Strengthening pro-poor targeting of investments by African utilities in urban water and sanitation - the role of the International Development Association of the World Bank: Case studies from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Tanzania

This report for WaterAid presents findings from research into the impact of selected IDA-funded projects on water supply and sanitation services in urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa, with particular emphasis on the impact on poor areas and households

Getting Communities Engaged in Water and Sanitation Projects: Participatory Design and Consumer Feedback

Community engagement in water and sanitation service delivery is key for ensuring project sustainability and accountability. In all of its programmes, WSUP works with local service providers, community groups and local authorities to enhance stakeholder participation. This Topic Brief looks at community engagement approaches used by WSUP in three cities within the African Cities for the Future (ACF) programme: Antananarivo (Madagascar), Kumasi (Ghana) and Maputo (Mozambique). The specific focus is on ways to encourage community involvement in the design of water supply and sanitation projects, and ways in which service providers can elicit input and feedback from people living in low-income communities. The Topic Brief discusses several cases in which community engagement has positively contributed to the development of WASH services. It highlights some of the key challenges currently faced by WSUP and other sector organisations, and ends with practical recommendations for programme managers about how to engage low-income communities

Data Gaps in Evidence-Based Research on Small Water Enterprises in Developing Countries

This paper assess the literature on small water enterprises -- water delivery operations that predominantly provide water at the community level. A research agenda is recommended to advance knowledge on effective SWE service

Balancing Financial Viability and User Affordability: An Assessment of Six WASH Service Delivery Models

This Topic Brief presents assessments of the financial performance of six WSUP-supported WASH service delivery models in Bangladesh, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zambia. Each model has been developed in partnership with locally mandated service providers to facilitate sustainable, at-scale improvements to low-income urban populations

The scope of using Information & Communication Technologies (ICT’s)For the development of Emerging Economies like India

It was felt that there is a need to carry out a study on some innovative ICT platforms so that I could learn about the benefits of the ICT initiatives in rural areas. The emphasis was to examine whether the community people benefited from these project initiatives. Though the benefits of ICT platforms have been generally stated, specific assessments have not been made. It has been proved at the global level that ICT can help in poverty reduction in number of ways. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the innovative applications of ICT in rural development. The synopsis, being an information technology related topic and a global issue as well, focuses a on the ongoing ICT practices for Development going on, with more emphasis on the projects in Gujarat and some review about National and Global projects as well. The study can prove to be a manual for even a layman to understand the facts, utilities and revolution that can be brought about by the said title. As a result, some chapters revolve around the practices going on world over and give a detailed look at the practices being initiated in India

Private sector provision of Internet access in rural India

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-46).In South India today, a number of ongoing projects seek to provide internet access to rural areas by combining computer, internet, and other telecommunications technologies in a profitable business model. Yet, in spite of growing interest in this work, few formal evaluations have been performed on specific projects and little progress has been made toward increasing discussion of the strengths and weakness of each. Though public, private, and non-profit funds have been in a number of different ways to stimulate rural projects of this sort, evaluations to date have tended to focus on efforts led by public and non-profit organizations. Little attention has been paid to the results of private sector investment. This analysis fills a portion of the existing information gap, examining the efforts of a major sugar cane processing plant in rural South India to provide internet access to villagers. The sugar cane plant's project is evaluated on viability of infrastructure; financial sustainability; and success in meeting the company's own social objectives. In the final analysis, the company seems poised to succeed in creating a functioning, profitable network of rural internet kiosks, however, its success at providing broad access to a diverse segment of communities is limited. Two important findings emerge from this study. First, though access to computers and the internet is still limited in absolute numbers, computer aware individuals and computer users are a demographically diverse group of individuals. An intense survey of rural households demonstrates that users of computers and the internet come from a broad range of backgrounds. Though only one-quarter of rural villagers in surveyed areas were computer aware and an even smaller seven percent actually use computers, the body of actual users was demographically diverse across variables such as gender, wealth, education, and age. Second, the private sector, while seemingly able to construct a viable infrastructure for providing computer and internet access in rural areas, only serves a limited range of individuals. The project examined here was used by only one-quarter of computer users in the local area, or less than 2% of village members in August 2001. Furthermore, while users in the region surveyed were, in general, from a broad range of backgrounds, usage at the rural private sector kiosks was decidedly unequal, serving mainly wealthy male farmers from higher castes. Potential does, however, exist for the expansion of the company's internet kiosk network in a way that will significantly broaden access, reducing the digital divide seen in this private sector initiative. The analysis therefore concludes with three recommendations for improving the project at the village (operator) level and three recommendations at the company (policy) level. At the village level, awareness and skill levels must be increased; information needs and existing use must be studied to facilitate content generation; and the kiosk model must be restructured to facilitate broader access. At the company level, a solid commitment should be made to explicit social objectives; an incentive program should be developed to encourage operators to reach out to a broader range of villagers; and strategic partnerships should be developed to increase demand and available content.by Ben H. Hudson.M.C.P

Review of agricultural extension in India: Are farmers' information needs being met?

Despite a wide range of reform initiatives in agricultural extension in India in the past decades, the coverage of, access to, and quality of information provided to marginalized and poor farmers is uneven. This paper aims to ascertain why farmers are not accessing information and where information gaps exist, despite the variety of extension approaches in India. Using information provision and access as the basis for analysis, the paper reviews some of the major agricultural extension programs in India by considering their ability to provide information and facilitate information sharing and use in farming communities. The review gives a broad overview of the current extension scene in India while providing a synthesis of recent debates and the observations of various authors as well as working groups in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Planning Commission. The paper examines the challenges and constraints of each agricultural extension approach as it attempts to provide farmers with access to information that is relevant to their farm enterprises. As a result of this analysis, opportunities are identified for increasing extension services' effectiveness and efficiency in reaching smallholder farmers. Research gaps are also identified. The review concludes that there is an increasing need to work in partnership and to share knowledge and skills in order to provide locally relevant services that meet the information needs of marginal and smallholder farmers in India.agricultural extension, Knowledge, information, Innovation, Public-private partnership, Gender, Education,

Information and communication Technology and Poverty: An Asian Perspective

The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), in particular the Internet, has generated new enthusiasms about the development prospects for poor economies. Many now think that new technologies can provide a faster route to better livelihoods and improved quality of life than the one afforded by the standard process of industrialization. The opposing view holds that the focus on ICTs will detract attention from the more fundamental task of addressing the basic problems of economic developmentICT; poverty; growth