3         Background for Research

This section explores the background for the research project.  It makes a general literature survey.  However in order to ensure relevance of the research to current practice a section on The DFID Guidance manual for water supply and sanitation Programmes (WS&S) is presented.  This is a special case in the literature taken to ensure the research results are of maximum use within DFID and its partners.

 

3.1      General literature survey

 

This review of literature on rural water supplies concentrates on issues of sustainability of water supplies and water supplies installed during emergency conditions.  The principal topics currently under debate in the literature relate to the management of water supplies.  Issues of participation influence project planning, management structures and maintenance provision.  The involvement of women is an aspect of participation that has received great emphasis, but is subject to assessment and scrutiny.  Training is flagged as necessary in order to enable communities to participate effectively.

 

It is now widely recognised that technology can be a critical factor in the sustainability of water projects, and it appears to be widely accepted that beneficiaries should be expected to pay for water services. 

 

This section presents some of the arguments in recent literature on what appear to be the most important topic areas. 

 

3.1.1      Operation and maintenance (VLOM)

The review starts with VLOM for Rural Water Supply: Lessons from Experience (Colin 1999).  This gives a useful overview of the factors involved in village level communal water supplies.  The term VLOM, originally meaning Village Level Operation and Maintenance, was developed in the 1980s as a technological concept relating specifically to handpumps for rural water supply.  A typical approach would include the following components  (Noppen, 1996; White, 1996).

• Project staff formed user committees in each village prior to surveying and construction, and subsequently trained them.
• The committees organised community labour and contributions to capital costs. After construction they would co-ordinate operation and maintenance including fund-raising.
• Local leaders and committee members might sign a contract with the project agency specifying the responsibilities of each; there might also be a handover ceremony.
• Project staff trained designated users in repair and maintenance and provided basic tools, possibly including an initial supply of spares.

• The project organised the supply of spares either via a government department or, ideally, through local shops.

 

It was clear to Colin (1999) that handpumps, including some VLOM designs, despite their many advantages, were not living up to earlier expectations. What appeared to be lacking was the ability of both governments and user communities to maintain them; this was especially true in Africa. Affordability of both capital and repair costs was also cited as a problem.  Even where communities did attempt to take care of their pumps, this largely involved carrying out repairs after a breakdown; preventive maintenance was hardly ever undertaken (Skinner,1996).

 

 

Colin 1999 notes that both the provision and maintenance of many new generation handpumps has proved expensive, especially where spare parts have to be imported. The most important factor affecting maintenance costs is the number of pumps covered by the maintenance system (Skinner, 1996).  He suggested that in sparsely populated areas where the density of handpumps is low, the unit costs for setting up a maintenance scheme are high. Thus, many villagers in such areas cannot afford to contribute significantly to the upkeep of their pump. This also raises the question of who will replace the pumps at the end of their working life. These problems are exacerbated by a lack of standardisation in some cases, and a more general failure to develop the practice of preventive maintenance which saves costs in the long run.

 

Spare parts distribution has also been noted as a problem, especially in areas of low population (and hence pump) density. Unless there is a critical mass of pumps in a district, the market for spares is so small that no commercial operator is likely to have an incentive to import and stock them. This again leads to dependency on government or, more commonly, on donors.

 

3.1.2      VLOM assumptions

Colin 1999 goes on to say that there are three assumptions in the VLOM concept that may not be true.   

 

• The user community will be able and willing to maintain communal handpumps
• Government will be able to provide an enabling environment to support VLOM
• Communal handpumps will be able to meet most rural water supply needs

 

Colin 1999 notes:-

“Handpumps are often ‘handed over’ to communities in the belief that true ownership is also transferred. This has proved to be a gross under-estimate of what it takes to instill a communal sense of responsibility; in reality, communities rarely accept the ownership of communal facilities. The test of ownership comes when the community are expected to pay for maintenance or repairs; often they do not, especially when they have previously been led to believe that government would be responsible for such services.

“A community’s confidence in its ability to maintain pumps also needs careful nurturing. Frequent breakdowns, especially those requiring major works, do not help and may give the community no confidence in the pump itself.

