How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana

This paper reports the main findings of a multi-country research project designed to develop a better understanding of the performance of community-managed rural water supply systems in developing countries. Data were collected from households, village water committees, focus groups of village resid...

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Main Authors: Whittington, D., Davis, J., Prokopy, L., Komives, K., Thorsten, R., Lukacs, H., Bakalian, A., Wakeman, W.
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5388
id okr-10986-5388
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-53882021-04-23T14:02:22Z How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana Whittington, D. Davis, J. Prokopy, L. Komives, K. Thorsten, R. Lukacs, H. Bakalian, A. Wakeman, W. This paper reports the main findings of a multi-country research project designed to develop a better understanding of the performance of community-managed rural water supply systems in developing countries. Data were collected from households, village water committees, focus groups of village residents, system operators and key informants in 400 rural communities in Peru, Bolivia and Ghana. Our findings suggest that the demand-driven, community management model, coupled with access to spare parts and some technical expertise, has come a long way toward unraveling the puzzle of how best to design and implement rural water supply programs in developing countries. In all three countries, rural water supply projects were working. Among the households included in our sample in Peru and Bolivia, 95% had operational taps at the time of our field visit. In 90% of the villages in Ghana, all project handpumps were still working. Not only had the rural water systems not broken down, but almost all the households in these communities were obtaining at least some of their water from the systems. However, some households were also still using water from other sources. In Ghana, 38% of households still reported using water from unprotected sources (e.g. springs, river, open wells) for drinking and/or cooking. Another troublesome finding is that rural households in the sample villages are paying very little for the improved water services and, as a result, the finances of many village water committees are in poor shape. 2012-03-30T07:32:35Z 2012-03-30T07:32:35Z 2009 Journal Article Water Policy 1366-7017 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5388 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Bolivia Peru Ghana
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language EN
geographic_facet Bolivia
Peru
Ghana
relation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description This paper reports the main findings of a multi-country research project designed to develop a better understanding of the performance of community-managed rural water supply systems in developing countries. Data were collected from households, village water committees, focus groups of village residents, system operators and key informants in 400 rural communities in Peru, Bolivia and Ghana. Our findings suggest that the demand-driven, community management model, coupled with access to spare parts and some technical expertise, has come a long way toward unraveling the puzzle of how best to design and implement rural water supply programs in developing countries. In all three countries, rural water supply projects were working. Among the households included in our sample in Peru and Bolivia, 95% had operational taps at the time of our field visit. In 90% of the villages in Ghana, all project handpumps were still working. Not only had the rural water systems not broken down, but almost all the households in these communities were obtaining at least some of their water from the systems. However, some households were also still using water from other sources. In Ghana, 38% of households still reported using water from unprotected sources (e.g. springs, river, open wells) for drinking and/or cooking. Another troublesome finding is that rural households in the sample villages are paying very little for the improved water services and, as a result, the finances of many village water committees are in poor shape.
format Journal Article
author Whittington, D.
Davis, J.
Prokopy, L.
Komives, K.
Thorsten, R.
Lukacs, H.
Bakalian, A.
Wakeman, W.
spellingShingle Whittington, D.
Davis, J.
Prokopy, L.
Komives, K.
Thorsten, R.
Lukacs, H.
Bakalian, A.
Wakeman, W.
How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
author_facet Whittington, D.
Davis, J.
Prokopy, L.
Komives, K.
Thorsten, R.
Lukacs, H.
Bakalian, A.
Wakeman, W.
author_sort Whittington, D.
title How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
title_short How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
title_full How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
title_fullStr How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
title_full_unstemmed How Well is the Demand-Driven, Community Management Model for Rural Water Supply Systems Doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
title_sort how well is the demand-driven, community management model for rural water supply systems doing? evidence from bolivia, peru and ghana
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5388
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