Abstract
The paper analyses coping (short-term) and adaptation (long-term) strategies by households to address water insecurity in Ngamiland, Botswana, a middle income and semi-arid country. Quantitative (i.e. structured household questionnaires) and qualitative (i.e. key informant and informal interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation) approaches were used. The concept of water security and the actor-oriented approach inform the paper. Households in Ngamiland are experiencing water insecurity and they mainly employ coping (i.e. accessing untreated water, traditional rainwater harvesting, bulk water hauling and buying, use prioritization, and buying bottled water) as opposed to adaptation (i.e. abstracting groundwater, connecting storage tanks to main water systems and modern rainwater harvesting) strategies to deal with water insecurity. More scientific research for informing water policies and implementation of sustainable water supply strategies is required in order to enhance water security in countries like Botswana.
Highlights
The world’s freshwater resources are currently under considerable stress as demand is outstripping supply in many regions including sub-Saharan Africa (Chamberlain, 2008; Hanjraa & Qureshi, 2010; Rogers, 2008; Rosegrant, Cai, & Cline, 2002)
This paper offers some insights from research work and literature on how households in a semi-arid country devise short and long-term strategies in dealing with water insecurity
Data presented in this paper demonstrates that water insecurity is a challenge for households in different settlement categories of Ngamiland, Botswana as they experience water supply and quality challenges
Summary
The world’s freshwater resources are currently under considerable stress as demand is outstripping supply in many regions including sub-Saharan Africa (Chamberlain, 2008; Hanjraa & Qureshi, 2010; Rogers, 2008; Rosegrant, Cai, & Cline, 2002). An estimated 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe water sources, despite considerable investments in water and sanitation in developing countries since the 1980s (Onda, LoBuglio, & Bartram, 2012; WWC, 2000). In sub-Saharan Africa, 56% of the population has access to safe water and 39% of the urban population is connected to piped water compared to 50% in the early 1990s (Manzungu, Mangwanya, & Dzingirai, 2012). Across Africa, water insecurity (inadequate access to water, access to poor quality water and insufficient water supply and distribution facilities) (Webb & Iskandarani, 1998) has led to outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera in Zimbabwe which killed over 4 000 people in 2008-2009 (Manzungu & Chioreso, 2012; Mason, 2009), and rota virus in Botswana’s Ngamiland District which killed 18 children under the age of 24 months in 2012 (Morokotso, 2012)
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