Overview - Resilience of Socio-Ecological Systems : Are Water Vendors, an indication of Socio-E

The water understands Civilization well;

It wets my foot, but prettily, It chills my life, but wittily, It is not disconcerted, It is not broken-hearted:

Well used, it decketh joy, Adorneth, doubleth joy:

Ill-used, it will destroy, In perfect time and measure With a face of golden pleasure Elegantly destroy.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chapter 1: Overview 1.1 Introduction

Throughout the known history of the planet, people have used, and moulded ecosystems for all benefits, social and economic, which can be gained from it (Turner et al., 1990; Redman, 1999; Chapin et al., 2009). Humanity exerts a significant factor in global climate change and shapes ecosystem dynamics from local environments to the biosphere (Redman, 1999; Steffen et al., 2004; Folke, 2006).

Patterns and processes of production, consumption, and wellbeing of humanity develop not only from inter-societal and intra-societal relationships, but there is also the dependence on the what is produced in other places to sustain them (Arrow et al., 1995; Folke et al., 1998). It is then critical to understand how ecosystems provide the coupled human-environment system with resources and services, and how human activities influence ecosystem dynamics (Berkes et al., 2003; Turner et al., 2003; Steffen et al., 2004;

Chapin et al., 2009). The research into the coupled relationship between humans and the environment has produced several descriptive terms. These include “ecological footprints”, “industrial metabolism”,

“ecosystem services”, to explain in specific terms dependences and impacts to be considered in decision-making processes (Ayres and Simonis, 1994; Daily, 1997; Rapport, 2000; Cork, 2010)

The ecosystem supports human life in different ways, and this encourages people to take care of the environment. Poor environmental management can result in a weak ecological resilience and eventually lead to social-ecological collapse. The social and ecological approach stresses that humanity,

the society, customs, cultures, and the economy are integrated components of the ecosystem forming it from local to worldwide levels. As a result, people not only interact with the ecosystem but also form an essential part of it together with other forms of living and non-living things, shaping the environment’s resilience in different ways (Fischer et al., 2015). The ecosystem holds and sustains the future of humans through providing essential services and resources such as water and food. It is apparent that people cannot be separated from the ecosystem as far as modern science and technology may provide platforms to support this. The relationship between the two is connected in the form of joined human and natural system (Stiglitz, 2012). Sustainability is the primary goal of social and ecological systems thus the two shape each other. The entire wellbeing of human beings such as good health, quality life, good social relations, freedom, choice, personal security, and material possessions are provided by the ecosystem.

Day by day, the life of human beings is shaped by the ecosystem, and there is a growing need for developing global scientific approaches that account for the interrelationships between the two. Human beings work in a heritage of social and ecological association expanding growth opportunities which is a significant measure of current and future generations. If the welfare of humanity is the fulcrum of sustainability, then dependence on economic resilience is inevitable.

Ecosystems influence the society both directly and indirectly. As a result, people preserve the environment to benefit from it. Poor environmental conservation can lead to reduced ability of an ecological unit to cope with challenges, thus collapsing ecological and societal resilience. Social resilience is the aptitude of a society to handle and adjust to hassles such as economic, political, social, and environmental changes. On the other hand, ecological resilience is the ability of an ecological unit to act in response to disturbances by resisting damages and convalescing quickly (Biggs et al., 2015).

Ecological perturbations can include natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and human activities such as deforestation. There is an apparent link between social and ecological resilience especially for communities which rely on natural resources for their living. Social and ecological resilience are vital in an ecological unit since humans and the environment depend on each other for survival.

Ecosystems and the people who utilise, manage, and depend on those ecosystems form inherently complex systems. They are complicated, because of the interwoven elements of ecology, economic, social, political and institutional connections merged in multi-level scales and relationships and dependencies developed over time (Folke, 2006). This can be interpreted to highlight the different feedback recordable over several timelines and time periods, the impact of changes in relationships and regimes. The impact of human actions on the environment has thus thrown up the need to consider

social-13

ecological resilience as a single concept, rather than separately as social resilience and ecological resilience. At present, the governance systems relating to water resources, which have had a start and stop development regime over the years particularly in developing countries, has opened new vistas for monitoring sustainable development. Governance systems in this context I will define as Legislations, Rules, Regulations and Procedures, as well as management plans which would have an impact on the Nigerian Water Resources Socio-Ecological System.

Social resilience defines the capacity of social entities to handle various kinds of social and environmental threats. With every alteration in conditions, whether in energy supply, availability of water supply, climate or economic recession a society will undergo internal changes as it tries to respond to those situations. The changes can intensify or diminish the initial conditions of the situation (Biggs et al., 2015). Social resilience highlights a society or community’s ability to exploit opportunities in disasters and turn them into profitable ventures. Social resilience focuses attention on how the community can work with others for the betterment of a situation. Each passing day, the society encounters problems which hinder the progress of the well-being of its members. In this perspective, there is need to set up mechanisms to ensure that the society recovers from probable disasters. A modern complex society would be more resilient to changes due to increased capital allocation which allows exploitation of a vast range of resources (Folke, 2016). For instance, a society with a well-established technological infrastructure can recover from a challenging situation faster than one with poor infrastructure. Social resilience promotes growth by fostering relationships, engagement in social activities and community responses to challenging conditions (Folke, 2016). Societal resilience highlights the significance of linking up with other groups of individuals and learning new ideas from them. Therefore, a significant challenge is to develop governance systems that make it possible to relate to environmental resources in a manner that ensures the capacity to support societal development for a long time into the future (Costanza, 2000; Lambin, 2007). It has been stated however that it will require adaptive forms of governance to make sure this happens (Dietz et al., 2003; Folke et al., 2005).

