Community participation and rural water supply system: policy and practice in developing countries

Abstract

Community Participation is broadly recognized as a basic element of rural drinking water supply systems in developing countries. This paper appraised how community participation approach adopted in rural water sectors in Africa and South Asia, particularly in the selected five developing nations; Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, India and Sri Lanka. The policy on community participation is basically linked with development initiatives in the rural segments for a long decade. The selected five countries have adopted community participation strategy - demand driven approach - since the late 1980s and the early 1990s in their rural water sectors. Hence, this paper attempts to understand the effective adaptation of public participation in the rural water schemes as a useful strategy for ensuring the availability of safe, quality and sustainable water supply to the rural communities. This study is mainly qualitative using secondary data derived from various published sources. It revealed that the policy on community participation practice has altered from traditional top-down to demand driven method which has been adopted in the process of water supply especially among rural communities in developing nations. This study found that, according to the demand driven approach, main actors (local people) are not participating in the selection and planning of the rural water project, but they are taking part mostly when operating the water schemes and maintaining the water project in the rural areas. Thus, this study suggests to motivate and mobilize the local beneficiaries to take part in all segments which associated with rural water projects by educating, training, and empowering men, women and youth in developing countries.