International Journal of Geography and Regional Planning

Vol. 5(2), pp. 122-127, October, 2019. © www.premierpublishers.org. ISSN: 2021-6009

Case Study

Challenges of Water Supply and its Effect on Economic

Production: A Case Study of Ussa Local Government
Area, Taraba State Nigeria
1Shenpam, Godwin Daniel, *2Danjuma, Andembutop Kwesaba, 3Umaru Benjamin
1,2,3Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria

In recent years, Ussa has faced various challenges in water supply which has been a major
concern to law makers and the government of Taraba state. This study therefore is aimed at
examining the various problems and prospect of water supply in Ussa Local Government. The
specific objectives were to identify the existing sources of water supply in Ussa Local
Government of Taraba state, to examine the problems and prospect associated with each source
in the study area, and to proffer alternative measure to appropriate quarters. Data were collected
from 150 respondent of the study area. The data were analyzed using frequency tables and simple
percentage statistics. The results revealed that 87.1% of the respondents agreed that there is
water shortage in the area which as a result has led to increase charges by the suppliers, 51.3%
said the water was good. More than 60% of the respondent claimed that the population of the
study area usually consumes the water directly without any method of purification, and that the
water is mostly used for domestic purposes. The study also reveals that 68.1% problem of water
supply problem is seasonality and distance to source. Finally, the research shows that there are
28 boreholes existing in the study area while only 15 of the boreholes are functioning at the time
when the research was conducted. The study recommends government at all levels to increase
investment in providing water to the residents of the study area.

Keywords: Water Supply, Ussa, Taraba, Challenges, Economic,

INTRODUCTION

According to World Bank (2015), bulk of the population of
developing countries is predominately rural. The living
conditions of this vast majority are largely characterized by
low quality residential units, unsanitary environment and
lack of social facilities such as community water supply,
roads, health facilities, and recreational centers. Present
projection for developing countries shows that over one
billion or nearly one third of the world population has no
proper water supply (World Bank 2015). It is therefore
clear that the supply of clean and reliable rural water
system is one essential factor necessary not only for good
health, welfare and productivity of rural population, but
also for the overall economic growth of developing
countries. In other words, improved rural water supplies
would stimulate and promote agricultural productivity,
industrial development, publicized rural integrated
development.
The local inhabitants usually spend hours in search for
water sources which are often polluted and unreliable,
particularly during the dry season. This situation leads to
prevalence of various water related diseases and the
attendant improvement in standard of living of rural people.
Unfortunately, there is the complete lack of defined
concept of the good water supply development and
empirical data on the degree to which different supplies in
different situation will achieve this goal (World Bank,
2015).
*Corresponding Author: Danjuma, Andembutop
Kwesaba, Department of Hospitality and Tourism
Management, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria.
E-mail: andedanjuma99@gmail.com;
Co-Authors 1Email: shenpamgodwin@yahoo.com;
3
Email: umarubenjamin@gmail.com

