Resilience of Socio-Ecological Systems: Are Water Vendors, an indication of Socio-Ecological Resilience in the Nigerian Water Sector?
Full name: Omotomilola Tolulope Ikotun Student no: 268339
Department: Geographical and Historical Studies University of Eastern Finland
Supervisor: Juha Kotilainen
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Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the grant of MDP in Environmental Policy
Faculty: Unit:
AUTHOR
Omotomilola Tolulope Ikotun
Thesis Title:
Resilience of Socio-Ecological Systems: Are Water Vendors, an indication of Socio-Ecological Resilience in the Nigerian Water Sector?
Major:
Environmental Policy and Governance
Description:
Masters’ Thesis Date
April 28, 2018 Pages 122
Abstract
The Nigerian State made up of 180million people has undergone several years of disruption, mismanagement of funds and creation of territories and states along the lines of political alliances. Thus, the Nigerian State has become a behemoth of decaying infrastructure, of note is the continued downward spiral in the Water Supply Sector. The Nigerian Water Sector has undergone a crisis as a sector, the supply for domestic purposes has been neglected due to the frequent mergers with other sectors and unfocused policy constructs. This has resulted in a high percentage of urban and semi-urban dwellers in Nigeria patronising water vendors (mai ruwas) as their primary source of water supply.
Mai ruwa is a Hausa word which means “water seller”. Using the Resilience Theory, some of the disruptions and the location of the problems are identified and have led to the emergence of Mai ruwas. The Adaptive Cycle which sits at the centre of the Resilience theory shows that Mai Ruwas have been birthed during the transition cycle which opens up opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs. When disruption paves ways for small- scale adaptations, such is attributed to the resilience of the sector; the Nigerian Government has however failed to utilise this strong trait for the good of its people. This Study has identified these Water Vendors as a medium to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal which can be done through Private Sector Participation contracts between the failing Utility and registered vendors. Further research is needed to understand how to adequately regulate socioecological systems in developing countries and how to stem the loss of resilience while establishing efficient regulatory regimes
Word count: 268
Keywords: Nigeria, Water Supply Crisis, Socioecological Resilience, Adaptive Cycle, Water Vendors, Mai Ruwa, Sustainable Development Goals
Cover photo: Mai-ruwas fetching water from an unknown water source in Zaria environs, Zaria, Kaduna State, December 2017
Photo credits Idowu Olanipekun Enuka Umeike Esiri
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List of Abbreviations ... 5
List of Figures ... 7
Acknowledgements ... 8
Prologue ... 9
Chapter 1: Overview ... 11
1.1 Introduction ... 11
1.2 Research Objectives and Questions ... 14
1.3 Relevance and justification ... 14
1.4 Structure of the Research ... 16
Chapter 2: Research Context ... 17
2.1 The Country Called Nigeria ... 17
2.2 History of the Development of the Nigerian Water Sector ... 19
2.3. Creation of States and Impact on the Water Supply Sector ... 22
2.4 Problem domain ... 27
Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework ... 31
3.1 Introduction ... 31
3.2 Definition of Socio-ecological Systems (SES) ... 31
3.3 Theory of the Resilience approach to Social-Ecological Systems ... 32
3.4 Sustainability Transitions ... 45
3.5 Socio-Ecological Resilience and the Law ... 46
3.6 Criticism of the Socioecological resilience theory ... 50
3.7 Reflections on the Theoretical Framework ... 52
Chapter 4: Methods ... 53
4.1 Introduction ... 53
4.2 Research Design ... 53
4.3 Sources of data ... 57
4.4 Data collection and Analysis ... 58
4.5 Validity and Reliability ... 66
4.6 Ethical Consideration ... 66
4.7 Limitation of the Study... 67
4.8 Summary of Chapter ... 67
Chapter 5: The Nigerian Socioecological Systems Resilience and the Nigerian Water Supply Subsector Narrative ... 69
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5.1 Introduction ... 69
5.2 Framing the Nigerian Water Supply Sector as a Socio-ecological System ... 69
5.3 Background of the Legal, Policy, Regulatory and Institutional Framework of the Nigerian Water Sector ... 70
5.4 The Nigerian Water Supply System ... 76
5.5 Water Vending in Nigeria ... 81
5.6 Self-organisation and Adaptability: Emergence of Water vendors and informal water ... 92
supply ... 92
5.7 The emergence of Mai Ruwas as an indicator of Resilience ... 99
Chapter 6: Discussion ... 108
Chapter 7: Conclusion ... 115
References ... 123
Appendix 1 ... 145
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List of Abbreviations
ADP Agricultural Development Programme
CAS Complex Adaptive Systems
CAMON Consumer Affairs Movement of Nigeria
DFRRI Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure
EC European Commission
EDF European Development Fund
EU European Commission
FAO AQUASTAT Food and Agriculture Organisation Aqua Statistics FCT Federal Capital Territory
FMAWR Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources FMWR Federal Ministry of Water Resources
HOT Highly Optimized Tolerance
INAWSSP Improved National Access to Water Supply and Sanitation Programme IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
IWRM Integrated Water Resource Management JICA Japanese International Cooperation Agency LFN Laws of the Federation of Nigeria
NBP National Borehole Programme
NDP National Development Plan
NEEDS National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy NRWSP National Rural Water Supply Programmes
NRWSSP National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Policy NSDWQ National Standard for Drinking Water Quality NWRI National Water Resources Institute
NWRMP National Water Resources Master Plan PSP Private Sector Participation
PWD Public Works Department
RBDA River Basin Development Authorities