“VLOM systems sometimes fail due to the lack of basic technical skills in sparsely populated rural areas; again this is a major problem in Africa.

“Mobilisation and training for operation and maintenance usually receive low priority in project design. Many projects ignore or grossly underestimate the time needed for development of VLOM; project durations and targets are based around the time taken for hardware implementation, with relatively little time devoted to training caretakers during handpump installation.

“Where VLOM has been adopted it is usually the result of a heavy donor input of expertise and resources.

 

“Supporting VLOM may also be no cheaper to government than a centralised maintenance system. Recent experience indicates that any savings from ending the repair service will be offset (initially at least) by the cost of training and mobilisation activities, which on the basis of NGO experience may take several years.

“Too often, the external support agency hands over the support of VLOM to government (formally or implicitly) just as it hands over pumps to communities, without any preparation for the task.

Unfortunately, most government departments do not at present have the vision, the resources or the management and extension skills to promote and support VLOM effectively.

“The adoption of VLOM usually marks a clear departure from existing custom and practice in both community and government and therefore has implications for the management and orientation of government services as a whole. It is difficult to introduce VLOM or community management while the broad policy environment is still based on traditional notions of government provision.

 

Colin 1999 concludes that “While the handpump has its merits, there is now considerable doubt that VLOM in its true sense is possible. In the African context there is little evidence that communities are able or willing, on their own, to support handpump programmes in the long-term. If handpumps are to be used, therefore, reliance on VLOM alone should be avoided. It may be more appropriate to develop the concept of shared responsibility for maintenance under a two or three-tier system with local caretakers responsible for simple tasks and more skilled district-based teams, supported by government institutions, dealing with the more complex problems. (emphasis ours)

 

 

 

Given the above overview on Operation and Maintenance let us now consider more details of Community Participation, Water Committees and management, the role of women, training, and links to local government, private suppliers and community.

 

3.1.3       Community Participation

3.1.3.1  Participation enshrined even in emergencies

Smout and Parry-Jones (1999) articulate the commonly held view that it is important to involve community members in the planning and implementation of projects as a means of engendering the sense of ownership needed to provide motivation to effectively operate and maintain systems.  They refer to projects where failure to achieve this involvement has led to unsustainable programmes. 

 

Even in a sudden emergency context Chalinder (1994) urges that, despite lack of time to gather information, these principles of participation and ownership used in development programmes apply equally strongly, and every effort should be made to involve the beneficiary community.   However, Chalinder also acknowledges the difficulty of this in practice.  “Experience has shown that in emergencies decisions are often taken on the basis of very little information.  This can sometimes be justified on the grounds of the need to take measures to save lives.  However, it can also mean that decisions which will have a major impact on the population being assisted are taken at a centralised level.

 

The widely recognised direct benefits of community participation in water projects relate to information (e.g. local knowledge of water supplies and understanding of socio-cultural structures), communication (e.g. local contacts and skills for mobilisation and capacity building), and ownership (FAO 1995),.

 

Community participation has been seen by donor agencies as a means of enhancing effectiveness of programmes.  Other benefits associated with community participation include;

• It is a vehicle for decentralisation, capacity building and empowerment
• Improved sustainability of projects through beneficiary commitment
• Spinoffs in other projects due to improved capacity
• It provides an effective learning mechanism for better project design.

 

Manikutty (1998) that there were five aspects of community participation that should be considered when evaluating participation:

 

• Integration of community participation in planning
• Role of intermediary agencies
• Mechanisms for interfacing with community
• Design of project organization for facilitating participation
• Learning mechanisms.

 

However Smout and Parry-Jones (1999) also describe the complexity of meaningful community involvement.  One of their examples is an integrated programme in Nepal, aimed at improving health through water initiatives, education and horticulture.  In this case the emphasis on an imposed agenda from the external agency inhibited community ownership.  At the same time the dominance of a powerful leader in one village rendered a democratic committee structure unworkable, but his sympathetic attitude meant that the programme worked well, showing the need for flexibility in approach. 

 

Here we begin to see that although community participation is a desirable state for longer term development, particularly the softer elements such as education and hygiene initiatives, participation may not directly correlate with “effectiveness” when effectiveness is discussed purely in terms of pump performance.

