By
Joachim Ezeji (Email: santajayinc@yahoo.com)
Today in Nigeria, all the 36 State Governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have each set up a State Water Supply Agency (SWA) charged with the responsibility of providing potable water supply to the urban and in some cases their semi urban communities.
From Lagos to Calabar; Kano to Port Harcourt; and Owerri to Birnin Kebbi sad tales of high operational costs, poor revenue, epileptic power supply, inadequate funding, ill-motivated personnel, aging plants and machineries have remained the undoing of many of the 36 state water utilities in Nigeria.
The result is that many Nigerians lack sustainable access to clean drinking water, and those for productive activities. The tragedy in all these is such that if sustainable water supply is a ladder in economic development with higher rungs representing steps up the path to economic well being, there are roughly 80% of households, three-quarter of Nigerians, who live lacking support to get a foot on the first rung of the development ladder.
A typical case is the Lagos State Water Corporation. Here, the water distribution network can only reach one in every three of the 15 million inhabitants of the city. Yet, they projected population growth of 4% per annum of the city means that the city’s water demand, will double by the year 2020. The cost of meeting current and projected demand has been put at around $2.5 billion over the next 20 years.
A World Bank 2003 report stressed how the abysmal performance of public utilities has come to symbolize the poorest aspects of governance in Nigeria. Using Lagos as a reference the report revealed that being neglected and close to collapse, the publicly run Lagos State Water Corporation holds the dubious distinction of having the highest recorded level of unaccounted-for-water in the world. Only 4 percent of its water production capacity goes towards the creation of revenue.
Unaccounted-for-water is the most common measure of the efficiency of a water company. The World Bank defines it as “the difference between the quantity of water supplied to a network and the metered water by the customer” It has two components; physical losses due to leakage from pipes; and administrative losses due to illegal connections and under registration of water meters.
No doubt water tariffs must be set and where necessary raised to meet the costs of water supply, which continue to increase due to more advanced treatment, greater distance to be traveled, lower groundwater tables, and more costly distribution in densely populated areas.
However water metering can be detrimental if water prices are set too high. An unaffordable rate structure can threaten the health and welfare of economically disadvantaged populations if they cannot afford to pay for a necessary amount of water.
One way to try to avoid this problem is to calculate an average monthly consumption rate needed to cover key human needs and then charge a basic rate for this amount and a higher price for any consumption above that amount. Can Pre-paid metering guarantee this?
It must however be noted that the objectives guiding tariffs are anchored on the goal to protect consumers while achieving and maintaining the financial viability of utilities. Pre-Paid metering does the later and ignores the former!
These objectives often include; (i) serving the urban poor; (ii) using lifeline rate for the urban poor; encouraging demand management; developing schemes that ensure self-sufficient operation and maintenance etc. Again Pre-paid metering is not in tandem (i) and (ii) above!
For any water utility to maintain or restore a lead to consumers on water efficiency, it must get on top of its leakage problems. Leakage by water companies in England and Wales fell by around 20 million liters a day (ml/d) in 2005/06 because of strict regulation by the Office for Water (OFWAT).
The overall leakage in England and Wales was close to 3,600ml/d in 2006 compared to nearly 5,000 ml/d just a decade earlier. OFWAT took action that required a utility like Thames Water to make a substantial reduction in leakage, and the company entered into a legally binding agreement with the regulator (OFWAT), committing it to spend GPB150million of its own money to step up the program of water mains replacement. It also risks being fined if it does not meet its future leakage targets.
But here, who regulates Nigeria’s urban water utilities? There must be an independent regulator before these utilities would demand Pre-paid water metering, as if this is the only vital fulcrum in their performance improvement plans.
It is germane to underscore therefore, that at the state level, a model water supply services regulatory law has been prepared in association with the World-Bank supported Water Investment Mobilization and Applications Guidelines (WIMAG).
WIMAG provides a basis for water supply reform legislation including the establishment of State Water Regulatory Commission and licensing procedures for all water service providers. It provides an equitable approach to water pricing in Nigeria.
In tandem with the National Water and Sanitation Policy (2000) and the National Water Resources Bill (2007), WIMAG and the model State Water Supply Services Regulatory Law (WSSRL) insists that each state of the federation with a State Water Agency (SWA) must establish a regulatory commission that is empowered to issue licenses for the provision of water supply services by both government and private sector entities; define minimum service requirement; set tariffs; define rights and obligations of the water service providers; and define performance standards.
Further to the foregoing, States are to ensure that water service providers are autonomous bodies subject to regulation by the state regulatory commission; and that the regulatory commission is not subject to the direction or control of the state governor or any other person in respect of any determination, report or inquiry; and that the sector is structured to prevent misuse of monopoly power.
Above all, WIMAG demands that Nigerian States should incorporate principles of good governance into the structure and operational procedures of state water agencies, particularly; equity, accountability, efficiency, transparency and public participation. States are also required to establish appeals mechanisms for decisions taken by water service providers under their jurisdiction.
Till these things are rightly done it would amount to sheer mischief for State Governments and their SWAs to adopt such an extreme measure as Pre-paid metering of drinking water. In this context is the fact that beyond everything else, water is a “social service”, because it is a life and death issue for all living things especially humans.
Nigerian SWAs need not be reminded that there are many ways to set and collect water tariff beyond using pre-paid meters. What is simply required is to achieve such is team discipline and corporate focus. These attributes are on reign in parts of Europe and North America where many homes as at today are not even metered, talk less of being pre-paid.
In South Africa the introduction of Pre-paid meters is already causing serious problem despite the provision for FREE basic water (200 liters per household per day) as a lifeline support for the poor!
Commoditizing drinking water by selling it as a recharge card anywhere in Nigeria will further expand poverty, boost misery and upscale ill health.
We should not allow this to happen!
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
CTA e-discussion: Water Management
Question 2 What are the mechanisms and activities implemented or that
should be implemented in order to mitigate these constraints?
At policy-maker level; 1) Investment in water , sanitation and agriculture is an investment in development and sustainability, which should be built on reform, capacity building and innovative water sector financing mechanisms for soft as well as hard issues with appropriate cost recovery.
The African Water Facility has a role to play in financing water initiatives by localizing global and regional plans, facilitating stakeholder partnerships with support for multi - level capacity building. Capacity building has been identified as a major gap, which it is difficult to mobilize donor support.
Political commitments from governments must include the increased mobilization of domestic resources through their PRSPs. Furthermore there is a need to find innovative means of mobilizing domestic resources and encouraging investment of domestic private resources.
Trans-boundary water resources management and development are by their very nature very expensive and beyond the capacity of any single government or donor and requires high-level skills as well as being very time consuming to achieve tangible.
There is therefore the need for partnership for funding trans-boundary water resources programmes. The modest experience of the NBI shows the importance of cooperation and partnership in managing and developing shared river resources. The EU Water Initiative and the GEF programmes are other examples of collaborative efforts towards funding trans-boundary water development and management. It was recommended that capacity building; long-term academic/professional training and encouraging south-south cooperation between basin authorities should underpin all collaborative trans-boundary water initiatives.
2) A minimum platform of institutions & infrastructure is needed to achieve water security, which is a necessary condition for sustainable growth & poverty reduction. Investment in appropriate infrastructure due to the high rainfall variability and vulnerable economies is essential
The Inga hydropower project as an example of mega project, has enormous potential for hydropower production to meet the energy needs of many African countries and when developed could create peace, solidarity, socio-economic development and true regional integration. Water security requires innovative basin wide water management and bottom up approaches to gender based investments in multiple water use systems.
At rural community level:
For the rural community level, I will propose the concept of “Sanitize and Recycle”, a model which I will describe as a cycle; a sustainable, closed-loop system. It treats human excreta as a resource. Urine and faeces are stored and processed on site and then, if necessary, further processed off site until they are free of disease organism. The nutrients contained in the excreta are then recycled by using them in agriculture.
Sadly, in today’s society the flow of plant nutrients is linear: nutrients are taken up from the soil by the crop, transported to the market, eaten, excreted and discharged. In a sustainable society the production of food must be based on returning the plant nutrients to the soil. The use of chemical fertilizers is not sustainable, since their production relies on non-renewable resources”. The benefits are as follows;
First, food security and poverty alleviation .In parts of the world, particularly Africa; rural people suffer from periodic famine due to drought, small plot size, soil erosion, poverty (inability to purchase sufficient food) and political factors. In urban areas, poor people also suffer from under nutrition due to poverty, although urban agriculture is a growing phenomenon. However, growing food for the immediate family within confined spaces is a challenge. The products from eco-toilets with their nutrients can be used in rural and urban areas to increase food security for all households, particularly the poor.
The products from eco-toilets can be used directly at the homestead level, in backyard gardens. Researchers have shown that about 1.5litres of undiluted urine can be used to fertilize 1 square meter of soil. 1.5 liters is the amount produced by one adult in one day. Even without an eco-toilet, people could collect their own urine and use it on backyard gardens to increase yields. However, the fertilizing effect of urine is said to work best in soil with high organic matter content and this can be increased by adding the humus from eco-toilets and garden composts.
In urban areas, the sanitized humus from eco-toilets can be used as a rich nutritious soil for planting in pots, and the urine can be used to fertilize the soil before planting and for continued fertilization of plants during growth.
Vegetable and fruit crops grown using urine fertilization produces 2-10 times the amount of crop by weight as those grown in unfertilized, poor soil. If people use urine to grow vegetables and fruits, the increased production results in greater food security at virtually no cost.
Soil enriched with humus from eco-toilets holds water longer than soils not enriched with compost. Research has also shown that plants grown in soils enriched with large amounts of humus require less watering and survive droughts better than plants grown in ordinary soils without this humus.
Second, cost saving for Nigerian farmers is another benefit. This is true because the formulation of nutrients in urine is similar but not exactly the same as that in commercial fertilizers. But urine and commercial fertilizers give similar results in boosting plant growth.
Urine is high in nitrogen and lower in phosphorus and potassium. Some top-up of phosphorus and potassium is often needed to get the best possible use of nitrogen. As faeces and ash are high in phosphorus and potassium, farmers can replace commercial fertilizers with urine and top-up with sanitized faeces from eco-toilets at little or no extra cost.