Challenges of Water Supply and its Effect on Economic Production: A Case Study of Ussa Local Government Area, Taraba State Nigeria
Shenpam et al. 123
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
As essential as water is to life, it is still in inadequate supply
in Ussa Local Government Area. This inadequacy has
persisted for many years now, yet there have not been
enough researches especially on Ussa Local Government
Area to document the impact of this on the residents of the
Local Government Area.
This research is therefore aimed at examining the
challenges of inadequate water supply in Ussa Local
Government Area of Taraba state and recommend
appropriate ways of alleviating them.
STUDY AREA
Ussa is a Local Government Area in Taraba State, Nigeria.
Its headquarter is in the town of Lissam at lats 7°11′00″N
and 10°02′00″E (See figure 1) Ussa borders with the
Republic of Cameroon in the south; the Donga River forms
its northern boundary. The Local Government also borders
with Takum. It has area coverage of 1,495 km² and a
population of 92,017 at the 2006 census. (National
Population Commission, 2006). Kuteb people are the
dominant population located in USSA.
Geology of the study area
Ussa Local Government land forms like rocks, hills and
mountains give the area distinctive features. This region is
thinly populated with large vast of uncultivated land. A
marked contrast to the floodplains is the undulating
lowland of the southern plains. This is broken intermittently
by high rising hills such as the Rufu, Fikyu and Kpambo
hills which are found on sandstones. Standing above
350m contour, the hills are developed on both sedimentary
and crystalline rocks (Gimba 2011).
Usually, hills on sedimentary formations tend to have flat
tops due most probably to lateritic capping. On the other
hand, the hills which are developed on crystalline rocks
consist of dome shaped inselbergs.
Relief of the study area
The area is underlined by sedimentary and basement
complex rocks. These are very ancient rocks which
originally made up of the complete structure. The area
consists of hard igneous rock mainly basalts and gneisses
with some metamorphic rocks. The rocks have high
minerals content and it is generally form of mselbergs,
which rise at times to several hundred meters above the
ground (Danjuma, 2014).
Climate of the study area- rainfall
Like most parts of northern Nigeria, Ussa Local
government has a wet and dry climate. The wet season
Challenges of Water Supply and its Effect on Economic Production: A Case Study of Ussa Local Government Area, Taraba State Nigeria
lasts on the average from April to October. Mean annual
rainfall is around 1300mm. The wettest months are August
and September.
The dry season lasts from November to March. The driest
months are December and January with relative humidity
dropping to about 15 percent. Mean annual temperature
around Ussa is about 280C with maximum temperatures
varying between 300C and 39.40C. The minimum
temperatures range between 150C to 230C. (Wikipeadia,
2016)
Temperatures are low throughout the year and the rainy
season lasts from February to November with a mean
annual rainfall of over 1850mm.
Soil of the study area
The types of soil in the study area are clay, loamy and
sandy soil. These types of soil support agricultural crops,
(physical observation by the researcher). The soils
developed on the above rocks are generally deep well
drained with texture surface horizons, due to the richness
of minerals in the area.
The people of Ussa local government area are
predominantly farmers. Therefore, in the area, about 90%
of the populations are engaged in agricultural activities
with the aim of producing many varieties of crops to meet
the need of the society.
The systems of agriculture practiced in the study area are
subsistence farming crop rotation and mechanized
agriculture. Both large scale farmers and small-scale
farmers do practice the systems mentioned above though
about 85% of the farmers engage in subsistence farming
while few farmers operate on commercial ventures.
The major crops grown in the study area include rice,
maize, yam, cassava, groundnut, pepper garden eggs etc.
The rearing of livestock like goats, sheep, dogs, cattle etc.
and agricultural activities in the study area has greatly
increased over the years. (Danjuma, 2014).
Vegetation of the study area
Ussa local government consists of mixed savanna and
forest types of vegetation, which are characterized with
thick grasses and scattered tall trees. The trees are
therefore deciduous in nature because during the wet
season they produce a lot of leaves and look greenish but
during the dry season they shed their leaves and look
reddish.

Fig. 1: Location Map of Ussa
Source: Taraba State Ministry of Land and Survey, Jalingo (2018)
METHODOLOGY
The research method that was used for this study is the
survey design. The survey design is a design in which data
collected from a large sample of the population are
representative of the entire population (Benjamin, 2015).
This design aims to enable the researcher collect opinions
of the people on the assessment of water and its effects
on economic production in Ussa Local Government Area.
Instrument for data collection
The research instrument used for the study is a 12 – item
researchers – developed questionnaire titled “Challenges
of water supply and its effects on economic production in
Challenges of Water Supply and its Effect on Economic Production: A Case Study of Ussa Local Government Area, Taraba State Nigeria
Int. J. Geogr. Reg. Plan. 124
Ussa local government. It is divided into two sections, A
and B. Section A sought biographic data of respondents,
while section B comprised 12 items on the challenges of
water supply and its effects on economic production in
Ussa local government. The questions in section B will
seek to know the views of the respondents on the
challenges of water supply in the study area. The
instrument rating was based on a four – point modified
likert scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D)
and Strongly Disagree (SD).
Sources of data
Data is information that has been translated into a form
that is more convenient to move or process. Relative to
Shenpam et al. 125

today's computers and transmission media, data is
information converted into binary digital form (Olofin 2007).
Data life cycle management (DLM) is a policy-based
approach to managing the flow of an information system's
data throughout its life cycle: from creation and initial
storage to the time when it becomes obsolete and is
deleted. It is acceptable for data to be used a singular
subject or a plural subject (Olofin 2007).
Fikyu, Lumbu and Kpambo-Puri wards. Simple random
sampling technique used to select the people and the
same technique was used to select the wards that were
used. Simple random sampling technique is a technique
that gives the subjects equal chances of being selected.
The wards that were used included all the ten wards in
Ussa Local Government.

