Small towns lag behind cities in drinking water and sanitation access globally. Closing this gap requires developing service models for areas with both urban and rural characteristics. This study assessed Bushenyi-Ishaka, a municipality in Uganda situated at the rural–urban transition, with a focus on service ladder indictors. Data sources included household interviews (n = 500) and water quality samples from sources and storage containers. Households in more urban (as compared to rural) cells were more likely to use improved water sources (including piped water on-premises), make regular payments for water, rely on shared sanitation facilities, and make use of manual sludge emptying services. Most households (72%) used an unlined pit latrine not intended for emptying and reuse. These findings suggest that small town servicing models should prioritize non-sewered sanitation management, including incentives for safe excreta containment and disposal opportunities. This study also highlights a need for integrated services models to expand rural–urban water and sanitation coverage.

This paper aims to contribute to the relatively few empirical studies done on how processes of urbanization affect water supply in smaller towns by providing an in-depth case study of Bushenyi-Ishaka municipality in Uganda. The paper shows how changes in water service provision as a result of the rural to urban transformation of the area differently affect various groups of water users in their access to water. Based on this research, the authors question the process of categorization and labelling in public service delivery, especially rigidly distinguishing between urban and rural water infrastructures and management models, as it often (re)produces binaries and potentially creates structural inequities. Building further on literature focusing on understanding and dealing with complexity, the paper calls for more empirical research to document everyday practices of providing and accessing water in changing environments in the hope to ultimately inform more effective policy interventions that aim for equity in water distributions.

This article illustrates the conceptual limitations within conflict resolution attempts in Transboundary protected areas (TBPAs) in Uganda. Using the case of Namatala wetland in Eastern Uganda, this paper analyses the conflict resolution initiatives by government of Uganda to-date; and highlights the conceptual gaps within these initiatives as a reason for the unending conflicts among those using the wetland. Although institutionalized approaches to conflict resolution are given priority by many countries, they often prescribe a public administrative structure model. This article illustrates how such approaches contradict tacit factors that underlie the different dimensions of conflicts in TBPAs. Adopting a retrospective qualitative approach, a review of secondary sources and 7 key informant interviews were conducted. Previous conflict resolution attempts in Namatala have involved resurveying of the contested land, dividing wetland territories based on administrative units; organizing meetings based on districts and providing security to people in conflict zones. Invoking the relative deprivation theory, the article highlights five issues of historical injustices, cultural claims; boundary definition; effects of climate change and language discourse that have been contradicted by this approach. The article demonstrates that all these limitations need to be appreciated and factored into the resolution initiatives in order to yield meaningful and sustainable results.

This article uses evidence from Namatala wetland in Eastern Uganda to examine the livelihood insecurity associated with wetland conflicts and highlights the implications of group synergies in securing the related insecurities affecting access and use of the violent wetlands and livelihoods. Adopting a qualitative approach, data was generated using eight focus group discussions and 12 key informant interviews in Namatala conflict area, in Eastern Uganda. The findings reveal that the unpredictable brutal conflict actions in Namatala wetland compelled people to construct groups as informal mechanisms of navigating the insecure environments to secure livelihoods. The groups acted as a pool of labour, a means of maintaining employment, buffers against attack, financial safety valves and sources of predictive information gathering and sharing. Invoking the theory of practice, the article demonstrates that people experiencing conflicts make sense of their violent environments and devise informal group synergies as adaptive mechanisms of securing and sustaining their livelihoods.

The Government of Uganda is a party to numerous international and national commitments, laws and regulatory frameworks to deliver the socio-economic transformation of its citizens. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commit states, Uganda inclusive, to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. According to the SDG 6 resolutions, the rights to water and sanitation are legally binding upon states, which have the primary responsibility to ensure their full realization, including unserved and undeserved areas. While the SDGs came into force after 2015, it is not clear the extent to which Uganda's policies, legal instruments and practice are aligned to the SDGs. A combined methodology was adopted to undertake the study under a cross-sectional design. The study reviewed relevant literature such as sector performance reports on water and sanitation. Purposive sampling was used to select relevant informants for primary data. Key informant interviews were held with representatives of relevant government agencies, United Nations agencies, civil society organisations, indigenous communities and the private sector. Findings indicate that while the Government of Uganda has made tremendous efforts regarding the right to water and sanitation, enormous challenges and gaps remain. For instance, the pro-poor strategies to access safe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities are largely insignificant.