Abstract
City governments, the world over, are grappling with the problem of sustaining water supply to their rapidly growing population. The need to meet up with this exigency has been emphasized in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) and SDG 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable). While a series of demand and supply-side approaches to water management have been employed, the extent to which water management practices could guarantee (un)sustainability still require clarity, especially in the context of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Taking the case of the Bamenda Metropolis of Cameroon, we contribute to address this lacunae, by identifying household level water management practices in Bamenda, and discussing the implications it has for sustainable water supply (availability, affordability). To obtain relevant data for this study, a random sample of 120 households, within 8 neighborhoods of Bamenda, was conducted. Furthermore, we employed descriptive and inferential statistical methods to test the relationship between household socio-economic characteristics and water management (consumption, rationing, preservation). The results reveal the following: In terms of regularity, approximately 63% of the households have irregular water supply, and consume less than 50 litres of water per day. The key water source is pipe borne water (65%), supplied by CAMWATER and Community Water Systems. One of the main water management practice at household level is rainwater harvesting (41.7%), while sustainability is compromised by the weak management systems from supply side, and limited knowledge and resources at the demand side (household level). There is a need for policy (re)orientation to regulate household water distribution, consumption and affordability. Further studies are required to ground this assertion.
Highlights
The pace of rapid and uncontrolled urbanization in the developing world has been adequately established; most UN-Habitat reports indicate that we are living in an urban century, with more than 50% of the world’s population living in cities in the developing world
This trend is even more starting in the context of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where people stream into unprepared urban centres (UN-Habitat, 2009; 2014; 2018)
3.1 Household Size Distribution and Regularity of Water Supply Most of the households covered in the study had a population of below five persons, followed by those below 10
Summary
The pace of rapid and uncontrolled urbanization in the developing world has been adequately established; most UN-Habitat reports indicate that we are living in an urban century, with more than 50% of the world’s population living in cities in the developing world. Rapid urbanization demands adequate policies, technology and efficient stakeholder participation to accommodate emerging urbanization problems, such as potable water supply (Kimengsi et al, 2016; UN-Habitat, 2014). This was emphasized in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
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