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.