Community-based urban water management in fringe neighbourhoods: the case of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (original) (raw)

Community-Based Urban Water Management Under Scarcity in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Diminishing state resources coupled with inadequate urban management capacity and insufficiency of conventional approaches have rendered it impossible to provide basic infrastructure in urban areas in developing countries such as in the city of Dar es Salaam. However, a notable phenomenon has emerged in many informal and formal settlements where the communities, through self-help and local governance in their own neighbourhood associations, have organised to fill the gaps in services left by the central and local governments. Among other things, community groups mobilise and organise fund-raising, mutual self-help and external technical assistance to provide water supply and sanitation, roads and drainage channels within the immediate area. This seems to be a trend in infrastructure improvement in poor neighbourhoods, that need to be enabled by interested parties including the public and private sectors, training institutions and donors. The community-based water management in Tabat...

The role of informal small-scale water supply system in resolving drinking water shortages in peri-urban Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Applied Geography, 2018

Developing countries are facing unprecedented urbanization coupled with informal peri-urban growth, characterized by inadequate basic infrastructure provision. A large proportion of peri-urban populations particularly in the Sub-Saharan African region faces limited access to drinking water. Informal water suppliers of varying size and scale have become predominant and fill drinking water supply gap left by public utilities. This paper draws on qualitative and quantitative research approach to examine the state, role and inherent practices of informal water supply system in addressing peri-urban drinking water shortages along with consumers and stakeholders' attitudes towards the system. Open-ended and semi-structured questionnaires were used to interview private water providers, public officials, households and other stakeholders to document informal water supply practices. The results indicate that informal small-scale providers account for 100% of drinking water in peri-urban settlements, but water infrastructures are in the dire state as its investment is carried out without adequate professional guidance. Furthermore over 64.1% of the communities acknowledged the importance of informal water providers in increasing water access. However, their recognition contravened with public institutions' position where 60% maintained that public water provision remains a viable option for peri-urban water access. Nevertheless, overall condition depicts that informal small-scale water supply systems remain pertinent and leading drinking water access options for many households in peri-urban settlements. Acknowledging its contribution along with integration into public regulatory mechanism can greatly contribute towards the improvement of water supply services to the majority of informal urban and peri-urban populations.

DOMESTIC WATER SHORTAGE AND HOUSEHOLD COPING MECHANISMS IN THE CITY OF DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA

Uongozi Journal of Development, 2013

This paper assesses households’ mechanisms to cope with water shortages in Dar es Salaam City. Using 2009 data collected through questionnaires, interviews, observation, and focus group discussion administered to 105 households including 43 (41%) males and 62 (59%) females it has been revealed that water shortage in the city is grounded in deterioration of water infrastructures, poor governance at the local level, population increase and urbanization, poor revenue collection and illegal water connection. As a result, household members have to find out alternatives to access the water. Common mechanisms to cope with the situation include drilling of boreholes and wells, rainwater harvesting, buying water from street water vendors, changes in water consumption patterns, buying of many storage facilities and walking long distance in searching for water. However, such mechanisms vary from one area to another. Moreover, while some strategies have long term measurable demographic consequences, others are not. These drawbacks suggest the need for more efforts to be directed towards creation of awareness to community on rainwater harvesting; construction of large reservoirs which will be used to store large volume of water that will help during water deprivation days. Further, DAWASCO and local community should protect water infrastructures against those who practice illegal connections.

Supplying Domestic Water Services to Informal Settlements in Manzese, Dar es Salaam: Challenges and Way Forward

This article is based on study on domestic water supply services in informal settlements in Manzese slums. The study revealed that the state of domestic water supply services in the area is not promising as water supply services are unreliable, difficult to access and too expensive for many users. The bleak situation highlighted is attributed to several challenges including poor and old water infrastructures, sabotage of water infrastructure, illegal water connections, unreliable water sources, unregulated water services provision, rapid growth in demand of water services, limited participation of the Manzese community in water supply related projects and lateral expansion of cities that require costly infrastructure. On the basis of the challenges revealed the article recommends that there should be deliberate efforts by the government and development partners to vastly improve water infrastructures in informal settlements, empower people to take advantage of rational water shortage coping mechanisms, enhance local community involvement in water supply projects to heighten their sense of ownership , and improve water supply services governance in terms of transparency, accountability and enforcement of bylaws set to protect water infrastructures and collection of revenue.

Access to water and poor peoples' livelihoods: the case of Ward 16 of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality

2007

Over the past years, the NGO AWARD (Association for Water and Rural Development) has been working on a programme entitled SWELL (Securing Water to Enhance Local Livelihoods) in ward 16 of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, South Africa. The aim of the programme is to develop an approach for integrated planning of rural water services to enhance people's livelihoods, especially of the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the communities. This report aims to provide insight into the current role of water in people's livelihoods and especially how that is shaped by access to water. The report shows that at first sight typical water-based activities, such as gardening, livestock or small business, are not the main source of livelihood for the people in the area. However, they do play a crucial role in diversifying and reducing vulnerability and dependency on other sources of livelihood. They also do provide important nutritious food and cash to the poorer households. 2 METHODOLOGY .

Access to Water in the Slums of Sub-Saharan Africa

Development Policy Review, 2011

This article reviews the changing perspectives for improving access to water in the slums of developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. While much of the literature continues to maintain an aversion to state-led urban development policies, there is now increasing emphasis on the importance of informal, small-scale providers and communitarian initiatives, following the many failures of privatisation. The article argues that market-oriented solutions are inappropriate for sub-Saharan African countries where over two-thirds of the urban population live in squatter settlements with multidimensional challenges.

AN ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROVISION AND MANAGEMENT OF RURAL WATER SUPPLY. A CASE STUDY OF THE ABOASO, ABENKYEM AND JUANSA COMMUNITIES

Water is a vital component of sustainable development in every community as access to potable sources of water ensures the well being of people. As a basic need for all human societies, access to safe water is also considered as a fundamental human right. The recognition of water as a human right is increasingly enshrined in declarations and conventions on human rights. However, at the start of the new millennium, the United Nations (UN) stated that over one billion people around the world did not have access to a safe and reliable supply of water. In order to improve upon the supply of safe water to rural communities, Ghana has adopted a Community-Based Approach which focuses on decentralization and community management of water. This paper is based on a survey of three communities (Aboaso, Abenkyem and Juansa) in the Ashanti region of Ghana, and in it is an assessment of their involvement in the provision and management of potable water. The key findings among these communities were; community contribution towards the capital cost for construction of water facilities, the presence of WATSAN committees to manage and maintain water facilities and the adoption of the Pay-as you-fetch approach by community members. The study identified the following to be crucial in improving upon the community based approach and enhancing community’s involvement in the provision and management of rural water facilities; community sensitization programmes, capacity building for the WATSAN committee, commitment at the top level (Political Commitment), mechanization of boreholes as a management and maintenance mechanism and the creation of an enabling environment to attract private entities.

Domestic practices for accessing water and rural-urban transformations: example of emerging urban centres in Tanzania

The transition from rural to urban spurred by population growth and housing densification has implications for the planning of service provisions, not least domestic water supplies. The objective of this paper is to document the status of domestic water access and examine existing options for domestic water provision along the rural-urban transition. The study employs a combination of research methods in both data collection and analysis. Given the dual character (rural-urban) of the emerging urban centres, there is limited distinction in the domestic water services provided since they tend to be in between the two, in a state of transition.