 

It is important to be clear about what community participation means in a given project, and how it is to be integrated into the project.

3.1.3.2  Local Knowledge & learning mechanisms

 

Brett (1996) draws a distinction between two forms of participation:

• Using co-operative organisations to deliver services
• Enabling local people to influence the structure and management of interventions.

 

Arguments in favour of co-operative organisations are based on potential increases in efficiency that can be achieved by giving people a stake in organisations.  The effectiveness of co-operatives is restricted by ignorance and by self interest – especially where money is concerned.  In this case, management structures can only work if they have leadership to make informed decisions, and there is a comprehensive system of rules and sanctions to prevent opportunism.  Given this statement, Brett goes on to say that people should only be allowed to participate in decision making where they have appropriate information and skill.  A broad control base is only appropriate where there is low complexity of activities involved, with no need for expertise. 

 

Co-operatives tend to succeed where there is a high degree of solidarity amongst people.  This can be brought about by an external threat, as will often be the case in an emergency situation, e.g. violence or drought.  On the other hand, participatory systems will not be appropriate where conflicts of interest are so severe that they cannot be resolved through agreement.  This might be the case where indigenous peoples are in conflict (e.g. Rwanda), or where displaced people settle amongst existing communities.  Where conflicts are strong, participative structures maximise opportunities for self seeking behaviour. 

 

As with any grouping, contributions of members will be different, depending on commitment and ability.  Attention needs to be paid to maintaining the motivation of active members e.g. payment, status (see Appiah (1999) below).  Once the motivation of a capable member has been eroded, it commonly gives way to corruption and abuse of position.

 

3.1.4      Water Committees and Management

 

The main mechanism most agencies use for ensuring that a sustainable water supply is operated and maintained by a community, is the Water Committee.  This may be an existing group or structure that has its attention turn to the water supply or its mandate extended to include the water supply.  It may also be a completely new grouping of representatives from the community possibly through a democratic process. 

 

Manikutty (1998) notes that where water committees were weak, they proved ineffective in what could have been a useful role of coordinating related project elements within the overall programme.  Factors contributing to this weakness were the fact that they were set up some time after the water points were installed, and they were given an ill defined role.  In his case study in India both construction and maintenance was the responsibility of the government water board.

 

He goes on to say that empowerment and enthusiasm of members of committees was achieved where villagers were involved at all stages:

• objectives and details of the project were explained during planning
• committees were formed and were active in locating water points, and later in carrying out minor maintenance work;
• the community was involved in training.

 

In one project with a high degree of community participation, the facilities were handed over to the local committees, but the issue of how participation would be sustained thereafter was not addressed, and indeed it did not continue. 

 

Appiah (1999) looked at water committees in Ghana.  He found that the mechanisms for appointing water committees is often irrelevant, as chiefs and powerful leaders manipulate procedures behind the scenes.  He also points out that if effective community organisations already exist (e.g. a village improvement committee), then there is no need to create another committee; indeed this can be counterproductive by giving rise to friction.

 

The motivation of water committees presents ongoing problems.  Appiah suggests several approaches including issuing members with T-shirts, gum boots, etc., awarding certificates for good service, ongoing education, visits from external agents.  All of these require a low level but ongoing input from external agents and assume that a water agency has not actually exited from the area.  This reinforces the benefits associated with establishing links with local government organisations which may be able to provide this level of support once an NGO intervention ends.

 

Payment of staff is important in a number of ways.  Firstly, it is critical to ensure that members are motivated.  They are unlikely to take on the responsibility and work load of management (particularly over along period of time) without tangible benefit; this becomes especially true when committees see that water supplies can generate revenue (e.g. for maintenance).  Secondly, women’s non-economic status is improved if they earn income (Regmi and Fawcett (1999)), so payment for their services to committees can contribute to wider development objectives of empowerment of women.

 

Appiah suggests that payments either cash or in kind should arise from the community to those undertaking the responsibility and work load of management.  This is currently being explored by programmes all around the world and “best practice” had yet to be defined.

