Water supply and sanitation : development impacts of poor accessibility of potable water supply and basic sanitation in rural Ethiopia: a case studyof Soddo District

Abstract

It is well known that water is a natural resource without which all living things cannot exist. It is a natural requirement for all living things to have access to water if they have to be alive. It seems so why the 70 percent of our planet, earth, covered by water though the world population is facing water scarcity. Such scarcity of water is urging people to use water from unprotected sources which the world urban poor and rural population are highly affected by. As it is known ‘water is life’ because it gives life for all, on the contrary many are dying as a result of unsafe drinking water. The consequences of unsafe drinking water are in general negatively affecting the environmental and socio- economic development of a nation. As the world urban poor and rural population suffering from water, access to basic sanitation is also a challenge to these groups of world population. The combination of poor accessibility to potable water and basic sanitation is negatively impacting the economic, environmental, and social condition of a country. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world whose citizens have poor accessibility to potable water and basic sanitation. As it is in many countries the rural population of Ethiopia is more affected by the problem of water and sanitation than the urban population. Soddo district is one of those rural places which more than 90 percent of the district population lives in rural areas. Michael Semero peasant association is one of the rural peasant association which, taken as a sample study site, far lag behind any other peasant associations in the district. In this peasant association the access to potable water and basic sanitation is a privilege rather than rights which this paper discussed in details the impacts of the poor accessibility to potable water and sanitation on the economic, social and environmental condition of the area. Key Words Ethiopia, Economic Impact, Environmental Impact, Michael Semero Peasant Association, Soddo district, Social impact, Water supply and sanitation