Document
Many rural households in North East Thailand grow cassava and other food crops on sandy upland soil and rice on lowland clayey soil. These crops provide only a small income and the simple farming system leads to land degradation. In the 1990s, some farmers initiated management changes and developed integrated farming. Farmer networks emerged to counteract recent social and physical degradation. Successful methods include use of water for multiple productive purposes and integrated farming. The new way of farming is appreciated by the national government. It gives support through subsidies and a new water law that will give responsibility for rural water management to new local Water Resources Committees.
Financing of multiple use (i.e. domestic and productive) water services was identified as an important ingredient to ensure improved water access for rural poor and broaden livelihood options in South Africa. Following the principles of integrated water resource management (IWRM), efficient, equitable and sustainable investments in improved water services should be based on a thorough understanding of actual demand by consumers. Comprehensive studies looking at multiple use water services are not common in South African rural areas, where most of the economic analyses focus on either domestic or irrigation water demand. This study aims at filling this gap by assessing the household demand for multiple use water services in Sekororo-Letsoalo area in the Limpopo Province.
It is postulated that 'multiple use systems' allow efficient and effective supply of water from different sources to communities for its domestic and for its productive purposes and allow effective interaction with providers of water related services. Such multiple use systems would be highly desirable from the perspectives of using scarce water efficiently, promoting gender equity and improving livelihoods. It is therefore necessary to carry out scientific research to verify the statement about this water-innovation. The mode of research must be 'action research'.
The specific form and management of multiple use systems depends on local socio-economic and biophysical factors, as well as on local institutions and legislation. Eleven 'cornerstones' need to be in place to realize a full multiple use system. Since a blue print cannot be made and many parties are involved, 'learning alliances' have to be set up at the local, intermediate and national levels. These learning alliances identify how much of these cornerstones of multiple use systems are still lacking and members work together to create or implement these. Guidelines are needed for setting up learning alliances and for actually implementing systems of multiple water use.
The multiple-use water services (MUS) approach to water services takes multiple water needs of rural and periurban communities as the starting point for planning and designing new systems or rehabilitations. By overcoming the administrative boundaries between single-use sectors, MUS contributes more sustainably to more dimensions of well-being than single-use approaches: health, freedom from drudgery, food, and income. The action-research took place in 25 study areas in eight countries in five basins. The project brought global, national, intermediate level, and local partners together who were champions of MUS at the time. This paper presents some of the project findings.
Looking at livelihoods strategies of poor rural communities, it becomes evident that people require water for both domestic and productive needs. Access to reliable supplies of water affects a great number of activities, and water availability can provide a wide range of opportunities for the rural poor. However, traditionally, water supply planning has focussed on meeting basic domestic needs only. To achieve greater water security at village level, and for water to meaningfully tackle poverty, a more holistic and integrated approach to water planning is needed, which is based on an understanding of people’s livelihood strategies and the role of water resources (and constraints) within those.
This paper attempts to discuss such an approach, which was developed and piloted in Bushbuckridge, South Africa. SWELL (Securing Water to Enhance Local Livelihoods) is a community-based planning approach that aims to enable improved allocation and use of water resources for water-related livelihoods. The SWELL methodology is based on a participatory process that brings together villagers, water service implementers and other agencies. The process enables stakeholders to develop a greater and shared understanding of people’s multiple water needs and available water resources, and to jointly develop strategies and plans, based on that information. The paper provides an overview of the methodology, as well of the application in Bushbuckridge, through to the outcomes of the assessment processes and how those were taken forward.
This paper was presented at the 7th WaterNet/WARFA/GWP-SA Symposium, held in Lilongwe, Malawi.
In South Africa multiple water use services have been recognised as an important component for poverty reduction and rural economic development. This has been made explicit in, for example, the Strategic Framework for Water Services. However, this policy isn’t yet elaborated into local government guidelines. Likewise, there exists a conducive policy environment for integrated planning and cooperative governance, two key issues to facilitate institutional support to multiple use services. This paper examines to which extent these policies are followed in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, a poor rural area in Mpumalanga Province.