 

Regarding emergencies and rehabilitation, where the social structures that make up a society have been destroyed e.g. due to war, rehabilitation programmes often concentrate on building up leadership institutions e.g. water management committees.  Blench (1998) argues that in these circumstances, these types of institutions are unlikely to be sustainable.  In this instance, greater emphasis should be placed on the role of individuals.

 

3.1.5      The role of women

 

Smout and Parry-Jones (1999) assert that it is now widely accepted by NGOs that gender issues must be integrated into project development.  Some NGOs have positive experiences of involving women, particularly in community mobilization and hygiene education.  However, they point out that inclusion of women in committees does not guarantee that they will be involved in decision making.  It is not easy to ensure genuine involvement of women in management structures as this may run counter to traditional roles, and contrary to economic structures.  There are many examples of projects where women have been manipulated by men in order to satisfy the requirements of NGOs.  For example, when a female Grameen Bank centre was set up in a Bangladeshi village, a group of male relatives of bank members took out a loan for a tube well in women’s names and chose a female manager.  Once the loan was repaid and the bank had withdrawn, the men installed an exclusively male management committee (Van Koppen and Mahmud (1995)).

 

Manikutty (1998) supports this view with examples from his case studies in India.  He found that in some villages, women were reluctant to take part in meetings in the presence of men.  If this is the case, then women appointed to committees were not making any meaningful contribution to the management process, and he suggests an alternative mechanism should be devised for eliciting the opinions and needs of women into the management structure.

 

Van Koppen and Mahmud looked at a number if irrigation schemes in Bangladesh, which included different management arrangements.  One variable was the male / female composition of irrigation groups responsible for managing and operating schemes.  They found that even where all group members were female, the initiatives taken tended to be based on the interests of men.  This was not surprising, as crop irrigation was traditionally men’s work. 

 

However, they also found that women’s non-economic status improved as a result of their involvement in irrigation enterprises.  Their contribution was most appreciated where they had provided a better service than the previous pump management. 

 

This brings into the equation the wider development goals.  It is possible that the inclusion of women in water committees can play an important role in the empowerment of women in rural societies.  This can often be more important to overall development objectives than contributions they may make to the work of water committees.  This effect tends to be observed in Islamic societies e.g. Pakistan (Aziz and Halvorson (1999)).

 

Regmi and Fawcett (1999) also consider the role of women in the wider context of development and argue that sustainable impact can only be achieved if women are active partners in the development process and strategic gender needs are linked to practical issues.  They suggest that as women are the primary collectors of water, they will have a better understanding of water resources than men e.g. seasonal availability, quality.  They can, therefore, make valuable contributions to project planning processes in terms of technical information, and bring an understanding of social issues associated with water collection and use e.g. washing practices.

 

Finally it is worth noting Smout and Parry-Jones comments on the mechanisms by which women are appointed to positions within management structures.  They say that these mechanisms are also important in determining how effective women are in those positions.  Where women are appointed by individuals or small groups of powerful people, most of whom will be men (e.g. chiefs, NGOs, village elders), they will be reluctant to disagree with any opinion expressed by these people, to whom they will feel a sense of obligation.  In more extreme situations, male committee members may simply refuse to include token female members imposed by NGOs.  By contrast, they will tend to adopt a more active role in defending women’s interests if they feel accountable to other women in the community e.g. if elected through a community wide process.

 

3.1.6      Training

 

Brett (1996) notes that management of boreholes through community participation in water committees will only be effective where members are given adequate training in technical as well as organisational issues.  The key to the above concerns of participation, management and gender lie in appropriate training.

 

In suggesting that the institutional capacity of a community should be capable of sustaining a pump, Arlosoroff et al (1987) recognise the importance of management structures, and the contribution that training can make towards building up the capacity of the community in both technical and management skills.

 

In addressing a complete lack of managerial and technical skills in irrigation committees in Bangladesh, an NGO provided both technical training and assistance with organisation (van Koppen and Mahmud (1995)).  They stress that the assistance with organisation was critical in achieving effective operational management.

 

Regmi and Fawcett (1999) point out the dangers associated with dividing training between men and women.  Whilst women tend to be offered training in “soft” skills such as health, hygiene and administration, men receive training in practical skills such as masonry and mechanical maintenance.  This can exaggerate differences in status, as technical training provides the trainee with portable income generating skills that tend to be in demand. 

