Seasonal Shifts in Primary Water Source Type: A Comparison of Largely Pastoral Communities in Uganda and Tanzania

Pearson, Amber L.; Zwickle, Adam; Namanya, Judith; Rzotkiewicz, Amanda; Mwita, Emiliana

doi:10.3390/ijerph13020169

Cited by 40 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Seasonality heavily influences the choice of water source, as rainfall affects the relative availability, price and aesthetic attributes of different water sources. 1,2,15,16,38 This highlights another potential weakness of conventional monitoring efforts: the prospect of a systematic seasonal bias impacting the way national and global statistics are derived, through household surveys that mostly take place in the dry season (Table 1). 39 MWSU presents both an opportunity and a risk for advancing the health and welfare of low-income households.…”

Section: Opportunities and Risks Associated With Mwsumentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing how multiple household water sources and uses build water resilience and support sustainable development

et al. 2019

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The routine use of multiple water sources to meet household water needs is widely practiced and has been reported in many developing countries. However, it is typically neglected by implementers, development organizations, and researchers who tend to focus exclusively on the "main source of drinking water." In this Perspective, we explain the nature and scope of multiple water source use (MWSU) at the household level in developing countries. We also describe the implications of MWSU for human health and water resilience, and identify key knowledge gaps, risks, and opportunities associated with MWSU. Finally, we argue that understanding MWSU is feasible for researchers and implementers and is essential for properly designing research studies and water supply projects.npj Clean Water (2019) 2:6 ; https://doi.

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Section: Opportunities and Risks Associated With Mwsumentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing how multiple household water sources and uses build water resilience and support sustainable development

et al. 2019

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“…During the monsoon season, the marginal value of consuming vended water declines when availability of rainwater makes the high costs of vended water not worth the difference in quality. Such seasonal shifts are well documented in the literature, and raises health concerns particularly in contexts where people switch from low-risk to high-risk sources (Thomson et al 2019;Pearson et al 2016;Tucker et al 2014). While surface water is hardly used for drinking purposes in rural Bangladesh, ponds have a special significance in rural culture and are preferred for cooking, washing and bathing.…”

Section: Social Economic and Environmental Aspects Of Affordabilitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Examining the Economics of Affordability Through Water Diaries in Coastal Bangladesh

Hoque

Hope

2019

Water Econs. Policy

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Monitoring affordability of drinking water services is constrained by data gaps from traditional approaches that rely on cross-sectional data from infrequent, nationally representative surveys. Estimates of income or expenditure ratios spent on accessing a main source of drinking water are poorly equipped to reflect affordability in rural contexts where poor people often resort to multiple sources of varying costs, quality and distance to cope with unreliable or absent water supplies. Here, we present findings from an 18-week water diary study that documented daily water choices and expenditures of a stratified sample of 120 households in coastal Bangladesh. This intensive, longitudinal monitoring is supported by household surveys, water infrastructure mapping, hydrogeological analysis of salinity, automated rainfall measurements and interviews with diary participants. We identify five water expenditure typologies, ranging from those who always rely on unpaid and often poor-quality sources like shallow tubewells, pond sand filters and rainwater, to those who purchase vended water for drinking and cooking all year-round, spending 3–7% of total household expenditure. These behavioral dynamics are shaped by environmental, infrastructure and cultural factors, with household wealth being a weak indicator of behavior. We conclude that affordability measures should recognize the quality of service available and chosen by users across seasons, rather than being fixated on income or expenditure ratios for a main source. Measuring the latter without considering the former impedes the design of service delivery models appropriate for providing safe and reliable water supplies, at costs that users and society are willing to bear and sustain.

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“…3A) -a prerequisite for agricultural intensification that is, however, linked to trade-offs (Hobbs et al, 2008). Key resources for livestock keeping such as water wells or dry-and wetseason grazing grounds are often spatially separated (Pearson et al, 2016;Wernersson, 2018).…”

Section: Considerations Of Household Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

A community-based evaluation of population growth and agro-pastoralist resilience in Sub-Saharan drylands

Burian

Karaya

Wernersson

et al. 2019

Environmental Science & Policy

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Human population growth is considered together with climate warming as major driver of change in Sub-Saharan Africa. Research on the implications of increased population densities often utilises community knowledge but without incorporating the view of local stakeholders. In this study, we applied a community-centred approach to direct and indirect consequences of population growth in drylands of northwestern Kenya. Combined social, agricultural and geo-spatial analyses allowed us to identify major system transitions, determine their linkage to population growth and deduce consequences for local livelihoods and community resilience. Community-members reported positive and negative consequences of fourfold population growth since 1974 but evaluated its overall effect as clearly beneficial. This overall positive effect was based on both, positive developments and the successful mitigation of potential system stressors. First, food security was maintained despite high growth rates because a shift from migratory pastoralism to a more labour-intensive agro-pastoralist system helped to increase agricultural productivity. Additionally, land-use changes were linked to land privatisation and improved erosion protection on private land, decoupling population growth from environmental degradation. We, however, detected also early warning signs of reduced community resilience as households were unable to fully recover livestock densities after catastrophic events. A population-growth driven reduction in household land-sizes and the decreased monetary value of agricultural production were identified as drivers of this development. The extrapolation of our results to establish a general relationship between population densities, land-use and household resilience in Sub-Saharan drylands suggest that further system transformations will be required to ensure regional food-security.

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Seasonal Shifts in Primary Water Source Type: A Comparison of Largely Pastoral Communities in Uganda and Tanzania

Cited by 40 publications

References 17 publications

Addressing how multiple household water sources and uses build water resilience and support sustainable development

Addressing how multiple household water sources and uses build water resilience and support sustainable development

Examining the Economics of Affordability Through Water Diaries in Coastal Bangladesh

A community-based evaluation of population growth and agro-pastoralist resilience in Sub-Saharan drylands

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