Third; preventing nitrogen pollution of drinking water in our communities is another benefit. Pit toilets as well as sewers are frequently a source of ground water pollution, especially in areas where the water table is high such as Port Harcourt, Calabar and Lagos etc.
Urine is rich in nitrogen and up to 50% of the nitrogen leaches out of the pit toilet pass through the soil and reaches the groundwater. Water with NO3 concentrations higher than 50mg/liter is considered to be unfit for human consumption. It is not unusual to find such high concentrations of nitrogen in wells in communities with pit toilets.
Finally, restoring lost top soils could also be another great benefit. This is true because according to FAO, the Earth is losing 25billion tones of topsoil per year because of erosion. Chemical fertilizers, while boosting plant growth, cannot replace topsoil. Topsoil contains humus formed from decayed plant and animal matter, and is rich in carbon compounds and micro-organisms necessary for healthy plant growth, which are not found in chemical fertilizers.
The addition of humus is therefore necessary to maintain and renew the topsoil. With the loss of topsoil comes the loss of human food security. In many parts of the world, people are experiencing reduced productivity on their lands due to loss of top soils.
Question 3 What are the lessons learnt and best practices derived from the
mechanisms or activities implemented?
At policy maker level;
1).Decentralisation in rural water supply and sanitation provides opportunities for development of good policies, accountability, and management at lowest appropriate level, up scaling, stakeholder role separation, good practice and capacity building.
2).Investing in the optimisation and standardization of locally appropriate affordable technologies and renewable energy sources in the provision of water and sanitation is critical to achieving food security, rural development and improving livelihoods.
3).Implementation of sector wide approaches need to be supported by an enabling environment of appropriate contractual arrangements, legislation, multi- stakeholder involvement and using innovative financing mechanisms
4).Critical elements of service delivery to the poor should include reforms of inefficient water utilities, horizontal and vertical partnerships in all aspects of water services delivery, performance management of stakeholders using holistic indicators. The rights of the poor to water must be accompanied by shared responsibility among stakeholders.
At rural community level: The willingness to learn and the creation of enabling environment for sustainability of interventions by all stakeholders. Partnership building and concrete collaborative actions among the stakeholders should be intensified. The adaptation of all coping strategies to local interventions.
Thanks,
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji
Chief Executive Officer
Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP)
58 MCC/Uratta Road Owerri, Imo State Nigeria
Tel:+234 83305266, 8035767074
Email: ruralafrwadp@yahoo.com
should be implemented in order to mitigate these constraints?
At policy-maker level; 1) Investment in water , sanitation and agriculture is an investment in development and sustainability, which should be built on reform, capacity building and innovative water sector financing mechanisms for soft as well as hard issues with appropriate cost recovery.
The African Water Facility has a role to play in financing water initiatives by localizing global and regional plans, facilitating stakeholder partnerships with support for multi - level capacity building. Capacity building has been identified as a major gap, which it is difficult to mobilize donor support.
Political commitments from governments must include the increased mobilization of domestic resources through their PRSPs. Furthermore there is a need to find innovative means of mobilizing domestic resources and encouraging investment of domestic private resources.
Trans-boundary water resources management and development are by their very nature very expensive and beyond the capacity of any single government or donor and requires high-level skills as well as being very time consuming to achieve tangible.
There is therefore the need for partnership for funding trans-boundary water resources programmes. The modest experience of the NBI shows the importance of cooperation and partnership in managing and developing shared river resources. The EU Water Initiative and the GEF programmes are other examples of collaborative efforts towards funding trans-boundary water development and management. It was recommended that capacity building; long-term academic/professional training and encouraging south-south cooperation between basin authorities should underpin all collaborative trans-boundary water initiatives.
2) A minimum platform of institutions & infrastructure is needed to achieve water security, which is a necessary condition for sustainable growth & poverty reduction. Investment in appropriate infrastructure due to the high rainfall variability and vulnerable economies is essential
The Inga hydropower project as an example of mega project, has enormous potential for hydropower production to meet the energy needs of many African countries and when developed could create peace, solidarity, socio-economic development and true regional integration. Water security requires innovative basin wide water management and bottom up approaches to gender based investments in multiple water use systems.
At rural community level:
For the rural community level, I will propose the concept of “Sanitize and Recycle”, a model which I will describe as a cycle; a sustainable, closed-loop system. It treats human excreta as a resource. Urine and faeces are stored and processed on site and then, if necessary, further processed off site until they are free of disease organism. The nutrients contained in the excreta are then recycled by using them in agriculture.
Sadly, in today’s society the flow of plant nutrients is linear: nutrients are taken up from the soil by the crop, transported to the market, eaten, excreted and discharged. In a sustainable society the production of food must be based on returning the plant nutrients to the soil. The use of chemical fertilizers is not sustainable, since their production relies on non-renewable resources”. The benefits are as follows;
First, food security and poverty alleviation .In parts of the world, particularly Africa; rural people suffer from periodic famine due to drought, small plot size, soil erosion, poverty (inability to purchase sufficient food) and political factors. In urban areas, poor people also suffer from under nutrition due to poverty, although urban agriculture is a growing phenomenon. However, growing food for the immediate family within confined spaces is a challenge. The products from eco-toilets with their nutrients can be used in rural and urban areas to increase food security for all households, particularly the poor.
The products from eco-toilets can be used directly at the homestead level, in backyard gardens. Researchers have shown that about 1.5litres of undiluted urine can be used to fertilize 1 square meter of soil. 1.5 liters is the amount produced by one adult in one day. Even without an eco-toilet, people could collect their own urine and use it on backyard gardens to increase yields. However, the fertilizing effect of urine is said to work best in soil with high organic matter content and this can be increased by adding the humus from eco-toilets and garden composts.
In urban areas, the sanitized humus from eco-toilets can be used as a rich nutritious soil for planting in pots, and the urine can be used to fertilize the soil before planting and for continued fertilization of plants during growth.
Vegetable and fruit crops grown using urine fertilization produces 2-10 times the amount of crop by weight as those grown in unfertilized, poor soil. If people use urine to grow vegetables and fruits, the increased production results in greater food security at virtually no cost.
Soil enriched with humus from eco-toilets holds water longer than soils not enriched with compost. Research has also shown that plants grown in soils enriched with large amounts of humus require less watering and survive droughts better than plants grown in ordinary soils without this humus.
Second, cost saving for Nigerian farmers is another benefit. This is true because the formulation of nutrients in urine is similar but not exactly the same as that in commercial fertilizers. But urine and commercial fertilizers give similar results in boosting plant growth.
Urine is high in nitrogen and lower in phosphorus and potassium. Some top-up of phosphorus and potassium is often needed to get the best possible use of nitrogen. As faeces and ash are high in phosphorus and potassium, farmers can replace commercial fertilizers with urine and top-up with sanitized faeces from eco-toilets at little or no extra cost.
Third; preventing nitrogen pollution of drinking water in our communities is another benefit. Pit toilets as well as sewers are frequently a source of ground water pollution, especially in areas where the water table is high such as Port Harcourt, Calabar and Lagos etc.
Urine is rich in nitrogen and up to 50% of the nitrogen leaches out of the pit toilet pass through the soil and reaches the groundwater. Water with NO3 concentrations higher than 50mg/liter is considered to be unfit for human consumption. It is not unusual to find such high concentrations of nitrogen in wells in communities with pit toilets.
Finally, restoring lost top soils could also be another great benefit. This is true because according to FAO, the Earth is losing 25billion tones of topsoil per year because of erosion. Chemical fertilizers, while boosting plant growth, cannot replace topsoil. Topsoil contains humus formed from decayed plant and animal matter, and is rich in carbon compounds and micro-organisms necessary for healthy plant growth, which are not found in chemical fertilizers.
The addition of humus is therefore necessary to maintain and renew the topsoil. With the loss of topsoil comes the loss of human food security. In many parts of the world, people are experiencing reduced productivity on their lands due to loss of top soils.
Question 3 What are the lessons learnt and best practices derived from the
mechanisms or activities implemented?
At policy maker level;
1).Decentralisation in rural water supply and sanitation provides opportunities for development of good policies, accountability, and management at lowest appropriate level, up scaling, stakeholder role separation, good practice and capacity building.
2).Investing in the optimisation and standardization of locally appropriate affordable technologies and renewable energy sources in the provision of water and sanitation is critical to achieving food security, rural development and improving livelihoods.
3).Implementation of sector wide approaches need to be supported by an enabling environment of appropriate contractual arrangements, legislation, multi- stakeholder involvement and using innovative financing mechanisms
4).Critical elements of service delivery to the poor should include reforms of inefficient water utilities, horizontal and vertical partnerships in all aspects of water services delivery, performance management of stakeholders using holistic indicators. The rights of the poor to water must be accompanied by shared responsibility among stakeholders.
At rural community level: The willingness to learn and the creation of enabling environment for sustainability of interventions by all stakeholders. Partnership building and concrete collaborative actions among the stakeholders should be intensified. The adaptation of all coping strategies to local interventions.
Thanks,
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji
Chief Executive Officer
Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP)
58 MCC/Uratta Road Owerri, Imo State Nigeria
Tel:+234 83305266, 8035767074
Email: ruralafrwadp@yahoo.com
Nigeria National Council for Agriculture and Water Resources
Incorporating Productive Uses into Water Systems In Urban Nigeria
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji, 2006 PostGraduate Student,
Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Loughborough University, UK.
Introduction:
The purpose of this memo is to inform the National Council for Agriculture and Water Resources about a research carried out in November 2007 at the Water, Engineering Development Centre (WEDC); Loughborough University, UK on how productive uses of water could be incorporated into water systems in urban Nigeria.
The objectives of the study include;
i) To understand how households are benefiting from productive uses of water;
ii) To evaluate how productive uses of water is contributing to system sustainability or otherwise.
Background:
1) In Nigeria, water supplies to households by the water utilities have traditionally been confined within what is known as domestic water needs. The quantity of water supplied is meant to cover basic needs such as drinking, cooking and personal sanitation needs etc. However this has not been a true reflection of the use of this limited amount of water supplied.
2) This however is not peculiar to Nigeria as many recent studies in many parts of the world have shown that millions of households’ especially low-income households also use their limited quantity of water supplies for many other sundry activities particularly economic.
