On a busy street corner in Nairobi, Kenya, Abuya uses water to prepare and cook the food she sells to passersby.

At the market in Hyderabad, India, Dimah splashes water on her fruit and vegetables to keep them fresh. In the make-shift hair-cutting salon in her basement in Medellin, Colombia, Isabela uses water to wash her customer’s hair.

These are daily routines for women-owned informal micro-businesses that all have in common a dependence on water. In situations of water insecurity, such entrepreneurs often have to walk long distances to fetch water, wait in line in public water kiosks, or hire others to provide water for them.

In extreme instances, the lack of water forces them to close down their businesses altogether, stifling entrepreneurship. We all know that water is critical for life and that shortage of water has detrimental effects on people’s health and development. But what we think about less  is the role that water plays specifically in jobs. — blog.wb.org/blogs