Guest Blog from Mr Gift Jason Wanangwa, a Groundwater Development Officer with the Malawi Government’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.
Guest Blog by GIFT JASON WANANGWA
Introduction
Malawi is one of the least developed countries in Africa. It has a population of more than 17 million people, 84% of whom live in rural areas and rely solely on groundwater for their daily water needs for social and economic development.
Studies of the drilling practices in Malawi by UNICEF (GoM/UNICEF 2011; GoM 2012) and borehole forensics activities done by students of the University of Strathclyde under the Climate Justice Fund-Water Futures Programme (CJF-WFP Work Records 2017-2018) as well as MSc Hydrogeology masters research students activities into drilling practices in Malawi (Polmanteer, 2014) have all revealed some shortcomings which explained problems in rural water supply through boreholes like poor siting, low yield of boreholes, weak drilling procedures and poor water quality or mechanical failures of pumps and boreholes. This was attributed much to poor drilling supervision.
Rural population in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to continue growing for decades to come. In spite of urbanization, rural populations are not going to disappear. Both as individuals and as organizations, we need to spend more efforts in reaching out to the people in rural areas, and we need to come up with more diversified strategies to facilitate the delivery of services to these people.
par Gian Melloni, Maria Livia De Rubeis et Kristina Nilsson du Consortium WASH RDC
En 2013, l’idée que les communautés rurales payent pour les services en eau était relativement nouvelle en RDC : dans le secteur WASH il y avait le sentiment que le contexte était trop fragile pour que la gestion communautaire des services WASH ruraux soit efficace. Mais, avec des taux d’accès à l’eau très limités, une population en rapide croissance et des infrastructures hydriques très peu fonctionnelles, quelque chose devait bien changer.
Lorsque le Consortium WASH RDC a été inauguré la même année, il n’y avait pas beaucoup d’expériences passées dans le pays qui pourraient témoigner de la capacité et volonté des communautés rurales à payer pour l’eau. L’ambition du Consortium WASH RDC était donc élevée : cinq ONG internationales lançant un programme de six ans en appui aux communautés locales pour la gestion financièrement viable des services WASH dans la RDC rurale. Financé par UK-Aid, le Consortium WASH RDC réunit les compétences de son agence lead Concern Worldwide et d’ACF, ACTED, CRS et Solidarités International pour assister plus de 600 communautés rurales et 640000 personnes dans sept provinces du pays.
Cinq ans plus tard, avec une multitude de données désormais à notre disposition, nous avons voulu répondre à certaines questions clés : dans quelle mesure les communautés rurales appuyées par le Consortium réussissent-elles à gérer les services hydriques d’une manière financièrement autonome? Et qu’est-ce qui fait le succès d’une communauté?
Le Consortium WASH RDC a développé une méthodologie inspirée des « Life-Cycle Costs » de l’IRC, que nous avons appelé «l’Approche Economique». Nous aidons les communautés à développer des compétences managériales, financières et techniques pour que leurs infrastructures WASH restent fonctionnelles longtemps après la construction, en identifiant trois niveaux progressifs de succès (ou « Equilibres ») dans la couverture des coûts liés aux points d’eau au fil du temps :
Figure 1. Les trois Equilibres utilisés par le Consortium WASH RDC
Notre objectif est que les communautés réunissent suffisamment de fonds pour couvrir au minimum les coûts de l’Equilibre 1, avec les communautés les plus engagées atteignant l’Equilibre 2 ou 3. Tels fonds sont collectés et gérés par des comités élus par les communautés et formés par le Consortium WASH RDC. Pour créer les conditions pour la réussite et éviter toute logique de « don gratuit », nous clarifions aux communautés dès le début que nous les appuyons avec l’installation du point d’eau seulement si elles démontrent leurs engagement et capacité à prendre en charge les coûts de gestion du point d’eau.
Les trois Equilibres d’Approche Economique ne correspondent pas exactement aux catégories des « Life-Cycle Costs », et certaines modifications ont été apportées en fonction du contexte de la RDC rurale. Le tableau ci-dessous montre une approximative conversion de ces principes en les Equilibres du Consortium WASH RDC :
Figure 2. L’adaptation des « Life-Cycle Costs »par le Consortium WASH RDC
Et cette Approche Economique, fonctionne-t-elle? Au bout de cinq ans, nos données montrent qu’elle peut fonctionner même dans des contextes difficiles : jusqu’à présent, environ deux tiers des petites communautés rurales appuyées par le Consortium WASH RDC ont réussi à atteindre un certain degré d’autonomie financière et de pérennité. C’est-à-dire, elles ont atteint au moins l’Equilibre 1. Compte tenu des défis auxquels ces communautés (généralement d’autour de 1000 personnes) sont confrontées dans cet environnement, il s’agit d’un résultat provisoire encourageant.