3) These economic activities also called productive uses of water includes those activities that may not really thrive or even take off unless the required quantity of water is available. Such activities often not only generate income for all those involved but also assist households to save expenditure as well as enriching the family menu or nutrition.
4) A social survey of households and institutions in Owerri city was therefore carried out in order to obtain the people’s views, and observe their daily economic activities as it relates to the way and manner they use their drinking water supplies for economic and productive enterprises.
5) Particular attention was focused on the water supplied by the Imo State Water Corporation (ISWC) and the Alternative Water Suppliers. Research tools used in doing this study included Questionnaires, Focus group discussions and Observations. Secondary information was scooped from local newspapers, personal discussions and review of institutional documents.
6) This paper therefore discusses the situation in Owerri, a sprawling Nigerian city where productive uses of water is already real, particularly in activities such as home gardening, bricks making, horticulture, car washing, restaurants and ice block making etc.
7) In view of the persisting problem in water supplies in Nigeria where urban coverage is still below 60% with about 75% of the urban population being poor it become imperative to x-ray how those involved in productive uses of water are coping and the sustainability of the urban water supply infrastructure.
8) An informed understanding of these issues is here considered a veritable enabler or tool vital in the fight against poverty. To achieve this, the paper therefore examines how productive uses of water could without problems be incorporated into urban water systems in Nigeria.
Summary of Findings:
1) The Imo State Water Corporation (ISWC) has the mandate to supply water to the urban and semi-urban areas of Imo State especially Owerri. The Imo State Water Corporation in Owerri is well aware that some residents are currently using the limited water supplies for sundry activities like home gardening, commercial flower gardening, watering of lawns and commercial washing of cars as well as for brick/block making.
2) The utility has no official policy on this though some staffs claim that the corporation frowns at it. It is viewed as a waste of water treated with expensive and imported chemicals.
3) The ISWC in an attempt to check this especially the associated huge water wastages made serious effort to introduce meters in 2001. Meters were therefore serially mounted to effectively monitor and test run these huge productive users. The utility was sad to report that these meters were out rightly vandalized shortly after installation by the commercial productive users, particularly Car washers.
4) A mid-way panacea for the corporation at the moment is the billing of water user groups especially those involved in home gardening, commercial flower gardening, watering of lawns and commercial washing of cars as well as for brick/block making a relatively higher tariff that is determined by the size of enterprise or plot of operation.
5) However major extant technical constraints of the Owerri urban water scheme included;
a) Excessive leakages in the distribution systems due to
- Burst pipes due to weak and averaged pipes subjected to high pressure along the pipeline.
- Damage on the distribution network (branched pipe network) through uncoordinated and unauthorized activities along the pipeline.
- Improperly connected joints along the systems by unauthorized and unsupervised persons.
- Faulty valves and worn out taps from public stand posts and domestic users.
b) Unstable power supply which is often caused by erratic power supply from the public power utility (The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)).Others include; lack of fuel and lubricants (diesel) to power generating sets when PHCN fails; faulty generator batteries or starters and faulty pumps.
6) Complementing the service gaps inherent in the shortfalls of the utility are a coterie of alternative water service providers. These are mostly private individuals who provide basic water services to consumers on a long term basis and are paid for their services by their water customers directly.
7) They included Water Kiosk/Commercial and Private Boreholes, Cart Water Vendors and Truck Water Vendors etc. and together with the ISWC, these two groups supply the bulk of the water being used by productive water users.
8) From the study, regular access to household water supply (especially to all those fully involved in productive uses of water) suggested an input on poverty. The study revealed that those with a regular supply source (e.g. those storing large volume of water in tanks for all season supplies, those owing boreholes or regular supply from vendors) had 20-50% more income than those who solely rely on the public supplies by ISWC. This extra income is most evident in 40% of the car washers, horticulturists and those with gardens. The reason is generally because these groups have all season water supply and even reflect the extra cost on bills paid by consumers of their services. Those of them who are too weak to go this extra mile earn less.
9) Amongst the 6 productive water user groups identified in the study, the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for ISWC water is higher among the Restaurant and Ice Block groups. This was assessed based on their overwhelming subscription to the introduction of meters. Currently these two groups use 250 and 50-100 l/p/d of water respectively which they source 50 and 75% respectively from water carte vendors. They operate basically within their households. Both activities are dominated by women and represent the highest number of productive users surveyed. There activities are more water efficient than the other groups.
10) Already, Horticulture, Car Wash, Bricks/Block Making and Home Garden group have been on the searchlight of ISWC because of the poor reputation of wasting so much water. Despite the fact that they currently use higher quantities of water per day, they are often hesitant to pay anything near commensurate charges.
11) They are notorious for many cases of illegal connection and disruption of water flows. They strongly oppose the introduction of meters because of the latent fear that it will not only expose their high level of water wastage but impose higher bills on them. They are rather contented with the existing status quo which tends to favor them because they currently underpay.
12) Another incriminating observation during the study is the discovery that all those involved commercially in Horticulture, Car Wash, Bricks/Block making and Home garden were using special mini-surface suction-pumps connected to the public mains. They use these pumps to boost the water supply pressure therefore extracting more water at a high rate than is normal.
13) The result is that they currently constrain supplies to nearby/surrounding houses that use water simply for domestic purposes as well as those involved in the less water demanding productive user groups such as Restaurants and Ice Blocks etc.
14) It was also discovered that high volume productive users in order to safeguard periods of intermittent flows have large storage tanks. These tanks range in size from 1000litres and above. The implication is that whenever the supplies from ISWC is on, these productive users will immediately embark on filling up these large receptacles and often this takes hours to get filled. This enthrones inequity is supply around that neighborhood.
15) Car washers and Brick/block makers are currently not usefully tapping rain water. Both activities really require little or no need for high quality water such as the treated water supplied by the utility. They are rather supposed to be at the vanguard of rain water or recycled water use, but that was not observed to be so. They rather remained major users of the utility supplied ‘clean’ water.
16) However, most of these productive water users live or operate on rented plots; this together with huge capital costs hinders the option of any sustainable rainfall harvesting. Earlier findings such as those of Skinner (undated) shows that rainwater costs about five times as much as metered water supplies in Sri Lanka, and that it takes 20-25 years to recover the capital cost of such investment in Namibia. The apparent inertia and apathy in utilizing rainwater as an option in Owerri by these groups could therefore be appreciated from this standpoint.
17) Productive water use in the city was observed to be a self help enterprise by the average poor with little or no government input. In a nutshell it could be described as an age-long pro-poor stratagem by the poor themselves. The active involvement of both men and women of various age groupings underscores the relevance of water as a pro-poor commodity quite beyond its health benefits. Women were also in dominance in these activities at a ratio of 3:1.
Prayers to Council:
1) An appraisal of the National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy (NWSSP) Document formulated in 2000 will be germane. It had set the following targets:
• 60 % coverage by 2003
• 80% by 2007
• 100% coverage by 2011
Sadly, the targets for 2003 and 2007 were not achieved. This has necessitated therefore a need to take into account supply lapses and blend them into recent policy reviews and reformulate targets in line with Millennium Development Goals. The demonstrated willingness to develop Water Supply and Sanitation Policy by the government should be stepped up as a road map.
2) Some ongoing policy initiatives including;
• Review of the National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy
• Finalization of the Water Sanitation Policy (currently draft form)
should be formulated to accommodate productive uses. In this midst, also remains the need to develop a comprehensive legal and policy framework that covers not only water supply and sanitation but water resources in a more general sense. The Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) should also give this the most careful attention as a poverty alleviation tool vis small scale productive water use activities.
3) The implications of governance particularly drafting of policy framework and financing to poverty alleviation strategies are strong. To therefore adopt and support water uses particularly productive water uses at any level there is the need to understand how water users co-exist. The setting of national targets that is hinged on infrastructure with limited consideration on effective service or amount of water available to the people is defective. Using funds therefore to execute capital infrastructure and using such infrastructure as a true reflection of coverage is delusion. Government therefore have to come to terms with the fact that there is need to put adequate mechanisms in place to take care of the bloom in the urban population particularly the small-scale informal sector.
4) Water Utilities, Urban planners and Municipal officials should acknowledge that the urban small scale water users are here to stay, that they contribute to the city economy in many ways and that reducing urban poverty is not possible without supporting the working poor in the informal urban economy. They should promote inclusive urban planning, including participatory planning processes, to address the key constraints and needs of different categories of small scale water users.
5) National governments and municipal authorities in many developing countries often emphasize the negative aspects of informality to justify the implementation of restrictive policies for the informal economy. These negative aspects for productive water users may include acts such as illegal connections, flow disruptions through excessive abstraction, under-payment, tax evasion, and flooding in urban areas. However, given that the informal economy is the main source of employment and income for a sizable proportion of the urban poor, these restrictive policies seriously undermine efforts to combat poverty and unemployment. There is therefore need to bring these water users to the discussion table in order to make them regulate themselves first through the adoption of healthy ethics.
6) A good deal of the debate over government policies for the urban water sector is leaned on whether it should be privatized or reformed. However, it is increasingly recognized that policy analysis should move beyond this conventional debate and focus on an appropriate regulatory and managerial framework designed to (i) promote the gradual integration of small scale users e.g. productive water users into the urban water system, (ii) improve utility operational efficiency and (iii) strengthen its income i.e. on both sides, the utility and reducing effects of tariff on the urban poor.
7) Campaigns could be aimed at making water saving a ‘second nature’ in every home. Saving the rain campaign could aim to engender a greater personal sense of responsibility for water saving measurers amongst productive water users through an intensive public awareness campaign. It could start by embarking on a state or national survey to gauge public attitudes to water saving and rainwater harvesting.
8) With careful design, water harvesting could be easily integrated into, for example, the existing urban water systems to boost productive uses and other enterprises. The key to an effective harvesting system is the capture of surface water runoff from an area. Often, an area has been designed or modified during a storm to avoid water logging.
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji, 2006 PostGraduate Student,
Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Loughborough University, UK.
Introduction:
The purpose of this memo is to inform the National Council for Agriculture and Water Resources about a research carried out in November 2007 at the Water, Engineering Development Centre (WEDC); Loughborough University, UK on how productive uses of water could be incorporated into water systems in urban Nigeria.
