Assessment of Sanitation and Water Supply Coverage in a Rural Community of Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

In order to assess the sanitation and water supply coverage in a rural community of Kogi State, Nigeria as a knowledge base for the actualization of the Sustainable Development Goals 6.1 and 6.2, a cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 325 household heads in Oforachi community using the quantitative method of data collection. The Field survey was carried out between October and December, 2017. All households who gave consent to participate in the study were included while those who declined consent were excluded. The results were presented using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) while, student’s t-test was used to assess whether the household’s choice of water source is connected to the nearness of the source to them or not. This was done at 95% Confidence Level using STATA/SE 13.1 Statistical Software. The results showed that 34.77% of the households had improved sanitation facilities, 17.23% had unimproved facilities while 48 percent defecate in the open fields and bushes. More so, only 43.74% of respondents used water from the central boreholes while, the remaining 56.26% drink water from the River. The P-value (P = .87) and the 95% confidence interval (-0.0826748 to 0.0703671) obtained suggest that a relationship exist between the closest water source to the households and their choice. The study recommends that Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) be triggered within the community to reduce the open defecation extent while efforts should be made by stakeholders to increase the availability of safe water supply.