The Covid-19 pandemic's effects on poor rural dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of access to basic clean water, sanitary systems and hand-washing facilities

TL;DR

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened access to clean water, sanitation, and hand-washing facilities among poor rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting longstanding neglect and health risks.

Contribution

It provides a case study on the pandemic's impact on water and sanitation access in rural sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing the need for improved infrastructure and policies.

Findings

Less than 17% of rural populations have access to basic hand-washing facilities.

Water productivity is below 5 GDP per cubic meter of freshwater.

Pre-existing water and sanitation issues have been exacerbated by COVID-19.

Abstract

The fear of the invisible but prevalent Coronavirus (COVID-19), disease cannot be overemphasized since there is the potential possibility of it wiping out the entire world population within a few months if adequate and quick steps are not taken to curb this menace, and the sub-Saharan African (SSAn) region is no exception. It is evident that water, as an essential daily commodity, has long been in a state of emergency in SSAn nations, which is largely attributed to decades of neglect by the successive governments, because it has not been possible to separate the existing bond between water, health, livelihood and the economy. The laudable Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) proposed by the United Nations had yet to achieve the stated objective of improving the standards of living and health conditions of the rural communities in the SSAn region before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. This failure has been masked by a sort of delusion in which the people of this region are subjected to the hardship of searching for clean and healthy water in their own ponds, rivers, streams and shallow hand-dug local wells on a continuous basis. Less than 17% of the rural population in all the SSAn communities can access basic hand-washing facilities and sanitation systems. The total water productivity, as measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per cubic meter of total freshwater withdrawn, for the people was less than 5 GDP.