Small water service providers operating in informal markets across the Global South address critical gaps in public investments in the rural water sector. This study analyses the growth and operations of private desalination plants and distributing vendors in Khulna, Bangladesh, within the broader landscape of uncoordinated investments by government, donors and households. Household water choices and payment behaviour vary spatially and seasonally, with observable wealth differences in self-supply investments in rainwater tanks and tubewells. Monitoring and regulating informal private providers can improve sectoral coordination, increase efficiency of service delivery and unlock commercial finances against the backdrop of declining aid-based financing.
2021
Sustainable land management, gender, and agricultural productivity
This IFPRI-REACH policy note summarises the results from a study of six learning watersheds in Central and North-Eastern Ethiopia, particularly the gendered differences in the adoption of and investment in sustainable land management practices.
Legal and policy change to promote sustainable WASH services in Kitui County, Kenya
This report outlines water policy development in Kitui County, Kenya, over the past 10 years. The key contributions of the Kitui Water Bill and Policy are detailed, as well as three core recommendations to continue moving towards sustainable WASH services.
Fear, Efficacy, and Environmental Health Risk Reporting: Complex Responses to Water Quality Test Results in Low-Income Communities
This paper investigates how water quality information influences water safety management in rural Kenya. The authors find that while poverty threatscapes and gender norms hinder behaviour change, test results can motivate supply-level managers to implement hazard control measures.
Infrastructure alone cannot ensure resilience to weather events in drinking water supplies
The paper presents a novel multi-country empirical study measuring weather impact on water quality. Results show that weather-related shocks affect drinking water quality and health, requiring strengthened climate resilience that addresses management and infrastructure.
Invited perspective: Beyond National Water Quality Surveys: Improving Water Quality Surveillance to Achieve Safe Drinking Water for All (Sustainable Development Goal 6.1)
This perspective summarises a recent paper from the Joint Monitoring Program team (Bain et al. 2021), and recommends three key areas for capacity strengthening to advance water safety toward achieving SDG 6.1: better information through risk-based monitoring, improved institutional clarity on roles and responsibilities, and more investment in mainstream water safety planning.
Drinking Water Quality in Bangladesh | 2021 Updates
This report shares key findings from the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019: Water Quality Thematic Report, based on water quality testing and survey carried out in 2019 by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with UNICEF and icddr,b.
Who does what and why? Examining intra-household water and sanitation decisionmaking and autonomy in Asutifi North, Ghana
This article examines two important aspects of decision-making around WASH: motivations behind a person’s actions, and the extent to which decisions are perceived to be solely or jointly made.
‘They will listen to women who speak but it ends there’: examining empowerment in the context of water and sanitation interventions in Ghana
This study explores the meanings of women’s empowerment in the WASH sector from the perspective of local stakeholders in the Asutifi North District, Ghana.
Global prospects to deliver safe drinking water services for 100 million rural people by 2030
This report documents a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers from 68 countries.
