Assessing Funding and Accessibility to Water as an Agricultural Resource by the Rural Farmers in Uganda: A Case of Isingiro District, Uganda

Abstract

Water is an important resource both for domestic and agricultural use but water funding from the central government is low leaving 24% of the population without access to clean water. The current study sought to find out the effect of funding on access to water resources from the perspective of users. Using a cross sectional data from Isingiro district in Uganda, the study found that the peoples' perception is that water provision and maintenance is the responsibility of government. The local population attributes lack of access to clean water for both domestic and agricultural use to inadequate funding from the central government. The local population is not willing to maintain even the few water points that have been set up by government and other non-governmental organizations. In terms of gender, women are more dissatisfied with water funding than men. The study recommends that the local population can be empowered to harvest water and be sensitized for proper maintenance and usage of the available water.