlighted in this article. A combination of secondary and primary data is employed in the analysis of data for this article, to identify the opportunities and challenges that water vending poses for married women and to show how looking at wet and dry season water vending, offers an opportunity to examine how variations in the significance and value of women’s informal work in this sector influences gender bargaining within households.

Keywords: Bargaining, Informal, Seasonal, Water vending, Women