Community Participation: Sustainable or not?

As highlighted in my previous blogposts, water is a central aspect of human life. It is used for domestic purposes such as cleaning, cooking and drinking, industrial purposes like the cooling of power generation plants, and for agricultural purposes including the cultivation of crops and the maintenance of livestock. Nevertheless, it has been claimed that only 68% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa has access to adequate water sources (Rondi et al., 2015). In fact, between the years 1990 and 2012, the amount of people that did nothave access to improved water sources increased (Hope, 2015). Therefore, is would suggest that the development of better water supply is happening at a slow rate and currently fails to provide enough water to the people of SSA.

Community-led water management is oftentimes seen as a solution to water-supply issues of rural societies. This strategy involves direct participation of the community in making water accessible to all and thus conforms to the so-called ‘bottom-up’ development approaches. Community participation is essentially a method that involves “water-users in a variety of ways during the construction and operation of water supplies” (Page, 2003: 485).The aim is that water facilities are paid for-, and built by locals. Communities are also responsible for keeping the system in good order once construction works have been completed. Ideally, through such direct participation, people feel a sense of ownership and attachment to the water supply, justifying the desired long term sustainability of community strategies (Skinner, 2009; Page, 2003).  

Community Water Management in Kenya

Kenya is an east African country with a total population of approximately 51.3 million (Worldbank, 2018).In rural parts of the country, less than half of all people have availability of improved water supplies (WHO and UNICEF, 2006).Several studies have been conducted on Kenya’s water supply system. Crow et al. (2012) for example focus on the Nyando area located in the Kericho district in western Kenya. Locals are heavily dependent on agricultural output, allowing them to grow maize, feed livestock and even grow crops for tea production (Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1 (left) – Red Area: Kericho, Kenya (Acntx, n/d)

Figure 2 (right) – Tea production in Kericho (Roberts, n/d)

Given that water is mainly sourced from springs, communities can be divided into three categories (Table 1). 

Table 1 - Adapted from Crow et al. (2012)

Group 1	No protection of springs
Group 2	Protected springs
Group 3	Protected springs with pipe network to channel water to households

Every group has a local water committee, adding an element of social participation. Groups 2 and 3, however, show greater community involvement by having forms of protection and community constructed pipe networks. It can be argued that community-run projects harnesses local knowledge, thus establishing the most suitable water management systems. Moreover, participants may feel that the project feels less ‘distant’ than it would if implemented by the government or the private sector. 

On the other hand, research suggests various limitations. Firstly, future conflict between groups 1, 2 and 3 can evolve, threatening the sustainability of the system. Secondly, the goal of achieving equitable access may be undermined by certain households living further away than others (Harvey and Reed, 2006).Third, it is risky to assume that everyone in the community can pay/ keep on paying for the previously gratis service. Fourth, the projects rely on voluntary labour to be available at all times, which can again challenge future maintenance in case people are less willing to assist when problems arise. And lastly, a sense of ownership is not guaranteed, possibly also leading to failure of water system upkeep in the long term (Marks and Davis, 2012).

All in all, given that agriculture and food production greatly rely on sustainable water provision, one must consider both advantages and limitations of community-led approaches. Personally I acknowledge all limitations of community participation, but do believe that bottom-up approaches are favourable ways of achieving development outcomes in Africa. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below! 

I hope you found this blogpost interesting, and that I could raise some complex and important considerations of the sometimes ‘romanticized’ community water management approach. I will be back soon with another post for you!