“Who came first?” was enough to trigger a conflict between Fulani herders and farmers of the Akwanga Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa state in Nigeria, where livestock and humans shared the same stream that reduced during the dry season.
Accusations that the livestock was contaminating the community’s sole source of water, exacerbated the conflict, leading to the herders removing their children from the community school. Without access to basic infrastructure for clean water, the 22 communities in Akwanga LGA had to walk 3-4 kilometers to collect water for domestic use, agriculture, and livestock.
The long daily treks to collect water meant that children lost school hours. Drinking water contaminated by animal waste, many suffered from waterborne ailments such as intestinal parasites, typhoid and cholera.
Along with poor sanitation and insect bites, water quality problems resulted in a large number of hospital visits and even deaths, especially among children. The lack of electricity left the community vulnerable to animal attacks, snakebites, and even robberies at night.
ACReSAL
Beginning with a detailed needs assessment in 2022, the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project of the Government of Nigeria, supported by the World Bank, stepped in.
The staff of the Nasarawa State Project Management Unit (SPMU) worked intensively with traditional leaders, local government officials, and community members, and constructed 17 solar-powered boreholes in 17 communities, and 408 solar-powered streetlights in 83 communities between March and May 2023.
The Impact
The 13,000 residents who gained access to clean and safe drinking water have not only experienced better health but also improved livelihoods. Cases of cholera and gastrointestinal disorders have drastically reduced, as have hospital visits. School attendance has improved. Animal health has also improved.
Where a Fulani cattle owner would spend around 3 million Naira (~USD 1,800) on veterinary care to treat ailments contracted from drinking contaminated water from the streams, they spent around 600,000 Naira (~USD 360) after the intervention, saving around 2.4 million Naira (~USD 1100).
The improved health of cattle has raised their selling price: a two-year old cow that fetched 100,000 – 150,000 Naira (~USD 60-90) earlier, now sells at 300,000 – 350,000 Naira (~USD 180 – 210) because they grow healthy and fat.The provision of clean water has also increased economic activities.
In Ungwan Makama, a community of more than 80 households, almost every household now produces fried cassava (garri), a staple food in Nigeria.
According to Madam Rakiya Adamu, who has been making garri for over twenty years, she used to make one bag of 50 measures per day because of the distance of the stream from her house, but now makes 8 bags of 50 measures per day. Selling at 100 Naira per measure, she has seen her profit increase 8-fold, from 5,000 to 40,000 Naira (~USD 3-24) per day – above the national poverty line of 30,000 Naira per day in rural Nigeria.
She also said that people come from Plateau, Kano, and Bauchi States on market days and buy up all her cassava – and ask for more – because it is cleaner and tastier now.The Fulani women in the Ardo Ibrahim community are also now able to sell their milk products (nono) for higher prices, and have also expanded into producing other popular drinks such as Zobo (a hibiscus flower drink) and Kunu (a corn/millet drink).
Their daily profits have increased by 1,000 Naira per person, helping them to be more self-reliant. The solar-powered streetlights have also had a significant impact in the beneficiary communities: no snake bite and no robberies.
But, perhaps, the most impactful benefit is the reduced tension between herders and farmers over drinking water.
Local leaders reported that 2024 was a conflict-free year, marking significant progress in fostering peace and stability in the area. As a result, herders have also reduced their earlier practice of taking their cattle through farms to the drinking water stream. All from providing clean drinking water.
What’s Next?
The transparent bidding process, adherence to international standards, and strong community engagement have ensured that long-standing issues of water scarcity, health crises, and farmer-herder conflicts were executed efficiently and sustainably.
Active community participation from start to finish, was a key factor in fostered a strong sense of ownership, with residents taking pride in protecting and maintaining the infrastructure. Water management committees have been established to ensure the long-term sustainability of the initiative in all 17 communities provided with solar-powered boreholes.
These committees, which include trained community members, charge a small fee from residents and deposit it in a communal fund to carry out their responsibility of maintenance and repairs of the boreholes.
The intervention offers a scalable solution to similar challenges across the state and beyond, and the Nasarawa SPMU of ACReSAL plans to replicate this intervention in the remaining 12 local government areas of the State – and indeed for other ACReSAL states and the whole of Nigeria.