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RUWASA Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency SAP Structural Adjustment Programme
SDG Sustainable Development Goals SES Social-Ecological Systems
SWA State Water Agencies
SWB State Water Boards
TARWR Total Actual Renewable Water Resources
UN United Nations
UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund
UNICEF JMP United Nations Children's Fund Joint Monitoring Programme WCED World Commission on Environment and Development
WCF Water Consumer Forums
WHO World Health Organisation
WSSSRP Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme
WUA Water User Associations
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Map of Rivers and Water Bodies in Nigeria Figure 2: Map of States and Geo-political zones
Figure 3: Historical Map of Nigeria Showing the three Federal Regions Created by British Colonial Rule (1954)
Figure 4: Historical Map of Nigeria Showing Twelve Federal States Created by Federal Military Government on the Eve of Civil War (1967)
Figure 5: Historical Map of Nigeria Showing States Created by a Series of Federal Military Governments through Military Decrees (1976-1991)
Figure 6: Social-ecological systems as linked systems of people and nature Figure 7: Linking adaptive capacity with sustainability
Figure 8: The Adaptive Cycle Figure 9: Panarchy Cycle Figure 10: Maladaptive Cycle
Figure 11: Proposed quadrant for the development of adaptive Laws
Appendix 1: Interview questions
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Acknowledgements
The journey to attain this significant milestone was with the help and support of the following people: Engineer Iliyas, Professor Sobande, Dr Soji Apampa, Femi Sonuga, for being sounding boards for the wild ideas and topics, and who set path with information.
Olanipekun Idowu, Adeyosola Adebiyi, Enuka Umeike, Esiri who rose up to the occasion to take pictures and work the walk with me. Odunlade Oluwaseyi for assistance with fieldwork and information gathering. Taiwo Fakuade for her patient and insightful prodding when the motivation ran low, and whose open-mindedness moreover, intelligent discussions much helped to understand the Resilience Theory from a different perspective.
Olumuyiwa Adeboye, Jumoke Onibokun and Omobolanle Lawal whose calls and willingness to listen to me helped take my mind off the feverish addiction to perfection. Sven and Buki Reis for their positive energy. My parents and siblings for supporting me through to the attainment of this goal, it has been a long time coming.
My supervisor, Juha Kotilainen, for challenging my pre-existing notions about the Resilience Theory, its use and application, and whose insightful comments set me on the path to understanding this fascinating theory. His ability to recognise and assess the “big picture” provided much-needed insight to finish this Thesis. I am grateful for the creative inspiration, guidance, and encouragement offered throughout this research.
Lastly, I acknowledge Oluwatosin, Ayomikun Riley, Eyiloreoluwa, Kenaniah, Ananiah, Oluwalojuoungbogbo and Adekoyejo for their unfettered love.
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The history of the earth, and of mankind has been a constantly evolving cycle of change and adaptation; the cycle has caused extinction while it has also caused for resilience and adaptation in others. Humanity has shaped nature and nature has shaped the development of human society (Tainter, 1988).
Prologue
The tap spluttered for the first time since last week Wednesday waking everyone in the house with its loud raspy cough, signalling a battle between the air-filled pipes and the pretend deluge expected to flow through. The bedroom door was pushed open by my cousin, the elected head of the water-fetching team for the day who hurried to wake other members of her team, to make sure that every receptacle in the house was filled as no one was ready to bear the brunt of running out of water before the next supply.
It was just 5 am. My grandmother was already at the tap as it spluttered and showed the first sign of life in one week: rust-tainted water which gradually gave way to clear, non-potable water flowed through the pipes. The water smelled like dead fish, and though clean, it had some strings of green algae hanging tenaciously to the mouth of the tap. The next 2 hours were spent filling all available water storage containers in and outside the house; sometimes it would take longer if the water pressure was low due to every tap in every house being open for the same weekly ritual before everyone went to school or work.
No one wanted to endure the long lines and the constant quarrels and fights which would break out at the public water wells if we ran out of water at home. The village hand-pump borehole had been previously damaged by an irate woman who felt her turn had been unfairly taken at the long line when she ran home to feed her sickly son.
The water level in the well in my grandmother’s house was deemed unsafe, due to high fluoride levels in the groundwater. Thus if the unfortunate incidence of running out of water happened and no one wanted to join the long queue which existed 24 hours every day, we all undertook the 45-minute trip, one way, to the river to fetch water, wash clothes, bathe and relieve ourselves. Thus, ‘Water- Wednesdays’ was a momentous occasion till the taps went dry because there was a ‘major fault’ at the Water Corporation which took over 17 months to fix. This scene took place 30 odd years ago in my father’s village and yet, this experience pales in comparison with what millions of others in my country and indeed, sub-Saharan Africa experience today on a daily basis in the quest to get water. “Many diseases and deaths are attributed to the lack of access to clean water in sufficient quantities for various reasons- poverty, distance from the cities, the season of the year, but access to this vital natural resource is a physiological need which no human being should be denied.” (WHO 2006).