Nous avons identifié des modèles opérationnels qui aident les comités WASH à atteindre ces Equilibres. Les comités qui ont choisi des sources de revenus diversifiées, en associant les contributions des ménages et les activités génératrices de revenus, réussissent nettement mieux que les comités qui ne comptent que sur les contributions des ménages. Les communautés souvent apprécient ce modèle et voient l’investissement dans des activités génératrices de revenus comme un moyen de protection contre le risque de détournement de fonds. Dans l’ensemble, les activités génératrices de revenus semblent bien s’intégrer dans la gestion communautaire des services WASH dans la RDC rurale.
Dans un contexte si fragile, une grande majorité des communautés décident d’identifier des personnes ou des groupes particulièrement vulnérables et de leur offrir l’exemption du paiement des frais communautaires d’eau. Les communautés qui adoptent cette pratique ne parviennent pas moins à atteindre l’autonomie financière que les communautés qui n’offrent pas d’exemptions. Il s’agit d’une constatation importante en particulier dans une prospective de développement sensible aux besoins des plus pauvres, soulignant que l’accès équitable à l’eau n’est pas en contradiction avec la pratique de payer pour l’eau ou avec le but de la pérennité des services.
Egalement, les communautés qui choisissent de rémunérer certains membres du comité d’eau semblent renforcer leur réussite dans l’atteinte des Equilibres d’autonomie financière les plus élevés. Par exemple, certaines communautés paient un petit montant à la personne qui enregistre les usagers ou qui s’occupe de la collecte des frais d’eau. Alors que jusqu’à présent seulement une minorité de communautés a adopté un tel système de rémunération, leur succès dans l’atteinte des Equilibres 2 et 3 suggère qu’une forme de gestion semi-professionnalisée peut devenir plus efficace que le pur bénévolat.
Tout cela montre que les acteurs de développement, même dans des contextes difficiles, peuvent et doivent concevoir des interventions WASH visant des services à long terme qui puissent aller au-delà des résultats immédiats. Egalement, les décideurs peuvent bien adopter le principe de non-gratuité du service hydrique, tout en conciliant la viabilité financière avec des politiques d’inclusion et en faveur des plus pauvres. A travers le Consortium WASH RDC, nous avons appris la leçon que les communautés rurales en RDC sont prêtes à s’engager pour surmonter leurs difficultés et à développer des capacités en gestion durable des services d’eau. Cela ne se produit pas facilement ou par hasard, mais grâce à une programmation soigneusement conçue et mise en œuvre qui valorise les communautés locales.
Photo : Un comité de gestion d’eau à Manono, Tanganyika, RDC, montre les cahiers comptables qu’il utilise pour suivre les coûts et les revenus du point d’eau communautaire.Source: Consortium WASH RDC, 2016.
Le Consortium WASH RDC est un programme de Concern Worldwide avec la participation d’ACF , ACTED , CRS et Solidarités International, financé par UK-Aid. Veuillez trouver plus d’infos en français et en anglais sur consortiumwashrdc.net. Gian Melloni est le directeur du Consortium WASH RDC et vous pouvez le contacter à gian.melloni@concern.net. Maria Livia De Rubeis est la responsable de communication, plaidoyer et apprentissage. Kristina Nilsson est la responsable du suivi et évaluation. Les opinions exprimées par les auteurs pourraient ne pas refléter les opinions de Concern Worldwide ou des autres organisations citées.
by Gian Melloni, Maria Livia De Rubeis, and Kristina Nilsson of the DRC WASH Consortium
In 2013, the idea of rural communities paying for water services was relatively new in DRC: there was a belief in the WASH sector that this context was too fragile for community management of WASH services to be possible.Yet with extremely low access rates, a fast-growing population, and especially poor functionality of water infrastructure, something needed to change.
When the DRC WASH Consortium started that same year, there was no past experience in the country which could confirm rural communities’ willingness or ability to pay for water. The DRC WASH Consortium’s ambitions were high: five INGOs launching a six year programme to support local communities in managing and financially sustaining WASH services in rural DRC. Funded by UK-aid, the DRC WASH Consortium gathered the know-how of lead agency Concern Worldwide with ACF, ACTED, CRS, and Solidarités International to work with more than 600 rural communities and 640,000 people across seven provinces.
