Comparison of small-scale providers' and utility performance in urban water supply: the case of Maputo, Mozambique

Water Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jigar Bhatt
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Household Level ◽  
African Cities ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Water Provision ◽  
Urban Population Growth

Following independence from colonial rule, African governments struggled to cope with the legacy of fragmented water services and new demands of peri-urban population growth. Privatization was presented as a panacea that would expand and improve water supply. Small-scale independent water providers (SSPs) were meanwhile often the only actors ensuring that services were available to the peri-urban poor. Nonetheless, they were ignored and even vilified in ‘pro-poor’ strategies of water supply reform. Recent studies have actually demonstrated the important role SSPs play in serving the poor in African cities, however, substantial knowledge gaps remain. This study of SSP activities in Maputo, Mozambique provides rigorous empirical evidence about the performance of fully private SSPs vis-à-vis a privatized utility at both the provider and household level. The findings belie long-held notions of informal water provision as inferior and inefficient and formal sector privatization as the preferred strategy for reaching the poor. Improving water supply in African cities requires an understanding of the specific advantages of provider-types and avoiding universal cures.

Population Growth and Water Supply

2016 ◽  
pp. 231-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Brandful Cobbinah ◽  
Dennis Kwadwo Okyere ◽  
Eric Gaisie
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
African Cities ◽  
Sustainable Planning ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Urban Population Growth

With recent and expected record-breaking urban population growth in developing countries, African cities ought to undertake or revisit sustainable planning efforts necessary for managing population growth and dealing with rapid urbanization. This chapter examines how African cities are responding and adapting to rapid population growth in the area of water supply using Ghana as a case study. From a macro perspective, the chapter looks at the nature and extent of population growth and water supply in Africa, with a focus on Ghana. At the micro level, an analysis of the water supply chain in Ghanaian cities, focusing on distribution, equity and accessibility is presented. The chapter further presents a discussion on the way forward regarding urban water supply in Ghana in particular and Africa in general. The chapter concludes with key findings and directions for further research, in relation to population growth and urban water supply.

Population Growth and Water Supply

2020 ◽  
pp. 96-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Brandful Cobbinah ◽  
Dennis Kwadwo Okyere ◽  
Eric Gaisie
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
African Cities ◽  
Sustainable Planning ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Urban Population Growth

With recent and expected record-breaking urban population growth in developing countries, African cities ought to undertake or revisit sustainable planning efforts necessary for managing population growth and dealing with rapid urbanization. This chapter examines how African cities are responding and adapting to rapid population growth in the area of water supply using Ghana as a case study. From a macro perspective, the chapter looks at the nature and extent of population growth and water supply in Africa, with a focus on Ghana. At the micro level, an analysis of the water supply chain in Ghanaian cities, focusing on distribution, equity and accessibility is presented. The chapter further presents a discussion on the way forward regarding urban water supply in Ghana in particular and Africa in general. The chapter concludes with key findings and directions for further research, in relation to population growth and urban water supply.

Pipes and politics: a century of change and continuity in Kenyan urban water supply

2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nilsson ◽  
Ezekiel Nyangeri Nyanchaga
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Water Sector ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
The Public ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Service Standards

ABSTRACTMajor institutional reforms are currently under way to improve the performance of the public water sector in Kenya. However, a historical perspective is needed in order to achieve sustainable improvements that will also benefit the urban poor. This article seeks to provide such a perspective, applying a cross-disciplinary and socio-technical approach to urban water supply over the last century, in which institutions, organisations and technology are seen to interact with political, economic and demographic processes. Despite a series of reforms over the years, the socio-technical structure of the urban water sector in Kenya has shown a remarkable stability since the 1920s, and into the 1980s. However, the sustainability of the public service systems has been eroded since independence, due to changes in the institutional framework surrounding the systems, while exclusive standards and technological choices have essentially been preserved from the colonial era. Current sector reform must create incentives for addressing technology choices and service standards in order to provide public water services also for the urban poor.