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Fast forward to a few years after the visit to my grandmother, my parents bought a sizeable 30,000litre water tank and began to store water; as the family grew from two children to three, another 30,000litre tank was added. The number of a water tanker supplier was added to the list of emergency numbers on the fridge as access to piped water from the utility dried up and became nonexistent. Several epidemics and student riots during my university days led to a small-scale niche market for little boys who wanted to make some money on the side; these little boys called ‘any job’ would happily fetch copious buckets of water from standpipes for students in exchange for a few hundred nairas. Supply from these pipes was however not consistent, and many toilets went unflushed, students attended classes unwashed, and the university clinic was inundated with cases of skin problems and hygiene-related diseases.
To meet the rising demand for water supply with no response from the Government, the rich and middle class began to sink private boreholes within their compounds while others dug wells and installed unmetered pumps. It has been posited that any house built after the 1990s lacks access to supply from the water corporation and thus such houses are self-sustaining with regards to water supply and sewerage services. When I started work in the water sector, the myriad of reasons for the lack of supply from Government supply became as clear as day and trying to solve some of them was an evident uphill task.
Top on this list include non-functional outdated legislation and non-existent policy, institutions and agencies grappling with the impact of successive military regimes, the creation of states, restructuring, and mergers of ministries at the whim of the leaders, the lack of investment in infrastructure in any sector;
the result? Mayhem and the breakdown of vital ecosystem services to the citizens.
Water, in addition to sustaining human life, is the fulcrum on which ecosystems that provide many of the services society rely. The cycle of life has flourished around the availability of water and where little to none exists, and thus adaptive measures have evolved over the years to meet demands.
This is the story of how components of the Nigerian Water Sector have had to adapt and reorganise to serve the growing population in the face of constant government changes and socio-ecological collapse.
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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,
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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-
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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-
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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
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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.
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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-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.
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Chapter 2: Research Context 2.1 The Country Called Nigeria
Nigeriahas a land mass of about 924,000 sq.km and is a federation made up of thirty-six states (and one Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – Abuja), 776 local government council areas, and a population of over 180 million people. This West African country lies entirely within the tropics; its climate is semi- arid in the North, gradually becoming humid in the South. Annual rainfall is subject to significant temporal variation with highs of 4,000 mm in the South – Eastern region, and below 250 mm in the North-Eastern part (Kuruk, 2005). The surface water resources potential is estimated at 267.3 billion cubic metres while the groundwater potential is 51.9 billion metres (NWRMP, 1995). The availability of water varies from low precipitation of only about 500 mm in the North-Eastern region to over 4,000 mm in the southeast (NWRMP, 1995). The Nigeria Sahelian Belt at the southern border of the Sahara Desert has caused persistent drought in the past three decades; its attendant impact resulted in a depletion of the extent of the Hadejia–Nguru wetlands, and the almost complete loss of the Lake Chad (Goldface- Irokalibe, 2008).
Nigeria is bounded by the countries Benin to the West, Cameroon to the East, and the Republic of Niger and Chad to the North. The hydrology of Nigeria is dominated by two river systems, the Niger- Benue Rivers and the Lake Chad systems; save for a few rivers that empty directly into the Atlantic Ocean, all other flowing waters spill into the Chad basin. The Niger-Benue Rivers and Lake Chad, are separated by a primary watershed that extends northeast and north-west from the Bauchi Plateau, which is the primary source of the principal tributaries (Kururk, 2005). The Bauchi Plateau is elevated, with drift-covered plains of central Hausa-land, which is drained by numerous streams that all flow outwards to join the major tributaries of the Rivers Niger and Benue (Kuruk, 2005). The full extent of Nigeria's inland freshwater and ecosystems can be hard to state accurately, due to a variation in annual rainfall.
Notwithstanding, there is a vast spread of water resources from the coastal regions to the arid zone of the Lake Chad Basin. The country's extensive mangrove ecosystem - a significant proportion of which lies within the Niger Delta in Rivers, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ondo and Lagos, covers about 500,000- 885,000 hectares. Freshwaters begin at the northern limit of the mangrove ecosystems extending all the way to the Sahelian region. (Kuruk, 2005). The principal rivers flowing through Nigeria are the Anambra, Benue, Cross, Imo, Kwa Iboe, Niger, Ogun, and Osun rivers. These rivers are estimated to be about 10,812,400 hectares, and collectively amount to 11.5% of the entire surface area of Nigeria, which is approximately 94,185,000 hectares. The domestic water systems include thirteen lakes and reservoirs
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with a combined surface area of between 4000 hectares and 550,000 hectares which have a total surface area of 853,600 hectares, representing about 1% of the total area of Nigeria. These lakes include Lakes Chad, Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro, Goronyo, Tiga, Chalawa Gorge, Dadin Kowa, Kiri, Bakolori, Lower Anambra, Zobe, Owena and Oyan. Except for Lake Chad, all the lakes are human-made. (Kuruk, 2005)
Figure 1: Map of Rivers and Water Bodies in Nigeria.
Source: Adewale Adegoke, Orbital Solutions
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Figure 2: Map of 36 states and geopolitical zones.
Source of Map of Nigeria: Nigerian Water Resources Management Policy, 2016
2.2 History of the Development of the Nigerian Water Sector
During pre-colonial times, the domestic water supply was through individual and community efforts of water fetching by women and children from streams and rivers. The colonial era jumpstarted a move towards a safer supply of water by putting forward the first ten-year plan (1944 - 1954) which made provisions in the Country's overall budget to set aside 5.7% of the projected total expenditure for development in that sector. With this move, concrete open wells were constructed under the supervision of the then Public Works Department (PWD) of the Regional Governments which were responsible for providing safe water to the rural communities.
