Water scarcity measurement in the Yobe region of Nigeria

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ABSTRACT Water is an indispensable natural resource, critical to human well-being, socio-economic activities and development, access to which is a human right that guarantees poverty reduction. Despite the importance of water to mankind, rural areas often suffer the most of water scarcities that have been attributed to various characteristics and dispositions. However, the statistical indices developed and used for the measurement of the domestic water scarcity were highly inappropriate and fall short of depicting the actual picture of the situation. Thus, this study measured the rural households’ susceptibility to water scarcity using WSVI and the basic descriptive statistics. The mixed data for the study were primarily collected through a household survey on water availability and demand, whereas relevant research works and reports were reviewed as secondary data sources. Findings show hand dug-wells, boreholes and surface water bodies as the sources of water that the households depend upon for daily supplies – the service for which remained on women and girls. The WSVI computations revealed that the overwhelming majority of the studied households were experiencing high to acute water scarcities. Thus, the study recommends increased investments in the rural water supply sector, which would also reduce the socio-economic conditions on the population. The YSWSSP which has been highlighted with data inadequacies should be critically strengthened to enhance effective rural water service. Additionally, pieces of training to strengthen the methods of adaptation to water scarcity used by the households have been suggested