Sustainability assessment of national rural water supply program in Tanzania |
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Authors: | Ricard Giné Agustí Pérez‐Foguet |
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Affiliation: | 1. Research Group on Cooperation and Human Development (GRECDH), Civil Engineering School, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain;2. Research Group on Co‐operation and Human Development (GRECDH) and Department of Applied Mathematics III, Civil Engineering School, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain |
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Abstract: | Sustainability of rural water supply programs in developing countries is still an elusive goal. It is widely accepted that, as a rule, they have failed to deliver benefits to society in the long run. Emphasis has frequently been placed on the short‐term activities. Fast production of new schemes is thus a common strategy, prioritizing the engineering component, while sidestepping social and participatory issues and community empowerment. In 2006, the Government of Tanzania launched a national program to meet water sector targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. In this study we evaluate key features of the program on a sustained basis. There is evidence that the Government is promoting more sustained facilities, focusing on cost recovery and on ‘decentralization by devolution’. Nevertheless, there are several shortcomings which threaten the long‐term functionality of the infrastructure that has to be built. In light of the implementation of the program, and based on the outputs of its pilot phase, we review the factors that can determine its sustainability. |
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Keywords: | Africa Tanzania Rural water supply Sustainability Millennium Development Goals Learning‐based approach |
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