Africa-Press – Cape verde. 43.9% of households in the country faced water shortages and 52.3% of families in rural areas reported insufficient water to meet their needs in the 12 months preceding the 2024 Continuous Multi-Objective Survey, released this week by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
According to the data, households headed by women were the most affected: 46.6% faced water shortages, compared to 41.0% of those headed by men.
By municipality, these percentages were higher in Maio (75.0%), São Lourenço dos Órgãos (65.8%) and Santa Cruz (65.6%). On the other hand, the municipalities of Tarrafal de São Nicolau (10.9%), São Filipe (11.8%) and Ribeira Brava (15.8%) had the lowest proportions of affected families.
According to the INE, most households (81.4%) have a tank, reservoir or drum to store water, while only 10.0% have cisterns to collect rainwater.
The latter form of storage is more common in rural areas (27.4%) than in urban areas (5.0%).
As for paying for water from the public network, 89% of families connected to the network stated that they were charged based on meter readings. However, 5% said they did not pay for consumption.
The average monthly bill nationwide was 1,563 escudos, being higher in urban areas (1,610$00) than in rural areas (1,367$00). The city of Praia leads as the municipality with the highest average monthly cost (2,159$00), while Paulista recorded the lowest value (654$00).
According to the same source, households with male representatives paid, on average, more for their bills (1,682$00) than households headed by women (1,462$00).
Regarding the frequency of water supply from the public network, only 28% of households said they had received water daily in the last month.
Another 27% reported supply 2 to 3 times a week, 21% between 2 to 4 times a month and 9% only once a month or less. Interestingly, daily supply was more common in rural areas (31%) than in urban areas (27%), and was also slightly more frequent in households headed by women (29%) than by men (27%).
When the main source of supply was the tanker truck, the average consumption was 2,440 litres per month, with an average cost of 2,364 escudos. Consumption and cost were higher in rural areas and in households headed by men.
In some municipalities, such as Paul, Mosteiros, São Filipe and Brava, no water consumption was recorded from tanker trucks.
Finally, 72% of households that mainly consume bottled or filtered water from companies said they do so because they consider it healthier. Another 26% justified their choice by not liking the characteristics of the water from the public network.
The average weekly expenditure on this type of water was 671 escudos, being higher in rural areas (732$00) and in households represented by men (732$00), compared to 653 escudos spent by families headed by women.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
