THE CONSTRAINTS OF RAINWATER HARVESTING IN SOME SELECTED WARDS IN SABON GARI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Purpose: The need for water for domestic and other uses has placed an increasing demand on the country’s water resources in Nigeria. Sabon Gari local Government Area of Kaduna State has abundant water resources and a good potential for good groundwater storage but water scarcity still persists. This study is aimed at identifying the constraints and level of adoption of rainwater harvesting in some selected wards in Sabon Gari local government area of Kaduna State.

Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this aim, the study employed purposive sampling technique for the selection of wards and made use of structured questionnaire which was administered through the use of a software application known as kobo Collect to 400 randomly sampled respondents and was analyzed descriptively. The relative importance index (RII) was determined to know the constraints of rainwater harvesting (RWH) adoption.

Findings: The study found out that, small containers and buckets have a cumulative mean of (4.47) and drums with a mean of (4.38) showing that the harvested water is used for present use and also not aware of the modern way of harvesting rainwater through constructed systems, implying low adoption of rainwater harvesting and it is practiced at a traditional level. Amongst all the stated constraints to the adoption of RWH, low income with RII value of (1.82), low public awareness/education on RWH (1.66), and inadequate storage system (1.58), are the major factors that hinders the adoption of modern rainwater harvesting in the study area as indicated by RII.

Research limitations/Implications: The study concluded that low adoption of modern rainwater harvesting in the study area indicates underutilization of the available water resources.

Practical implications: The study recommends the need for increased awareness and provisions of infrastructure for RWH by the Government and individual households for efficient utilization of RWH in the study area.

Originality/value: The study revealed the key aspect of socio-economic factors that needs to be addressed and therefore policies aimed at promoting RWH should be designed carefully taking socio-economic aspect into account.