Water-security in Ethiopia and the Emotional Response of Pastoralists, 2018

Hutchings, Paul (2021). Water-security in Ethiopia and the Emotional Response of Pastoralists, 2018. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-854808

Pastoralists are farmers who raise livestock, and move their herds in search of fresh pasture and water supplies. There are 12 million in Ethiopia and they are often in extreme poverty. Unfortunately the pastures they use are disputed and they often come into conflict with other land users. The changing climate is altering resource availability and this can make the conflicts worse. The government is trying to persuade them to diversify their farming activities and grow arable crops as well. This can restrict their access to water resources, increasing their water insecurity.

Conventional water access data focusses on water for domestic uses, rather than water for livestock. It also enumerates the water access of an entire household which may not be relevant when some household members are away from home for extended periods with the livestock. It does not seek to understand how people experience their water use, or prioritise it for different uses.

This research will seek to understand the emotional response of pastoralists to this water insecurity. It will compare three types of habitation: those dominated by pastoralists, mixed habitations and those where pastoralists form a minority. Through focus groups and related activities researchers will seek to understand how water use by all groups can be rewarding, stressful or disappointing. These responses will, be used in the second stage of the project to develop an easy-to-administer a survey tool where users are asked to rate their experience regarding water use on a Likert-scale. The results of this will be compared to more conventional indicators, for example those used by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

The findings will be used to influence water policy and practice in Ethiopia. Globally, the research will be used by people who are trying to provide water holistically for both domestic and productive uses.

Data description (abstract)

The Joint Monitoring Project of the World Health Organisation and UNICEF have been monitoring access to improved water supplies since the start of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) period, producing country-level data. Whilst providing an essential overview on progress towards the MDGs and now the Sustainable Development Goals, it has been recognised that they are focusing only on domestic water uses and somewhat oversimplified and have been extended to a "water ladder". A related and more realistic "multiple-use ladder" has also been developed for MUS supplies. This research takes that approach a step further by studying how emotional wellbeing relates to water access and holistic water security as experienced by people, especially pastoralists. Survey collected data on socio-demographics, water, sanitation and hygiene access as well as emotional response to water security issues.

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Hutchings Paul	University of Leeds	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7758-4644

Sponsors:

ESRC

Grant reference:

ES/R001049/1

Topic classification:

Natural environment
Housing and land use
Demography (population, vital statistics and censuses)

Keywords:

WATER SUPPLY, EMOTIONS, SOCIAL INDICATORS

Project title:

Water-security in Ethiopia and the Emotional response of Pastoralists (WEEP)

Alternative title:

WEEP

Grant holders:

Paul Hutchings, Parker Alison, Gebremedhin Bethel, Van Koppen Barbara

Project dates:

From	To
10 September 2017	9 March 2019

Date published:

07 Apr 2021 12:50

Last modified:

07 Apr 2021 12:50

Coverage and Methodology

Collection period:

Date from:	Date to:
1 June 2018	30 June 2018

Geographical area:

Afar, Ethiopia

Country:

Ethiopia

Spatial unit:

No Spatial Unit

Data collection method:

The research was based on primary data collected from three villages in the Dulassa Woreda within Administrative Zone Three of Afar State. The study involved a quantitative survey which focused on water consumption and sanitation and hygiene practices and the collection of emotion-based data related to these factors. Quantitative surveys were performed with 148 individuals from three communities. The study took place in three communities in the Tirtira Kebele of the Dulassa Woreda. The villages were initially chosen to account for different levels of access to improved water sources, however between the scoping visit for village selection (March 2018) and the main data collection period (June 2018), the improved water source (borehole) that was available in one of the villages failed. As a result, all villages were predominately reliant on unimproved water sources during the data collection period. The communities had similar contextual factors, such as clan and sub-clan membership, population size, wealth and mix of ages. This meant that the three communities were homogenous in terms of water access and socio-cultural markers and, as such, the data were analysed at a generalised level across all villages.

The survey involved quantitative closed questions on household water sources, water use, accessibility and quantity, as well as questions around latrine access, safety and hygiene. The quantitative surveys were also used to measure basic socio-demographics of households. A research team of five enumerators were enlisted as part of the data collection team. The quantitative survey was designed in English and translated into Afar with a pilot study conducted on six households allowing enumerators to build confidence and clarify any cultural or language misinterpretations. Face-to-face interviews were carried out and the survey responses were recorded using mWater; a digital WASH data collection software accessible on hand-held tablets (mWater, no date).

Sampling was designed based on random sampling at the household level, with both female head and male head surveyed in each household wherever possible (total sample includes 54% male and 46% female). As has been the case with similar studies of pastoralist communities, the implementation of random sampling approach was challenged by respondents being dispersed across large rangelands meaning that the approach shifted towards a convenient sampling approach in the field. With the village populations between 50 and 80 households, the relative size of the survey samples (38, 54 and 56) indicates the data are still fairly representative of the population. During the data collection period, the research lead ensured survey completion and consistency by syncing data within the mWater software, daily. Concluding the data collection period, data stored were downloaded into an Excel database for basic descriptive statistical analysis whilst additional analysis was conducted using SPSS.

Observation unit:

Individual

Kind of data:

Numeric

Type of data:

Other surveys

Resource language:

English

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