In some remote areas where finding water at all is difficult, the issue of quality is unthinkable. What people ask for first is water regardless of the quality. "People in remote areas will never question about quality, all they need is water… water… ; says Moti Mossisa, a researcher at Ethiopian Water Technology Institute (EWTI). "The issue of water type and quality is a luxury for them" he added quoting pastoralists he interviewed for a study.
Globally, an estimated 663 million people, the majority in developing countries, have no access to improved sources of drinking water in 2015. Region wise, the Sub Saharan Africa remains the area of greatest concern, where 300 million people have no access to safe water supplies. Due to such severe problems of water, the least developed countries did not meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on sanitation, and only 27 percent. According to UNICEF and WHO MDG Assessment Report on Sanitation and Drinking Water in 2015, the world has missed the sanitation target by almost 700 million people, with 2.4 billion still lacking improved sanitation facilities and 946 million practicing open defecation. Of which, the rural and pastoral community take the majority.
Ethiopia has obviously untapped water resources. Studies show that the country has abundant ground and underground water resources. But the country is not able to reap the anticipated benefit from the sector, because of lack of access to technology, financial capacity, and skilled manpower. Taking this situation in to account, the government is making relentless efforts to achieve the target plans. Of these, the human resource development and capacity building researches conducted by the Ethiopian Water Technology Institute (EWTI) are exemplified.
Moti says water scarcity is a perennial challenge in Ethiopia’s pastoral regions. The water supply and sanitation facilities are highly determined by the synergy and cooperation among multiple actors in the sector, he stated. _
According to Moti, the pastoralists in Ethiopia covered 61 per cent of the total land area and 12-15 per cent of the total population of the nation. They also raise 40 per cent of the cattle, 75 per cent of the goats, 25 per cent of the sheep, 20 per cent of the equines, and 100 per cent of the camel population in the country. In fact, pastoralists have been playing perceptible and significant roles in the development of the national as well as the regional economy.
Regarding the quality of water used by pastoralists in Borena Zone, Moti said that the quality of the water is not even a concern for most of the households in Borena zone. According to his research output, the surrounding Yabello and Moyale towns have a relative access to the so called improved water due to their proximity to the towns. Whereas, in remote areas the quality issue is unthinkable and it is not a big concern of the people. Quoting one of his interviewee, Moti said the people in the area will never question about quality, all they need is water… water… ; the issue of water type and quality is a luxury for them.
On the other hand, sanitation is one of the key issues that are decisive for active and healthy life in Borena. It is possible to significantly reduce rural morbidity and mortality through proper sanitation education and the construction of hygiene facilities.
Regarding access to Latrine, literatures indicated that latrine is a precondition for sanitation, and reduces contamination and water pollution through creating a healthy environment in general. Proper latrines usage could protect diarrhea by 36 per cent, cholera by 66 percent, and worm infestations 12 – 86 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health 2006 report.
Similarly, the 2017 Zonal report confirmed that 68 per cent of Borena pastoralists own private. But with this achievement, the coverage various from one woreda to the other ranging from 97 percent (Dubluk) and 27 per cent (Wachile).
According to him, most latrines constructed in the area are unimproved latrines without slab and house, and traditional pit latrines, which are mostly with walls but without roof, some with closed wall and roof but without door.
Despite the increasing latrine coverage, the design of latrines constructed in the area was below the minimum requirement. This was confirmed by UNICEF (2012) as latrines in Ethiopia in terms of accessibility for children and the elderly, and the conformability for disabled are far below the standards. In addition, the latrines don’t address concerns about smell, rising gas, structural collapse, fear of falling in, flies and privacy, he stated.
With regard to hand washing habit, Moti said hand washing is key sanitation indicator. People need to wash their hands after defecation, after babies cleaning, before food preparation, before eating and feeding children. In developing countries, only 11 per cent of people washed their hands after defecation. Moreover, the number of people who use water and soap to wash their hands is smaller in Borena area, he concluded.
Quoting the Water & Sanitation Program 2012-2016, Moti explained that each person who practices open defecation spend almost 25 days a year finding a private location to defecate, whereas women will be obliged to find a private location for urination as well.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Zenebe Garedewu, Director General of the Ethiopian Water Technology Institute, said that as the Institute was established in Council of Ministers Regulation No. 293/2005 as state-owned enterprise, its main duty is to build the implementation capacity in the sector. Since then, efforts are underway to improve the use of water and other related issues using higher technology, investing skilled human power and conducting applicable researches. Its major focus areas can be categorized in four main sections.
The first is education and training programme which offers short and long term training for professionals. In the same fiscal year, about 1033 trainees have been trained from state and non-state actors on water development as well as water and sanitation issues. The training is supported by 13 types of training courses.
Secondly, the Institute mainly emphasized on research and technology transfer. In this regard, the institute conducts problem-solving research works undertaking extensive projects to transfer the technologies to the user. The policy documents for this purpose have been also developed and put into operation.
According to Zenebe, this year alone, there are three research works being conducted at the institute. In addition, training has been given to trainers in the areas of vocational and technical courses in water sector. In this regard, the institute has made its mandate in ensuring the knowledge and skills provided by various training institutions to be uniform.
As the other focus area of the institute is providing water research laboratory service, it is now preparing 12 internationally-acclaimed documents to be translated into action. In order to serve this purpose, the institute is constructing a building, to be completed after a year and a half, which will be used as a center for the inculcation of water technologies.
It will also be a center for water and soil testing, as well as for construction and related works. Obviously, there is no specialized water laboratory in the country so far. Thus, the Institute identified some specialized laboratories to be operated soon in the water sector. Therefore, such laboratories will standardize research works and provide a certificate of authentication. In addition, these water laboratories will serve as a center for the development of professionals in the sector.
As mentioned above, the institution has outstanding role to acknowledge surveys and research papers conducted on water sector. The Director also said the institute aims at ensuring whether the research activities undertaken by members or other bodies are effectively investigated or addressed the problems faced by the country in relation to water and the water sector as a whole. They would also be used as an input for the national policy formation. Once the studies have been re-developed, stakeholders will utilize them to tackle their problems.
According to the Director, the research and research findings of the institute are not the result of academic research as other academic institutions. They will not take a pew on the shelves without help; they can directly be referred to the relevant bodies for use. Most of the research papers focused on the demand and supply of water as well as the need for water for sanitation purposes in some selected areas.
According to Zenebe, the researches are repetitively conducted by other institutions and the findings are sent directly for implementation in the target areas. On the other hand, as the researches are conducted in collaboration with other pertinent stakeholders, there will be no likelihood of repetition.
Working with enterprises, non-state actors, and regional and zonal stakeholders engaged in water resources development, the study has been checked whether or not it has been initially put into operation.
Asked how he can explain the achievement of the institute, Zenebe said that when the Ethiopian Water Technology Institute is established as a project by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) some fifteen years ago, it has received a mandate to work in collaboration with various stakeholders in the field of research. It is still supported by JICA with technical and financial funding.
However, the JICA project was completed three years ago, the government recognized its importance for the development of the sector, and transformed it to national institution level. In 15 years, the institute has trained more than 15,000 trainees. In addition, the institute has trained 3,000 professionals in the last three years. This shows that the institution is building its capacity from time to time. In total, it has currently 200 staff, even though its employment capacity is over 330.
Since the institute has started its project at the project level, JICA has been instrumental in providing human capital training, technical support and experience sharing, which is believed to strengthen the socio-economic cooperation between Ethiopia and Japan.