 

They go on to say that lower literacy rates of women and lack of general participation experience in projects tend to reinforce male prejudice against women’s involvement in management structures.  Training should, therefore, be designed to address these issues if women are to be equipped as effective players.  Women’s involvement is also hindered by their work load, leaving little time to attend to additional duties.  Training initiatives aimed at encouraging men to share work loads at home can play an effective part in addressing this (Regmi and Fawcett (1999)).

 

Communities are normally expected to finance and manage the operation and maintenance of a pump, which requires capacity building in both money management and organisation. 

 

Ongoing training provides a number of benefits as it can help to motivate community organisations, to refresh skills, and to counter migration of skilled personnel.

 

3.1.7      Links to local government, private suppliers and community

 

Regarding participation, the agency should interface with the community.  The level of participation achieved is likely to be higher if a greater variety of mechanisms for interfacing with the community are in place, they should include direct communication with the community, and they should involve two way communication.  These can include existing local representative bodies which, if they are effective, will enhance community participation and sustainability.

 

Government departments generally have a technical focus and are not equipped to deal with socio-economic aspects of development programmes.  Research indicates that specialist agencies with these skills can be effective in promoting community participation, and provide a valuable service in co-ordinating agencies.  Although NGOs may be capable of taking this role, arrangements have to be made to ensure sustainability for when NGO activities are complete and they withdraw.

 

Manikutty (1998) makes a similar point.  “One of the problems associated with water departments is that they tend to be made up of engineers, with little appreciation of the socio-economic aspects of project management and community development.  One way of addressing this is to undertake training of government personnel in these disciplines, but this is not a trivial task and should not be underestimated.  Good communication between community and government bodies can achieve effective delineation of responsibilities, leaving village committees responsible for community mobilisation, but this must be corresponding sharing of power and decision making.”

 

Regarding ongoing technical support, there needs to be a balanced view.  Lammerink et al (1999) advocate community management systems in order to improve rural water supply systems.  But they point out that there is always the danger that advocating increased community accountability and responsibility will be seen as a way for governments to cut spending and to wash their hands of community contact.  They suggest that there is a need for continued support from government - without this, the approach will simply not be sustained.

 

Smout and Parry Jones take an alternative view, that where a comprehensive local government structure exists, it may seem attractive to make use of these, and indeed it may be required of an NGO to involve the appropriate government departments e.g. water department, geology department, public health etc.  However, these should never be allowed to substitute village level user groups.

 

Both sets of authors would probably agree that a sustainable system requires both community mobilisation for VLOM, and support from the local government.  The levels of responsibility for each will depend on how the spares are being supplied, policy within a government (hands on or supervisory) and the level of complexity of the water supply system.

 

Partnerships and co-operation.  Smout and Parry Jones point out the need for NGOs to forge partnerships with local government agencies and the private sector in order to achieve the continuity needed to ensure sustainability of programmes after the NGO withdraws.  Although some find working within political and administrative frameworks frustrating and time consuming, most agree that such partnerships are central to sustainability. 

 

Manikutty noted in India that learning from communities, and from experience, is important in improving performance, but government departments tend to be bureaucratic and inflexible, so they are not adept at responding to new ideas.  Systems tend to be designed to ensure adherence to the rules rather than maximising benefits to the target group.  However, health benefits associated with improved water supplies will only be realised if programmes are complimentary to health, sanitation and hygiene programmes.  Sustainability can, therefore, be enhance by linking water programmes to government departments that are active in these areas.

 

In their guidelines for water sources in emergency situations, House and Reed (1997) give a list of reasons why an implementing NGO should liase with local government organizations, in which they recognize that they are likely to be responsible for looking after facilities after the NGO leaves.  Other than this, there is no mention of pre-positioning of intervention for sustainable hand over when the NGO/agent leaves.

 

3.1.8      Technology Choices

 

So far we have discussed the social mobilisation required to develop a sustainable water supply.  It is widely recognised that the choice of technology can be an important factor in the ultimate sustainability of community water supply projects (Arlosoroff et al (1987), Lammerink et al (1999)).  For example, familiar technology can contribute to success (treadle pumps in Cambodia) and unfamiliar technology to failure (hydraulic ram in Mozambique).  Arlosoroff et al (1987) propose a guideline on choice of technology for community water supply planners:

"The technology chosen should give the community the highest service level that it is willing to pay for, will benefit from, and has the institutional capacity to sustain".

