Your search found 11 records
1 Nhemachena, Charles; Jonas, S.; Karuaihe, S. 2015. Understanding of the current practices, challenges and opportunities of the green economy in Limpopo Province [South Africa] Journal of Public Administration, 50(1):6-31.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047187)
(0.46 MB)
The paper investigates the current practices of the green economy, and challenges and opportunities in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The paper is based on a baseline study designed to gather data from key informants in Limpopo provincial, district and local municipalities. Twenty-three key informants in the province were interviewed. Primary data collected from key informants was supplemented by secondary data from document reviews. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data on the current practices of green economy, and challenges and opportunities in the province. Findings from the study suggest that there is generally significant awareness of the green economy concept across the provincial district and local municipalities in Limpopo Province. However, there are gaps in terms of information gathering, storage and sharing on green economy activities in the district municipalities, provincial and national departments. The main barriers constraining the implementation of green economy initiatives in the municipalities include lack of information; shortage of workers with full knowledge on green economy; shortage of training programmes on green economy; and costs of implementation. The main recommendations from this research include the need to improve awareness of green economy activities across all levels in the province, especially with communities’ need for evidence-based research to demonstrate the potential of green economy activities that can contribute to job creation and poverty reduction; and training of officials on how the green economy can contribute to addressing developmental challenges such as service delivery, job creation, local economic development and poverty reduction.
2 Baker, L.; de Zeeuw, H. 2015. Urban food policies and programmes: an overview. In de Zeeuw, H.; Drechsel, Pay (Eds.). Cities and agriculture: developing resilient urban food systems. Oxon, UK: Routledge - Earthscan. pp.26-55.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H047255)
(50.6 MB)
3 Cauchois, A. 2016. Measuring the invisible: exploiting the water-energy nexus to estimate private, urban groundwater draft. IWMI-Tata Water Policy Research Highlight, 5. 8p.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H047492)
(324 KB)
4 Rodina, L.; Harris, L. M. 2016. Water services, lived citizenship, and notions of the state in marginalised urban spaces: the case of Khayelitsha, South Africa. Water Alternatives, 9(2):336-355. (Special issue: Water, Infrastructure and Political Rule).
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047681)
(0.94 MB) (960 KB)
In this paper we argue that in South Africa the state is understood and narrated in multiple ways, notably differentiated by interactions with service provision infrastructure and the ongoing housing formalisation process. We trace various contested narratives of the state and of citizenship that emerge from interactions with urban water service infrastructures. In effect, the housing formalisation process rolls out through specific physical infrastructures, including, but not limited to, water services (pipes, taps, water meters). These infrastructures bring with them particular logics and expectations that contribute to a sense of enfranchisement and associated benefits to some residents, while others continue to experience inadequate services, and linked exclusions. More specifically, we learn that residents who have received newly built homes replacing shack dwellings in the process of formalisation more often narrate the state as legitimate, stemming from the government role as service provider. Somewhat surprisingly, these residents at times also suggest compliance with obligations and expectations for payment for water and responsible water consumption. In contrast, shack dwellers more often characterise the state as uncooperative and neglectful, accenting state failure to incorporate alternative views of what constitutes appropriate services. With an interest in political ecologies of the state and water services infrastructures, this paper traces the dynamic processes through which states and citizenship are mutually and relationally understood, and dynamically evolving. As such, the analysis offers insights for ongoing state-society negotiations in relation to changing infrastructure access in a transitioning democracy.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048708)
(0.25 MB)
The abundant praise awarded for the development of the urban water services sector in Burkina Faso stands in stark contrast with the development of the rural water services sector. This article examines the funding of water infrastructure in four small villages in Burkina Faso. The article finds that public funding for water infrastructure for these municipalities is largely nonexistent. First of all, central government makes very little funding available for rural areas. Funding that is made available is then also prioritized for regions that already are relatively well covered. Secondly, the municipalities themselves also prioritize other sectors over the water sector for the investment of locally generated revenue. As a result, these municipalities rely on donor funding for developing water supply in their villages. This dependence not only leaves these municipalities vulnerable to shifts in donor funding but can also lead to inequalities as some municipalities are better at attracting donor funds than others. Some small towns are thus confronted with a double bias. First an urban bias in which the majority of public finance goes to urban centres. Second, by a donor-bias in which some towns are favoured for project implementation due to favourable site characteristics.
