Poverty penalty: strategies for coping with water access problems among urban poor in Abuja, Accra

The aim of this paper is to examine water access in Abuja, an informal settlement in Accra, by assessing the coping strategies and their determinant factors used by the urban poor in their daily struggles for water. Data collection was done using mixed methods. The study shows that water is served by a few private vendors, and chiefly among the coping strategies adopted by residents are drinking sachet water, minimizing water use, paying extra to get water elsewhere and bathing or fetching water on credit. These strategies are clearly manifested through determinant factors such as tenure status, the length of stay, household size and social network. The paper concludes that the informal settlement is a space and place where coping strategies are both produced and perpetuated. It recommends that city authorities need to engage in more consultative rather than face-off approaches to ensure a liveable city for all.