The effect of wealth on the choice of household drinking water sources in West Africa

Many developing countries are experiencing high population growth rates (an average of 2.7%). The increase in their respective populations leads to an increase in the need for drinking water. However, governments fail to provide the population with sufficient hydraulic infrastructure in terms of quality and quantity, with regard to the various priorities. In such situations, households take individual initiatives. However, the weakness of the available means may be a significant obstacle. This article seeks to identify the factors that determine the choice of household water sources in West African countries by putting an emphasis on the role of wealth. The study covers four countries, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana and Nigeria, and uses data from 28,444 observations from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and statistics agencies of the four countries being studied. When applied to the adjusted logit model, the data reveal that the higher the household wealth, the greater the chance of using piped water. There are also other factors, such as household size, the number of women and children, and the level of education that also determine the choice of water sources. These results suggest that governments need to increase their efforts to reduce inequalities between rural and urban areas in terms of improved access to drinking water and introduce a subsidy or fee policy to enable poor households to have adequate access to drinking water.