 

There were a series of problems with both the function and durability of the Afridev design; Wood

(1994) identified the following from experience in Ethiopia:

· PVC riser pipes, which were sometimes glued together, needed to be removed so that

sections where the rod connector had worn holes could be replaced. The caretaker alone

could not do this. Also, risers in wide-diameter wells flexed during pumping and eventually

cracked because the pipes were not secured.

· Pump rod jointing. The clip-on device, where used, came off after a few months. A special

fishing tool was then needed to extricate fallen rods - the ordinary tool was not suitable.

· Plunger seal and O-ring absorbed water, expanded and were difficult to remove.

 

Colin 1999 notes that “Thus many pumps proved far harder to repair at village level than had been envisaged; many people were forced back into using traditional, unprotected sources. A very common problem was with the rising main, meaning that even the Afridev could not be fully repaired by a village caretaker. Despite design improvements, this problem remains today.”

 

3.1.9      Emergency Rehabilitation Environments

 

The focus of large scale relief programmes is on preserving life, but Whiteside (1996) illustrates how almost any intervention affects local infrastructure which in turn affects the conditions for longer term development.  A common example is the procuring and distribution of emergency food aid; both importing and purchase of local produce by aid agencies distorts market prices, hiring of local transport facilities upsets market infrastructure, and issues of dependency and uncertainty of supply influence farmers’ planning.  He argues that injecting cash into local economies may be one of the best ways of helping rehabilitate communities.  With regard to emergency water provision, there is scope for cash (or food) for work schemes in the use of local labour, and in payment of mechanics, committee members etc.  Payment of management staff also promotes motivation and status, which contributes to long term sustainability.  However, a cash based approach can only be appropriate where basic market infrastructure exists.

 

When planning interventions, even in emergency conditions, it is necessary to adopt a participatory approach to understanding priorities within communities; similarly, Chalinder (1994) stresses the need to take a broad view of principal needs.  Whiteside (1996) urges caution at scaling down operations too quickly, stressing the need for ongoing support for the poorest in moving towards longer term development activities.  Rural people will take account of aid resources when planning, so it is important for agencies to keep communities informed of their intentions, and to plan gradual withdrawals in order to give people sufficient notice to plan accordingly.

 

Chalinder (1994) emphasises that water and sanitation programmes contribute only in part to the overall environmental health of a population.  Although this publication acknowledges the link between emergency interventions to meet immediate needs and longer term development activities, it concentrates on effective service provision rather than future sustainability.

 

 

 

3.2      DFID Guidance Manual

 

The Guidance Manual on Water Supply and Sanitation Supplies (DFID 1999) has been strongly promoted in the last year or so “to help DFID staff involved in each stage of the (project) cycle (regarding water and sanitation)”.  “The manual is also intended to help DFID’s project partners…..”

In order to make our research useful to practitioners this section specifically relates the context and findings of the case studies to statements made in the guidance manual.  It is hoped that this will facilitate relating the research to the project cycle.

 

One of the central questions to the research project was the role of the exit strategy, particularly with regard to emergency water supplies, to the final sustainability of the supply.  The guidance manual discusses water programmes for poverty alleviation.  In particular it encourages entry strategies that are participatory and “demand driven” approaches.  We note that the manual states clearly:- “This manual does not cover water supply and sanitation in emergency contexts.”  Nevertheless the heart of the research was to answer the question “what factors should be included in an exit strategy to ensure maximum possible sustainability”.  Secondary questions include “can a good exit strategy make up for a non-participatory entry strategy?”

 

3.2.1      Participation

Let us first consider what the manual states about participation.

