WATER SANITATION INFORMATION UTILIZATION LEVEL AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN OYO STATE

Inadequate water sanitation information utilization has resulted in increased occurrence of water borne diseases among rural households in recent times in Nigeria. Stakeholders in water and sanitation sectors introduced a set of recommended practices via information dissemination to people with the aim of reducing the incidence of diseases. The study therefore examined the level of water sanitation information utilization among rural households in Oyo state. A sequential multistage sampling technique was used in selecting two hundred and thirty (230) respondents for the study. Structured interview schedule was used to collect relevant data. Data were subjected to a mixed method data analysis: both descriptive (mean, frequency count, percentages, weighted mean score and standard deviation) and inferential statistical analysis (Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC)). The inferential statistical tools were used to test the hypotheses of the study. The findings of the study revealed a mean age of 41.2 years and the mean household size was 6, while average farm size was 2.3 acres. Rain water collection (89.1%) and protected dug well (87.8%) were the common sources of water supply in the study area. Sound health (99.6%) was the most widely mentioned benefit of the water sanitation practices. The use of covered containers (WMS =3.6) ranked first as the most utilized water sanitation information and Financial constraint (WMS = 2.2) ranked first as the major constraint to the utilization of water sanitation information. The PPMC results conducted at 5% level of significance showed that age, household size, educational status and annual income had significant relationships with level of information utilization. The Chi-square test conducted at 5% level of significance revealed significant relationships between sources of water supply (personal tap, public tap, borehole, protected dug well, rain water collection) and level of information utilization. The study concluded that the various water sanitation information were moderately utilized and recommended the provision of more water and sanitation facilities by the government, developmental institutions and Non- governmental Organisations to the rural households