Bushbuckridge is currently struggling with reducing service delivery backlogs. There are many reasons for that, including the pre-democratic governance and neglect of rural areas, while others are the institutional confusion that has arisen as a result of changing mandates for water services provision and a lack of staff capacity (both in terms of absolute numbers and skills profile). Even providing Free Basic Water remains a challenge.
One way, in which planning for multiple uses could be improved is through integrated development planning. Although the framework for that is clear, it is followed in a minimal way. Assessment of the village water situation is not done in a comprehensive way, the time of planning is way too short and not all relevant stakeholders, including decentralised line departments are involved. Again, lack of staff and skills, is a main reason for this. But there is also a failure to learn from past mistakes and to see the benefit of true integrated planning, rather than a box-ticking exercise. Although the Municipality is trying to respond to this, by improving its skills profile, in the meantime backlogs will remain and performance of systems will be poor. In such a context, supporting livelihoods, through multiple use services will be a tough call.
This document provides learning support material on the relation between water and livelihoods. It is directed towards agencies supporting communities on water-related interventions. It helps in analysing the role of water in livelihoods, and participatory planning of interventions to increase water security. It has been developed for the specific context of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in South Africa, but is considered relevant for others in South Africa, and elsewhere as well.
The broad objective of this paper is to highlight the complexities of poverty and how understanding vulnerabilities in relation to rural livelihoods can enable water service provision to respond to the needs of the poorest households in communities. This is based upon work carried out in ward 16 of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, in the context of participatory assessment and planning with community based structures, local government and a number of government department officials, and the subsequent reflection on what took place there, and its implication.
The report reflects on the challenges of adopting water services delivery approaches based on the livelihoods realities of poor people. In doing so, this paper explores the complexities and practicalities of understanding rural livelihoods systems from a water perspective. Special attention is given to the various ways in which local service providers perceive and conceptualize poverty (and vulnerability), and how their perceptions informs their implementation of services and their selection processes for identifying the poorest households. The understanding (based on ongoing work with stakeholders) is that while there are planning frameworks which encourage an integrated and poverty reduction focused approach to service delivery, in practice this is still a challenging task to achieve, partly due to the complex realities of identifying and reaching the poorest and partly due to the fragmented nature of service delivery processes in most municipal areas in South Africa. The importance of addressing governance issues if we are to achieve water service provision that makes a real contribution to poverty eradication is emphasized.
Some of the key issues to be considered in any attempt to plan services that are based on the livelihoods realities of poor people are outlined in conclusion. Many of these relate to the issue of institutional development and capacity building and include:
• Adopting a learning approach and providing practical tools for unpacking the complex linkages between water and poverty, and for understanding the role of water services in addressing poverty and reducing vulnerabilities.
• A multidisciplinary approach to poverty eradication where water services is recognized as one of the key contribution to poverty alleviation.
• Poverty in rural areas is a result of both physical deprivation and socioeconomic processes and structures; therefore understanding and action must focus on some of the historical, social, economic and political factors leading to vulnerabilities and poverty.
The fieldwork for the water and livelihoods assessment in Utah took place over a period of 6 days. It started with a community meeting that explained the purpose of the assessment and during which representatives from the Community Development Forum, the Induna and the Ward Councillor had an opportunity to make input. According the livelihoods framework that was used the fieldwork focused on three levels of assessment namely the broader community level, the inter-household level (differences between households) and the intra-household level (inside the individual households). Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques in combination with semi-structured interviews were used to collect the information. [authors abstract]
This report is a part of : “South Africa - Access to water and livelihoods in Ward 16, Bushbuckridge”
Securing Water to Enhance Local Livelihood (SWELL) is a community based process that enables villagers of Ward 16, in partnership with relevant stakeholders (Bushbuckridge local municipality, different government departments), to design plans for improving their village water services based on a critical analysis and understanding of their water related problems, needs and opportunities in their specific livelihood context. [authors abstract]
This report is a part of : “South Africa - Access to water and livelihoods in Ward 16, Bushbuckridge”