Extending the critical aspects of the water access indicator using East Africa as an example

Abstract

The United Nations has declared 2005-2015 the Fresh Water Decade in which more people than ever before will gain access to water. Despite acknowledging that water quantity is important to health, so far only water quality is used in monitoring the Millennium Development Goals. This study examines the changes in national access figures when both water quality and quantity are taken into account to determine access. Using East Africa as an example shows that the number of people with access to water for the region decreased by 9% (7% urban and 10% rural). The largest difference in access is observed in Eritrea 25% (11% urban and 36% rural). Reduction is higher in rural areas. However, significant reduction in access is also observed in urban Ethiopia (14%). In conclusion, the indicators for access to water would be better articulated by adding water quantity to the indicator which currently only includes water quality, while the Demographic Health Survey and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey routinely collects information on both aspects.

Assessing Potable Water Access and Its Implications for Households’ Livelihoods: The Case of Sibi in the Nkwanta North District, Ghana

“…The common criteria used by scholars to define water access are often derived from the UN/JMP classification of improved and unimproved sources [7,10,35]. Other scholars also define water access using time, distance, the quality of the source, and affordability [36][37][38]. Smiley [8] defined access to water using availability and reliability.…”

Household expenditure and accessibility of water in urban India

“…The most commonly accepted metric of accessibility from the United Nations and the World Health Organization includes the proportion of the population with water coverage (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2021). Previous research measures these aspects in terms of source improvements (Mahama et al, 2014; Osei-Kyei and Chan, 2015), physical attributes such as the time taken for water collection, distance from the source, type of source (Devi and Bostoen, 2009; Majuru et al, 2016), availability and reliability (Smiley, 2017), and societal and financial groupings with access to water (Flores et al, 2013). The discourse on the accessibility and affordability of drinking water became a mainstream item following the UN’s resolution in 2010, which had set out the right to water in terms of sufficiency, safety, acceptability, within physical reach, and affordability (Cassivi et al, 2021).…”

Prescribed fire alters nematode communities in an old‐field grassland

“…Nematode community richness and composition respond rapidly to chemical and physical changes (Nielsen et al, 2014 ). Therefore, nematodes are frequently used as bioindicators of the quality, stability, and changes in the soil (Devi, 2020 ; du Preez et al, 2018 ). Therefore, understanding the soil nematodes response to fire is helpful to realize how ecosystem processes are likely to respond to fire.…”