The objectives of the study include;
i) To understand how households are benefiting from productive uses of water;
ii) To evaluate how productive uses of water is contributing to system sustainability or otherwise.
Background:
1) In Nigeria, water supplies to households by the water utilities have traditionally been confined within what is known as domestic water needs. The quantity of water supplied is meant to cover basic needs such as drinking, cooking and personal sanitation needs etc. However this has not been a true reflection of the use of this limited amount of water supplied.
2) This however is not peculiar to Nigeria as many recent studies in many parts of the world have shown that millions of households’ especially low-income households also use their limited quantity of water supplies for many other sundry activities particularly economic.
3) These economic activities also called productive uses of water includes those activities that may not really thrive or even take off unless the required quantity of water is available. Such activities often not only generate income for all those involved but also assist households to save expenditure as well as enriching the family menu or nutrition.
4) A social survey of households and institutions in Owerri city was therefore carried out in order to obtain the people’s views, and observe their daily economic activities as it relates to the way and manner they use their drinking water supplies for economic and productive enterprises.
5) Particular attention was focused on the water supplied by the Imo State Water Corporation (ISWC) and the Alternative Water Suppliers. Research tools used in doing this study included Questionnaires, Focus group discussions and Observations. Secondary information was scooped from local newspapers, personal discussions and review of institutional documents.
6) This paper therefore discusses the situation in Owerri, a sprawling Nigerian city where productive uses of water is already real, particularly in activities such as home gardening, bricks making, horticulture, car washing, restaurants and ice block making etc.
7) In view of the persisting problem in water supplies in Nigeria where urban coverage is still below 60% with about 75% of the urban population being poor it become imperative to x-ray how those involved in productive uses of water are coping and the sustainability of the urban water supply infrastructure.
8) An informed understanding of these issues is here considered a veritable enabler or tool vital in the fight against poverty. To achieve this, the paper therefore examines how productive uses of water could without problems be incorporated into urban water systems in Nigeria.
Summary of Findings:
1) The Imo State Water Corporation (ISWC) has the mandate to supply water to the urban and semi-urban areas of Imo State especially Owerri. The Imo State Water Corporation in Owerri is well aware that some residents are currently using the limited water supplies for sundry activities like home gardening, commercial flower gardening, watering of lawns and commercial washing of cars as well as for brick/block making.
2) The utility has no official policy on this though some staffs claim that the corporation frowns at it. It is viewed as a waste of water treated with expensive and imported chemicals.
3) The ISWC in an attempt to check this especially the associated huge water wastages made serious effort to introduce meters in 2001. Meters were therefore serially mounted to effectively monitor and test run these huge productive users. The utility was sad to report that these meters were out rightly vandalized shortly after installation by the commercial productive users, particularly Car washers.
4) A mid-way panacea for the corporation at the moment is the billing of water user groups especially those involved in home gardening, commercial flower gardening, watering of lawns and commercial washing of cars as well as for brick/block making a relatively higher tariff that is determined by the size of enterprise or plot of operation.
5) However major extant technical constraints of the Owerri urban water scheme included;
a) Excessive leakages in the distribution systems due to
- Burst pipes due to weak and averaged pipes subjected to high pressure along the pipeline.
- Damage on the distribution network (branched pipe network) through uncoordinated and unauthorized activities along the pipeline.
- Improperly connected joints along the systems by unauthorized and unsupervised persons.
- Faulty valves and worn out taps from public stand posts and domestic users.
b) Unstable power supply which is often caused by erratic power supply from the public power utility (The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)).Others include; lack of fuel and lubricants (diesel) to power generating sets when PHCN fails; faulty generator batteries or starters and faulty pumps.
6) Complementing the service gaps inherent in the shortfalls of the utility are a coterie of alternative water service providers. These are mostly private individuals who provide basic water services to consumers on a long term basis and are paid for their services by their water customers directly.
7) They included Water Kiosk/Commercial and Private Boreholes, Cart Water Vendors and Truck Water Vendors etc. and together with the ISWC, these two groups supply the bulk of the water being used by productive water users.
8) From the study, regular access to household water supply (especially to all those fully involved in productive uses of water) suggested an input on poverty. The study revealed that those with a regular supply source (e.g. those storing large volume of water in tanks for all season supplies, those owing boreholes or regular supply from vendors) had 20-50% more income than those who solely rely on the public supplies by ISWC. This extra income is most evident in 40% of the car washers, horticulturists and those with gardens. The reason is generally because these groups have all season water supply and even reflect the extra cost on bills paid by consumers of their services. Those of them who are too weak to go this extra mile earn less.
9) Amongst the 6 productive water user groups identified in the study, the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for ISWC water is higher among the Restaurant and Ice Block groups. This was assessed based on their overwhelming subscription to the introduction of meters. Currently these two groups use 250 and 50-100 l/p/d of water respectively which they source 50 and 75% respectively from water carte vendors. They operate basically within their households. Both activities are dominated by women and represent the highest number of productive users surveyed. There activities are more water efficient than the other groups.
10) Already, Horticulture, Car Wash, Bricks/Block Making and Home Garden group have been on the searchlight of ISWC because of the poor reputation of wasting so much water. Despite the fact that they currently use higher quantities of water per day, they are often hesitant to pay anything near commensurate charges.
11) They are notorious for many cases of illegal connection and disruption of water flows. They strongly oppose the introduction of meters because of the latent fear that it will not only expose their high level of water wastage but impose higher bills on them. They are rather contented with the existing status quo which tends to favor them because they currently underpay.
12) Another incriminating observation during the study is the discovery that all those involved commercially in Horticulture, Car Wash, Bricks/Block making and Home garden were using special mini-surface suction-pumps connected to the public mains. They use these pumps to boost the water supply pressure therefore extracting more water at a high rate than is normal.
13) The result is that they currently constrain supplies to nearby/surrounding houses that use water simply for domestic purposes as well as those involved in the less water demanding productive user groups such as Restaurants and Ice Blocks etc.
14) It was also discovered that high volume productive users in order to safeguard periods of intermittent flows have large storage tanks. These tanks range in size from 1000litres and above. The implication is that whenever the supplies from ISWC is on, these productive users will immediately embark on filling up these large receptacles and often this takes hours to get filled. This enthrones inequity is supply around that neighborhood.
15) Car washers and Brick/block makers are currently not usefully tapping rain water. Both activities really require little or no need for high quality water such as the treated water supplied by the utility. They are rather supposed to be at the vanguard of rain water or recycled water use, but that was not observed to be so. They rather remained major users of the utility supplied ‘clean’ water.
16) However, most of these productive water users live or operate on rented plots; this together with huge capital costs hinders the option of any sustainable rainfall harvesting. Earlier findings such as those of Skinner (undated) shows that rainwater costs about five times as much as metered water supplies in Sri Lanka, and that it takes 20-25 years to recover the capital cost of such investment in Namibia. The apparent inertia and apathy in utilizing rainwater as an option in Owerri by these groups could therefore be appreciated from this standpoint.
17) Productive water use in the city was observed to be a self help enterprise by the average poor with little or no government input. In a nutshell it could be described as an age-long pro-poor stratagem by the poor themselves. The active involvement of both men and women of various age groupings underscores the relevance of water as a pro-poor commodity quite beyond its health benefits. Women were also in dominance in these activities at a ratio of 3:1.
Prayers to Council:
1) An appraisal of the National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy (NWSSP) Document formulated in 2000 will be germane. It had set the following targets:
• 60 % coverage by 2003
• 80% by 2007
• 100% coverage by 2011
Sadly, the targets for 2003 and 2007 were not achieved. This has necessitated therefore a need to take into account supply lapses and blend them into recent policy reviews and reformulate targets in line with Millennium Development Goals. The demonstrated willingness to develop Water Supply and Sanitation Policy by the government should be stepped up as a road map.
2) Some ongoing policy initiatives including;
• Review of the National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy
• Finalization of the Water Sanitation Policy (currently draft form)
should be formulated to accommodate productive uses. In this midst, also remains the need to develop a comprehensive legal and policy framework that covers not only water supply and sanitation but water resources in a more general sense. The Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) should also give this the most careful attention as a poverty alleviation tool vis small scale productive water use activities.
3) The implications of governance particularly drafting of policy framework and financing to poverty alleviation strategies are strong. To therefore adopt and support water uses particularly productive water uses at any level there is the need to understand how water users co-exist. The setting of national targets that is hinged on infrastructure with limited consideration on effective service or amount of water available to the people is defective. Using funds therefore to execute capital infrastructure and using such infrastructure as a true reflection of coverage is delusion. Government therefore have to come to terms with the fact that there is need to put adequate mechanisms in place to take care of the bloom in the urban population particularly the small-scale informal sector.
4) Water Utilities, Urban planners and Municipal officials should acknowledge that the urban small scale water users are here to stay, that they contribute to the city economy in many ways and that reducing urban poverty is not possible without supporting the working poor in the informal urban economy. They should promote inclusive urban planning, including participatory planning processes, to address the key constraints and needs of different categories of small scale water users.
5) National governments and municipal authorities in many developing countries often emphasize the negative aspects of informality to justify the implementation of restrictive policies for the informal economy. These negative aspects for productive water users may include acts such as illegal connections, flow disruptions through excessive abstraction, under-payment, tax evasion, and flooding in urban areas. However, given that the informal economy is the main source of employment and income for a sizable proportion of the urban poor, these restrictive policies seriously undermine efforts to combat poverty and unemployment. There is therefore need to bring these water users to the discussion table in order to make them regulate themselves first through the adoption of healthy ethics.
6) A good deal of the debate over government policies for the urban water sector is leaned on whether it should be privatized or reformed. However, it is increasingly recognized that policy analysis should move beyond this conventional debate and focus on an appropriate regulatory and managerial framework designed to (i) promote the gradual integration of small scale users e.g. productive water users into the urban water system, (ii) improve utility operational efficiency and (iii) strengthen its income i.e. on both sides, the utility and reducing effects of tariff on the urban poor.
7) Campaigns could be aimed at making water saving a ‘second nature’ in every home. Saving the rain campaign could aim to engender a greater personal sense of responsibility for water saving measurers amongst productive water users through an intensive public awareness campaign. It could start by embarking on a state or national survey to gauge public attitudes to water saving and rainwater harvesting.
