Water availability, access, and utilization assessment in Kebridahar district in the somali region of Ethiopia

• P. Karthika ^[1] ; M. Karthikeyan ^[2]
  1. [1] Associate Professor, College of Business & Economics, Kebri Dehar University, Ethiopia
  2. [2] College of Business & Economics, Wollo University, Ethiopia
• Localización: Nuevas dinámicas mundiales en la era post-Covid: desafíos para la economía pública, social y cooperativa, 2022, ISBN 978-84-122791-6-0
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
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• Resumen

  • KebriDahar is a district in Somali Region, Ethiopia and the population is 363,000. The onlyperennial river in KebriDahar is the Fafen. About 25.8% of the total population has access todrinking water. The purpose of the research paper was to assess water availability, access,and utilization in the district. Mixed approach was adopted but with more of qualitative in nature.Relevant studies and report related to the study were reviewed. Primary data was collectedthrough public/beneficiaries consultation and field observation. Secondary data was obtainedfrom district and kebele offices. Consultations were also conducted with key stakeholders andlocal community representatives. 200 dwellers as respondents and all 12 kebeles wereconsidered and conducted 37 key informant interviews (KIIs) comprising district waterdevelopment bureau head (1), kebele water board heads (12) community committee members(12), community leaders (12), and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) among domestic waterusers (5 full groups). KIIs were guided using checklist delivered through face-to-face interviewthat used and open data kit (ODK), and hand-held mobile devices for data collection. Simpledescriptive statistics and narrations were given. The result shows that with the most prevalentsources of water being 9 boreholes followed by 9 unprotected well; and 4 reservoirs made upa very low proportion of respondents’ sources for accessing water. Respondents reported atotal of 9 boreholes also specifying that 6 were functioning among which 2 were converted into4 reservoirs for domestic water purpose and daily supply 150,000 liters to 1500 householdswho has water connection. 3 boreholes are used for truck water supply; and one by university.Respondents revealed that on an average 8L per day per person water consumption whichshows that there is water shortage. This is significantly below Sphere Standardrecommendation of 15L. It is recommended that as water access remains below SphereStandards, water asset rehabilitation should be prioritized in order to reduce the number ofhouseholds reliant on unprotected and unsafe water sources and to increase overall supply ofwater by increasing boreholes; water supply activities should also be coupled with hygiene promotion activities such as clean water storage and treatment through chlorination plants.