Coping with Household Water Scarcity in the Savannah Today: Implications for Health and Climate Change into the Future

摘要

AbstractEven as millions live without reliable access to water, very little is known about how households cope with scarcity. The aims of this research were to 1) understand aspects of water scarcity in three rural villages in southwestern Uganda, 2) examine differences by demographics and type of source, 3) assess relationships between different factors related to water access, and 4) explore coping strategies used. Health implications and lessons learned that relate to future climate change are discussed.Demographic data, water accessibility, and coping strategies used were recorded using a survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and Spearman’s rank correlations were calculated between self-reported level of access, walking minutes to source, ranked ownership of source, and source accessibility during the last two weeks of April (16–30 April). Changes in water source type across seasons and demographic and access measures by coping strategies were examined.Over half of the households relied on s...