Geologic Factor and Domestic Water Scarcity in Rural Nigeria

Abstract

As climate change and population explosion impacts access to adequate water supply in developing countries, attention has been shifted to the examination of economic and socio-demographic differentials, mostly in urban settings, in relation to water demand and supply chain. Thus, this study examined (i) the extent of rural households’ vulnerability to domestic water scarcity; and (ii) the impact geologic differentials on water scarcity in the rural setting of Yobe State, Nigeria. It adopted the geologic divisions of the area as study zones and applied a two-stage sampling approach. Firstly, nine village units were purposively selected; and secondly, respondents were drawn using systematic-random sampling approach. Descriptive statistics show that overwhelming majority of the households (63.4%) relied on unimproved water sources; trek an average distance of 1.5km per round trip of water collection; an average household barely access 50% of its daily water demand. The descriptive and inferential statistics revealed further that an average person in the study area access only 52.6% of his/her daily water demand. It also found that the disparities in the per capita water accessibility varied by 12 litres between KKF and CDF, 5 litres between FKS and both KKF and CDF respectively. The study concluded that the pattern of water scarcity is tied to the spatial geologic differentials. Therefore, the study recommends the integration of geologic factor into rural water policy formulation; and an increase in budgetary allocations to water supply sector to achieve target 6.1 of the SDGs.