Governance of water resources: implications of water sector reforms in African cities

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Governance of water resources implications of
water sector reforms in African cities

• Davinder Lamba Ali Memon

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Water most highly contested commodity in 21st
century?

• What are the constraints for civil society,
  household and domestic private sector
  participation in the water supply provision?
• Why has national govt. failed to develop an
  enabling policy environment for local actors in
  the provision of infrastructure?
• How do the urban poor get access to basic
  infrastructure and services how are these
  organised in informal settlements?

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Implications of water sector reforms in Kenya

• Big picture issues
• Link between water and poverty
• Political economy of water mercantilsation
• How the poor get access to water
• Experience with public/private sector
  partnerships

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1. Link between poverty water

• WPI key action areas
• Pro-poor governance
• Improved access to water quality services
• Pro-poor economic growth livelihood improvement
• Community capacity building empowerment
• Disaster prevention mitigation
• Management of the environment

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Who are the poor?

• Multi-faceted attributes of poverty recognised in
  UNDP Human Development Index Millennium
  Development Goals
• Vulnerability related concept of water security
• Water security people communities have access
  to water for all needs
• Related to entitlements framework governance
  conditions

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2. Political economy of water mercantalisation

• Co-existence of public water supply system
  informal small scale water sector relatively
  stable through last century
• mercantalisation introduction of markets or
  market mimicking decision-making techniques
  participation of private companies capital in
  resource development, water supply waste water
  treatment
• Part of globalisation process

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Two facets of mercantalisation

• Privatisation entails organisational change in
  ownership (public to private)
• Commercialisation entails changes in
  institutions of water management application of
  markets, efficiency competition in water
  sector
• Contingent on organisational and institutional
  specificities of water management over
  time/across space

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Privatisation discourse

• Mercantalisation process facilitated by the shift
  in 1990s in international development discourse
• TNC involvement in water supply sanitation in
  third world WB/IMF support
• Water re-defined as economic good as opposed to a
  human right.
• Assumption state unable to deliver due to
  inefficiency corruption

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Dublin conference on water environment (1992)

• Dublin principles help embed notion of water as
  economic good in international debate
• WB focus in 1990s radical reform of water sector
• TNCs communities have struggled with
  privatisation
• WB requestioning privatisation?

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3. How urban poor gain access to services

• Broad range of service delivery arrangements
  (fig.1)
• Small scale private providers predominate
• Inadequate or inappropriate human resource
  capacity in both the utility local authorities
  has contributed to low prioritisation limited
  knowledge re service delivery to low income
  households
• Lax regulation enforcement
• Little support to community based initiatives

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How the water market works in African cities
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• Lack of poor consumer involvement to address
  issues eg vandalism, illegal connections,
  non-payment of bills
• Poor organisation capacity lack of illegal
  status marginalises poor communities
• Poor planning (road access, high densities)
  bigger constraint to service delivery than land
  tenure
• Service delivery to low income areas perceived as
  risky by utilities financiers

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Challenges

• Address technical, institutional, social,
  financial economic constraints/requirements
• Eg. right actors delivery arrangements,
  incentives for extending services to poor,
  suitable regulatory framework, consult with users
  re type/level of service desired
• Access to micro-finance by small water
  sanitation service providers

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4. Public private sector partnerships urban poor

• Literature on PPP based on large state or private
  water companies
• Full privatisation of formerly state entities not
  only option in third world cities
• Growing African literature on small scale private
  sector participation in WSS in response to
  privatisation/decentralisation policies
• Too early to draw firm conclusion re its
  efficiency and effectiveness

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Constraints findings from a Uganda study

• Corruption abuse of office
• Limited community mobilisation participation
• Inability of NGOs to tender for contracts
• Few links with business dev/credit services
• Water sector contractors lack formal voice
• Inadequate local govt procurement procedures

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Structural causes

• Related to Ugandas socio-economic,cultural and
  policy environment
• High level of hh poverty
• Importance of patronage
• Greed, low levels of trust
• Limited govt funds and dominance of donors

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• Conclude private sector participation in rural
  water sector does not provide a panacea for
  improved infrastructure sustainability
• A sector strategy requires limited no of focus
  areas
• Balance needed between drive for short term
  impacts through physical outputs and the long
  term sustainability of WSS delivered.

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5. Water sector reforms in Kenya
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Water sanitation crisis in urban Kenya

• rapid urban expansion
• post-colonial political economy
• rising incidence of poverty social
  polarisation
• local government crisis
• NARC government

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Flying toilets in Kibera
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Water sector reforms

• Water Act 2002
• Based on neo-libertarian model rhetoric
• of good governance
• Assumption separation of policy, regulatory
• service delivery role
• Public sector should make policy regulate.
• Private sector communities undertake
• service provision
• Failuire to provide realistic soulution to needs
  
• of urban poor
• Mixed messages

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A major challenge facing the reforms process is
how to better serve poor communities
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• Conclusions
• Innovative approaches to water and sanitation
  service delivery involving utlilities, NGOs,
  small scale providers etc.
• Approaches piece-meal requirments for scaling
  up not well understood long term
• uncertainty or contractual uncertainty.
• Risk that water sector reforms in Kenya will
  further marginalise the poor in governance of
  water resources.