#4: Participatory development in Obudu, Nigeria

Excusing last week’s diversion, I'm back talking all things women and water development. This post will zoom into an NGO; the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and its implementation of gender mainstreaming processes to improve drinking water resources for the Obudu town. 

Over the last decade, there has been a shift from top-down development strategies managed by large scale institutions towards participatory development. Although still debated, larger-scale institutions have ultimately lacked focus on the diverse needs of the community, focusing heavily on financial returns (Chambers,1995). Participatory development offers an alternative solution in which local people work "with" vs "for" NGOs to influence initiatives which will directly affect their own development. However, NGOs may participate in performative activism or tokenistic development strategies, leading to wide contestation of their effectiveness. However, if effective, participatory development can increase the choice of marginalised people, notably women, in decision-making over their own lives (Guijt,1998).

To give a little context, one project by the NCF has targeted improving clean and accessible water sources for agricultural communities and inhabiting the town of Obudu in the Cross-River State in South-East Nigeria. Upstream from Obudu is the Obudu plateau; an ecosystem and forest land which is a key water source for the communities there. 

 

The main cause of water stress in the town is the unsustainable use of the watershed systems on the plateau for farming, construction, settlement, gravel and sand extraction (Rodenkirchen, 2002). An adequate supply of water is limited, heavily polluted and in warmer seasons, drinking water sources dry up. To make matters worse, in 1999, a large hotel was built on the plateau leading to severe deforestation of the forests surrounding the Obudu town. And as you know, limited clean water sources means more time spent collecting water from farther water sources. Unsurprisingly, it is women who bear this burden in Obudu. 

So, what did NCF do? 

One factor which can determine the success of a participatory development scheme is the amount of actual community participation. More participation by the community means they have more accountability to complete the project (Harvey and Reed, 2006). Thus, before commencing any work, NCF was created a multi-stakeholder management committee including individuals from local communities of Obudu in which one out of three representatives were women. Also, on the committee were members of the local Becheve Nature Reserve in which three out of four of these volunteers were women. The presence of these females in management positions implicitly exhibited that it wasn’t a taboo for women to be dominant in decision-making processes. Electing women also meant they had a say in its entirety and were more committed towards the project’s completion. 

 

Initially the NCF, through the guidance from the committee, conducted surveys and interviews (Figure 1) with women’s groups to inform them of existing watercourses surrounding the Obudu Plateau. 

Figure 1: Interviews with the Keji Uku community's women, February 2002

Source: Assessing Forests and Community Water Sources of the Obudu Plateau Report (Rodenkirchen, 2002)

Notably, the NCR prioritised women for these interviews as women held the most knowledge concerning available water sources due to spending the most time collecting water. For each water source, women were asked about the quality, use and availability of the water (Figure 2).

 

Figure 2: Community Water Source Assessment

Source: Assessing Forests and Community Water Sources of the Obudu Plateau Report (Rodenkirchen, 2002)

After collecting these findings, women became directly involved in the construction and maintenance of two new reservoirs; a predominantly main domain, challenging traditional patriarchal stereotypes. These reservoirs collected water in wetter seasons to account for deficits in drier periods of the year. Hence, there was a continuous sterile supply of water throughout the year directly improving clean water for the community (SDG 6). The reservoirs were near to Obodu, reducing time women spent collecting water, thus shifting this time towards their education and income-generating labour. Sterile water also reduced women’s healthcare burden by 45% in 2004 due to a reduction of cases of diarrhoea. Consequently, reducing this time-poverty can indirectly target poverty eradication (SDG 1), promote healthier well-being (SDG 3), a quality education (SDG 4) and decent work opportunities (SDG 8).

NCF’s meetings also concurrently were educating the men of the community on gender-related biases and the toll that water collection takes upon women. Educating the male population in the hope that women were given more authority in the community was one step towards promoting gender equality (SDG 5). 

 

Whilst this NGO successfully empowered women and improved clean water supplies for communities surrounding the Obodu plateau, it is important to be critical. Gender mainstreaming in water management can be ineffective if practices are restricted to simply adding the gender component to a project without tangible outcomes for women (Cooke and Kothari, 2001). Moreover, time saved not collecting water does not always translate to benefits for women. For example, females may turn to work in cash-cropping which falls under male control or chances of ‘leisure time’ may deviate towards intense involvement in market activities to provide income for the household (Bryceson and McCall, 1997). Additionally, some women believe water collection is an opportunity for social interaction with other members of the community. Also, I acknowledge that the NCF's project was implemented almost 20 years ago so implementing new means of technology to aid development in communities now may create new structural and accessibility issues for more traditional communities. These possible ramifications highlight the need for proper implementation of participatory schemes to accurately identify what is most important for women. Thus, I suggest finance for community projects should flow through ministries at a regional/state level to ensure accountability amongst dependable legislators and detailed investigation of the needs of marginalised females. Officials also have wider access to finance, skills and networks as compared to communities alone. 

Consequently, recognising the limitations of participatory development schemes is important to consider whether they are enough to overcome existing gender norms. The success of Obodu is commendable but there are still several barriers to overcome for fair outcomes for women. Still, I believe community participatory development strategies are one step towards gender equality in water and development in Africa. What do you think?