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Public Water Supply started in Nigeria early this century in a few towns under the management of the lowest administrative level. Amongst the first beneficiaries of these facilities were Lagos State, Calabar Town, Kano City, Ibadan City, Abeokuta Town, Ijebu Ode Town, and Enugu City (FMWR Report, 2000). The schemes were maintained with revenue from water rate collections with no operational grants from the central government. Following the creation of state governments in the early 1950s, both financial and technical responsibilities for developing new water schemes were taken over by local governments while water supply undertakings continued to maintain the projects. These regional governments also assigned 'high-level supervisory workforce (Water Engineers and Superintendents) to oversee operations and maintenance of the water supply undertakings. For the period of the assignment, all the allowances and part of the salaries of these officers were paid from revenue generated from their water rate, while these officers still retained their employment and seniority in the Regional Service. The regions were slow, however, to set up independent bodies to develop, operate and manage water supply on any level.
After the country's independence in 1960, rural water supply took centre place in government policies and projects in recognition of the need to develop the "areas which provide food for the nation". Thus, several National Rural Water Supply Programmes (NRWSP) were embarked on by the Federal Government including the
a) National Borehole Programme (NBP),
b) Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), and
c) Improved National Access to Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (INAWSSP). (Onugba, A and Sara, S.G., 2003, Ajibade et al., ., 2015)
Following the civil war that broke out between 1967 and 1970, existing Government structures, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), deliberated on matters relating to the development of rural water supply, particularly for for agriculture development, in the war-torn eastern and middle belt regions of the country. Efforts towards further development of the sector commenced following the drought experienced between 1972 and 1974. The Supreme Military Council promulgated the Decree 25 of 1976, which created the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMoWR) to formulate policies. This ministry focused on the management of water resources to foster and provide food security by creating rural foods production centres. The Decree also established National Water Resources Institute (NWRI) to engage in training of manpower and research. It also established eleven River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) to act as
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midwives in delivering water for irrigation and domestic use, improvement of inland navigation, hydroelectric power generation, the development of recreational/tourism facilities and the development of inland fisheries projects.
The River Basins were also designed to foster the establishment of industrial complexes that would act as a melting point for the merger of private and public sectors in joint business partnerships.
Additionally, RBDAs were to bridge the gap between the rural and urban centres by attracting development to the rural areas which would discourage mass rural-urban migration progressions. These objectives were to be achieved through surface impoundment of water by constructing small, medium and large dams to pave the way for all year-round irrigation of farms. Following the devastation of the drought, which decimated rural food production centres and stores, and the effects of the civil war, in the mid-1970s the World Bank provided financing to support the bold move by the government of the day to develop mitigation and adaptation programmes. These Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) pilot projects were in six states - Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau, Oyo and Sokoto. Through this project, a rural water supply component assumed a significant part of pilot projects and donor agency efforts (Onugba & Sara, 2003). In 1981, UNICEF included rural water supply and sanitation in its development efforts in its Nigeria country programme in Imo, Gongola (now Taraba and Adamawa States), Kwara, Cross River, Niger, and Anambra States. Today, twenty-two states benefit from the programme.
(UNICEF, 2000). The success of the pilot programme prompted the Federal Government to initiate rural development programmes which include the National Borehole Programme in 1981. This programme was strategically planned and executed by the then Federal Department of Water Resources, to supply water through a motorised system of boreholes to rural areas or communities (Ajibade et al., 2015).
Experts from the United Nations, World Bank and other related organisations postulated that handpumps provide the most reliable and adequate means for combating the growing problem of the persistent lack of water in rural areas. The experts argued that hand pumps installed in wells - where groundwater is readily available - provides some of the simplest and least costly methods of supplying the rural populations with safe water (Onugbaand Sara, 2003)
To ensure a rural development focused project, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from 1989 – 1992 empowered local governments in the operation and management of the
‘Rusafiya' Project. Based on perceived advantages of being close to local communities (Rusafiya is an acronym in the Hausa language for Water which is Ruwa, Sanitation which is (T)sabta and Health which isLafiya) (Onugba and Sara, 2003). This programme led to the development of the Rural Water and Sanitation Sector Strategy and Action Plan. In 1986. The Federal Government set-up the Directorate of
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Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), with the mandate to develop rural areas and create agriculture centres. The DFRRI project, in contrast to the National Borehole Programme, had community participation and involvement as a strategy. Other attempts by the Federal Government include rural water projects under the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (Onugba and Sara, 2003). Under this project, water supply and sanitation encompassed several development projects dealt with the supply of water safe enough for domestic consumption and the improvement of personal and community hygiene. The intervention in the water supply sector includes the effective rehabilitation of all existing boreholes and extensive drilling of new ones in rural and semi-urban areas, and the installation of hand pumps or similar devices such as solar-powered handpumps, to provide potable water for both human and animal consumption (UNICEF, 2000). Solar powered submersible water pumps offer an alternative source of energy for drawing water from underground sources. These pumps are fitted with the manual pumps for use so that when there is very little sunshine during the rainy seasons or for some reason, the solar panels have been vandalised, people still have access to water.