 

In Chapter 2.2 the manual discusses Social development perspectives.  It notes that participatory approaches to Water Supply & Sanitation (WS&S) planning and implementation are very different from supply-driven technology-based approaches of the past.  They are said to be :-

(Page 41)

• Their inclusive nature ensures that voices of the poor and under privileged are heard
• They empower people to take responsibility for their own services
• They respect the traditions and culture of different societies and use them to develop appropriate solutions
• They recognise that women have a beneficial influence on key decisions, and that gender considerations matter
• They mobilise public and private partnerships to make optimum use of all stakeholders
• They make user demand, demonstrated by Willingness To Pay (WTP), a primary criterion for selecting levels of service

 

Here we see a set of criteria very much at the heart of the research.  When assessing the impact of the strategies used in these water programmes, the research has included participation and ownership variables. 

 

However the manual states that:- “Implementation is often driven by the engineering components of a project; the social dimensions such as developing local ownership or capacity to manage water supply and sanitation can get left behind.  This can happen either because social development takes longer and is seen to hold the process up, or because new actors who are unfamiliar with the process approach and social development issues become involved at the implementation stage.”  This is all the more so for emergency supplies and rapid rehabilitation programmes.

 

3.2.2      Cost recovery – a sign of sustainability?

 

“A causal relationship between cost recovery on the one hand and project ownership and sustainability on the other is by no means automatic.  Influential study Feachem et al 1978, demonstrated that level of cash contribution collected from villagers was so modest and the administrative costs so high, that cost sharing had a negligible effect on project sustainability.  Also, rather than instilling in villagers a sense of ownership and responsibility, contributing cash, labour and local material towards construction convinced them that they had already paid their fair share and that the government should take on the longer term responsibility of operation and maintenance.

This example serves to underscore the importance of on-going consultative processes and the development of a mutually agreed and shared agenda from the outset.  It does not imply that water supply and sanitation services should be free to users.  Some contribution from users is certainly desirable.” (emphasis ours)

 

One area that the research project should explore is the relationship between cost recovery and ownership.  Is there a correlation between expressions of ownership and willingness to contribute.

 

The guidelines note that Willingness To Pay (WTP) varies in rural communities.  Poor households without good alternative supplies are often willing to pay much more for improved water supplies, in both absolute terms and relative terms, than richer families pay for their existing supplies.  Time and monetary costs of obtaining water from alternative sources is a key influence on WTP for improved supplies.  Family characteristics, such as level of education and family size - thought to be related to the opportunity cost of time - will also influence the perceived attractiveness of improved supplies and affect WTP for different standards of service.  Where people believe government should provide free water, WTP is very low.

 

3.2.3      Private suppliers

“Private entrepreneurship currently plays a significant role in service delivery to people in poverty and building capacity in the private sector can improve both affordability (and accessibility) and livelihood opportunities, particularly when it includes local level and informal sector enterprises.”

 

The role of private entrepreneurs in the sustainability of the whole system is important.  No matter how motivated the communities are – the pumps will have lengthy downtime if spares are not readily available.  The difficulty of the private supply of spares seems to be the combination of low turnover and small profit margins.  Even in the guidance manual there is a boxed example from Malawi.  It discusses the Danida supported Karonga integrated groundwater supply project on the northern shores of Lake Malawi.  They supplied shopkeepers with spares such as o-rings and u-seals who received a 10% commission.  Having had to supply the initial stock the system only continues with the goodwill of the shopkeepers.  “The village shopowners felt that stocking the spare parts is mainly a community service because of the small profit margins, but all expressed willingness to continue to stock the fast moving spares.”  This situation remains true for the situations within the research project.  Shop keepers explained that the profit margins were very small and that the turnover was minimal. From the point of view of the community this is desirable – it is good that the pumps do not break down often and that the o-rings are not wearing out too fast.  However from the viewpoint of provision of ongoing supplies, it creates some difficulties. 

 

There is also the question of who is the right “private” supplier of spares.  Most of the agencies in the project have been working with shopkeepers (retailers) who have established businesses and add the spares to their selection of grocery or hardware stock.  However one research partner felt that the local government water department was the best mechanism for resale of spares.  This idea was not tested as the donor prevented spares being issued to local government.

