Increasing urbanization and industrialization in the Awash River basin, Ethiopia, is impacting water quality. Physico-chemical and heavy metal spatio-temporal variability and associated risks to human health and ecology were assessed across twenty sampling stations. Contamination indicators suggest variable but significant health risks to people exposed to untreated water in the sampled area, including cancer risk from heavy metals which enter basin waters due to human activities and natural erosion.
Ethiopia
Improving management of intermittent piped water systems in Ethiopian small towns
Based on long-term research engagement in Wukro, Tigray, this brief presents three recommendations for inclusive water services in intermittent piped water systems in small towns in Ethiopia.
Participatory water resource management
A para-hydrology initiative in two regions of Ethiopia trained citizen scientists to collect quantitative data on rural hydrological systems. The data has been successfully used in several peer-reviewed studies to predict and assess the impact of sustainable land management interventions.
REACH Exit Strategy
REACH’s Exit Strategy scopes out actions to promote the legacy of the programme, highlighting opportunities to sustain, scale-up, and scale-out our work.
Story of Change: Improving water security through Sustainable Land Management
This Story of Change discusses the role of Sustainable Land Management activities in securing water for livelihoods and household use.
Addis Ababa’s water crisis: challenges and opportunities
This brief lays out options to better monitor and manage groundwater use, and to improve the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater to support sustainability for Addis Ababa’s water supplies.
Equitable urban water security: beyond connections on premises
This study investigates to what extent urban water security is equitable in a small town in Northern Ethiopia with almost uniform access to piped water services. Development of a household water insecurity index considering issues of quality, quantity, and reliability, demonstrated high spatial variability in water security between households connected to the piped water system.
Gender gaps in sustainable land management and implications for agricultural productivity: Evidence from Ethiopia
This discussion paper looks at whether a large-scale watershed program promoting sustainable land management (SLM) in Ethiopia increases adoption of SLM in male-headed vs female-headed households. Our findings show that the SLM program significantly increased adoption of SLM practices (soil bunds, stone terraces, mulching) in male-headed households but that adoption was centered on jointly owned plots and male-owned plots, with no significant adoption on women-owned plots.
Key stakeholders and actions to address Lake Beseka’s challenges in Ethiopia: A social network approach
This discussion paper uses a social network approach to examine key actors, challenges and sustainable solutions to manage Lake Beseka, Ethiopia. The study suggests that developing multi-stakeholder partnerships or platforms across most influential and most affected actors could foster the development of more integrated solutions that support the different stakeholders in the lake catchment area and the Awash River Basin.
Incentivizing clean water collection during rainfall to reduce disease in rural sub-Saharan Africa with weather dependent pricing
This article proposes a new pricing mechanism for ‘water ATMs’, made possible with pre-payment and remote sensing, where prices adjust during rainy seasons to incentivise the continued use of clean water sources. The authors estimate cost per capita and cost per disability-adjusted life year averted, resulting in values which compare favourably with other water quality interventions.