The types of data used for this research were primary and METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
secondary data. The primary data were obtained from the
administration of questionnaires while the secondary was In analyzing the data collected from the respo ndents,
got from the text books, journals, articles, magazines etc. simple percentage method of data analysis was adopted
thus:
Population and sampling procedure 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬
𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
The sample size for this study is one 150. The 150 people
were drawn from the wards in Ussa Local Government This helps to analyze the answers to the questions in the
which include Lissam I, Lissam ii, Kwesati, Rufu, Kpambo, questionnaire and draw conclusions. (Benjamin, 2015)

RESULTS

Table 1: Challenges of water Supply

S/N ITEMS SA % A % D % SD % Remark
1 There are plenty sources of water in Ussa Local 21 14 20 13.33 39 26 70 46.66 SD
Government Area
2 Water is in abundance in the rainy season only 80 53.33 48 32 20 13.33 2 1.33 SA
3 Government have provided enough boreholes 20 13.33 25 16.67 75 50 30 20 D
for the people
4 The people in the area cannot maintain the 20 13.33 30 20 79 52.67 21 14 D
boreholes provided
The existing sources of water in the area are
5. contaminated 10 6.67 35 23.3 15 10 90 60 SD
Human activities are responsible for making the
6. available water unsafe for use 25 16.66 35 23.33 50 33.33 40 26.66 D

From the Table 1 above it is clear that water sources in
Ussa Local Government Area are not plenty as indicated
by 47.33% (strongly disagreed). This is further confirmed
by the fact that water is mostly available in the rainy
season only supported by 53.33% strongly agreed. The
research also confirmed that boreholes are not enough for
the people in the area; this is indicated by 50% responses.
The people in the study area can maintain the bore holes
provided as revealed by the 52.67% respondents. The
technical knowhow and the spare parts of the boreholes is
a great challenge to the repairs of the facility. The existing
sources of water in Ussa Local Government are not
contaminated as revealed by the 60% view of the
respondents. The issue is that the sources of water are few
but not contaminated.
Human activities in the area are not responsible for making
the water unsafe. The people in the study area knows the
relevant of water to them and so they do everything to
make their water fit for consumption.
Research question two: Effects on Economic
Production
The research revealed that water available in the study
area if not treated is naturally bad. This is supported by
66% of respondents (strongly agreed). The research also
does not agree that most diseases in the study area are
caused by the unsafe water consumed by the people in the
study area. This is demonstrated by 56.67% view of the
respondents. The performance of crops in the area is not
as a result of scarcity of water. Crop cultivation and
planting in the study area is mostly carried out during the
rainy season as rain fall constitute the source of water for
cultivation of crops. This is supported by the views of the
respondents (60%). The area under consideration does
not have history of drought and scarcity of water.
The people in the study area spend less in buying water
as indicated by 42%. Though the source of water in the
area is scanty yet the people don’t spend much on water.

Challenges of Water Supply and its Effect on Economic Production: A Case Study of Ussa Local Government Area, Taraba State Nigeria
 Int. J. Geogr. Reg. Plan. 126

Table 2: Effects on Economic production

S/N ITEMS SA % A % D % SD % REMARK
1 The water in the area is naturally bad 100 66.67 20 13.33 15 20 13 3.33 SA
2 Most diseases in the area are caused 40 26.67 20 13.33 85 56.67 5 3.33 D
by unsafe water used by the people for
drinking.
3 Poor performance of crops in the area 10 6.67 35 23.33 15 10 90 60 SD
are as a result of scarcity of water
4 People spend substantial amount of 21 14 40 26.66 63 42 26 17.3 D
their income on buying clean water
5. People spend time in search of drinking 75 50 35 23.33 30 20 10 6.66 SA
water most especially during dry
season
6. People fear the area because of poor 24 16 30 20 58 38.66 38 25.3 D
quality of water
7. Trading is enhanced because of many 30 20 10 6.67 90 60 20 13.3 SA
water sellers in the area
8. Availability of portable drinking water 85 56.66 15 10 31 20 19 12.6 SA
can enhance business in the area.