8) With careful design, water harvesting could be easily integrated into, for example, the existing urban water systems to boost productive uses and other enterprises. The key to an effective harvesting system is the capture of surface water runoff from an area. Often, an area has been designed or modified during a storm to avoid water logging.
Water Security for prosperity
There is no doubt that the socio-economic development of Nigeria as well as those of many countries, particularly those in Africa is largely dependent on how much they are able to harness their water resources to ensure access to food security.
Water scarcity in Nigeria, nay Africa particularly those for agriculture does not derive from a physical lack of water resources, but due in part, to a lack of adaptive capacity on the part of core stakeholders like the government, engineers, scientists, universities and farmers etc to manage the available water, and the lack of political will by government to make requisite investment in the sector.
Two typical contrasting scenarios are good examples in this context. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has about 60% of the total water resources of Africa, but has only 52% of its population having access to potable water. Libya, a desert country, has not got water because of the Sahara desert. It barely rains in Libya, but the government in Tripoli has been able to mine water from the depth of the ground (about 500 meters) and conveying it over hundreds of kilometers. While the DRC case shows a lack of political will for socio-economic development, those of Libya is a clear manifestation of political will.
Adaptive capacity in this context is all about the knowledge and capability on water conservation, water storage, land management and rain harvesting etc in order to overcome the variability of rainfall. These are necessary to cover deficit during droughts.
Africa’s failure to grow adaptive capacity to our abundant water resources is manifest in the context of the fact that 5,400 billion of m3 of water is available in Africa but only 4% is currently being tapped for irrigation, food production and hydroelectricity. Also, Africa’s exploitable hydroelectric potential is estimated at approximately 1.4 million giga watts hours/year, which is sufficient to supply electricity for the entire continent but only 3% of this hydroelectric potential is currently being used.
As at today these twin problems of lack of political will; and lack of adaptive capacity are militating against the crucial need for equitable and sustainable development of our water resources to reduce poverty.
There is need for efforts to improve the capacity of all the parties involved in the water sector and also in working with national, regional and international decision makers, so as to forge a commitment to water security. This will guaranty sufficient supply of sustainable water for human consumption and health, agricultural productivity, hydroelectric energy, industrial activity and the protection of ecosystems and the environment.
It should be noted that the development of water conservation infrastructure is a pre-condition for the development of agriculture and guaranteeing food security as well as stock breeding.
According to the World Bank’s 2008 World Development Report, growth in Africa’s agricultural sector is vital for poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A correspondent investment is therefore required because such is capable of spurring knowledge sharing, information dissemination and capacity strengthening.
It would launch innovative business lines in support of agricultural water management and sustainable development. It will also foster regional integration, coordination and partnership, and empowerment of national and regional stakeholders vis avis the realization that Africa have got 60 surface water basins and 38 aquifer tables (AfDB,2008) that are shared among two or more countries.
Water scarcity in Nigeria, nay Africa particularly those for agriculture does not derive from a physical lack of water resources, but due in part, to a lack of adaptive capacity on the part of core stakeholders like the government, engineers, scientists, universities and farmers etc to manage the available water, and the lack of political will by government to make requisite investment in the sector.
Two typical contrasting scenarios are good examples in this context. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has about 60% of the total water resources of Africa, but has only 52% of its population having access to potable water. Libya, a desert country, has not got water because of the Sahara desert. It barely rains in Libya, but the government in Tripoli has been able to mine water from the depth of the ground (about 500 meters) and conveying it over hundreds of kilometers. While the DRC case shows a lack of political will for socio-economic development, those of Libya is a clear manifestation of political will.
Adaptive capacity in this context is all about the knowledge and capability on water conservation, water storage, land management and rain harvesting etc in order to overcome the variability of rainfall. These are necessary to cover deficit during droughts.
Africa’s failure to grow adaptive capacity to our abundant water resources is manifest in the context of the fact that 5,400 billion of m3 of water is available in Africa but only 4% is currently being tapped for irrigation, food production and hydroelectricity. Also, Africa’s exploitable hydroelectric potential is estimated at approximately 1.4 million giga watts hours/year, which is sufficient to supply electricity for the entire continent but only 3% of this hydroelectric potential is currently being used.
As at today these twin problems of lack of political will; and lack of adaptive capacity are militating against the crucial need for equitable and sustainable development of our water resources to reduce poverty.
There is need for efforts to improve the capacity of all the parties involved in the water sector and also in working with national, regional and international decision makers, so as to forge a commitment to water security. This will guaranty sufficient supply of sustainable water for human consumption and health, agricultural productivity, hydroelectric energy, industrial activity and the protection of ecosystems and the environment.
It should be noted that the development of water conservation infrastructure is a pre-condition for the development of agriculture and guaranteeing food security as well as stock breeding.
According to the World Bank’s 2008 World Development Report, growth in Africa’s agricultural sector is vital for poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A correspondent investment is therefore required because such is capable of spurring knowledge sharing, information dissemination and capacity strengthening.
It would launch innovative business lines in support of agricultural water management and sustainable development. It will also foster regional integration, coordination and partnership, and empowerment of national and regional stakeholders vis avis the realization that Africa have got 60 surface water basins and 38 aquifer tables (AfDB,2008) that are shared among two or more countries.
Water and Sanitation Challenges: Making it work
A paper presented by Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji at Mrs Genevieve Flight’s 33rd Birthday party / Community water scheme fund raising ceremony; held at the Conservatory Cafe bar, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK on Saturday, 23rd January 2010
The Imo State Water Supply and Sanitation project was a pilot intervention launched in late 1982. The project was designed to improve health and hygiene in poor rural communities through low-cost technology and appropriate educational support. The project had installed boreholes with hand pumps, promoted ventilated improved pit latrines, provided health and hygiene education through village- based workers and encouraged a high level of community involvement in each of the three beneficial villages.
An important component was the evaluation of its impact on health. This evaluation was a collaborative venture undertaken by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Imo State Government, the World Health Organization (WHO), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos.
Despite the result of the widely shared and globally disseminated report on that pilot UNICEF project in Nigeria, Imo State, almost three decades after, just like many other states in Nigeria is still unable to provide potable water to even one-tenth of its population. At the moment, not one of its 27 local government council areas can boast of a functional water supply scheme, it initiated. The central water supply scheme in the state capital, Owerri; otherwise known as the Imo State Water Corporation (ISWC), is near comatose as its supplies have remained most intermittent and dry over the past 10 years.
At this occasion, it would be germane to find out where people living in Owerri metropolis and its satellite areas like World Bank estate, Egbeada, Amakohia, Orji, Nekede etc get their regular water supplies?; How about those living in sparsely dispersed rural communities of Uzinomi in Uboma; Obeabor in Izombe and even Ndi Imoko Aro Ndi Izuogu get their water supplies?
Getting water supplies to sustain water, sanitation and hygiene needs many of the poor people in these communities is a daily struggle. While those in urban areas often get their water by queuing for hours, sometimes for over 30 minutes to buy water from private commercial boreholes; those in some of the rural communities get theirs from potentially polluted streams and rivers.
Improving the situation and creating sustainable access to water supplies is no doubt a major development challenge that should be given the utmost priority attention by the Imo State Government. A background analysis reveals either insincerity on the side of government or outright corruption by all those responsible for project implementation and fund release.
In 2006 former Governor Achike Udenwa in an address at the 1st Imo State water summit had claimed that his administration had invested the sum of N800 million on water facilities since 1999. The N800 million according to the governor’s representative at the ceremony, Barrister Chris Okewulonu was used to purchase materials and equipments and for water schemes in the state.
Also, then state Commissioner for Public Utilities and Rural Development, Sir Soronnadi Njoku had said that 50 boreholes were drilled with more than 76 water schemes awaiting rehabilitation, regretted that the urban water supply situation remained more critical. He declared that Owerri regional water scheme was at its lowest ebb capacity, owing to frequent breakdown of equipments/inadequate power supply. He also revealed that the ministry had engaged the services of a new consultancy outfit charged with the responsibilities of effecting accurate billing on water rates in the state, as a strategy to fish out or expose areas of racketeering which is ranging high among officers.
In solving the water supply tragedies we have been inflicted in Imo State, there is need to review how funds were allotted and used in the sector in the past 10 years. According to the "Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector," by the Transparency International (TI), the water crisis is undeniable and the corruption challenge it faces is urgent. More than one billion people worldwide have no guaranteed access to water and more than two billion are without adequate sanitation, which has devastating consequences for development and poverty reduction.
The report, the first of its kind to explore the impact and scope of corruption in different segments of the water sector, identifies a range of problems, from petty bribery in water delivery to procurement-related looting of irrigation and hydropower funds; and from covering up industrial pollution to manipulation of water management and allocation policies. The report demonstrates corruption's potential to obstruct effective enforcement of water-sharing pacts and resettlement arrangements, both keys to confronting the fallout from climate change.
However, as the Global Corruption Report shows, taking action against corruption in the water sector is believed to be both timely and feasible. According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) 2008 Report; 87 per cent of the world’s current population uses drinking water from improved sources. Out of this number; 54 per cent uses a piped connection in their dwelling, plot or yard, and 33 per cent uses other improved drinking water sources.
Unimproved drinking water sources according to the JMP include; unprotected dug well, unprotected spring, cart with small tank/drum, tanker truck, and surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channels),and bottled water etc while other improved drinking water sources include Public taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collection. The category ‘improved drinking water sources’ includes sources that, by nature of their construction or through active intervention, are protected from outside contamination, particularly faecal matter. These include piped water in a dwelling, plot or yard, and other improved sources.
Results from the UNICEF led project evaluation of late 1982 are still relevant today as its implications for policy and practice particularly rural communities in Imo State, and need to be revisited by the government. Top on this was the finding that water usage is heavily influenced both by the distance from the household to the borehole and by the borehole-to-population ratio. Distance affects travel times and the ratio affects queuing times. A distance of more than 2km leads to a much lower proportion of households using boreholes, and a much shorter distance makes the exclusive use of borehole water more likely hence enormous wastage. Where water is scarce, improved water supply will be welcomed and the villagers can be expected to readily donate labour and financial resources.