In 1996, the first water corporation was formed in the western region, and it took over all the assets and liabilities -including the existing staff- of the Public Works Department. The staff of the Water Division of the Ministry of Works were also transferred to the new corporation. Today, all thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory have water boards/corporations or public utility boards managing the domestic supply of water. The efforts of the water boards/corporations are supplemented by local governments who supply water to small villages in their areas of authority, and the recently established small towns water supply agencies which are to provide water to places which are neither urban nor rural areas (E.I, 2016).
2.3. Creation of States and Impact on the Water Supply Sector
The history of the Niger-area is a popular one depending on which end of the North-South divide is telling it. The story however untold is how the amalgamation of fiercely independent sovereignties with little or no shared similarities for administrative purposes by the colonial masters left a state of affairs that could only be solved through the establishment of states along the lines of the former cultural identities. The politics of state creation in Nigeria can be traced back to the pre-independence days of Sir Arthur Richards, who as the Governor-General created three regions out of the amalgamated Northern and Southern protectorates in 1945 (Osunde and Alo, 2010). Creation of States in Nigeria have led to quite dramatic experiences for its citizens. State re-organisation in the country has tended to be cyclical or self-perpetuating with each restructuring merely provoking agitation for further reorganisation
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(Omotoso, 2004:102). The extended period of military rules in Nigeria made the divide along tribal and cultural lineages even more pronounced. For example, with the military intervention in democratic governance in 1966 came the tribal consciousness that culminated in civil war. The military administration which assiduously worked to end the war formed the slogan "One Nigeria" to foster a sense of unity amongst the warring polity (Osunde & Alo, 2010; Adeyemi, 2013). Ikporukpo (1986) observed that the criteria for state creation included ethnic affinity, geographical contiguity, population, land area, the viability of the new and old state, cultural incompatibility, and self-determination. The use of jurisdictional partitioning to rectify perceived inequalities in tribal representation in local states is a dominant driving force behind the demand for more states, where the equitable distribution of resource is an explicit objective of trying to assuage tempers (Abu, 2005:96).
In the same vein, the agitation for states and local governments were perceived as an ethnic- political-economic strategy, which considers the number states from each ethnic group as added leverage for a fairer division of national resources (Omotosho, 2004:10; Adeyemi, 2013). Former military and democratic president, Obasanjo corroborated this statement when he stated that "there is clear evidence that the establishment of local governments has been for reasons that not only negate the objectives and also the ideologies of the Political atmosphere of 1976. In some cases, there are clear expressions of patronage by revenue distribution to favour areas or interest group" (Ukiwo, 2007; Adeyemi, 2013). As soon as the states and local governments were created, they faced daunting administrative challenges and problems including inadequate facilities, high wage bills, low level of internally generated revenue, dwindling budgets, allocation of scarce resources to unproductive capital projects, and an acrimonious battle over assets sharing, to mention just a few. Still, there was no hope of a stop to the desire for "own state" by the ethnic rivals (Omotosho, 2004:101- 102).
Present day Nigeria is made up of 36 States, a Federal Capital Territory and 776 local governments.
Many of these 36 states are currently more or less rural areas forced to develop into cities; many have missed the urban area tag and are merely small towns with little or no infrastructure to support a thriving economy (Apampa, 2017). After these states were created, housing estates were hastily developed for those who had to move to newly established territories with water supply infrastructure which belonged to another state. At the time, contracts and agreements for water supply did not have to be developed as all water resources and uses were deemed to be under the purview of the Federal Government. Until 1991, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources was responsible for water supply in the States; this was due to:
i. Bulk Raw water being obtained from the River Basin Development Authorities;
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ii. River Basin Development and Management being under the control of the Federal Government;
iii. States had no ministry responsible for water supply
Following the creation of states, the Federal Ministry for Water Resources merged with the Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development. This merger fundamentally changed the focus on water usage. Water supply became integrated with supply for the development of agriculture, and thus neglect of supply for domestic use became the order of the day. This quickly led to even more problems with managing infrastructures in States as many fell into disrepair. Between 1984 and 2008, the Federal Ministry for Water Resources merged with several ministries which led to a more fractured focus on water use. After a significant administrative reform in 1997 where the number of states created increased from 30 to 36 states, responsibilities for water supply were assigned to states and integrated into state government duties to its citizens.
In 1997, cognisant of some of the circumstances that led to the current unfortunate domestic water supply situation, the Federal Government of Nigeria commenced the process of reforming the water resources sector. Efforts were steered by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMAWR). The Ministry revised legislation, institutional restructuring, and the development of strategies for water supply and sanitation and Integrated Water Resources Management. In support of the reform programme, the European Commission (EC), through the European Development Fund (EDF) agreed with the Government of Nigeria, in December 2004, to fund the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme (WSSSRP). To ensure inclusion of all tiers of government, the three levels of Government, including beneficiary communities, were expected to contribute a percentage of the total investment costs. The overall objective of the WSSSRP was to provide support for institutional and policy reforms, demonstrate innovative tactics to service delivery, and assist in the implementation of water supply and sanitation projects. The establishment of State Water Boards (SWB) and State Water Agencies (SWA) was the outcome and were a significant reform in the sector. However, this creation of agencies stopped short of ring-fencing water operations and giving real autonomy to them (Macheve et al.,; World Bank, 2015). These established semi-autos agencies subsequently faced multi-faceted problems including accelerated urbanisation, lack of investments and investment projects, institutional limitations - including the inexistence of a ministry responsible for water supply on the state level, and fiscal constraints in a sector not well designed and developed. The spillover effect of these includes the total breakdown of service to citizens leading to the unregulated extraction of groundwater by citizens.
