World Toilet Day!

What may come as a surprise to many of us is that 19th November was World Toilet Day!

The use of and access to functioning toilets is a huge challenge in Africa and as this is of critical importance to my topic of Urban Water and Sanitation, I thought I'd share this article by WaterAid on "Seven things you probably didn't know about the state of the world's toilets".

Take a look at the article - it's a short easy read with a couple of sentences describing each of the points.

WaterAid : Seven things you probably didn't know about the state of the world's toilets

A summary of the seven points are:
(1)  There are 2.3 billion people who still don’t have a safe, private toilet
(2) South Sudan is the hardest place in the world to find a loo
(3) In Nigeria, more people are without access to toilets today than were in 1990
(4) The tiny Pacific island nation of Tokelau has had the biggest surge in toilets
(5) 774 million people in India are still waiting for access to a household toilet

(6) Toilets can help economies prosper

(7)  The effects of all this are devastating

Reference List:

Water Aid (2015) 'Seven things you probably didn't know about the state of the world's toilets' (WWW; http://www.wateraid.org/uk/news/news/seven-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-state-of-the-worlds-toilets; 02 November 2015

Urban Population Dynamics (2)

Today, "the shift from rural to urban in this part of the world has usually become very gradual or stagnant or, in some cases, reversed"(Potts, 2011: 1383). Large numbers of urban inhabitants have moved back to their rural towns due to a combination of the growth in the informal sector of smaller towns and job losses in the formal sector in larger cities. Therefore, while Africapolis, have effectively managed expectations by reviewing estimates of urbanisation in West Africa, an increase in the proportion of the population living in urban areas in West Africa is set to increase modestly as secondary towns and smaller urban centres merge with each other (Africapolis). It is the growth of these peri-urban fringes where "the returns to land from traditional and customary urban land uses are roughly equal to the returns from traditional land uses" (Sanusi, 2010: 14), that I feel will provide the best opportunity to test new approaches that can then be scaled up to even larger urban centres.

The prevalent technology and economic level of the town provide a framework for what can be achieved within the limits of the physical environment (urban hydrology, soil structure etc.), along with a careful assumption of the social climate, to ensure that new initiatives are feasible, realistic and well received (Drangert et al., 2002: 354).

The term 'own-key' indicates "arrangements and activities that are managed and controlled by local communities by employing local knowledge and skills, while 'turn-key' arrangements consist of activities that are being utilised by residents without their involvement in the development and management of affairs." (Drangert et al., 2002: 354).

Reference List:

Africapolis. 'AFRICAPOLIS: Urbanization Trends in West Africa 1950:2020' (WWW; http://www.afd.fr/webdav/shared/PUBLICATIONS/THEMATIQUES/autres-publications/BT/0808ProjetFicheResumeeAfricapolisV4-en.pdf; 20 October 2015)

Drangert J., J. Okotto-Okotto, L.G.O. Okotto and O. Auko (2002) 'Going Small When the City Grows Big New Options for Water Supply and Sanitation in Rapidly Expanding Urban Areas', International Water Resources Association, Water International, 27, 3, 354-363

Potts, D. (2012) 'Challenging the Myths of Urban Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Evidence from Nigeria', World Development, 40, 7, 1382-1393 

Sanusi, A.Y. (2010) 'Water, Sanitation and Human Development in Urban Fringe Settlements in Nigeria', Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, 8, 17, 14-29

Urban Population Dynamics

Are the preconceptions of rapid urban growth, densely populated slums and intense rural-urban migration in Africa correct? Are they providing the right background upon which we analyse the success of new schemes?

Potts, in 'Challenging the Myths of Urban Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa', has questioned existing literature in providing an adequate picture of urbanization in Africa. In recent years, the dynamics of African urban populations and economies have gone in two directions: positive economic growth  fuelled by in-migration, or rapid urbanization which has not been followed up by sufficient urban-based investment (Potts, 2011: 1382).

This study was focused on Nigeria due to its "population size and varied indigenous traditions of urbanization"(Potts, 2011: 1386). The misrepresentation of current figures is alarming. The UN, estimated that in 2008, 69 million Nigerians were living in towns. However, compared to Africapolis, which is regarded as the "most comprehensive and comparable data on urbanization in West Africa" by the OECD (OECD), only 42 million Nigerians resided in towns - a difference of 27 million people. 

Reference List:

OECD (2015) 'Africapolis, a comprehensive and comparable dataset on urbanisation in West Africa' (WWW; http://www.oecd.org/swac/ourwork/africapolis.htm; 20 October 2015)

Potts, D. (2012) 'Challenging the Myths of Urban Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Evidence from Nigeria', World Development, 40, 7, 1382-1393 

Introduction - Always an African problem?

As this is my first blog post, I thought I'd start of with a bit of history and an introduction! 

During the 19th century, Cholera, an acute diarrhoeal disease, spread across the world from its original reservoir in the Ganges delta in India. Six subsequent pandemics have killed millions of people across all continents, and this epidemic is said to have reached the shores of Africa in 1971 (WHO, 2016).  

Shallow wells open all day, privies that formed cesspools in the street - the reoccurring outbreaks of Cholera in England in the 19th century, highlighted the stark similarities between England and African cities today (Davey Smith, 2002).  

Only after years of research by epidemiologists like Snow and Sutherland was the 'faecal-oral' paradigm formed. This was the most significant breakthrough that first linked water to health and is the starting point of water and sanitation studies in Africa!

In Africa today, the limited sources of water that are available to the population face a whole host of issues. Surface water sources are often highly polluted, and modern pipe systems to transport water are too costly. Additionally, groundwater may be contaminated with heavy metals, and bacteria through the leakage of septic systems or contaminated wells. And, this strain on resources has been compounded by excessive water extraction linked to the growth of urban areas, which increase the likelihood of contamination with human waste and the unintentional use of wastewater in irrigated agriculture (Lewis, 2014: 2).

Below are some figures to give a bit of a background as to the current water and sanitation environment in Africa.

(WHO, 2012: 9) 

(WHO, 2012: 7)

Reference List:

Davey Smith, G. (2002) 'Commentary: Behind the Broad Street pump: aetiology, epidemiology and prevention of cholera in mid-19th century Britain', International Journal of Epidemiology, 31, 920-932

Lewis, L. (2014) 'Rural and Urban Water Issues in Africa', Prepared for Water Aid, 1-3

WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (2012) 'A Snapshot of Drinking Water and Sanitation in Africa - 2012 Update' (WWW; http://www.wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/Africa-AMCOW-Snapshot-2012-English-Final.pdf; 03 December 2015)

World Health Organisatio (2016) 'Cholera Fact Sheet' (WWW; http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en; 02 January 2016)