This has been corroborated by a UNHABITAT finding that concerns of Accessibility, Affordability and Sufficiency of water supplies are integral. According to the UNHABITAT; Accessibility means obtaining water by the households without taking undue proportion of the household’s time (less than one hour a day) for the minimum sufficient quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day. Affordability means water not taking undue proportion of a household’s income i.e. less than 10 percent. Sufficiency means water being available at a quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day.
Further to the foregoing, UNHABITAT defines a household as having access to improved water sources if it has sufficient amount of water for family use, at an affordable price, available to household members without being subject to excessive physical effort and time. According to the UNHABITAT; access to water decreases when quantity, cost and burden of fetching water is considered.
For the rural communities, the days of taking water supplies for granted are long gone. Particular example was during the DFRRI, PTF and OMPADEC days. Then hand pumps were common sights. Today, why do we hear so few success stories of them? During the early stages of planning, building and initial use, there were claims of success. However, there are few reports on the state of hand pump project after three, five or even ten years of use. Is it because little monitoring and evaluation is carried out? Has interest moved to other projects? Or is it because the hand pump projects have proved only a short term success?
Most of us working to improve water supplies know the sorry sight of lonely, broken down water schemes. One can only guess how long ago the scheme was proudly presented to the community. A local official probably made the first few forceful swings and declared a decisive blow in the war on famine, disease and poverty. But the clear water pouring out is now only a memory for local people and a photograph in the final project report; why?
Today in Nigeria, all the 776 local government councils have at various times developed and installed water schemes to meet the water needs of their people. Individuals, corporate agencies and non-profits have also complemented the roles of government in this regards. This applies to both the urban and rural councils in the country.
Healthy people are better able to absorb nutrients in food than those suffering from water-related diseases, particularly helminthes infections, which rob their hosts of calories. Access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation helps reduce household expenditure on health care; and the time lost because of long distance water collection and poor health contributes to poverty and reduced food security.
In aggregate, the total annual economic benefits of meeting the Millennium Development Goals targets on water supply and sanitation accrue to US$84billion; while global estimates for the additional annual investment to meet the MDG water and sanitation targets all arrive at about US$11billion, meeting the targets translates into 322 million working days per year gained at a value of US$750million. In Nigeria, this translates to over $800 million.
As part of its recommendations to end the global water and sanitation crisis; the UN Millennium Project Task Force on water and sanitation had emphasized that Investment in water and sanitation must focus on sustainable service delivery, rather than construction of facilities alone.
Appositely, the Millennium Project Task Force had reported in 2005 that “expanding water and sanitation coverage is not a rocket-science”. Therefore to get rid of this migraine, systematic overhaul in the areas of vital reforms and targeted investments should continue to move in parallel.
Statistics show that agricultural food production has not kept pace with population growth in Africa. As a result, the nutrition position of the region is now worse than it was 30 years ago. One of the reasons contributing to this is the heavy dependence of African economies on rain-fed agriculture with the attendant risks of droughts and floods.
Hence the region is faced with a challenge to expeditiously develop the huge potential of irrigated agriculture as a strategy for eradication of absolute poverty and hunger.
In Africa about 300 million people lack access to adequate water supply and about 313 million people lack access to adequate sanitation. In 2003, the African economy grew by 3.7%. However, 46.4% of the population (313 million people) lived on less than US$1 per day in 2001 and the absolute number of malnourished people in Africa has increased substantially from around 88million to over 200million in 1999 to 2001. In Nigeria over 50% of the population lack access to both improved water supply and sanitation. This therefore translates to over 1.5 million of Imo State population lacking access to both.
However, far beyond the financial requirement for such projects, the involvement of the community in all stages of any proposed water supply and sanitation programme in Nigeria is very crucial and should no longer be overlooked. Fairness and equity should be promoted through multi-stakeholder participation using appropriate participatory tools.
In view of this, it should be brought to the attention of the government at all tiers of governance in Nigeria, the many examples of community water and sanitation projects that were built and ended up being abandoned or broken down soon after commissioning. This was because the needs of most of those communities were taken for granted. ‘Top down Approaches’ was used and this meant that communities were given whatever projects the government thought fit. Those communities were never really consulted and their real ‘’felt’’ needs were never identified. This resulted in unwanted projects which were neglected and became ‘white elephants’.
Current realities demand the involvement of a community at all stages of a project. This is important in order to ensure that the community owns the project and willingly takes responsibility for it. The era of project implementation in which experts and officials made all decisions and the community were directed as to how they should participate is gone. Such projects are often products of poor participatory planning and design processes because the government or donors merely bring it, fixed support packages and work to tight schedules, often only ‘’informing’’ community (male) leaders, and lacking time and resources to engage in true consultation and capacity development.
It is important to highlight that the community is the end user of the proposed project. End user’s needs, especially those of poor women and men are at the basis of integrated needs-based planning processes that are cost-effective, socially equitable and environmentally sustainable. Community involvement is therefore essential to ensure genuinely sustainable projects particularly water and sanitation projects. In order to make sure that projects are sustainable, there is every need to identify clear steps in the project implementation process that will engage the community.
The involvement of the community in the proposed service provision will enable their commitment to it. The sustainability of the project will therefore depend on the quality of cooperation by the community at the various stages of the project implementation and even afterwards. However, it is often a challenge in many places to ensure long term sustainability of community participation and management. The Nigerian government and her development partners have a task to overcome this challenge by listing relevant strategies for community involvement and its approaches during project identification and design.
Effective participation in development projects affords communities greater control over decisions affecting their lives. Nigerian rural communities should no longer be denied such opportunities. By incorporating their ideas and values into the planning process, the prospects for appropriate and valued outcomes, and hence sustainability, are also much improved.
Community involvement in this case could be either through Community participation, Community management, Demand responsive approaches, Social marketing; Right based approach and partnership. If for example, the community participation approach is used then vital participatory tools will include processes that can enable the building of self esteem, sense of responsibility, increased awareness of problems/issues and options for change and capacity to change their own lives etc. The expected outputs therefore are decisions and solutions that are identified and implemented for greater common good in the community.
However, and to effectively achieve this, it is suggested that the community be involved in all stages of the project such as; First, Project identification stage; at this stage, community needs can be identified by assessing their development priorities. What do they really need at the moment? Or is their another immediate pressing need? Such need identification could be made using a variety of approaches like the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA).
Second, Feasibility, design and planning; the important principle for community involvement in this phase of the project is to understand and collectively correct problem area and chart a way forward. It is imperative to ensure that the community takes part in site selection, survey, environmental impact assessment and many other investigations or discussions forming part of the feasibility and design. This may mean spending time explaining the design to key members of the community. The design must also consider community preferences and practices. Issues like capacity assessment, cost sharing and other relevant information are extracted or unveiled at this stage.
Third, construction, the roles of who should do what should be clear at this stage. Typical community roles during construction may include labour and/or gifts to labourers. The management committee and possibly other members of the community should be involved in measuring and approving the work carried out. This gives some level of project control to those involved.
Fourth; Operation and maintenance; the community should have a greater role and responsibility in the management and operation of the project; this is so because the community is the principal beneficiary. However, the operation and management of a water supply and sanitation requires awareness, skills and experience that many communities may lack. Community capacity may therefore be strengthened so that they can manage such new projects with ease. This stage has often richly demonstrated to bring immense benefits in terms of increased ownership and sustainable management.
And fifth; monitoring and evaluation; there is need to assist the community to develop suitable system for monitoring the performance of the water and sanitation infrastructure. This is important for management, re-adjustment or introduction of new approaches towards improving the new project when in use.
The adoption of community participation or management does not imply that the users must carry out all repairs and maintenance. No! only that they are responsible for ensuring that it gets done. It is also germane to emphasise that the way forward lies not in assigning all responsibility either to government or the community, but in matching community capacity to the capacity of government to provide an enabling, supportive environment.
As we donate in support of this laudable project we can be well assured that all the necessary background work has been done to achieve sustainability. I thank Genevieve for this forum especially her effort at bringing her very wide social contacts to the benefit of her community.
To God be the Glory!
Thank you!
The Imo State Water Supply and Sanitation project was a pilot intervention launched in late 1982. The project was designed to improve health and hygiene in poor rural communities through low-cost technology and appropriate educational support. The project had installed boreholes with hand pumps, promoted ventilated improved pit latrines, provided health and hygiene education through village- based workers and encouraged a high level of community involvement in each of the three beneficial villages.
An important component was the evaluation of its impact on health. This evaluation was a collaborative venture undertaken by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Imo State Government, the World Health Organization (WHO), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos.
Despite the result of the widely shared and globally disseminated report on that pilot UNICEF project in Nigeria, Imo State, almost three decades after, just like many other states in Nigeria is still unable to provide potable water to even one-tenth of its population. At the moment, not one of its 27 local government council areas can boast of a functional water supply scheme, it initiated. The central water supply scheme in the state capital, Owerri; otherwise known as the Imo State Water Corporation (ISWC), is near comatose as its supplies have remained most intermittent and dry over the past 10 years.
At this occasion, it would be germane to find out where people living in Owerri metropolis and its satellite areas like World Bank estate, Egbeada, Amakohia, Orji, Nekede etc get their regular water supplies?; How about those living in sparsely dispersed rural communities of Uzinomi in Uboma; Obeabor in Izombe and even Ndi Imoko Aro Ndi Izuogu get their water supplies?
Getting water supplies to sustain water, sanitation and hygiene needs many of the poor people in these communities is a daily struggle. While those in urban areas often get their water by queuing for hours, sometimes for over 30 minutes to buy water from private commercial boreholes; those in some of the rural communities get theirs from potentially polluted streams and rivers.
Improving the situation and creating sustainable access to water supplies is no doubt a major development challenge that should be given the utmost priority attention by the Imo State Government. A background analysis reveals either insincerity on the side of government or outright corruption by all those responsible for project implementation and fund release.
In 2006 former Governor Achike Udenwa in an address at the 1st Imo State water summit had claimed that his administration had invested the sum of N800 million on water facilities since 1999. The N800 million according to the governor’s representative at the ceremony, Barrister Chris Okewulonu was used to purchase materials and equipments and for water schemes in the state.