Despite the intervention, there seems to be an unending water supply problem that the SWAs and SWBs
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are not able to plug. Bringing up the question as to what measures could be adopted to assure the right to access to water for every citizen. Figures 3-5 show the creation of states from the regional divide in 1967 to the last exercise which shows the present day standing.
Figure 3: Historical Map of Nigeria Showing the three Federal Regions Created by British Colonial Rule (1954) Redrawn from http://www.waado.org/nigerian_scholars/archive/pubs/wilber1_map1.html
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Figure 4: Historical Map of Nigeria Showing Twelve Federal States Created by Federal Military Government on the Eve of Civil War (1967).
Redrawn from http://www.waado.org/nigerian_scholars/archive/pubs/wilber1_map2.html
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Figure 5: Historical Map of Nigeria Showing States Created by a Series of Federal Military Governments through Military Decrees (1976-1991)
Redrawn from http://www.waado.org/nigerian_scholars/archive/pubs/wilber1_map3.html
2.4 Problem domain
The author became interested in the Water Supply subsector by chance when she took part in a legislative drafting assignment funded by the European Commission in furtherance of its European Development Fund (EDF). The motivation behind researching this topic stems from trying to develop an enabling framework for the encouragement of the private sector in infrastructure development in the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector in six States. Due to the perturbations experienced in the Nigerian water sector, both laws and institutions, the informal sector in the form of water vendors emerged to occupy the void left by the constant sector restructuring, creation of states, and politicisation of water.
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The pre-assessment survey showed that majority of the urban population in most of the State capitals and small towns are lying outside the coverage of formal utilities with no access to piped connections; the middle class and wealthy mostly sink boreholes and dig wells while others must buy water from water vendors. To this end, water has become a commodity with no fixed price, unregulated, and subject to market forces. The implication of the lack of regulation has public health ramifications, which carries with it the need to protect the lives of Nigerians, particularly the urban poor. The importance of the informal sector is alluded to in a statement of the former Head of State of Nigeria during the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) crisis; President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida in 1991, said
"…the Nigeria economy has defied all known economic prescriptions, yet it has not collapsed. The reason for the non-collapse of the economy is not farfetched. It is the sustaining power and ‘ability' of the neglected informal sector" (Philips et al., 1987).
Indeed, the commercial landscape of Nigeria is littered with mosaics of these unregulated enterprises, which slowly but firmly support the economy with the skill and flexibility of an octopus. It is a sector whose activism has crystallised into an indispensable partner increasingly referred to as the Underground Economy (Daodu, 2001; Dada, J. 2006). There is a proliferation of the informal sector players in the water supply sector due to the failure of formal water institutions and utilities to serve the booming urban and peri-urban population. These failures have been compensated by other efforts outside the official margin and have shown the resilience of the socio-ecological system that is the Nigerian water supply subsector. Water vending is one of the symptoms of, as well as the short-term solution to, the perturbations in the water supply subsector and the failure of the formal water utility. Digging wells, installing boreholes, and buying water from vendors have become necessary and expedient due to the importance of water. In many parts, these informal entrepreneurs, despite the crucial role they play in water supply and sanitation, are discouraged and ignored (Kjellen & Mcgranahan, 2006). Vendors play a vital role in supplying water to all areas of a state whether urban, peri-urban or rural. They identify opportunities for scarcity during harmattan season and low water tables as well as downtimes from the utility and meet such demands as they arise. Most of these businesses remain in the informal sector and are not recognised nor registered by government authorities (Cudjoe & Okonski, 2006). Not much effort has been made by the formal utility and the Government to understand the crucial role these water vendors and save for a few states in Nigeria which try to incorporate the activities of vendors within the output of the Utility, the lowest level in the informal sector entrepreneur activity is still being demonised.
This is because the utility is still a monopoly and it views water vendors as competitors to its business as well as competition to water businesses owned by officials in the outlets.
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Like many developing nations, Nigerian politicians dictate the way the water sector has developed and have influenced the willingness of people to pay for piped supply to their homes. This has led to a proliferation of politician and donor agencies donating boreholes and standpipes, which form a supply source for many vendors who procure water and resell to homes. In some states, the price paid to water vendors is much higher than what will be paid if water is piped to homes. These studies have also shown that people are willing to pay for water if only the supply is available and dependable. Thus, the problem seems to stem from the failure of the utility, the inability to manage common pool resources, and the apparent influence of politics on the sector. The importance of available water or access to water is lost to the different governments of the country over the years; this is despite being signatories to several international conventions and treaties related to rights to water and access to water. There has been more focus on water supply for irrigation purposes than water supply for domestic purposes. The tossup between institutions has also caused several problems within the Sector.
First, River Basin Authorities are custodians of reservoirs, impounded water and raw bulk water supplies to farms and Water Supply Corporations or Water Supply Agencies in States. River Basin Authorities are Federal Government owned agencies while Water Supply Corporations or Agencies are State Agencies; as earlier stated, Water Supply Agencies were Federal Government Agencies, and with the subsequent creation of states, these agencies were handed down to states to operate and manage. Due to this, the State Agencies neglect (in plain terms, refuse) to pay the River Basin Authorities for raw bulk water supplied.
Secondly, the cooperation in the sector has not been on the best terms; however, this is due to the constant merging and un-merging with the Ministry for Agriculture on both the Federal and State levels.
