Water supply provision is often externally driven by governments, donors and non-governmental organisations. This has increased service coverage, but has not progressed fast enough to meet targets in countries like Uganda. A complementary approach supporting self-supply initiatives can help meet national needs.

A report from the Rural Water Supply Network in Switzerland and the Water and Sanitation Program in Kenya investigates Uganda’s experience of self-help water supply improvements. It also suggests how water supply professionals can best work with communities to achieve sustainable supplies.

‘Self-supply’ refers to local or private initiatives by individuals, households or communities to improve their water supplies without relying on external help. There are an estimated 1 million self-supply water sources in sub-Saharan Africa, supporting up to 40 million people. In Uganda, about 39 percent of the rural population rely on self-supply sources, ranging from shallow water holes to more sophisticated drilled boreholes. Most of these sources exist primarily for domestic water use, with convenience of access more important for rural users than quality. These so-called ‘private’ water sources are usually open to community members, even if they do not contribute to their maintenance.

However, water sector professionals, including in Uganda, have either ignored or disapproved of self-supply initiatives. With a more decentralised approach to rural water supply adopted since the 1990s, the Ugandan water sector has the potential to build on self-supply initiatives. However, challenges remain:

• There are significant differences in perception between water users who are interested in accessibility, reliability, ease of maintenance and affordability, and water supply professionals who discourage the development of sources that do not meet government standards.
• Many organisations tend not to support individual households that have developed self-supply sources, even though most are in fact community resources.
• Almost no support is given to communities that have made the most basic improvements, such as scoop holes and unlined reservoirs.
• Very few individuals can afford to develop more sophisticated supplies, such as protected shallow wells or boreholes.

To balance an accessible, reliable, good-quality water supply with affordability and good management, a degree of compromise will be necessary. The Ugandan Government has shown strong interest in the potential of self-supply water sources, and has recently initiated a pilot project, due to be completed by the end of 2007. The authors recommend that the government and non-governmental organisations:

• help to improve supplies step by step, rather than dismissing sources as ‘unsafe’ or ‘unimproved’
• recognise the community role of individual providers, and realise that supporting these providers will help the community
• consider how to support the development of new self-supply sources, for example through subsidies or technical advice
• find ways to support the management of self-supply sources, through technical advice, helping personal investment, or assisting in community mobilisation
• identify ways to help private well diggers, by providing training, equipment, or access to credit.

Source(s):
‘Investigating Options for Self-help Water Supply: From Field Research to Pilot Interventions in Uganda’, Rural Water Supply Series Field Note, WSP: Nairobi / RWSN: St.Gallen, by Richard Carter, 2006 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: WSP

id21 Research Highlight: 8 June 2007

Further Information:
Richard Carter
School of Applied Sciences
Cranfield University
Cranfield
Bedfordshire MK43 0AL
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1234 752910
Fax: +44 (0)1234 754109
Contact the contributor: r.c.carter@cranfield.ac.uk

School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, UK

Water and Sanitation Program - Africa
World Bank
Hill Park Building
Upper Hill Road
PO Box 30577
Nairobi
Kenya

Tel: +254 20 3226306
Fax: +254 20 3226386
Contact the contributor: wspaf@worldbank.org

Water and Sanitation Program - Africa

RWSN Secretariat
SKAT Foundation, Vadianstrasse 42
CH-9000 St. Gallen
Switzerland

Tel: +41 71 2885454
Fax: +41 71 2885455
Contact the contributor: rwsn@skat.ch

Rural Water Supply Network Secretariat, Switzerland

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'Time to articulte the right to water?'

'Rural water supply in Zambia: local solutions are best'

'Uganda’s state-owned water company turns itself around'

'Recovering the costs of rural water supply: Community initiatives in Nigeria'