6 Hamer, N. G.; Lipile, L.; Lipile, M.; Molony, L.; Nzwana, X.; O’Keeffe, J.; Shackleton, S. E.; Weaver, M.; Palmer, C. G. 2018. Coping with water supply interruptions: can citizen voice in transdisciplinary research make a difference? Water International, 43(5):603-619. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2018.1497863]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048897)
(1.70 MB)
Despite explicit legal and policy commitments, many South African residents do not have reliable access to potable water. Resident dissatisfaction with municipal water service delivery is evidenced by frequent civil protests. We consider how gathering and understanding the lived experiences of citizens could influence official responses to water interruptions. We take a transdisciplinary, problem-focussed, research approach to the experience of, and responses to, water interruptions, reflecting on the limitations of research to effect change in the lived experience. As transdisciplinary research praxis increasingly seeks expression in social outcomes, it is vital to confront both opportunities and limitations.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048918)
(2.24 MB)
This paper examines how indigenous peri-urban households in Wa, one of the fastest growing towns in Ghana are adapting to the effects of physical transformation of their environment. By analysing Landsat satellite images and using social research methods, the paper discusses the nature and extent of urban growth, its impact on periurban livelihoods, and the coping strategies of peri-urban households. Findings show that urban land in Wa increased by 5.73 times—from 5.75 km2 in 1986 to 32.93 km2 in 2016 with an annual growth rate of 5.9%. This growth led to the conversion of agricultural lands into residential and other uses. As a result, many indigenous peri-urban households are abandoning agriculture in search for urban-based employment as a safety net. The study recommends partnership between local government and landowners to identify and protect high potential agricultural lands in Wa; modernisation of the land governance and management processes in view of the loss of cultural and spiritual values associated with land; prioritisation of physical and spatial planning at the district level; and equipping indigenous peri-urban households with skills to assist them create sustainable livelihoods to compensate for the loss of their agriculture lands.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052087)
(2.03 MB) (2.03 MB)
Currently, in Sri Lanka, strategies to address FW prevention and reduction are being considered by different state and non-state stakeholders. However, in the current scenario, solutions for FW are mostly addressing (bio-)waste management.
Quantifying FW is of paramount importance in understanding the magnitude and socio-economic as well as environmental impacts of the problem. A good understanding of the availability and quality of FW data is a prerequisite for tracking progress on reduction targets, analyzing environmental impacts, and exploring mitigation strategies for FLW (Xue et al., 2019). FW quantification aims at creating a robust evidence base for developing strategies, action plans, and policies towards FW prevention, reduction, and management as well as guide prioritization of actions, evaluation of solutions, and monitoring progress (CEC, 2019).
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052250)
(0.81 MB) (824 KB)
This study assessed the effects of COVID-19 on Ghana’s WASH system. It focused on low-income households and WASH sector stakeholders using Ayawaso East Municipality as a case study to document lessons from the pandemic’s impact on the WASH sector. We used the water and sanitation system approach to understand the effects of COVID-19 mitigation measures on the WASH system. Data were collected through surveys, stakeholder engagements, and document analysis. We found that the government’s WASH response increased hygiene practices, solid and liquid waste generation, and water consumption. Sanitation service providers experienced reduced demands for their services, lost clients, and increased operational expenditure. The pandemic’s impact is gendered, with women and girls experiencing a greater burden. We argue that responses to the pandemic highlight the need and opportunities for sustainable management of sanitation waste through integrated, circular economy business models, turning waste into valuable resources. Responses to COVID-19 in the WASH system are multisectoral because of its interconnected nature, highlighting the need to integrate sectors beyond water and sanitation. This requires improved institutional structures, policies, investment, and professionalising service providers.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052258)
(2.14 MB) (2.14 MB)
This conceptual paper identifies how municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is currently being practiced in developing economies from an institutional perspective. Semi-systematic review of 934 peer-reviewed journal articles extracted from the Web of Science database is used as the foundation for this paper. The findings affirm that the current MSWM practices of most developing economies are either ineffective, inefficient, or limited. Hence, they are contributing to environmental, social, and economic negative impacts that can impede sustainable development. Though the literature highlights several remedies that could curtail the negative impacts of current MSWM practices, most developing economies are yet to engage with these due to numerous constraints. Special emphasis is on administrative constraints (or the norms, expectations, and requirements within the specific institutional field where MSWM is practiced in developing economies) that prevents adoption of new MSWM practices in developing economies. In this context, social movements can play a critical role in improving current MSWM practices. This paper makes recommendations for a way forward in which social movements could act as institutional entrepreneurs to change the norms, expectations, and requirements of the institutional field for a sustainable MSWM in developing economies.