This may be due to the fact that the people in the study
area are low income earners seeing that it is a rural area.
The people spend much time searching for drinking water
as indicated by 50% respondents. This is because of the
scarcity of water in Ussa Local Government.
People don’t fear the area because of the scarcity of water
and trading in the area is not enhanced by water selling.
This is represented by 38.66% and 60% respectively.
The economic activities in the area can be enhanced by
portable drinking water as represented by 56.66%. When
drinking water is available it can reduce expenditure and
promote the wellbeing of the people reducing the level of
diseases and illness being suffered by the people which
are caused by poor and untreated water supply.
approach has not gone down well with the people who
openly displayed their anger by vandalizing the project
after commissioning.
Lack of coordination and co-operation among the
stakeholders
The study revealed duplication of same project in 20
communities. These communities enjoy similar water
project provided by State Government, Federal
Government, International Agencies, Cooperate bodies
and community efforts. It turns out to be that some
communities are favoured with three to four water stations
while others have not at all. Still some other communities
that needed more water projects were neglected.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

DISCUSSION OF MAJOR FINDINGS
Sadly though, despite government huge expenditure in the
provision of affordable and portable water in our rural
communities, the study has revealed absence of
sustainability. The study has discovered the factors
responsible for the incommensurate rural water situation
in the study area. The factors are discussed as follows.
Lack of maintenance
Findings of the study show that most of the projects were
not functioning. Many of the pumping machines broke
down few days after commissioning and remained in that
condition since then.
Lack of community participation
Findings show that in almost all (94%) of the rural water
projects, the rural people were not consulted. This has
created a lot of problem as water projects were cited based
on political patronage and party affiliation. This top-down
Water is an essential resource for life and good health. A
lack of water to meet daily needs is a reality today for one
to three people around the world. Globally, the problem is
getting worse as cities and population grow and the needs
for water increase in agriculture, industry and households.
Water supply in rural areas depends mostly on
groundwater sources. In the areas of shallow water
deposits hand dug wells are sunk to supply the water need
by the local inhabitants. Aditi et al (2002) reported that
groundwater has emerged as the primary domestic water
source and poverty reduction tool in Ussa rural areas.
The interview results established that most of the
respondents obtained their water at less than 500m from
their residents. It was observed that distance covered to
get water in Ussa is greater than that of villages
surrounding.
The research findings through questionnaires
administration identified that in the sixteen rural villages
studied, most of the water sources are constructed and

Challenges of Water Supply and its Effect on Economic Production: A Case Study of Ussa Local Government Area, Taraba State Nigeria
Shenpam et al. 127
owned by individuals. It was deduced from the result that
in most of the rural villages of Ussa local government area,
water supply is inadequate. The study also established
that villages in Ussa suffer much in terms of water
shortage.
The following recommendations are put forward for water
supply in Lissam metropolis and Ussa Local Government
in general.
1. Government should take the responsibility of providing
sufficient clean water supply to the study area.
2. More water should be provided by digging more
cement wells, drilling of more hand pump boreholes
across the study area.
3. Government should construct dams in the study area
so as to make water more available for use.
4. There should be Mobilization of the Local people
toward self-help water supply like the construction of
ponds and wells.
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Accepted 29 September 2019
Citation: Shenpam GD, Danjuma AK, Umaru B (2019).
Assessment of Human Activities on River Kaduna and the
Health Implications in Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria.
International Journal of Geography and Regional Planning
5(2): 122-127.
Copyright: © 2019: Shenpam et al. This is an open-
access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
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provided the original author and source are cited.