This research is located at the nexus between the social resilience and ecological resilience. It looks at components of the social system, its norms, practices, institutions and laws and the use of ecological systems. It seeks to show the Nigerian Water Supply Subsector is a socio-ecological system, shows that the emergence of water vendors symbolises the resilience of the water supply subsector socio-ecological system and shows that the role played by water vendors in meeting the Sustainability Development Goals cannot be underplayed. This research aims to present possible ways to organise these vendors into recognisable bodies for ease of regulation and effective implementation of public

health-14

related legislation. This research paves the way forward on how the efforts of informal service providers can be incorporated within a policy and institutional framework for ease of increased supply to citizens and improved water quality.

I have chosen to use the Socio-ecological resilience theory to show how the Nigerian society has adapted to perturbations in the water sector and has transitioned into a system that is self-serving albeit unregulated. For this thesis, my trigger question is ‘does the emergence of water vendors symbolise socio-ecological resilience of the Nigerian Water supply subsector?’ It is my assumption that a social-ecological systems perspective makes a unique contribution to the understanding of water supply issues in Nigeria, and mainly the current transitionary trend where the utility is no longer viewed as the primary supplier of water. To understand the impact of the failure of water supply by utilities, a situation which has led to the emergence of a vibrant and thriving informal sector, planning for water management responses need to view the water sector as a linked social and ecological system and develop strategies accordingly from that perspective.

1.2 Research Objectives and Questions

The primary objective of this research is to show that the emergence of water vendors in the Nigerian Water Socio-ecological System is a symbol of resilience in the Sector. It will explore the mechanisms which can be put in place to encourage water vendors to enter the market, expand their business, improve the quality of their services, and compete in service delivery. This thesis will also attempt to recommend policy and regulatory options for achieving the goal of increasing the human right of access to potable water. To this end, the central research question is ‘Are water vendors indicative of socio-ecological resilience in the Nigerian Water Supply Sector?’ The thesis will explore the components of the linkage between social and ecological systems and explore the different dimensions of the resilience theory in relation to socio-ecological systems. The thesis will also explore the realm of regulating socio-ecological systems and means of employing regulatory instruments without strangulating the nebulous socio-ecological linkages.

1.3 Relevance and justification

Following the U.N. Millennium Summit in 2000 and Johannesburg Earth Summit in 2002, there was a consensus by world leaders to set time-bound and measurable development targets, the Sustainable Development Goals (a continuation of the Millennium Development Goals), which includes a commitment to reduce the number of people without access to safe drinking water (UNDP, 2003). WHO

and UNICEF (2010) have reported that access to water worldwide has increased from total access of 77% in 1990 to 87% in recent times. Ironically the access to water supply in Nigeria has only recorded a paltry growth compared with the world records; the access in Nigeria had increased to 58% in 2010 from 1990 when the proportion was 47% (WHO and UNICEF, 2010). In general, only piped water is usually regarded as safe (Sullivan et al., 2003). When this factor is considered, only 30% of the world population has access to a safe source of water; in Nigeria, only 6% of the population has access to such source (WHO and UNICEF, 2010).

Water is regarded as a common good and essential for human life as inferred by several Human Rights Charters while the Dublin Principles prescribe water as an economic good. Thus, water as economic goodwill incurs implicit costs, in its treatment and supply for human needs, which can only be met through monetary means (Allen et al., 2006). This view thus commodifies and commercialises provision of water mainly when the services of the private sector are involved. Studies have shown that only about 34% of Nigerians get some form of water service from utilities while a small percentage is served through donor agency contributions. In Enugu State, for example, fewer than 15% of households have access to piped water from the Utility (Onyechere et al., 2012). Many of the citizens of the state get water supply from the unregulated informal sector otherwise known as water vendors. This has led to public health issues due to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, dysentery and a host of water-borne diseases. This problem has been identified as one of the lead causes of infant death between the ages of 0 and two years (WHO and UNICEF, 2010); it goes without saying that the urban poor and slum dwellers bear the brunt of the problems which arise from leaving this critical service delivery unregulated. In Nigeria, rapid population growth has not been accompanied by an increase in the delivery of essential urban services including water; instead, there has been gross neglect of public infrastructure especially water supply facilities. Thus, is widespread recognition and acceptance that conventional water utilities have fallen short in providing adequate water services to populations especially the urban poor.

Water vendors have emerged as an essential part of the Nigerian water supply socio-ecological system; they form an untapped local ecological knowledge base which could be utilised in establishing plans which focus on access to water for all citizens. Thus, there is the need to bring structure to this subsector, formally recognise the roles played and the value brought by water vendors to the Socio-ecological system.

1.4 Structure of the Research

The research comprises of seven Chapters. In Chapter one, the general introduction of the research domain is provided. Chapter two covers the research context; Chapter three gives an overview of the research theory, conceptual and analytical tools which will be applied throughout the paper. Chapter four covers methods and data collection. Chapter five deliberates on the Nigerian Water Supply Socio-ecological discourse and components of the Socio-Socio-ecological system. The chapter conducts a literature review on water vendors, the different types, the advantages of these vendors. It addresses the different circumstances which informal sector can fill the gap left by the utility and obstacles they face. Chapter Six discusses how the emergence of water vendors symbolises the resilience of the Nigerian SES while Chapter seven summarises findings and makes recommendations. It will also open future research should the opportunity to do so arise.

Chapter 2: Research Context

In document Resilience of Socio-Ecological Systems : Are Water Vendors, an indication of Socio-Ecological Resilience in the Nigerian Water Sector? (sivua 11-17)