USAID’s new water strategy – when the numbers don’t add up

By Harold Lockwood  (Aguaconsult)

Well, probably it’s a cliché, but the USAID water strategy has had the gestation period of an elephant, but the good news is that now it’s out and its congratulations to the team in the water office of USAID for pulling this together and for bringing a clear focus on water for human consumption and agricultural production – two basic building blocks of life. No doubt it was a challenging and sensitive task to take into account all of the competing interests across USAID’s many areas of strategic intervention. For the first time in years this strategy provides a focus, a hook, on which to understand and engage with USAID around the core issue of water and sanitation.