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.
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Research Article|
October 01 2009
How well is the demand-driven, community management model for rural water supply systems doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
Dale Whittington;
aDepartment of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, Rosenau CB#7431, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill North Carolina, 27599, USA
bManchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Corresponding author. Tel: 1-919-966-7645 E-mail: Dale_Whittington@unc.edu
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Jennifer Davis;
Jennifer Davis
cDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Terman Engineering M-21, Stanford CA, 94305-4020, USA
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Linda Prokopy;
Linda Prokopy
dDepartment of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 195 Marsteller Street, West Lafayette Indiana, 47907-2093, USA
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Kristin Komives;
Kristin Komives
eInstitute of Social Studies, Kortenaerkade 12, The Hague 2518, AX, The Netherlands
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Richard Thorsten;
Richard Thorsten
fWaterPartners International, 2405 Grand Blvd., Ste. 860, Box 12, Kansas City MO, 64108, USA
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Heather Lukacs;
Heather Lukacs
cDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Terman Engineering M-21, Stanford CA, 94305-4020, USA
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Alexander Bakalian;
Alexander Bakalian
gThe World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington DC, 20433, USA
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Wendy Wakeman
Wendy Wakeman
gThe World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington DC, 20433, USA
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Water Policy (2009) 11 (6): 696–718.
Article history
Received:
February 11 2008
Accepted:
March 18 2008
Citation
Dale Whittington, Jennifer Davis, Linda Prokopy, Kristin Komives, Richard Thorsten, Heather Lukacs, Alexander Bakalian, Wendy Wakeman; How well is the demand-driven, community management model for rural water supply systems doing? Evidence from Bolivia, Peru and Ghana. Water Policy 1 December 2009; 11 (6): 696–718. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2009.310
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