Community based management for sustainable water supply in Malawi

Poor management of water and sanitation resources are impediments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG targets met with high breakdown rate of water points will be meaningless. Much as coverage of safe water is estimated at 72% in Malawi, nearly 30% are not functional at any given time. Community based management (CBM) approach is the answer to achieve sustained beneficial outcomes. This paper aims to provide water professionals with knowledge on how CBM works from Malawi’s own experience using Mpira/Balaka Piped Water Supply Scheme as a case example. Experience-Sharing Workshops, earlier analyses documented by the Government of Malawi, other recent publications supplemented by author’s own personal experience informed the study. Engaging the communities in all stages of the development project is seen as practical solution to meet meaningful MDG targets especially in the developing world. In conclusion, CBM works very well and has multiplier effect on rural development

Can 'functionlaity' save the community management model of rural water supply?

As attention increasingly turns to the sustainability of rural water supplies - and not simply overall levels of coverage or access - water point functionality has become a core concern for development practitioners and national governments, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Within the long-enduring Community-Based Management (CBM) model this has resulted in increased scrutiny of the “functionality” of the local water point committee (WPC) or similar community management organisation. This paper reviews the literature written from both practice-focused and critical-academic perspectives and identifies three areas that pose challenges to our understanding of water point functionality as it relates to CBM. These concern the relative neglect of (i) the local institutional and socio-economic landscape, (ii) broader governance processes and power dynamics, and (iii) the socio-technical interface. By examining these three areas, the paper engages with the specific issue of WPC functionality, whilst also considering broader issues relating to the framing of problems in development and the methodological and disciplinary ways that these are addressed. Furthermore, by focusing on community management of rural water points, the paper lays the ground for a more substantial critique of the continuing persistence of the CBM model as a central development strategy