Water 'fuels' small Women run enterprises in Sokoto community
As clean water flows from the solar-motorized borehole in Kindiru village, small businesses operated by women in the community are adding to their income as they gradually push for expansion.
SOKOTO, 16 March 2024 - At 20, Fadminatu Shehu, knows the secret of the new boom in her small business.
"I used to trek for about two hours just to get water from a faraway community. It affected my business. Now, it takes me less than three minutes to get safer, cleaner water."
Fadminatu is one of the small but growing number of women in Kindiru village, who are leveraging the ease of water supply from a newly installed solar-motorized borehole in the community. The young woman, who dropped out of school at the primary level, took over the business of selling Kunu, a local drink, from her mother a few years ago. The business almost caved, due to their inability to source water easily.
During the hot season (January–May), when the few hand dug wells in the community dry up, the villagers, left with no option, would trek to Dange, about three kilometers away, to buy water from private boreholes. Men who could afford to get water from Dange using motorcycles and survived the brutal summer, but the majority of poor households made this journey on their donkeys and cattle.
The installation of the solar motorized borehole in Kindiru, which is located in Dange Shuni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, flipped this situation on its head. A life-changing water project in Kindiru was executed by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as part of Improved Sustainability of Integrated WASH Services (IWASH) intervention.
"The borehole has made water accessible to everyone. It is cleaner and better than the one we used to fetch from the well after trekking for about two hours. Because of the water, my daily profit has tripled. I used to make N300 daily, but now with water available to produce more, the profit has jumped to about N1,000"
The potable and safe water from water kiosk (Shagon ruwa) attached to the borehole, is sold for N10 for 20 liters, as against N30 in private-owned boreholes in far-away Dangi.
This (USAID) collaboration with the (UNICEF) intervention, which cut across the 3 North West states of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, has continued to positively impact vulnerable households and empower women running small businesses.
Like Fadmitu, 50-year-old Aisha Musa, has also witnessed a surge in her mamsa (rice cake) outlet. Aisha who has been baking for almost 30 years, has recently seen her daily sales shoot up from N2000 to between N3000 and N5,000.
Aisha knows, the secret to this small but meaningful success lies in Water.
"Before the establishment of the bore hole in this community, I was not making enough masa to meet demands because getting water was difficult, but now with clean water at my doorstep, I am almost doubling production”
Apart from doubling production, Aisha says she is also planning to employ a few young women into the business so that they can have access to income as well as learn the trade.
"I want to bring some women into the business, they can learn the business and also make good money from it to support their families, just like I now do. With the issue of water now taken care of, it won't be a difficult task for anyone. I learned this trade years ago, and I also want to pass it on to the younger generation," she said.
This targeted USAID-UNICEF partnered intervention has given life and hope to this 1000-member water starved community, which was always in the news for being a hotspot in Sokoto State for waterborne diseases like cholera and diarrhea. Today Sokoto and its women are making headlines for all the right reasons.
