Lessons on small towns water and sanitation reforms in Jigawa state, Nigeria

The paper attempts to discuss the Jigawa state’s attempt at implementing its WASH (Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene) policy on small towns which had led to not only improvement in access to water and sanitation but had empowered communities to take strategic decisions on options and tariff which ordinarily would have been impossible due to political pressure. The challenges of implementation include dealing with a large number of small towns (about 400 WCAs (Water Consumers Associations)) and strengthening the WCAs to move from the nurturing state to self reliance. Donor agencies have played proactive roles in supporting the small town reforms. One lesson is that for access in water and sanitation to be improved, policies need to focus more on small towns but these communities will need to be nurtured to address cost recovery and supported through structures at state level like STOWA (Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Agency) in Jigawa state and at Local Government levels like the proposed Local Government WASH departments.. The next step of whether the WCAs can delegate responsibility of water supply operation to local private operators, remains to be seen.