Five years later, with a wealth of project data at our disposal, we wanted to answer some key questions: To what extent do Consortium-assisted rural communities succeed in managing their water services in a financially self-sufficient way? And what makes a community successful?
The DRC WASH Consortium developed a methodology inspired by IRC’s Life-Cycle Costs, which we call the “Economic Approach”. We support communities in developing managerial, financial and technical skills to keep their WASH infrastructure functioning long after construction, identifying three progressive levels of success in covering the costs associated with water points over time:
Figure 1. The three Levels used by the DRC WASH Consortium
The objective is that communities raise sufficient funds to cover Level 1 costs as a minimum, with the most committed communities reaching Levels 2 and 3. These funds are collected and managed by elected committees, trained by the DRC WASH Consortium. To lay the foundations for this success and to avoid expectations of handouts, we’ve said from the start: we will support communities by installing water points only if they prove their commitment and ability to take care of water point management costs afterwards.
Our three Economic Approach Levels do not exactly match with the Life-Cycle Costs categories, and some modifications have been made according to the context in rural DRC. Here you can see an approximate conversion table showing how the DRC WASH Consortium adapted these principles:
Figure 2. Adaptation of the Life-cycle costs by the DRC WASH Consortium.
And does this Economic Approach work? After five years, our program data shows it can, even in this difficult context: so far, about two thirds of the small rural communities assisted by the DRC WASH Consortium have succeeded in achieving a degree of financial self-sufficiency and sustainability –that is to say, have reached at least Level 1. Given the challenges these communities (typically of only around 1,000 people) in this fragile environment face, this is an encouraging provisional result.
We’ve identified some operational models which support WASH committees in reaching these Levels. Committees that have chosen diversified revenue streams, combining household collections with revenue-generating activities, are markedly more successful than committees relying only on collections. This approach is often welcomed by communities who see investments in revenue-generating activities as a means to protect finances against misappropriations. Overall, revenue-generating activities seem to fit well with community management of WASH services in rural DRC.
In such a fragile context, most communities choose to identify people or groups who may be particularly vulnerable and offer them exemptions from paying community water fees. Communities who do so are no less successful in reaching the Levels of financial self-sufficiency than communities who do not offer exemptions. This is an important finding particularly in light of pro-poor and needs-based principles of development, underlining that aiming for equitable access isn’t at odds with the practice of paying for water or the goal of sustainable services.
Communities opting to remunerate some water management committee members also seem to improve their success in reaching higher Levels of financial self-sufficiency. For example, some communities pay a minimal amount to someone who keeps records of water users or who collects payments. While so far a minority of communities have opted for these remuneration systems, their success in reaching especially Levels 2 and 3 suggests some form of semi-professionalised management can be more effective than pure volunteerism.
Overall, this shows that development actors even in difficult contexts can and should design WASH interventions to focus on longer-term services, looking beyond just immediate achievements. It shows policy-makers can embrace water service payments by users even while balancing financial viability of services with pro-poor and inclusive policies. We have learned through the DRC WASH Consortium that rural communities in DRC are willing to invest to overcome challenges and can develop the capacities to manage water services in a sustainable manner. This doesn’t come easily or by chance, but through carefully designed and implemented programming which empowers local communities.
Feature photo: A WASH management committee in Manono, Tanganyika province, DRC, looks at the financial records they keep to monitor costs and revenues for managing their community water point. Source: DRC WASH Consortium, 2016
The DRC WASH Consortium is a programme of Concern Worldwide in consortium with ACF, ACTED, CRS, and Solidarités International, and funded by UK-aid. More information – in both French and English – can be found at consortiumwashrdc.net. Gian Melloni is the Director of the DRC WASH Consortium and can be reached at gian.melloni (at) concern.net. Maria Livia De Rubeis is the Communication, Advocacy and Learning Manager. Kristina Nilsson is the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager. The views expressed by the authors may not reflect the views of Concern Worldwide or of any of the organisations mentioned.
As part of its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program in Madagascar, UNICEF is committed to supporting the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (MWSH) to build the capacity of the drilling sector. With this in mind, UNICEF organized a training on “Drilling Techniques and Supervision” in collaboration with the MWSH. The training targeted various stakeholders in the water sector, including government departments, drilling companies and consultancy firms who manage water supply projects, supervise or drill boreholes.
The training was held in Antananarivo (Madagascar) and organized in three different sessions of three days each, from February 7th to 23th, 2018. Fifty-four participants, including fifteen women attended the training course. The training was facilitated by Charles Serele, an experienced WASH Specialist from UNICEF Madagascar.
