Abstract
Katarko village in the Sahel region of northeastern Nigeria relies entirely on natural sources of water such as rainfall and ground water. Thelatter is potentially the only constant source of water. This study is based on primary data collected in Katarko during a period of 8 months in 1996. Analysis indicates that per capita daily water consumption is higher (44.9 l) in the rainy season than in the dry season (26.1 l). The proportion of households who useless than 150 l per day, the minimum daily requirement recommended by the World Health Organization (Dieterich & Henderson, 1963) increases from 29% during the rainy season to 67% during the dry season. Most households prefer to use water of poor quality that is to be found closer to their homes to traveling long distances to or spending extra time at the water sources to obtain good quality water. Poor water quality, appalling sanitation, and unhygienic water-handling practices, particularly during the dry season, contribute to the high incidence of diarrhea in the village.
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Nyong, A.O., Kanaroglou, P.S. Domestic Water Use in Rural Semiarid Africa: A Case Study of Katarko Village in Northeastern Nigeria. Human Ecology 27, 537–555 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018739910377
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018739910377