Rural communities in Kenya are deeply involved in rural water supply investments. The government has recognised the potential of this activity and is reforming the water sector to support the emergence of community service providers.  A key challenge is providing the support these water providers need for long-term sustainability.

A paper from the Water and Sanitation Program in Kenya considers how the government can support the development of community water service providers. The researchers explain how access to high quality, affordable and professional business development services (BDS), covering technical, financial and social skills, is needed to ensure the sustainability and health of small water enterprises.

Users invest significantly in the rural water supply sector in Kenya, with rural communities often raising substantial contributions toward the costs of water supply schemes. It is estimated that community projects account for around 3,000 water supply schemes in Kenya. However, of the 80 percent of Kenyans who live in rural areas, only 46 percent have access to improved water supplies.

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has started reforms which recognise the role of community service providers. Seven regional water services boards are responsible for oversight and the Water Services Regulatory Board is responsible for regulating the sector. The boards are licensed to ensure water supply services are provided in their areas. They do this by contracting suitable independent water service providers. Many of these providers are existing community rural water supply projects that have proved their ability to operate and maintain rural water supplies.

Conventional government and donor support has not paid enough attention to financial and business planning during project preparation. Emphasis on understanding risks that may jeopardise project completion and sustainability has been inadequate, and there has been little emphasis on support during the post-implementation phase. For long-term sustainability, support needs to cover both the scheme development and post-implementation phases:

• during preparation – to mobilise the community for technical and financial input and business planning
• during implementation – to assist in obtaining and supervising contracts, and to aid the transition into a water enterprise
• following implementation – to provide professional support for financial services (such as accounting), ongoing training, technical services (such as maintenance), strategic planning, obtaining community support, and regulation and monitoring.

Most public-funded programmes provide scheme development support through contracted agencies, but delivering post-implementation support is more complex. The authors recommend the following, using public funds where necessary:

• make the environment for BDS efficient by combining services into packages for small water enterprises, with contract packages for scheme development, operations, or both
• use different modes of contracting as appropriate, for instance direct contracting between enterprises and BDS, or contracting through a finance or facilitation agency
• state intervention to improve the BDS market, for example by supplying resources for BDS or by regulating service quality
• develop model contracts with water services boards to help others progress more quickly
• promote a federation of small water enterprises linked to the regional water boards, which will allow them to exchange experiences, provide support to each other, and provide BDS
• create a service where water enterprises can identify and contact potential BDS.

Source(s):
‘Business Development Services for Community-managed Small Water Enterprises: From Post-Construction Support to Business Development Services in Kenya’, Water and Sanitation Program Report, WSP: Nairobi, by Meera Mehta, Kameel Virjee, Barbara Evans and King’ori Wathobio, 2007 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility

id21 Research Highlight: 28 February 2008

Further Information:
Meera Mehta
CEPT University
Ahmedabad
India

Tel: +91 9898200147
Contact the contributor: mmehta@worldbank.org; mmehta1949@hotmail.com

Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, India

Kameel Virjee
Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) - Africa
The World Bank
PO Box 30577
Nairobi
Kenya

Tel: +254 20 3226331
Contact the contributor: kvirjee@worldbank.org

Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) - Africa

Other related links:
‘Is improving rural water supply a question of finance?’

‘New directions for water governance’ id21 insights, Issue #67, June 2007

‘Addressing the rural water supply crisis in the Punjab’

‘Assisting self-help water supplies in Uganda’