The Role of Groundwater in Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Water is one of the essential needs of humans and no meaningful development can be sustained without an adequate supply of potable water. This vital resource is vulnerable to contamination emanating from either geogenic or anthropogenic activities which is a function of the poverty level in the society. According to the World Health Organization, about 80% of all communicable diseases affecting human beings are either water borne or water related. The factors controlling the quantity and quality of groundwater in an area include the chemical composition of rain water, soil types, mineralogy of host rocks through which the groundwater moves as wells as the dominant human activities in the area. The chemical composition of groundwater provides useful information about the level poverty or level of development witnessed in the environment through which water migrated. The socio-economic development and the degree of human health largely depend on the water in the area. Access to safe and potable drinking water by the year 2015 was one of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goal that is yet to be attained especially in developing countries like Nigeria. The contribution of groundwater to sustainable development and fight against poverty has been justified in the current study since water is the pivot on which sustainable development revolves.