ZARIA: Sanitation Status

Sanitation provision in Zaria (a city in Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria) is grossly deficient, as in most cities in sub-Saharan Africa: most people do not have access to a hygienic toilet; large amounts of faecal waste are discharged to the environment without adequate treatment; this is likely to have major impacts on infectious disease burden and quality of life (Hutton et al. 2007). This article briefly summarizes the current sanitation situation in Zaria.

This page is part of the fully editable open-access reference source on the sanitation status of all major cities in sub-Saharan Africa. The resource considers the 40 urban agglomerations in sub-Saharan Africa with a current population of 1 million or more. To read some of the other 40 country profiles, go back tothe resource Homepage.

N.B These pages should be considered as incomplete provisional drafts, and contributions are actively requested from specialists with expert local knowledge of each specific city.

Table of Contents

Background information
Water resources and supply: overview
Sanitation access
Sewerage system
Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
Sanitation in low-income districts
Responsibility
Sanitation masterplan?
Sanitation financing
Major investments and donor interventions
Sources and further reading
References
Other City Profiles

Background information

Zaira is an urban agglomeration with a population of about 1.0 million people (Brinkhoff 2010). It is a flat inland city located on the Galma River. Climate is tropical wet and dry (Köppen classification Aw). We do not know whether significant flooding occurs. There is little large-scale industrial activity. There is significant agricultural activity within the urban area (Nsangu 2008). It is likely that a large proportion of the population lives in low-income settlements, but we have no information on this.

Water resources and supply: overview

Zaria is reported to have good water resources from both surface sources and groundwater (Musu 2009). Supply is however very poor: some districts have piped water, but for only about 2-3 hours per week (Government Reserve Area, Gyallesu, Tudun Waea, Sabon Gari and Wusasa), while other districts have no piped water whatsoever (the Old City districts of Anguwan Fatika, Anguwan Juma, Kaura and Kusfa, as well as Anguwan Dankali, Jama’a, Samaru and Tudun Jukun). Thus most people use boreholes or wells, or buy water from handcart vendors. For further information, see Musu (2009).

Sanitation access

We have no information on sanitation access in Zaria. If similar to Kano, sanitation solutions in low-income settlements are likely to include poor-quality pit latrines, and possibly bucket latrines. USAID (2009) notes that “Lack of accurate date makes it impossible to determine whether Nigeria is making progress to meet its MDG targets in the WSS sector”.

Sewerage system

Zaria has no sewerage system: given the practically dysfunctional piped water supply, sewerage would be scarcely feasible.

Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)

No information: as far as we are aware, Zaria has no formal systems for septage management.

Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)

As far as we are aware, Zaria has no major wastewater treatment facilities.

Sanitation in low-income districts

No information available. We are not aware of any detailed mapping of high-sanitation-need districts, or of any specific policy for sanitation improvement in informal settlements.

Responsibility

Federal and state responsibilities are summarized in USAID (2009). We have no detailed information on responsibilities within Zaria. Responsibility for piped water supply is held by Kaduna State Water Board. The State Government website states that the Kaduna State Environment Protection Authority (KEPA) is responsible for monitoring and enforcement of environmental policies and laws, though we do not know whether this translates to any practical involvement in sanitation. A “Kaduna State Waste & Sanitation Project” is reported to exist (on Ali Akilu Road in Kaduna City), but we have no further information about this.

Sanitation masterplan?

As far as we know, there is no current sanitation masterplan, or broader masterplan covering sanitation.

Sanitation financing

No specific information.

Major investments and donor interventions

We are not aware of any major donor interventions in Zaria.

Sources and further reading

None known.

References

Brinkhoff T (2010) City Population. http://www.citypopulation.de

Hutton G, Haller L & Bartram J (2007) Economic and health effects of increasing coverage of low cost household drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to countries off-track to meet MDG target 10. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. http://www.irc.nl/page/38443

Musa IJ, Shehu A & Lukman S (2009) The distribution methods and supply problems of tap water in urban Zaria area, Kaduna State. EJEAF 8(4): 294-300. http://ejeafche.uvigo.es/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=478

Nsangu AC (2008) Urban agriculture and physical planning: a case study of Zaria, Nigeria. IN: Redwood M (2008) Agriculture in urban planning: Generating Livelihoods and Food Security. http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-135182-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

UNEP/GRID-Arendal (2002) Water availability in Africa. UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/water_availability_in_africa.

USAID (2009) Nigeria: Water and Sanitation Profile. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADO937.pdf