Challenges for Water Governance in Rural Water Supply: Lessons Learned from Tanzania

Abstract

This paper focuses on the identification and analysis of key issues that impact the governance of rural water services in sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania was selected as a representative case study. The analysis was based on a combination of relevant literature review, extensive fieldwork and action research case studies, which were carried out between 2005 and 2009. A number of weaknesses that continue undermining strategies for poverty eradication were identified at different administrative levels (from local to national): low quality of water services; lack of sustainability of constructed infrastructure; difficulties for targeting the poor; and inadequate internal information systems. Some initiatives to overcome these challenges were piloted and implemented at the district level. Policy recommendations presented entail new paradigms for the provision of rural water supply: adoption of water supply as a service that is monitored and supported by the government; needs-based allocation of projects at community level; and improving guidance for local government decision making are proposed.

Tensions in Rural Water Governance: The Elusive Functioning of Rural Water Points in Tanzania

“…It is equally important to ensure that each institutional level of members enjoys a degree of autonomy and flexibility to manage rural water points, while at the same time conforming to policy and institutional directives at higher levels. This observation agrees with [4,5], who discuss challenges for water governance in the rural water supply and implementing pro-poor policies in a decentralized context.…”

“…The country's rural water woes persist, despite substantial policy reforms and significant donor funding [2][3][4][5]. For instance, the National Water Policy (NAWAPO) of 2002 [11] decentralised rural water supply and transferred the ownership of water points to new village institutions, the so-called Community Owned Water Supply Organisations (COWSOs).…”

“…Population increases by 1.2 million people annually, one of the fastest growth rates in the world [2]. However, public water services are still failing rural Tanzanians, despite decades of efforts to improve them [3][4][5][6][7]. The 2015 Millennium Development Goal assessment for access to water is "limited or no progress" [8].…”

Improved monitoring framework for local planning in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector: From data to decision-making

“…The design of a cheap, simple and effective monitoring system is desirable, at least, initially, which in turn brings about the need for a detailed estimate of the costs associated with data update. By and large, despite successful initiatives of simple systems for data update based exclusively on local means, as one case study reported in Tanzania (Jiménez and Pérez Foguet, 2010b), the limited resources and capacities of local stakeholders is a major weakness. In data collection, communities can contribute to the achievement of sustainable updating mechanisms, though this should not draw attention away from the responsibilities of local governments (WaterAid, 2011).…”

Using Causal Loop Diagramming to Explore the Drivers of the Sustained Functionality of Rural Water Services in Timor-Leste

“…While CBM schemes often appear sensible in many rural water management contexts, there are inherent technical, social and economic constraints that introduce additional complexity and often inhibit sustained water service provision. In this case, "technical" constraints generally relate to the community's ability to properly operate and repair the water system [17,18]; "economic" constraints refer to the capacity of the community to afford O & M costs [19,20]; and lastly, "social" constraints generally refer to such aspects as the perceived demand for services, community organization and community member satisfaction with the intervention [3,[21][22][23]. As a result of these frequently confounding constraints, many critics state communities inherently lack the necessary capacity to maintain their water systems without the help of the external support of governments or NGOs.…”