Level of Urban Infrastructure Services and Coping Mechanisms of Households

2022 ◽  
pp. 75-89
Author(s):  
Ankush Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Coping Mechanisms ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Hidden Cost ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
Infrastructure Services

Basic infrastructure services like clean water, proper sewage and sanitation, etc. are important attributes in urbanization of a city to make it healthy, livable, and sustainable. Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aims to ensure clean water and sanitation for all. Access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation facilities are crucial requirements for good health. Issues like intermittent supply, poor water quality, and low-pressure cause unreliable situations due to which community members resort to various coping strategies. Coping strategies are influenced by the household's level of education, income, and the level of unreliability of the service. The coping mechanisms used by the households are costly, and the poor people end up paying more because of the hidden cost. The poor water supply services result in induced costs by the residents in terms of the time costs for water collection and illness due to disease and water treatment costs. Because of these induced costs, the urban poor end up spending more for a clean and reliable water supply.

The sustainability of urban water supply in low income countries: a livelihoods model

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wijanto Hadipuro ◽  
Mark Wiering ◽  
Ton van Naerssen
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Extended Model ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
Water Provision ◽  
The Impact

Urban water supply can be managed by public institutions, private companies, communities, or by combinations thereof. Controversy continues over which system can most effectively improve livelihoods. Responding to this discussion, an extended model of sustainable livelihoods analysis is proposed that takes on a holistic approach: it includes issues of economic viability as well as the consequences for the vulnerability of poor people and the sustainability of water-related ecosystems. This model can be used to analyse the impact of water provision on livelihoods and to leverage policies to create a more sustainable water provision. It is applied to the city of Semarang in Indonesia that, as many coastal cities in low income countries, suffers from vicious cycles of poverty and problematic water supply.

Urban Cultivation Amidst Modernization: How Should We Interpret It?

1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bishwapriya Sanyal
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Urban Economy ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Other ◽  
African Cities ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Status ◽  
Urban Cultivation

Many African cities are currently marked by the decline of the formal urban economy and the simultaneous upsurge of household cultivation by the urban poor. This has generated two types of critical responses, though for very different reasons. The modernization proponents view urban cultivation as a manifestation of rural habits, predominantly relied upon by recent migrants lacking integration into the urban economy and culture. The New-Marxist critics, on the other hand, blame such activities for contributing to the “double exploitation of labor” and for maintaining the status quo of capitalist social relations of production. This paper, based on a survey of 250 low-income households in Zambia, attempts to respond to both criticisms. First, it demonstrates that the modernization proponents' assumption regarding who cultivates and why are basically incorrect. The paper then provides evidence that urban cultivation is an innovative response from below which was initially strongly resisted by capitalist countries. The paper also argues that urban cultivation by the poor reduces their vulnerability to the fluctuations of fortune that currently beset the economies of African cities.

Typical urban water supply provision in developing countries: a case study of Semarang City, Indonesia

Water Policy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Hadipuro ◽  
N.Y. Indriyanti
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Public Water Supply ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Groundwater Extraction ◽  
Urban Water Supply ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Water Supply Company

Low service coverage of public water supply companies and high dependency on groundwater are typical characteristics of urban water supply provision in developing countries. A case study of Semarang, Indonesia, shows that such phenomena have a detrimental effect on the environment. Land subsidence, seawater intrusion and sea flooding are, to some extent, the results of the failure of the public water supply company to service all Semarang City inhabitants. The study of the Semarang coastal area shows that the lack of access, especially to the poor, is a business opportunity for small-scale water supply providers. The problem with these providers is that all of them use groundwater as sources. The worse the service of the public water supply company the more necessary it is to regulate groundwater extraction. The poor will become very dependent on groundwater while also becoming victims of environmental degradation due to excessive groundwater extraction. The study shows that all inhabitants, poor and rich alike, are waiting to be supplied by the public water supply company. They will change to the public water supply whenever the service is available.

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