Also, then state Commissioner for Public Utilities and Rural Development, Sir Soronnadi Njoku had said that 50 boreholes were drilled with more than 76 water schemes awaiting rehabilitation, regretted that the urban water supply situation remained more critical. He declared that Owerri regional water scheme was at its lowest ebb capacity, owing to frequent breakdown of equipments/inadequate power supply. He also revealed that the ministry had engaged the services of a new consultancy outfit charged with the responsibilities of effecting accurate billing on water rates in the state, as a strategy to fish out or expose areas of racketeering which is ranging high among officers.
In solving the water supply tragedies we have been inflicted in Imo State, there is need to review how funds were allotted and used in the sector in the past 10 years. According to the "Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector," by the Transparency International (TI), the water crisis is undeniable and the corruption challenge it faces is urgent. More than one billion people worldwide have no guaranteed access to water and more than two billion are without adequate sanitation, which has devastating consequences for development and poverty reduction.
The report, the first of its kind to explore the impact and scope of corruption in different segments of the water sector, identifies a range of problems, from petty bribery in water delivery to procurement-related looting of irrigation and hydropower funds; and from covering up industrial pollution to manipulation of water management and allocation policies. The report demonstrates corruption's potential to obstruct effective enforcement of water-sharing pacts and resettlement arrangements, both keys to confronting the fallout from climate change.
However, as the Global Corruption Report shows, taking action against corruption in the water sector is believed to be both timely and feasible. According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) 2008 Report; 87 per cent of the world’s current population uses drinking water from improved sources. Out of this number; 54 per cent uses a piped connection in their dwelling, plot or yard, and 33 per cent uses other improved drinking water sources.
Unimproved drinking water sources according to the JMP include; unprotected dug well, unprotected spring, cart with small tank/drum, tanker truck, and surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channels),and bottled water etc while other improved drinking water sources include Public taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collection. The category ‘improved drinking water sources’ includes sources that, by nature of their construction or through active intervention, are protected from outside contamination, particularly faecal matter. These include piped water in a dwelling, plot or yard, and other improved sources.
Results from the UNICEF led project evaluation of late 1982 are still relevant today as its implications for policy and practice particularly rural communities in Imo State, and need to be revisited by the government. Top on this was the finding that water usage is heavily influenced both by the distance from the household to the borehole and by the borehole-to-population ratio. Distance affects travel times and the ratio affects queuing times. A distance of more than 2km leads to a much lower proportion of households using boreholes, and a much shorter distance makes the exclusive use of borehole water more likely hence enormous wastage. Where water is scarce, improved water supply will be welcomed and the villagers can be expected to readily donate labour and financial resources.
This has been corroborated by a UNHABITAT finding that concerns of Accessibility, Affordability and Sufficiency of water supplies are integral. According to the UNHABITAT; Accessibility means obtaining water by the households without taking undue proportion of the household’s time (less than one hour a day) for the minimum sufficient quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day. Affordability means water not taking undue proportion of a household’s income i.e. less than 10 percent. Sufficiency means water being available at a quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day.
Further to the foregoing, UNHABITAT defines a household as having access to improved water sources if it has sufficient amount of water for family use, at an affordable price, available to household members without being subject to excessive physical effort and time. According to the UNHABITAT; access to water decreases when quantity, cost and burden of fetching water is considered.
For the rural communities, the days of taking water supplies for granted are long gone. Particular example was during the DFRRI, PTF and OMPADEC days. Then hand pumps were common sights. Today, why do we hear so few success stories of them? During the early stages of planning, building and initial use, there were claims of success. However, there are few reports on the state of hand pump project after three, five or even ten years of use. Is it because little monitoring and evaluation is carried out? Has interest moved to other projects? Or is it because the hand pump projects have proved only a short term success?
Most of us working to improve water supplies know the sorry sight of lonely, broken down water schemes. One can only guess how long ago the scheme was proudly presented to the community. A local official probably made the first few forceful swings and declared a decisive blow in the war on famine, disease and poverty. But the clear water pouring out is now only a memory for local people and a photograph in the final project report; why?
Today in Nigeria, all the 776 local government councils have at various times developed and installed water schemes to meet the water needs of their people. Individuals, corporate agencies and non-profits have also complemented the roles of government in this regards. This applies to both the urban and rural councils in the country.
Healthy people are better able to absorb nutrients in food than those suffering from water-related diseases, particularly helminthes infections, which rob their hosts of calories. Access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation helps reduce household expenditure on health care; and the time lost because of long distance water collection and poor health contributes to poverty and reduced food security.
In aggregate, the total annual economic benefits of meeting the Millennium Development Goals targets on water supply and sanitation accrue to US$84billion; while global estimates for the additional annual investment to meet the MDG water and sanitation targets all arrive at about US$11billion, meeting the targets translates into 322 million working days per year gained at a value of US$750million. In Nigeria, this translates to over $800 million.
As part of its recommendations to end the global water and sanitation crisis; the UN Millennium Project Task Force on water and sanitation had emphasized that Investment in water and sanitation must focus on sustainable service delivery, rather than construction of facilities alone.
Appositely, the Millennium Project Task Force had reported in 2005 that “expanding water and sanitation coverage is not a rocket-science”. Therefore to get rid of this migraine, systematic overhaul in the areas of vital reforms and targeted investments should continue to move in parallel.
Statistics show that agricultural food production has not kept pace with population growth in Africa. As a result, the nutrition position of the region is now worse than it was 30 years ago. One of the reasons contributing to this is the heavy dependence of African economies on rain-fed agriculture with the attendant risks of droughts and floods.
Hence the region is faced with a challenge to expeditiously develop the huge potential of irrigated agriculture as a strategy for eradication of absolute poverty and hunger.
In Africa about 300 million people lack access to adequate water supply and about 313 million people lack access to adequate sanitation. In 2003, the African economy grew by 3.7%. However, 46.4% of the population (313 million people) lived on less than US$1 per day in 2001 and the absolute number of malnourished people in Africa has increased substantially from around 88million to over 200million in 1999 to 2001. In Nigeria over 50% of the population lack access to both improved water supply and sanitation. This therefore translates to over 1.5 million of Imo State population lacking access to both.
However, far beyond the financial requirement for such projects, the involvement of the community in all stages of any proposed water supply and sanitation programme in Nigeria is very crucial and should no longer be overlooked. Fairness and equity should be promoted through multi-stakeholder participation using appropriate participatory tools.
In view of this, it should be brought to the attention of the government at all tiers of governance in Nigeria, the many examples of community water and sanitation projects that were built and ended up being abandoned or broken down soon after commissioning. This was because the needs of most of those communities were taken for granted. ‘Top down Approaches’ was used and this meant that communities were given whatever projects the government thought fit. Those communities were never really consulted and their real ‘’felt’’ needs were never identified. This resulted in unwanted projects which were neglected and became ‘white elephants’.
Current realities demand the involvement of a community at all stages of a project. This is important in order to ensure that the community owns the project and willingly takes responsibility for it. The era of project implementation in which experts and officials made all decisions and the community were directed as to how they should participate is gone. Such projects are often products of poor participatory planning and design processes because the government or donors merely bring it, fixed support packages and work to tight schedules, often only ‘’informing’’ community (male) leaders, and lacking time and resources to engage in true consultation and capacity development.
It is important to highlight that the community is the end user of the proposed project. End user’s needs, especially those of poor women and men are at the basis of integrated needs-based planning processes that are cost-effective, socially equitable and environmentally sustainable. Community involvement is therefore essential to ensure genuinely sustainable projects particularly water and sanitation projects. In order to make sure that projects are sustainable, there is every need to identify clear steps in the project implementation process that will engage the community.
The involvement of the community in the proposed service provision will enable their commitment to it. The sustainability of the project will therefore depend on the quality of cooperation by the community at the various stages of the project implementation and even afterwards. However, it is often a challenge in many places to ensure long term sustainability of community participation and management. The Nigerian government and her development partners have a task to overcome this challenge by listing relevant strategies for community involvement and its approaches during project identification and design.
Effective participation in development projects affords communities greater control over decisions affecting their lives. Nigerian rural communities should no longer be denied such opportunities. By incorporating their ideas and values into the planning process, the prospects for appropriate and valued outcomes, and hence sustainability, are also much improved.
Community involvement in this case could be either through Community participation, Community management, Demand responsive approaches, Social marketing; Right based approach and partnership. If for example, the community participation approach is used then vital participatory tools will include processes that can enable the building of self esteem, sense of responsibility, increased awareness of problems/issues and options for change and capacity to change their own lives etc. The expected outputs therefore are decisions and solutions that are identified and implemented for greater common good in the community.
However, and to effectively achieve this, it is suggested that the community be involved in all stages of the project such as; First, Project identification stage; at this stage, community needs can be identified by assessing their development priorities. What do they really need at the moment? Or is their another immediate pressing need? Such need identification could be made using a variety of approaches like the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA).
Second, Feasibility, design and planning; the important principle for community involvement in this phase of the project is to understand and collectively correct problem area and chart a way forward. It is imperative to ensure that the community takes part in site selection, survey, environmental impact assessment and many other investigations or discussions forming part of the feasibility and design. This may mean spending time explaining the design to key members of the community. The design must also consider community preferences and practices. Issues like capacity assessment, cost sharing and other relevant information are extracted or unveiled at this stage.
Third, construction, the roles of who should do what should be clear at this stage. Typical community roles during construction may include labour and/or gifts to labourers. The management committee and possibly other members of the community should be involved in measuring and approving the work carried out. This gives some level of project control to those involved.
Fourth; Operation and maintenance; the community should have a greater role and responsibility in the management and operation of the project; this is so because the community is the principal beneficiary. However, the operation and management of a water supply and sanitation requires awareness, skills and experience that many communities may lack. Community capacity may therefore be strengthened so that they can manage such new projects with ease. This stage has often richly demonstrated to bring immense benefits in terms of increased ownership and sustainable management.
And fifth; monitoring and evaluation; there is need to assist the community to develop suitable system for monitoring the performance of the water and sanitation infrastructure. This is important for management, re-adjustment or introduction of new approaches towards improving the new project when in use.
The adoption of community participation or management does not imply that the users must carry out all repairs and maintenance. No! only that they are responsible for ensuring that it gets done. It is also germane to emphasise that the way forward lies not in assigning all responsibility either to government or the community, but in matching community capacity to the capacity of government to provide an enabling, supportive environment.