This causes for the focus to shift constantly from water for agriculture to water for domestic supply;
when there is a merger with the Ministry for Agriculture, facilities and infrastructure for water supply for domestic use are neglected.
Thirdly, the overt influence of politics in the sector cannot be overstated. Water has been used as an essential political point used to win elections, particularly in the North of the country. The rationale behind this is that it is easier to sink boreholes and wells to fulfil the political promise and thus, win cheap points for the next election than providing a permanent solution to the ongoing water supply crisis.
It has to be stated here that inadequate access to potable water supply has led to many inter and intra-community conflicts, rapes of women and girls while fetching water from neighbouring communities which brings a different dimension to the problem; this is without mentioning the public health ramifications of this problem. Public and Government hospitals have no running water, and sick
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people usually resort to bringing in their water sources or buy from vendors around such hospitals. It has been claimed that besides malaria, which indirectly is also caused by lack of flowing water, a leading cause of infant mortality is diarrhoea and cholera contracted from drinking water from questionable sources (UNICEF, 2009).
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Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework 3.1 Introduction
The primary drive behind the marriage of social and ecological systems is to achieve sustainability (Berkes & Folke 2000). The term sustainability refers to the definition given in the WCED (1987) as development process which meets the requirements of the current generation without impeding the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The needs of the next generation will depend on the strength of the environment (or in this case, nature) to provide sustenance for the society. In this concept, we see the interconnectedness of the community and the environment. Interdisciplinary natural resource and economic ecologists use the term ‘social-ecological system' to draw scientific, scholarly, and public policy attention to the interdependence of human and non-human ecosystems in the context of rethinking ‘sustainable development' (Berkes & Folke, 1998). Thus, sustainability refers to an all- encompassing analysis of the components which make up the world we live in today, to wit, the environment and its ecological systems (ecosystems) with the society and its dimensions.
3.2 Definition of Socio-ecological Systems (SES)
Resource and environmental problems are perceived as complicated systems problems (Levin, 1999a; Berkes et al., 2003); and natural and social systems fall into the nebulous categorisation of complex systems. Such systems are phenomena, one whose causes are multiple, diverse, dispersed and cannot be understood, let alone managed or controlled, through scientific activity organised on traditional disciplinary lines (Jasanoff et al., 1997; Berkes et al., 2003). Scholars have used terms like eco-social systems and socioecological system to describe the interface between the human and ecological elements in a system (Folke, 2005). However, these terms accurately reflect neither the equal importance of both components nor their integrated nature (Folke. 2005). Andries et al., (2004:3) define a social-ecological system as an ecological system which is intricately linked and affected by one or more social networks.
Socio-ecological systems are complex and adaptive and determined by spatial or functional boundaries surrounding particular ecosystems and their problem context (Biggs et al., 2015). Thus, the new task for natural resource management is to restore, enhance and support the ecosystems' capacity to generate ecosystem services that sustain human well-being in the face of change and uncertainty (Carpenter et al., 2009b). Complex adaptive systems can interact with and learn from other components of the systems as well as the environment, and as a result can respond and adapt to changes in the
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environment (Rammel, 2007). Both the social and ecological dimensions of a system must be considered simultaneously to grasp the interplay of complex adaptive SESs (Folke, 2007; Hughes, 2007; Rammel, 2007). If only a single variable or component of the system is considered, decisions made for the management of that system will be flawed (Carpenter & Gunderson, 2001; Levin, 2006; Hughes, 2007).
Complex systems organise around one of several possible equilibrium states or attractors, to wit land, water, natural resources. These attractors form the basis for the gathering of people in communities;
they gather to utilise such resources for their sustenance. However, use of resources can quickly become abuse when proper management practices are not engaged. Thus, the drive for studying socio-ecological systems, besides to ensure sustainability of use of natural resources, is to make sure that the system is not pushed to the extremes. Due to the uncertainties which SESs are known to contain, predicting or forecasting is difficult leading to inherent difficulties for managers (Walker, 2002; DeYoung, 2008).
Thus, it has been touted that one possible way to overcome these challenges thrown up by the linkages is to approach SES management through the resilience approach.
Figure 6: Social-ecological systems are linked systems of people and nature, emphasising that humans a part of, not apart from, nature (Berkes & Folke, 1998; Soba & Dwyer, 2016)
3.3 Theory of the Resilience approach to Social-Ecological Systems 3.3.1 Theory of Resilience
The concept of Resilience was first developed for understanding the dynamics of ecology by C.S Holling in 1973. The idea was designed as a means to understand nonlinear dynamics of ecology, that is, the processes by which ecosystems maintain themselves in the face of perturbations and change
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(Gunderson, 2000; Berkes et al., 2008). In 1998, Perrings offered a more open definition of resilience as the ability of a system to manage stresses and shocks—its ability to persist in an uncertain world (Olsson et al., 2015). Hughes (2007 Introduction section, para.3, 586) defines resilience as "the ability of linked socio-ecological systems to persist, buffer and adapt to recurrent shocks without fundamentally changing, often unpredictably, into altered systems". Resilience is being promoted not just concerning how people can respond to catastrophic or extreme events- akin to shock or perturbation to the system-; the term has also gained traction in describing proactive adaptation and anticipatory action (Brown, 2016). The theory of Resilience has in recent times been used to describe the theory of change (Brown, K., 2016.).
