Sustainable supply chains for rural water supplies in Africa

Abstract

Many rural water supplies in sub-Saharan Africa demonstrate high operational failure rates, particularly those using handpumps to extract groundwater. The supply of spare parts for pump maintenance is one of the weak links in the quest for sustainability and there are very few examples of sustainable supply chains throughout the subcontinent. There are a number of key reasons for this, which are specific to the rural African context. These include: the separation of the supply of pumps from the supply of associated spares; low pump density resulting in low profits; poverty and immobility among end-users; inflexible approaches to technology choice; and restrictive policies and maintenance systems. Field research in four African countries—Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia—indicated that the supply of handpump spare parts to rural areas is not a viable stand-alone commercial activity, despite many initiatives with this ultimate aim. There is a critical need for realism in the rural water sector and for implementers to move away from the perceived wisdom that the private-sector alone is the solution to the spare parts conundrum. Integrated service provision, appropriate technology choice and, where necessary, non-profit sector options provide a multifaceted solution that must be embraced if present and future rural water services are to be sustained.

Source and Determinants of Water Pollution in Ethiopia: Distributed Lag Modeling Approach

“…By the year 2015, the national water supply and sanitation program under its MDG planned to increase water supply coverage and sanitation by 64% and 54% respectively. It has been said that the chances of achieving the MDG of halving the proportion of people without access to safe water by 2015 will be seriously questioned unless levels of sustainability can be greatly improved [3,4].…”

Community management and sustainability of rural water facilities in Tanzania

“…The implication is that institutions and actors at all levels need to have the essential capabilities to fulfil their respective roles towards sustainability of the rural water facilities (RWFs) (Litvack et al, 1998;Smoke, 2003Smoke, , 2010Harvey & Reed, 2004;IOB, 2011). Tanzanian villages are diverse in terms of managerial and technical capacity related to water service delivery (Cleaver & Toner, 2006;Jiménez & Pérez-Foguet, 2010a, b).…”

“…As part of the decentralization process, the current National Water Policy (NAWAPO) requires villagers to contribute money or physical labour to the capital investment, to manage the water schemes, and to take responsibility for O&M (URT, 2002(URT, , 2008. However, studies on rural water in Africa have observed that achieving the required level of RWF sustainability necessitates a clear definition of the roles of each actor and at all levels, as well as the capabilities to perform them (Harvey & Reed, 2004;IOB, 2011). Already in 1988, an evaluation of the Tanzania rural water supply considered capacity building and clearly defined roles of the different actors as essential to improving the sector's policies from the village to the national level (Therkildsen, 1988).…”

“…Local communities require appropriate knowledge and skills to perform their roles and responsibilities, including O&M. However, the 2002 NAWAPO and 2008 National Water Sector Development Strategy (NWSDS) do not explicitly describe the roles and responsibilities of the actors at the lowest levels and do not clearly indicate who will train the communities (URT, 2002(URT, , 2008. Failure to address these critical issues debilitates the efforts invested in the sector (Harvey & Reed, 2004;de Palencia & Pérez-Foguet, 2011). This is a concern, because in Tanzania more than 40% of rural water schemes experience persistent non-functionality due to hardware problems, sources being dry and poor management, which ultimately threatens their sustainability (Giné & Pérez-Foguet, 2008;Taylor, 2009a, b;Jiménez & Pérez-Foguet, 2011).…”

Borehole Drying: A Review of the Situation in the Voltaian Hydrogeological System in Ghana

“…In this regard, it has been reported that about 250,000 boreholes have been constructed for use in Africa [7]. Though the purpose of these initiatives is to afford sustainable water supply in terms of quality and quantity, there are many reports of abandonment of some of these facilities in many places [6][7][8][9][10][11]. The reasons assigned to the abandonment include the mechanical breakdown of hand pumps and lack of water in the borehole.…”