INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Microeconomics
An assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the BA Degree in Business Administration
Assignment No. 1
1. Is pure drinking water scarce in your area? WHY
Student details Kangwa Nsuluka
Student Number 1607713031
Lecturer’s Name Mr. F . Mukonda
Year 2016
INTRODUCTION
“All peoples, whatever their stage of development and their social and economic conditions, have the right to have access to drinking water in quantities and of a quality equal to their basic needs”(Alegre, 2006). Water is the most important of all public services. It is the most essential necessity of life after oxygen. Anything that disturbs the provision and supply of water therefore tends to disturb the very survival of humanity. Lack of access to clean water is one of the major humanitarian challenges for many regions in the developing world. It is estimated that 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion have little or no sanitation. Millions of people die annually - estimates are 3,900 children a day - from the results of diseases transmitted through unsafe water, in particular diarrhea.
Technologies for filtering dirty water exist, but are generally quite expensive. Desalination of sea water, a potentially abundant source of drinking water, is similarly limited by filtering costs. Therefore, new approaches to efficient water filtering are a subject of intense research. Carbon nanotubes, stacked in arrays so that water must pass through the length of the tubes, represent a new approach to filtering water (Amponsah, 2005).
In the developing countries in particular, governments face problems of provision of social facilities, especially the supply of sufficient water of good quality at a reasonable price to their citizens. Although the number of people with access to safe water and sanitation grew between 1980 and 1990, population growth erased any substantial gain, especially in urban areas. Between 1990 and 2000, an extra 900 million people were born in places without water and sanitation. (Babbie, & Mouton, 2001))
Water is one of the world’s most abundant resources, yet in many regions clean water is in critically short supply—endangering the economy, public health, energy production, and food supply.
New ways of generating access to fresh water—and sustainably ensuring its safety and quality—are essential. According to the latest United Nations World Water Development Report, responsible water management is key to meeting the near 20-percent increase in global demand for fresh water by 2050. Less than one percent of the world’s water supply is safe for drinking, which leaves nearly 1 billion people without access to fresh drinking water.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
According to Bless et al (2006) in Africa, water like everywhere in the world, is becoming both a scarce and a crucial resource; particularly because both people and industries need water and electricity for survival. Kaunda square stage one is not an exception, as many households do not receive a regular supply of water. The problem is escalating at an alarming rate as the number of households in the compound increases rapidly. These developments therefore, call for an investigation of the causes and impact of water shortage on the members of the households in the compound.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study is to investigate the causes and impact of water shortage on the households of Kaunda square stage one compound of Lusaka district
The specific objectives are to:
1. Identify the major causes of increased water scarcity in Kaunda square stage one.
2. Look for the socio-economic impacts associated with the water supply shortages.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is expected to increase the knowledge and up to date information on urban water supply system and its adverse impacts on the urban poor. It will also serve as a working document to policy makers in the water sector and the Non-Governmental Organizations. The study will further serve as benchmark data for any further investigation, as a useful material for academic purposes, and as an added literature to the existing knowledge.
THE ECONOMIC THEORY
The economic theory used is the theory of scarcity. This theory will focus on the water scarcity is and how it can explain the causes of water shortages.
WHAT IS WATER SCARCITY?
More than just a lack of water... Simply put, water scarcity is either the lack of enough water (quantity) or lack of access to safe water (quality). It's hard for most of us to imagine that clean, safe water is not something that can be taken for granted. But, in the developing world, finding a reliable source of safe water is often time-consuming and expensive. This is known as economic scarcity. Water can be found...it simply requires more resources to do it. In other areas, the lack of water is a more profound problem. There simply isn't enough. That is known as physical scarcity. The problem of water scarcity is a growing one. As more people put ever-increasing demands on limited supplies, the cost and effort to build or even maintain access to water will increase. And water's importance to political and social stability will only grow with the crisis
Clean, safe drinking water is scarce. Today, nearly 1 billion people in the developing world don't have access to it. Yet, we take it for granted, we waste it, and we even pay too much to drink it from little plastic bottles. Water is the foundation of life. And still today, all around the world, far too many people spend their entire day searching for it. In places like sub-Saharan Africa, time lost gathering water and suffering from water-borne diseases is limiting people's true potential, especially women and girls. Education is lost to sickness. Economic development is lost while people merely try to survive. But it doesn't have to be like this. It's needless suffering.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This section is discussing scarcity of water in Africa and the world at large. The discussion is based on previous research and literature.
Scarcity of Water
In Africa, water like everywhere else in the world is becoming a scarce resource and a crucial one; particularly because both people and industries need water and electricity for their survival. However, often moving water over long distances from dams or rivers to sustain industries and people living in towns and cities is no easy task, due to the fact that such dams are not conveniently located (Blignaut & Heerden J 2009).
The research conducted by Causes and impact of Water Shortage in Pakistan, (2010) discovered that, there was a disparity in the way the villages received water. The supply was interrupted in some villages whereas in other villages there were no interruptions. Similarly, the researcher in this study aims to establish the causes and impact of water shortage in Kaunda square stage one.