As we donate in support of this laudable project we can be well assured that all the necessary background work has been done to achieve sustainability. I thank Genevieve for this forum especially her effort at bringing her very wide social contacts to the benefit of her community.
To God be the Glory!
Thank you!
Understanding Access to water
Joachim Ezeji
According to the WHO/UNICEF JMP Report 2008; 87 per cent of the world’s current population uses drinking water from improved sources. Out of this total figure; 54 per cent uses a piped connection in their dwelling, plot or yard, and 33 per cent uses other improved drinking water sources. This translates into 5.7 billion people worldwide who are now using drinking water from an improved source, an increase of 1.6 billion since 1990. About 3.6 billion people use a piped connection that provides running water in or near their homes.
However, estimates for 2006 as reported in this report show that the population reliant on unimproved drinking water sources is below one billion, and now stands at 884 million. Improved drinking water coverage in sub-Saharan Africa is still considerably lower than in other regions. Nevertheless, it has increased from 49 per cent in 1990 to 58 per cent in 2006, which means that an additional 207 million Africans are now using safe drinking water while 42 per cent are using unsafe or unimproved water sources.
The world is on track to meet
Unimproved drinking water sources according to the JMP include; unprotected dug well, unprotected spring,
cart with small tank/drum, tanker truck, and surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channels),and bottled water etc while other improved drinking water sources include Public taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collection. Piped water on premises i.e. piped household water connection located inside the user’s dwelling; plot or yard is described as most improved by JMP by virtue of its position on the JMP 2008 drinking water ladder. Water is divided into three categories, which are illustrated in the form of a ‘drinking water ladder’ similar to that developed for sanitation.
The category ‘improved drinking water sources’ includes sources that, by nature of their construction or through active intervention, are protected from outside contamination, particularly faecal matter. These include piped water in a dwelling, plot or yard, and other improved sources.
However and beyond all these concerns, are other concerns of Accessibility, Affordability and Sufficiency of water. According to the UNHABITAT as quoted by Alabaster (2008); Accessibility means obtaining water by the households without taking undue proportion of the household’s time (less than one hour a day) for the minimum sufficient quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day. Affordability means water not taking undue proportion of a household’s income i.e. less than 10 percent. Sufficiency means water being available at a quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day.
Further to the foregoing, Alabaster (2008) defines a household as having access to improved water sources if it has sufficient amount of water for family use, at an affordable price, available to household members without being subject to excessive physical effort and time. According to Alabaster (2008); access to water decreases when quantity, cost and burden of fetching water is considered.
This was corroborated by JMP 2008 report which notes that when drinking water is not available in the home or close to it, the time taken to collect water (that is, to go to the source, stand in line, fill water containers and return home) is critical in determining whether a household can obtain enough water for drinking, food preparation and personal hygiene.
JMP 2008 further underscores that studies have found that if the time spent collecting drinking water is between 3 and 30 minutes, the amount collected is fairly constant and suitable to meet basic needs – defined as between 15 and 25 liters per person per day. However, if the total time taken per round trip exceeds 30 minutes, people tend to collect less water, thus compromising their basic drinking water needs.
The JMP 2008 also notes that the MDG indicator does not include a measure for time taken to collect water. However, some argue that, because it is a factor in drinking water use, the time needed to collect water should be considered when determining whether a source is ‘improved’ or not. Data from 35 recent household surveys show that 18 per cent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa relies on an improved drinking water source that is more than 30 minutes away.
According to the WHO/UNICEF JMP Report 2008; 87 per cent of the world’s current population uses drinking water from improved sources. Out of this total figure; 54 per cent uses a piped connection in their dwelling, plot or yard, and 33 per cent uses other improved drinking water sources. This translates into 5.7 billion people worldwide who are now using drinking water from an improved source, an increase of 1.6 billion since 1990. About 3.6 billion people use a piped connection that provides running water in or near their homes.
However, estimates for 2006 as reported in this report show that the population reliant on unimproved drinking water sources is below one billion, and now stands at 884 million. Improved drinking water coverage in sub-Saharan Africa is still considerably lower than in other regions. Nevertheless, it has increased from 49 per cent in 1990 to 58 per cent in 2006, which means that an additional 207 million Africans are now using safe drinking water while 42 per cent are using unsafe or unimproved water sources.
The world is on track to meet
Unimproved drinking water sources according to the JMP include; unprotected dug well, unprotected spring,
cart with small tank/drum, tanker truck, and surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channels),and bottled water etc while other improved drinking water sources include Public taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collection. Piped water on premises i.e. piped household water connection located inside the user’s dwelling; plot or yard is described as most improved by JMP by virtue of its position on the JMP 2008 drinking water ladder. Water is divided into three categories, which are illustrated in the form of a ‘drinking water ladder’ similar to that developed for sanitation.
The category ‘improved drinking water sources’ includes sources that, by nature of their construction or through active intervention, are protected from outside contamination, particularly faecal matter. These include piped water in a dwelling, plot or yard, and other improved sources.
However and beyond all these concerns, are other concerns of Accessibility, Affordability and Sufficiency of water. According to the UNHABITAT as quoted by Alabaster (2008); Accessibility means obtaining water by the households without taking undue proportion of the household’s time (less than one hour a day) for the minimum sufficient quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day. Affordability means water not taking undue proportion of a household’s income i.e. less than 10 percent. Sufficiency means water being available at a quantity of at least 20 liters per person per day.
Further to the foregoing, Alabaster (2008) defines a household as having access to improved water sources if it has sufficient amount of water for family use, at an affordable price, available to household members without being subject to excessive physical effort and time. According to Alabaster (2008); access to water decreases when quantity, cost and burden of fetching water is considered.
This was corroborated by JMP 2008 report which notes that when drinking water is not available in the home or close to it, the time taken to collect water (that is, to go to the source, stand in line, fill water containers and return home) is critical in determining whether a household can obtain enough water for drinking, food preparation and personal hygiene.
JMP 2008 further underscores that studies have found that if the time spent collecting drinking water is between 3 and 30 minutes, the amount collected is fairly constant and suitable to meet basic needs – defined as between 15 and 25 liters per person per day. However, if the total time taken per round trip exceeds 30 minutes, people tend to collect less water, thus compromising their basic drinking water needs.
The JMP 2008 also notes that the MDG indicator does not include a measure for time taken to collect water. However, some argue that, because it is a factor in drinking water use, the time needed to collect water should be considered when determining whether a source is ‘improved’ or not. Data from 35 recent household surveys show that 18 per cent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa relies on an improved drinking water source that is more than 30 minutes away.
All Alone in the militants den: the exploits of the geologist turned social entrepreneur
Joachim Ezeji is the Chief Executive Officer of Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP) which he founded in 2000 as an intervention NGO with the aim to improve access to clean drinking water in remote rural communities in Nigeria where access to clean water is severely constrained, particularly those that have been ravaged by oil and gas exploration activities.
According to him, the three most important environmental issues/challenges facing RAWDP where they work are; Flooding, Deforestation and Unplanned urbanisation etc.
‘’These challenges combined with erosion menace are still ravaging communities where we work. Throughout south-eastern Nigeria, people are becoming increasingly affected by extreme climate and environmental change events. Worsening droughts and erosion in particular is ruining the lives and livelihood of many households and has continued to hamper farming activities’’.
He went on to say that water mismanagement, inappropriate land use, as well as poor knowledge of anti-drought measures by farmers have led to land degradation such as soil erosion and loss of the soil’s productive capacity to produce food. Also the limited potential for dry season farming through soil and water conservation, the non-employment of rain water harvesting technology, as well as conflicts over limited water resources have not helped the situation. Consequently, local livelihoods are being jeopardized while increasing poverty for thousands of local farmers expands
These challenges are critical because the region is also hugely a coastal area, with a very sensitive ecosystem. While unmitigated poor sanitary systems contaminate water sources with dangerous pathogens, floods spread these diseases and destroy habitats and infrastructure; while deforestation exposes the people to a harsher climatic changes and poverty. The rapidly eroding land surfaces silts streams and gives rise to high levels of turbidity in local streams.
It is feared that economic losses of about 5-20% of National GDP could be wrought and that the region may lose between 4-6% of its GDP, with some sectors likely to face greater challenges. Already the region is facing reductions in yields from rain-fed agriculture of 10%, which may climb up to 50% by 2020. Relevant skills desired to tackle these issues include those related to environmental education, context investigation, community mobilization and engagement as well as basic know how on technical mitigation steps e.g. those applicable to natural resource management and water source protection/catchment management etc. that could easily be shared with or transferred to the community.
According to him, the three most important environmental issues/challenges facing RAWDP where they work are; Flooding, Deforestation and Unplanned urbanisation etc.
‘’These challenges combined with erosion menace are still ravaging communities where we work. Throughout south-eastern Nigeria, people are becoming increasingly affected by extreme climate and environmental change events. Worsening droughts and erosion in particular is ruining the lives and livelihood of many households and has continued to hamper farming activities’’.
He went on to say that water mismanagement, inappropriate land use, as well as poor knowledge of anti-drought measures by farmers have led to land degradation such as soil erosion and loss of the soil’s productive capacity to produce food. Also the limited potential for dry season farming through soil and water conservation, the non-employment of rain water harvesting technology, as well as conflicts over limited water resources have not helped the situation. Consequently, local livelihoods are being jeopardized while increasing poverty for thousands of local farmers expands
These challenges are critical because the region is also hugely a coastal area, with a very sensitive ecosystem. While unmitigated poor sanitary systems contaminate water sources with dangerous pathogens, floods spread these diseases and destroy habitats and infrastructure; while deforestation exposes the people to a harsher climatic changes and poverty. The rapidly eroding land surfaces silts streams and gives rise to high levels of turbidity in local streams.
It is feared that economic losses of about 5-20% of National GDP could be wrought and that the region may lose between 4-6% of its GDP, with some sectors likely to face greater challenges. Already the region is facing reductions in yields from rain-fed agriculture of 10%, which may climb up to 50% by 2020. Relevant skills desired to tackle these issues include those related to environmental education, context investigation, community mobilization and engagement as well as basic know how on technical mitigation steps e.g. those applicable to natural resource management and water source protection/catchment management etc. that could easily be shared with or transferred to the community.
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