Factors influencing sustainability of boreholes in Chadiza District

Abstract

The focus of the study was to establish factors which influence sustainability of boreholes managed by communities in Chadiza District. In order to do that, the study intended to answer three research questions which are: (i) How does community participation at the initial stage of the borehole projects influence sustainability? (ii) How do community members’ perception towards contributions for maintenance of boreholes influence sustainability? (ii) How does capacity building of water committee members and area pump minders (APMs) influence sustainability of boreholes? To meet its objective, the study used both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using the interview schedule, focus group discussions and an oral interview. Secondary data was sourced from processed data from the Local Authority, the internet, books, reports, articles and journals related to community participation in the implementation of water projects. The study showed that community participation at initial stage of construction instills the spirit of self reliance in the community members throughout the project cycle. The communities perceived community contribution as a positive way to sustainability of boreholes as it symbolized ownership and hence the authority to make decisions related to water. The communities which had trained water committees did not have problems with contributions and hence maintenance of the boreholes, as compared to those whose water committees were not trained. Further, communities which had trained APMs had reduced downtime on their boreholes. In order to protect the positive strides made by government to increase the provision of safe and clean water to rural communities, these factors should be made known in areas where sustainability seems to be weak or completely absent, through sensitizations. It is further, recommended that the local authority should continue with the system where a contract for borehole drilling should include a package for toolkits, APMs and water committee training programmes for each borehole. The government should put guide lines in place which will help communities to determine how much to contribute and how often. A research should be conducted to find out how communities determine, how much they contribute towards maintenance of boreholes.