Community and small town self-selection process under sector reform programme in Nigeria

The European Union assisted Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme (WSSSRP) is being implemented in six focal States of Nigeria. Selection of small towns and communities for intervention is one of major components of the reform programme. The programme ensures that the selection process of small towns and rural communities is free of political interference, transparent, participatory and demand responsive by establishing clear criteria, processes and mechanisms. Cash contribution of 5% to the capital cost is a prerequisite for partnering communities and small towns. Over 850 rural communities and small towns have been selected so far and efforts are underway to replicate and scale up the same in Nigeria. It is believed that the process will result in greater sustainability through increased community ownership and contribution

Remote biomass burning dominates southern West African air pollution during the monsoon

Vast quantities of agricultural land in southern and central Africa are burnt between June and September each year, which releases large concentrations of aerosols into the atmosphere. The resulting smoke plumes are carried west over the Atlantic Ocean at altitudes between 2 and 4 km. As only limited observational data in West Africa have existed until now, whether this pollution has an impact at lower altitudes has remained unclear. The Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Cloud Interactions in West Africa (DACCIWA) aircraft campaign took place in southern West Africa during June and July 2016, with the aim of observing gas and aerosol properties in the region in order to assess anthropogenic and other influences on the atmosphere. Results presented here show that a significant mass of aged accumulation mode aerosol was present in the southern West African boundary layer, over both the ocean and the continent. A median dry aerosol concentration of 6.2 µg m−3 (standard temperature and pressure (STP)) was observed over the Atlantic Ocean upwind of the major cities, with an interquartile range from 5.3 to 8.0 µg m−3. This concentration increased to a median of 11.1 µg m−3 (8.6 to 15.7 µg m−3) in the immediate outflow from cities. In the continental air mass away from the cities, the median aerosol loading was 7.5 µg m−3, with an interquartile range of 4.2 µg m−3. The accumulation mode aerosol population over land displayed similar chemical properties to the upstream population, which implies that upstream aerosol is a significant source of aerosol pollution over the continent. The upstream aerosol is found to have most likely originated from central and southern African biomass burning. This demonstrates that biomass burning plumes are being advected northwards, after being entrained into the monsoon layer over the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean. It is shown observationally for the first time that they contribute up to 80 % to the regional aerosol loading in the boundary layer of southern West Africa during the monsoon season. As a result, the large and growing emissions from the coastal cities are overlaid on an already substantial aerosol background. On a regional scale this renders cloud properties and precipitation less sensitive to future increases in anthropogenic emissions. Such high background loadings will lead to greater pollution exposure for the large and growing population in southern West Africa. These results emphasise the importance of including aerosol from across country borders in the development of air pollution policies and interventions in regions such as West Africa