To enhance individual knowledge and ensure sharing of experiences among participants, the overall approach used to deliver the course involved a mixture of lectures, interactive discussions, group exercises and presentation of drilling videos. Extensive reading materials from RWSN and UNICEF were shared along with exercises to be carried out by the participants.
The course participants actively engaged in the discussions and group activities. The training provided an opportunity to learn from each other and to reflect on what can be improved.
Course Modules
1. Professionalization of the drilling sector
2. Methods of borehole siting
3. Construction of boreholes
4. Supervision of boreholes
5. Management of drilling data
The course review showed that participants’ technical knowledge in borehole drilling and supervision greatly improved. Participants also expressed their satisfaction with the course content and the relevance of the topics that were covered.
Forty-five participants (83%), including fourteen women passed the evaluation test conducted on the last day of the training. During the official closing ceremony each successful participant received a poster on cost-effective boreholes, in addition to a certificate.
As a next step, a field-based training should be organized to better illustrate best practices in drilling professional and sustainable boreholes.
Additional resources
If you would like to learn more about the training, you can download the training report in Englishor French. UNICEF Madagascar has also published specific technical notes on:
A RWSN webinar on professional drilling in Southern Africa took place in June 2018. Champions for borehole drilling professionalism in Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe (including Dr. Serele) shared their experiences of strengthening professional capacity to manage projects, understand the groundwater resource and introduce groundwater regulations. You can watch the recordings here:
The training course was facilitated by Charles Serele, UNICEF Madagascar and organized under the supervision of the Chief of WASH, Silvia Gaya and with the support of the UNICEF WASH team. For additional information, contact UNICEF Madagascar on antananarivo@unicef.org.
In an area dependent on thin and fragile rainfall, disaster has arrived: drought, massive loss of livestock, just a straw away from famine.
“We have 30 berkads (water reservoirs) in this immediate area, but all but a couple are now entirely empty”. Resident of Hagira (Xageera), on the way to Waridaad.
“There is no water in this area, no wells or shallow water. Even if our animals could eat this vegetation there is nowhere to water them ”. Abdulahi, pastoralist met in vicinity of Owdale.
Read the complete blog of James Firebrace who visited the Eastern Somaliland on the request of Somaliland’s Presidency and National Drought Committee to document the hidden crisis in Eastern Somaliland.
Please join us for this Future Climate for Africa webinar by climate change expert Neil Hart.
Friday 17 March 2017, 11:00-12:00 (London, GMT); 13:00-14:00 (Johannesburg)
Climate modelling is a key tool in tackling the effects of climate change. Future Climate for Africa is a research programme that aims to generate fundamentally new climate science, and to ensure that this new science has an impact on human development across Africa. The UMFULA research team is using climate models to try and improve information about the future climate of central and southern Africa. Their aim is to provide decision-makers with the best possible scientific knowledge on how rainfall, temperatures and associated conditions like drought are likely to change in the region in the next 5-40 years. The researchers also seek to help decision-makers understand which aspects of the future climate are simply uncertain – and to explore the implications for investments in development planning and infrastructure that could endure for decades ahead.
This webinar by Neil Hart of the University of Oxford will explore in brief some of the research questions that the FCFA teams are pursuing in central and Southern Africa. This webinar is not for climate specialists but for anyone who is interested in how they could be using climate change information to make more climate-resilient development decisions.
Dr Hart will explain in brief and in layperson’s terms how climate models project as clear a view of the future climate as possible, but are often misunderstood or used incorrectly. He will debunk some common misunderstandings about climate models. The seminar will use illustrations from what we already understand about central and southern Africa and discuss the implications for making climate-informed decisions.
Dr Hart will cover the basics in 15 minute or less then open the discussion for participant questions and answers.
Read Dr Hart and his colleagues’ contribution to the report Africa’s climate.
Pumping up water from the sands of Egypt Is solar-powered pumping of groundwater for irrigation a panacea for water and food insecure areas? It certainly can be marketed that way: in India, the use of solar energy for this purpose is helping ease the load on overburdened electricity grids and reduce its carbon footprint. Other…
Next week is Africa Water Week (http://africawaterweek.com/6/) , the event that happens every two years that brings Africa governments together to discuss and share experiences on all aspects of water management and WASH, and provides an interface with the latest innovation and research.
If you are attending then please do join RWSN and UPGro partners, UNICEF, IRC, Skat, USAID/WALIS, MWE, Africa GW Network in the following sessions:
Guest Blog by GIFT JASON WANANGWA
Rural Water Supply Network - blog 