Introduction: A Personal Journey Toward Solving WASH Challenges
I was born and raised in the outskirts of Negele Borena town in Ethiopia, where access to clean water is a constant challenge. Since a young age, it has been my academic dream to contribute my part to solving the overarching problems of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene, particularly in the peri-urban and rural lowlands of Ethiopia. I have long been trying to get involved in WASH-related activities. The AIRF call for interdisciplinary research grants was announced at the right time when I was keen to start a project I had anticipated for a long time: the “Assessment of Climate-Resilient WASH Systems in Flood and Drought-Prone Areas of Southeastern Ethiopia.”
Research Objectives and Methodological Approach
The main aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Climate-Resilient WASH Systems in flood and drought-prone districts of Southeastern Ethiopia. In this assessment, we employed a mixed-methods approach, with a cross-sectional household survey to examine socio-economic conditions, livelihood strategies, the status of water sources, challenges, opportunities, and determinants related to WASH issues and climate resilience.
The total sample size was determined to be more than 440 households, with the sample size proportionately distributed to each selected woreda (district): Dawe Kachen, Raytu, Sewyna, and Ginir. The districts were selected purposively based on preliminary review, literature, and field experience.
The Urgency of Addressing WASH Challenges in Ethiopia
One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is ensuring that everyone has access to sustainable water and sanitation services. This is also a key strategy for reducing the impact of climate change in the years to come. However, in some regions, climate variability, particularly drought and flooding, is exacerbating water scarcity and negatively impacting people’s health and well-being, threatening sustainable development worldwide.
In our study area, drought is a recurrent phenomenon, and together with malnutrition and the WASH problem, the community is under threat. Recently, in early November 2023, as world leaders gathered at COP28, the UN climate change conference in Dubai, UAE, nearly 1.6 million people throughout the Horn of Africa were displaced by severe climate-induced floods. Reports have also indicated that the areas affected by this incident experienced the devastation of the little WASH infrastructure that the community had established with government and NGO support. Moreover, poor WASH is also strongly associated with various diseases such as malaria, typhoid, cholera, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which have a debilitating effect on children and their families. Therefore, a research-based intervention plan for improving the WASH system and climate resilience is vital for socio-economic development and environmental management in this area.
Field Data Collection
Conducting field-level data collection in the remote, lowland areas of Bale and East Bale presented numerous challenges, from limited accessibility and transport facilities to underdeveloped infrastructure and harsh weather conditions. Despite these obstacles, the support from AIRF was instrumental in enabling us to gather critical data from some of the most vulnerable communities. We used locally available transportation methods, including horse riding, motorbikes, and car rentals, to reach remote areas. Moreover, local experts and enumerators were trained on using Kobo Toolbox for household survey data collection, which helped us manage the data collection successfully, beyond our expectations. he data we collected under these challenging conditions will be crucial in informing future WASH interventions in the region.
Key Findings and Implications for WASH Development
We found that household-level, communal, and health facility WASH infrastructures are grossly underdeveloped in the study area, which was even worse than we initially expected. Our understanding completely changed after the household-level field survey, revealing that the level of the WASH problem, particularly in the lowland areas, needs rapid intervention to avert adverse societal impacts.
The insights gained from this research are poised to improve our understanding of the WASH challenges in remote Ethiopian lowlands, with potential implications for policy and decision-making processes at regional and national levels. Various study reports indicated that the impact of climate change is prevalent in the WASH sector. Hence, the current study, especially our field experience in the remote areas of flood and drought-prone regions, can be vital in providing climate-resilient WASH systems in developing countries in general and in the agro-pastoralist lowland areas of Ethiopia in particular.
Conclusion
Our research marks a significant step forward in understanding and addressing the WASH challenges in flood and drought-prone areas of Southeastern Ethiopia. Through extensive ground-level data collection, supported by rigorous training and integrated approaches, we have laid the foundation for more resilient WASH systems in these vulnerable regions.
One of the most profound revelations of our study is the extent to which climate variability exacerbates the vulnerabilities of WASH systems in these regions. As droughts and floods become more frequent and severe due to climate change, the already fragile WASH infrastructure in rural and peri-urban lowlands is pushed to its limits. This underscores the need for immediate and targeted interventions to strengthen WASH infrastructure in areas most affected by climate variability. Continued research and collaboration with local communities, government bodies, and international organizations will be crucial in driving sustainable solutions that can be scaled across similar contexts globally.
The implications of our findings extend beyond the borders of Ethiopia. The challenges faced by the communities in our study area are not unique but are mirrored in many other parts of the world where climate change poses a significant threat to water security and public health. As such, the insights gained from this research can inform global strategies for WASH development in similarly vulnerable regions. By sharing our methodologies, challenges, and successes, we can contribute to a broader understanding of how to build resilient WASH systems that can be scaled and adapted to various contexts worldwide.