Rural water supply projects and sustainable development in Nigeria

The study reviews the sustainability issues that are associated with rural community water provision and some of thechallenges experienced in the in Niger Delta region of Nigeria within the context of project benefits sustenance. Severalrural communities in Nigeria derive water supply through hand pump operated water supply wells. The sustainability ofthis approach to water provision was assessed using a qualitative research methodology and undertaking a comparativereview of Micro-Projects Programme (MPP3) in Nigeria with that of Volta Region Community Water SupplyProgramme (VRCWSP), in Ghana. The findings reveal the absence of sustainability in the current approach and thepaper recommends that if community based hand pump operated rural water supply projects are to be sustainable; thesustainability factors must be given full consideration in its design and implementation. A post-project managementapproach is suggested which should be effectively monitored, assessed, linked and integrated into the implementationand post-operational management of hand pumps water supply systems. The use of a community based and communitydriven project-management options in the management of community rural water supply is proposed as this remains acredible alternative over control by external or government agencies