11 van Koppen, Barbara; Nohayi, Ngowenani; Jacobs-Mata, Inga; Nortje, Karen. 2024. Meeting each other halfway: institutionalizing community participation in integrated development plans and water services development plans in South Africa. Synthesis report to the WRC Project No. C2020/2021-00538, titled ‘Institutionalizing Inclusive Community-led Planning of Water Supply in Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Water Services Development Plan (WSDP). Pretoria, South Africa: Water Research Commission (WRC). 82p. (WRC Report No. 3130/1/24)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052927)
(3.50 MB) (3.50 MB)
South Africa’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) processes provide a legally binding framework, or so-called ‘long route to accountability’, in which citizens can hold their elected political representatives accountable. This includes municipalities’ prioritization and allocation of available internal and external financial, technical and institutional resources for service delivery, and the appointment of internal or external service providers to that end. On the ground, communities interact directly with these service providers in a short route to accountability. However, when it comes to participation for improved water services, communities in low-income rural and urban areas seem inactive. Instead, they protest on the streets. Addressing this void, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) started establishing and supporting Water and Sanitation Community Forums (WSCFs). In collaboration with DWS and eight WSCFs, and supported by the Water Research Commission (WRC), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) implemented the project ‘Institutionalizing inclusive community-led planning of water supply in IDP and WSDP’. The project examined the stumbling blocks in the implementation of this long route to accountability or in other institutional issues that seem to ignore ordinary community members in under-resourced settings. This evidence is the basis for recommendations to revive the IDP and active participation in the water sector.
The project has two main outputs. The user-friendly “Guidelines for Water and Sanitation Community Forums, municipal officials, and other decision-makers to integrate participatory planning into Integrated Development Plan and Water Services Development Plan processes” synthesize the experiences and aspirations of the WSCFs, as emerged from direct and mutual engagements and dialogues. The present report combines these experiences with extensive literature review on the South African context, disentangling public water services delivery according to the World Bank’s long and short routes to accountability.
Our analysis suggests main obstacles in the first leg of the long route to accountability, in which communities express their problems and priorities in the IDP processes via the wards up to the mayor of the Water Services Authority. Voices about specific water issues are quite technical and get lost amidst of many other needs. Even if communities communicate acute problems of lack of maintenance and breakdowns of municipal infrastructure, response is slow or absent. Further, officials tend to focus on municipal systems only. Yet, where municipal water services fail or haven’t been implemented as yet, communities find alternatives. Communities already take over some operation and maintenance of municipal systems and are keen to formalise. Communities also participate actively from the planning phase onwards in small systems by NGOs, donors, or private sector, although post-construction support remains needed. Further, especially in rural areas, many individuals or small groups invest in their own sustainable self-supply. Support to self-supply is cost effective and sustainable. In these various existing or potential co-management modalities, communities and municipal officials or other support agencies meet each other halfway to improve access to water, which none can achieve on its own.
However, without clear community voices bottom-up in the first leg of the long route to accountability, decision-making by both politicians and technical departments is, inevitably, top-down in the second leg of the long route to accountability. Once a few selected projects have crystallized ‘behind closed doors’, they become parachute projects, without genuine involvement by the community from the planning and design phase onwards. IDP processes risk become just tick-boxing to show compliance. Lack of accountability to communities in this second leg of the long route to accountability, at its turn, contributes to some of the well-known challenges of Water Services Authorities: debts, bias to new infrastructure instead of maintenance even in low-income areas, failing free basic water services, and general lack of transparency, if not corruption, in complex horizontal and vertical coordination requirements, all of which is compounded by an overall lack of technical capacity.
Based on this evidence, the study recommends the further institutionalization of the WSCFs in the IDP, WSDP and WSA structures and developing their technical and institutional capacity. With their grounded experiences of local needs and opportunities in the short route to accountability they provide precious information and agency to governmental and non-governmental support agencies, including the service providers they mobilise. Fit-for-purpose arrangements to compensate costs or remunerate tasks will secure sustainability. In this way, the current national support to the WSDP to WSA will meet the bottom-up voices in technically and institutionally competent water chapters of the IDPs from local to national level and vice versa. Multi-scale clustered WSCFs, DWS and municipalities in Vhembe already prove this can work well.
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