Resumo (PT):
Muitas comunidades rurais nas Ilhas Fiji têm dificuldade no acesso a água doce. Os desafios da
acessibilidade a água doce não só estão presentes nas pequenas ilhas remotas da República das
Ilhas Fiji, como também estão na principal ilha - Viti Levu, onde se localiza a aldeia de Korovisilou.
O objetivo principal deste trabalho é estudar a natureza e as características da acessibilidade a
água doce entre a população rural tendo como caso de estudo a aldeia de Korovisilou. Os
resultados foram obtidos através de um inquérito por questionário e permitem-nos não só compreender os problemas encontrados, como também propor medidas de mitigação para
ultrapassar tais problemas.
Abstract (EN):
Rural villages in developing countries had in one way or another experience water problem. The
Pacific Island nations especially Fiji is no exception to this. The many rivers and natural water
source present in does not guarantee that all household and communities get access to clean and
safe drinking water. Resource owners, tenants and people on the land become victims to
freshwater accessibility problem that can become a vicious cycle if attention is not given to it.
Issues associated with political, demographic, cultural, economic and environmental factors
determine accessibility to freshwater resources.
The supply sided solution alone is not enough to unravel water woes of the country rural
communities especially with the limited capital resources. Success stories from other countries
needs to be considered and modern ideas must consider the cultural and traditional lifestyle of
the people in order to bring clean and safe drinking water to household and communities.
The objective of this paper is to present the nature and characteristics of freshwater accessibility
among the rural village population in Fiji with Korovisilou Village as a case study area. The results
were obtained through a questionnaire based survey to try and obtain the aforementioned
objectives and also to explore the strength and weakness of freshwater accessibility for the study
area. These results could then shed more light on the issue of freshwater accessibility in rural
areas, and in potential mitigation approaches that relevant governmental and non-governmental
organisations could use to solve freshwater accessibility barriers.
Language:
English
Type (Professor's evaluation):
Scientific