Problems and Effects of Shortage of Water Supply
De Vos, Fouche, & Delport (2002) looks at the current state of affairs and provides some suggestions on what the business community and industry can collectively do to alleviate the problem of water shortage.
Among the issues he mentions around the water problem, are the decreasing quality of water, water scarcity, dysfunctional municipal water infrastructures that have resulted in the potential water crisis widely publicized in the media. Generally, the Lusaka water and sewerage company faces numerous challenges such as increased water deficits, water pollution and decreasing water quality that not only affect availability of water but impact negatively on human health, ageing water and wastewater infrastructure; a severe lack of skilled human resources; the impact of climate change on water resources; the illegal use of water; and the inappropriate use of funds by different spheres of local government (De Vos, Fouche, & Delport, 2002).
This study is crucial as it looks at the State of Water in Zambia as a whole. This will help to inform the researcher on the topic, help him to build a base for discussion and ultimately promote expansion on the topic. In this way the researcher will be able to limit the discussion as the research topic focuses on “The causes and impact of water shortage on the households of Kaunda square stage one of the Lusaka Province”
Definition of Concepts
Water Shortage
In terms of Bless et al (2006), water shortage is a situation whereby water sources becomes inadequate for the community due to climate change, population growth or other factors that may lead to scarcity of water for consumption. This situation may lead to insufficient water for family consumption.
Impact
In the Oxford Advanced leaner’s dictionary, (2005) the word impact is defined as the effect something has on somebody or something. This word is used quite often in this research referring to how water shortage affect the community.
CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY
Data Collection methods
Structured interview questionnaire
This study will use structured interview questionnaires to allow for in-depth probing of the respondents. The study will entail face to face interviews in order for the researcher to arrive at qualitative primary information.
Documentations
Secondary data will be collected through journals, academic books, government legislations and other recent materials.
Data analysis Methods
Qualitative data analysis methods will be used because the study deals mainly with qualitative data. Because quantitative methods will also be used, thus the study uses triangulation. The variables that denote themes will be clustered together and those that denote the numbers will be put together. The frequency of water supply for example, every day, once per week / month/ year is quantitative. The feelings of the households about service delivery are qualitative. Tables, histograms, bar charts, and computer system will be used to analyses the data generated.
RESULTS
The major causes of water scarcity were attributed to two very important factors. The first factor is that of lack of funding by the government for the government to deal with the water crises. The second factor is that there has been population increase in Lusaka as well as in Kaunda square stage and the existing infrastructure cannot contain the current population. Almost all the houses have piped water but the pipes are always dry. Most people in Kaunda square stage one draw their water from Munali SDA Church and hence a random interview was done from the church as people were drawing water.
The interview indicated that in the past, there were no water shortages but now they are on the rampart due to increased population.
This has affected even schools that do not have borehole and brick manufacturing companies have also not been spared hence becoming an economic challenge.
It cannot go without saying that, diseases are everywhere because of this lack of water. Not only does the place lack water, but the place experiences sewage blockages as well.
CONCLUSION
Various sources used in this section showed that water is an indispensable commodity that people may not do without. For example, according to Nealer (2009:74) water is said to be an indispensable commodity which life would be impossible without.
This chapter also shows that water is becoming scarce in Zambia and the world at large. Both natural and unnatural causes of water scarcity were discussed based on a variety of sources. The natural causes such as climate change and drought are recognized by many researchers. The unnatural or human causes such as illegal tap connections, disparity in water supply, urbanization and population growth as well as leaking pipes were discussed. The impact of water shortage on community livelihood and projects, crop yields, health and social relations and also the impact on development, were discussed according to literature reviewed. Finally, measures for alleviation or reduction of the problem of water scarcity are vital that they are addressed. These included; surface water capture and storage, ground water exploitation, long distance conveyance, desalination and pollution control as well as households usage control.
REFERENCES
Alegre, H, Baptista, JM. , Cabrera, E: jr., Cubillo, F., Duarte, P., Hirnir, W., Merkel, W., and Parena, R. (2006). Performance indicators for water supply services, second Edition, IWA Publishing, London.
Amponsah, A. (2005). Socio-economic Projects in the Lehurutse District of the Northwest Province, South Africa, M.Admin. Dissertation, University of Limpopo
Babbie, E. & Mouton, J. (2001). The Practice of social research, South African edition, Oxford University Press, Southern Africa, Cape town.
Bless, C, Higson-Smith, C & Kagee, A. (2006). Fundamentals of Social Research: an African perspective, Fourth Edition, Juta & Co. Ltd, Cape Town.
Blignaut, J, Van Heerden J (2009), The impact of water scarcity on economic development initiatives, Water Research Commission, South Africa, Pretoria.
Causes and impact of Water Shortage in Pakistan, (2010). Challenge 20/20 (NYP), Natural causes and impact, NPP Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
De Vos, A.S, Fouche, CB & Delport, CSL (2002). Research at Grass Roots: for the social Sciences and Human service Professions, second edition, Van Schaik Publishers, Pretoria.