Water for life: ceaseless routine efforts for collecting drinking water in remote mountainous villages of Nepal
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Water for life: ceaseless routine efforts for collecting drinking water in remote mountainous villages of Nepal Satoru Komatsu1 · Yuki Yamamoto2 · Yutaka Ito3 · Shinji Kaneko4,5 · Ram Prasad Dhital6,7 Received: 28 February 2019 / Accepted: 5 December 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract The objective of this research was to investigate the current status of water-collection behaviours and their determinants, which are associated with the burden of collecting water. This research was focused on the remote hinterlands of Nepal, and little is known about the residents’ livelihoods; therefore, particular attention was paid to the household burdens in terms of the time devoted to water-collection activities. A survey was conducted in households from mountainous regions of Nepal whose infrastructure is limited in terms of poor water supply and access to electricity. The results of the survey indicated that one or two members of a household were responsible for collecting water, and approximately 40% of households used multiple sites. Moreover, household members visited their collection location approximately 3–4 times per day. Based on the water-collection behaviours of each household member, an average of 148.6 min were used for water-collection activities each day. The factors associated with the total time devoted to water-collection activities include the number of household members, the sex of the household head, the number of years of education of the household members, and the share of children and women engaged in water collection. The estimation results also indicated that members of households with access to water storage spent less time collecting water. The results yield key information from villagers in remote mountainous regions, and substantial improvement is pivotal for achieving universal water access under sustainable development goals. Keywords Water · Water collection · Remote mountainous villages · Nepal
1 Introduction Populations in rural mountains are among the poorest as well as the most disadvantaged groups in the developing world (FAO 2003).1 To achieve the ethical code of sustainable development goals (SDGs) “no-one must be left behind”, disadvantaged mountain villagers 1 FAO “Mountains and Freshwater”, available at http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/focus/2003/dec_idm_3.htm
* Satoru Komatsu [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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should not be isolated from the benefits of development. In particular, such villagers struggle with the substantial burden associated with obtaining water and are forced to adopt livelihoods under limited prospects for infrastructure development. Access to a convenient water supply for disadvantaged populations is pivotal for achieving sustainable development and pursuing SDGs. Most households have limited access to social services such as primary health care, higher education, clean drinking water, and sanitation services in the hilly and mountaino
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