Community ownership of water sources key to sustainable water supplies
The construction and maintenance of water points, especially boreholes, demonstrate how important it is to make make water accessible to largely resource poor communities in a more reliable and sustainable way.
Borehole water is a source, which provides a reliable supply of water for communities in semi-arid areas. The main advantage of this source of water is that when other sources of water - such as rivers or springs dry up, usually soon after the rainy season; borehole water remains the only reliable and safer source in rural areas. But without proper management, boreholes do not prove to be sustainable sources, as people's ability to conserve and properly manage water resources largely determines the lifespan of such a water source.
It is this glaring challenge that Practical Action Southern Africa aims to over-come in its development approaches. In June 2007, German Agro Action (GAA), an international development agency - with funding from the European Union (EU), engaged Practical Action Southern Africa, to work with communities in Zimbabwe in the rehabilitation of rural water points, under a water point rehabilitation project.
The objective was to make water more accessible to marginalised rural communities to enhance their ability to cope with water shortages and health related problems such as cholera, dysentery and other water-borne diseases in the four districts of Mashonaland Central: Centenary, Mazowe, Rushinga and Shamva. A total of 611 water points have been rehabilitated in the four districts, benefiting 152 750 people.
Under the project, Practical Action Southern Africa used a unique approach aimed at equipping the beneficiary communities with health and hygiene education whilst imparting basic borehole maintenance skills. Within the health and hygiene education, trainings included a Participatory Health and Hygiene Education (PHHE) approach, where a total of 24 ward level trainings were in 2007conducted in the four districts, covering 307 community members (106 men and 201 women).
"The project emphasises on participatory approaches involving rural people in the decision-making and implementation of development projects," says Cephas Munjeri, the Water and Sanitation Project Manager of Practical Action Southern Africa.
Many of the communities in rural areas lack the infrastructure and communication systems that help city folk keep abreast of developments and function effectively as informed participants. "Without the involvement of the grassroots level, projects may not be successful," adds Munjeri. "And one of the ways to involve people is through communications - communication to understand rural people's underlying needs, their aspirations, their perceptions about challenges … rather than how outsiders feel."
The project did not regard the local people as mere recipients - rather as the actual creators of change and progress. Consulting the people and actively involving them in making decisions that would affect them ensured its success.
One of the beneficiary communities is Gweshe Village in Nyota Ward of Mazowe district, 100 kilometres north of the capital, Harare. Practical Action Southern Africa has worked with 10 villages, including Gweshe Village, in the rehabilitation of 12 boreholes, where the beneficiary communities have actively participated in participatory health and hygiene education and water point management workshops aimed at increasing the ownership of the project as well as empowering the community members in decision-making and leadership skills.
Water point management committees, constituted by elected community members have been formed with the task of conducting preventative maintenance of the water points. Overall, there has been a change in the attitude of the community towards the maintenance, management and use of the boreholes.
"From the trainings, we realised that we could no longer depend on outsiders for our needs", says Rudo Gweshe (48), a member of the Gweshe Village Waterpoint Committee. In the past, she adds, villagers were not actively involved in the management of water points. "We used to think that maintaining boreholes was the responsibility of those who would have drilled the boreholes. Now, we have realised that these are our boreholes and we should take care of them", says Rudo.
To strengthen the community's capacity to maintain the boreholes, the programme has trained 170 village pump minders in all the four districts. These are responsible for the repair of the boreholes.
Already, there are indications that government officials, too, are beginning to see the need for community participation to ensure the success of development efforts.
Effective community - based management, therefore, must make a deliberate effort to determine what people want to do, can do and can continue to do in a sustainable way.
This article appeared in the March 2008 edition of Appropriate Initiatives.
For more on community-based management of water resources in Zimbabwe, see Rehabilitation of Rural Water Points and Participatory Health and Hygiene Education
