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Poverty and Water

Poverty and Water

David Hemson | Kassim Kulindwa | Haakon Lein | Adolfo Mascarenhas

(2008)

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Book Details

Abstract

Rarely has such a contentious and complex issue emerged in twenty-first century development as that of water. In this book, co-editors David Hemson, Kassin Kulindwa, Haakon Lein, and Adolfo Mascarenhas use a global spread of case studies to illustrate that water is not simply an issue of physical scarcity, but rather a complex and politically-driven issue with profound future implications, both in the developing world and outside it. The book argues that for the international community to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, governments must step in to protect the rights of the poor. Here, the links between poverty and access to clean water are explored with an eye to political reform that can end the exploitative policies of big business and help to shape a more equitable world for all.
David Hemson is a researcher who works within an emancipatory and developmental paradigm with a keen interest in the transformation of social and industrial relations. He has developed expertise and managed research teams in the field of rural development, gender studies, social policy, social movements and the evaluation of water and sanitation delivery. Within the HSRC he carries responsibility for appraising service delivery particularly in rural areas in the context of the shift in responsibility to local government. He is committed to the critical exploration of the unprecedented development of market relations on a world scale, the process of uneven development, and the prospects for new forms of intervention for social equality. Kassim Kulindwa is a senior research fellow and lecturer in economics at the Economic Research Bureau, University of Dar es Salaam. His main research interest is in the field of natural resources and environmental economics in relation to the sustainable development question. He has authored and co-authored books, chapters, and articles on structural adjustment and sustainable development, poverty, energy, biodiversity, environment, water resources and fisheries resources in Tanzania among others. Haakon Lein is associate professor at the Department of Geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His main interests lies within the field of natural resource management, rural development and climate change and disasters. He has for the last 20 years been in involved in research on the role of water in rural development in Bangladesh as well water management reforms in Tanzania and China (Xingjiang) Adolfo Mascarenhas, was the first Tanzania Director of the Bureau of Resource Assessment and Land Use Planning (BRALUP) and the founder Director of the Institute of Resource Assessment at the University of Dar es Salaam. Since 1966 BRALUP pioneered several research projects on water. In 1978-79 he was appointed as the first non-engineer consultant by UNICEF/ WHO to draft the policy paper on Water and Sanitation as Part of Primary Health Care. On his return he was entrusted through BRALUP by two donors, with the task of implementing the UNICEF/WHO policy in 5 Regions in Tanzania. His major interest and publications have been on natural resources, famines/disasters and regional planning. He is now retired from the University and works independently on Environmental and Knowledge for development issues in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Contents v
Boxes, tables and figures vi
1. Water and poverty: the inextricable link 1
Introduction 1
Water and poverty 2
Water and health 4
Water for agriculture 7
Notes 10
References 11
2. Water for all: from firm promises to ‘new realism’? 13
Introduction 13
What progress has been made from the ‘development decade’ to the ‘water decade’? 15
Neo-liberal policies and poverty 20
Lessons from the Water Decade 22
Recovering costs, managing demand 26
Placing the sting on the poorest 28
Costing a public good 30
Domineering vested interests 31
The new period: cost recovery, privatisation and human rights 32
Reinforcing the contradictory tendencies 34
Privatisation: a new panacea? 35
From a trickle to a storm 38
A renewed urgency: the state and delivery 40
Pre-eminence of water issues 42
Notes 44
References 45
3. It takes two to tango: steps towards change in the water sector 47
Introduction 47
Background 47
Trust 50
Shame 58
Conclusion 62
Notes 62
References 63
4. The link between poverty and water supply: the Nigerian example 65
Introduction 65
Conceptual framework 66
Methodology 68
Nigeria’s poverty profile 71
Case studies 73
Managing Nigeria’s water resources 78
New policy directions 80
Conclusions 84
Notes 85
References 85
5. Water, agricultural development and rural poverty in Bangladesh 87
Introduction 87
Poverty and agricultural growth 88
Water and agricultural change in Char Bhramondi 92
Why has this been good for the poor? 95
The emergence of a water market 97
Conclusion 99
References 100
6. Opportunities for reforming the irrigation sector: the case of the Fish-Sundays scheme of the Eastern Cape 103
Introduction 103
The Fish-Sundays scheme 104
Model 107
Results 109
Transforming irrigation 113
Conclusion 117
Appendix 118
Note 118
References 118
7. Rural water supply projects appraisal and poverty eradication in Tanzania 121
Introduction 121
The situation in Tanzania 121
The need for explicit inclusion of health effects in cost-benefit analysis 123
Women are affected more 124
Theory and practice of cost-benefit analysis 125
The necessity of social dimensions in cost-benefit analysis 126
The existing water supply situation and potential in Kilosa district 127
Profile and water supply situation in two surveyed villages 127
Analysis of water supply options 129
Methodology of the analysis 130
Assessment of economic benefits 131
Basic assumptions 133
Economic viability of sub-projects for Kilosa district 134
Investment costs 135
Investment benefits are more than monetary returns 135
Summary of cost-benefit analysis results 136
Conclusions 139
Notes 141
References 142
8. Easing the burden on women? Water, cholera and poverty in South Africa 144
Introduction 144
A consistent pro-poor policy? 146
Deepening disparities? 148
Benefits accruing from water, sanitation and hygiene education 150
The cholera epidemic and the rural poor 152
Women, time poverty and social intervention 159
Free basic water: the results 162
Conclusions 163
Notes 165
References 165
9. Water pricing, inequality and economic welfare: how can the new South African water policy support the well-being of the urban poor? 168
Introduction 168
South Africa and urban water 170
Water distribution in Durban 171
The basics of the model 174
The social welfare function 176
The urban residential water demand 178
The short-run demand structure 179
The supply of water 179
Comparing the IBT price structures 180
How different factors influence the optimal IBT 181
The budget constraint of the water utility 184
Policy implications of the results 185
Note 189
References 189
10. Conclusion: water for the poor pays 191
The rich have water 191
From crisis to crisis 192
Slogans and doctrinaire positions 193
Do the poor have any rights? 194
The slogan ‘water for all’ has mesmerised us all 194
Learning from the ground 195
The privatisation of water 195
It is simply not enough to have policies 196
Water helps, but there is need to look beyond 196
The value of targeted research 197
Need to review policies 198
References 199
About the contributors 200
Index 204