Water is essential for life, humans need water to function, plants need them to survive and grow, animals would die of starvation if the global water supply dries up. That’s not all, factories would shut down if there is no water to cool the engines and process the raw materials and millions of households would cease to exist without water to cook, clean and run efficiently.
If life on earth depends on water, how do 2.1 billion people, about 28% of the earth’s population according to a recent UNICEF and WHO report, who do not have access to safe water supply meet their daily needs?
Now spare a moment to imagine what daily life is like for these 2.1 billion people who have to pass through varying degrees of hardship to have access to the all-important water they need to drink, clean, bath and cook.
In most parts of Africa, the responsibility for supplying water for household needs falls on the mothers and girls in the home.
With what we have since come to know about the critical role of water vis-a-vis its limited availability, is it any wonder that many diseases traced to inadequate water supplies are most prevalent in communities where access is most limited? Scientists have pinned diarrhoea, trachoma, intestinal worm infections and stunted growth to poor water supplies in communities and neighbourhoods.
Today is the International Water Day, offers us another opportunity to reflect on the challenges associated with access to safe, clean water for individual and household consumption and industrial applications.
As we have established, the responsibility of fetching water for household usage falls mostly on the female folks, identifying ways of lessening this burden should also be critical to governments and local and international organisations promoting human welfare and decent living standards globally.
The burden of Time
A recent finding by UNICEF/WHO reported that 263 million persons across the world spend more than 30 minutes everyday trekking to fetch water from multiple sources that can be considered clean. There’s also significant time spent queuing or having to wait till the water is “pumped” to a reservoir using diesel or solar-powered engines.
As a boy growing up in a rural community in the 90s and 2000s, I remember trekking over three kilometres each morning to the village stream to fetch twenty litres of water twice before rushing off to school.
The Women Angle
My personal experience seems to align with the views expressed by UNICEF that in about 25 sub-Saharan African countries, women spend 16 million hours daily collecting water. In Kenya, women reported that they spend 4.5 hours weekly sourcing for water. 77% of the respondents admitted that they have fears for their safety and another 24%, on account of these water runs, are unable to provide adequate care for their infant children.
It is also true that because of the time spent sourcing and bringing water to the home, women lose valuable time that should have been spent learning, engaging in economic activities or even getting sufficient rest.
The Burden
WHO’s minimum requirement for daily water consumption – drinking, cooking, washing and sundry sanitation – is 20-50 litres. I did mention that in as a kid growing up in a rural African community almost two decades ago, I spent my waking hours hauling 40 litres of water before I have time to go to school. I was not alone. My siblings and peers in the neighbourhood all did the same thing. Hauling such considerable loads over a long distance each morning caused us strained backs, shoulders and necks.
While many of the boys at the time never complained about trekking long distances to fetch water for family consumption, it was a lot more difficult for the girls in the community. We heard reports of girls being waylaid and robbed or raped by the bad boys no one ever identified nor brought to justice. The women were also more prone to falls which happens very often on the slippery bush-path to the stream, especially when it rains early in the morning.
The Rising Water Demands and Migrations
There’s a steady rise in population in Nigeria – at almost 6% per annum. While it is true that the government and private individuals may have launched various initiatives to increase the availability of water for homes and factories, it is the belief in several informed circles that current efforts to boost water supply still fall short of demand.
The recent wave of terror attacks by members of the Boko Haram sect have seen many relocate from their homes and settle in locations where water supplies are often not available. Economic hardship is also forcing many to move into neighbourhoods where there are no running water and residents rely on itinerant water vendors who charge a premium (N50 about 20 Cents for 20 litres).
Even at such premium rates, supplies are often inadequate, and the water vendors can be most erratic – causing families to drive several miles to fetch water in multiple jerry cans.
With the recent projection that global water demand would rise by 40% in 2030, the current situation in Nigeria and several parts of Africa should be a source of big water to policymakers and development partners.
Still on the Women
Women are most adversely affected when there’s a shortfall in water supply. In Africa, the responsibility of taking care of the family, bathing the children, cooking, washing and watering household gardens are borne by the women. As it is often the case, they are hampered when they still have to add the task of trekking several kilometres to source for water to all the traditional chores they are saddled with.
What Must Be Done
Efforts must, therefore, be made by all agencies and groups involved in promoting quality living in communities to explore intelligent ways of increasing the volume of water supply, channelling water from water bodies to reservoirs where they are processed and purified for human consumption. If this is done, the productivity of our mothers and sisters shall rise leading to greater economic welfare for everyone concerned- homes and industries.
Today – not tomorrow – is the best time to start exploring intelligent ideas to holistically tackle the water problem we face in our world today, especially in the developing communities in Africa – like in the village where my siblings and I grew up several years ago.