The Resilience Alliance in 2002 produced three defining characteristics of resilience as (1). The extent to which a system can retain the same controls, function and structure, or still be in the same state, within the same domain of attraction after undergoing a shock or change, (2). The ability of the system to self-organise, and (3) The ability to build and increase the capacity for learning and adaptation. Of the three characteristics, the second and third relate more to social systems than ecosystems. These two underscore the importance of linked social and ecological networks, rather than being seen as separate and distinct systems (Berkes & Folke, 1998). To this end, Resilience can be described as an essential element of how societies adapt to externally imposed change (Berkes & Folke 2008).
3.3.2 Applying the Resilience approach to Social-Ecological Systems (SES)
The concept of resilience is a useful tool in the analysis of adaptive change towards sustainability because it provides a way for examining how to maintain stability in the face of change (Berkes et al., 2008). The Resilience Approach seeks to understand the interactions between nature and society to inform pressing sustainability challenges (Kates et al., 2001; Clark & Dickinson, 2003). The Resilience approach focuses specifically on the capacity of the Social-Ecological System to deal with change in the individual systems. This includes recovery from unexpected shocks and avoidable tipping points, but also the ability to adapt to ongoing change and fundamentally transform SES if needed (Walker et al., 2004; Folke et al., 2010; Biggs et al., 2015). "A resilient socio-ecological system is synonymous with a region that is ecological, economically, and socially sustainable" (Holling & Walker, 2003: 1). Levin et al., claim in general that resilience is a better way of thinking about sustainability in social and natural systems (Levin et al., 1998). This presupposition equates resilience and sustainable development.
Redman (2014) however dismisses this supposition by outlining the contrast between adaptation and transformation, terms which are core concepts of resilience and sustainability respectively (Brown, 2016). Redman (2014) surmises that Sustainability prioritises outcomes, ergo Transformation while
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resilience prioritises process which equates to Adaptation; Sustainability defines future pathways for society in which human well-being is enhanced, social equity is advanced and environmental integrity is protected. Resilience on the other hand according to Redman (2014) is about building capacity, primarily adaptive ability to deal with unknown futures.
Figure 7: redrawn from The Focus on Adaptive Capacity for Sustainability (Berkes et al., 2008)
The goals of resilience management are two-fold: First, "to prevent the system from moving into an undesired system configuration in the face of external stresses and disturbances". Second, "to nurture and preserve the elements which enable the system to renew and reorganise itself following a massive change or shock" (Walker, Resilience Management section, para.1 &2, 2002). The resilience approach views humans as part of the biosphere and assumes that the resulting intertwined socio-ecological systems behave as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), i.e., they can self-organise and adapt based on experience, and are characterised by emergent and nonlinear behaviour and inherent uncertainty (Biggs et al., 2015). Understanding the loss, creation, and maintenance of resilience through the process of co- discovery (by scientists, policymakers, practitioners, stakeholders, and citizens) is imperative for sustainability (Gunderson and Holling, 2002).
The concept of resilience and the use of resilience as a management tool in social-ecological systems (SESs) has gained momentum since its inception in the 1970s. There is an entire journal, Ecology and Society, as well as a multidisciplinary research group, dedicated to the study of the dynamics of SES.
However, Resilience thinking provides a bridging concept between knowledge of the biophysical system and governance principles to move systems of water and society to a more sustainable future (Gunderson
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and Coshens, 2012). Resilience is a degree of the perturbation a social-ecological system can withstand while maintaining its structure and functions (Holling, 1973; Holling & Gunderson, 2002; Walker et al., 2004; Walker & Salt, 2006). “Despite the apparent appeal of resilience as a framework for sustaining human-environment relations and the theoretical advancements in the field, natural resource managers do not explicitly apply this concept very often” (Marshall & Marshall, 2007). This is true from the developing world perspective and Nigeria in particular.
3.3.3 The Adaptive Cycle
The Adaptive cycle is at the core of the Resilience approach (Redman & Kinzig, 2003; Anderies, 2006) and is its most crucial ecological contribution to the Complexity Theory (Walker, 2002). As Holling and Gunderson (2002) put it, "the adaptive cycle can be thought of as a metaphor for interpreting SESs". The concept of the adaptive cycle was first used by C.S. Holling in 1973 to describe ecological systems alone as standalone systems. The concept of adaptability captures the capacity of SES to learn, combine experience and knowledge, adjust its responses to changing external drivers and internal processes, and continue developing within the current stability domain or basin of attraction (Folke et al., 2010; Berkes et al., 2003). Nkhata (2008) posits that two requirements must be met for the adaptive cycle to be applied to non-ecological systems: First, the system must be dynamic, and second, it must be able to move to multiple states. Nkhata (2008) further argues that most dynamic human processes meet these stated conditions and thus it is safe to expand the application of the Adaptive Cycle to other systems.
The adaptive cycle has therefore been widely used to describe the dynamics of social-ecological systems (Walker, 2002; Walker, 2004). Kauffman (1995) claims that complex dynamic systems are at their most creative when at the edge of chaos. Ervin László (2006) argues in The Chaos Point that the world and humanity are currently at a crossroads between breakdown and breakthrough. If we take appropriate actions, the chaos point could be an opportunity to "leap to a new civilisation" (László, 2006:
109; Wahl, 2016). The adaptive cycle can be visualised as a semblance of the infinity symbol or the figure eight (see Figure 8).