 

3.2.4      Sustaining community based operation and maintenance

The following guidelines are given in the manual as a highlighted box:-

 

Implication for practice

• Participatory methods of working are centrally important, and not simply participatory contributions of labour and money in response to agency instruction, but continual processes of shared decision making between the agency and primary stakeholders at all stages of the project cycle, with the aim of developing community members sense of responsibility for and control over the local operation, maintenance and management of the system.
• Increase as far as possible the room for manoeuvre that community members have in relation to aspects of the service design – choice and location of service, and operation, maintenance and management of the system.
• Where community management is required, capacity building should be a project output, especially the development of skill in management, planning, analysis, decision-making, and problem solving.  The time scales for construction work and capacity building are different.  Capacity building requires separate resources of time, resources and personnel.
• Provision for the transfer of technology and responsibility should be built in from the beginning of the project, with clear recognition that this is a process not an event.
• Recognition that tackling the problem of non-payment of recurrent costs is not simply a matter of adjusting payment levels, but addressing all aspects of effective community management, including institutional and technical
• As far as possible, make change pay, that is by creating paid jobs in service operation and management wherever possible and reducing or eliminating reliance on volunteer labour.
• Keep technology very simple to maintain and repair, where possible, with a reliable supply of spare parts and technical assistance available locally.

 

Derbyshire and Vickers, 1997 quoted DFID Guidelines.

 

3.2.5      Agency links

The last point above calls for there to be some form of technical support available locally.  The Guidelines paint a picture of the critical success factors in water institution performance.  They include nine critical success factors or performance categories:-

• Organisational autonomy
• Leadership
• Effective management and administration
• Commercial orientation
• Customer orientation
• Technical capability
• Human resources development
• Organisational culture
• Interactions with key external institutions

 

These factors apply to both the external agency that is in process of exiting, the local government, private systems of technical support and to a certain extent any local co-operatives specialising in the technical support of the water systems.  We can note that many local government departments fail to meet these standards – not just on the commercial and customer orientations, but also in terms of items such as organisational autonomy.  Municipal water departments, for example, which are not able to hire staff or raise tariffs to meet their projected costs, have insufficient autonomy to manage effectively.

 

The research project should take into account the capacity and role of local government and private suppliers.  

 

3.2.6      Technology

The DFID Guidelines explicitly give the Afridev as an example of a VLOM pump.  “The Afridev handpump is the result of a design and development process which started in 1972 and has been evolving ever since.  The original pump was designed to the following criteria.  It:-

• Used appropriate technology
• Used lightweight, non corrosive components
• Could be maintained by women
• Could be manufactured locally to an exact specification
• Needed only one of two simple tools for installation and maintenance
• Was relatively cheap
• Was designed with preventative maintenance in mind

 

Over the years some design features have been modified and improved to aid VLOM.  The Afridev has been specified for standardisation in many countries including Mozambique and Malawi.”  Wood 1993 Skinner 1996 quoted DFID Guidelines

 

3.2.7      Measuring sustainability?

The Guidelines discuss indicators of progress in water and sanitation programmes.  While all of these factors do not apply to the research project they nevertheless provide a good basis for designing the research parameters.

 

Sustainability

Reliability of systems :- Quality of water source, Number of facilities in working order, and Maintenance. 

Human capacity development :- Management abilities, Knowledge and skills, and confidence/self-concepts

Local institutional capacity:- Autonomy, supportive leadership and systems for learning and problem solving

Cost-sharing and unit costs:- community contribution, agency contribution and unit costs

Collaboration among organisations:- planning and activities.

 

Effective use

Optimal use:- number and characteristics of users, Quantity of water used (all purposes), time taken to use facilities, management of water resources

Hygienic use:- Water quality at home, water transport and storage practices, home practices to improve water quality, site and home cleanliness, personal hygienic practices

Consistent use:- pattern of daily use, pattern of seasonal use

 

Replicability

Community ability to expand services:- additional water/latrine facilities built, upgraded facilities, new development activities initiated

Transferability of agency strategies:- Proportion and role of specialised personnel, established institutional framework, budget size and sheltering, documented administrative/implementation procedures, special/unique conditions

 

Some of the above does not concern exit strategies per se.  Knowledge and practice of hygiene behaviour should be part of an integrated water project and requires very long term inputs; it is covered only briefly by the research.  Agency factors such as transferability of strategies are not considered part of the research.