Balancing economic growth and river protection is a significant undertaking, but not an impossible one. This policy paper addresses the environmental, social, and regulatory complexities surrounding industrial production in Bangladesh. It examines how power dynamics in global supply chains influence state-market regulatory relationships and provides recommendations to strengthen state regulatory capacity, enhance civil society participation in regulatory processes, and strengthen public-private partnerships through global-local alignment.
Research theme
Climate resilience and water security – Key messages from the REACH Kenya programme 2015-2024
This report from the Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation (ICCA) at the University of Nairobi, Kenya provides a summary of key messages from research conducted under the REACH Kenya programme (2015-2024).
Ten years of REACH Kenya
A brief overview of work by the REACH programme in Kenya on interlinked groundwater systems, institutions, water quality management and reducing inequalities, illustrating milestones in the Kitui and Turkana Water Security Observatories.
Rethinking responses to the world’s water crises
This perspective paper in Nature Sustainability reframes responses to mitigating the world’s water crises using a ‘beyond growth’ framing. Beyond growth is systems thinking that prioritizes the most disadvantaged. It seeks to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation by overcoming policy capture and inertia and by fostering place-based and justice-principled institutional changes.
Unpacking the progression of climate uncertainty into precarity in the urban context of drylands: the case of floods in Lodwar, Turkana
Climate uncertainty has always existed both as a socio-ecological reality for pastoralists living with climate variability in drylands and as a component within climate modelling. Despite this, there is little consideration as to the experiences of poor people in the urban drylands living with intensified hazards. In response, this paper discusses an emerging conceptual nexus of uncertainty and precarity, using the example of flood disaster governance in Lodwar, Kenya.
Assessing flooding extent and potential exposure to river pollution from urbanizing peripheral rivers within Greater Dhaka watershed
This study looked into the water quality and flooding situation of Greater Dhaka for two successive monsoons through extensive river sampling coupled with the estimation of flooded area and exposed population using remote sensing tools.
Climate–water crises: critically engaging relational, spatial, and temporal dimensions
This paper examines the political nature of water crisis discourses and their influence on responses to water and climate challenges. It argues that crisis definitions are not universally agreed upon but are shaped by authority, legitimacy, and the ability to mobilize resources.
Public participation and community engagement in domestic water supply management in Kenya: Progress and directions
This report, produced by the University of Oxford in collaboration with representatives from civil society, research institutions, government organisations, and NGOs, evaluates public participation and community engagement in domestic water supply management in Kenya, analysing policy progress, practices, and challenges within an evolving governance landscape.
REACH Story of Change: Water law reform to improve water security for vulnerable people in Africa: A hybrid water law
Permit systems used for water authorisation were introduced in many African countries during the colonial era to protect water entitlements of settlers, with disregard for customary water tenue and local needs. These permit systems require users of water above a defined threshold to apply for permits offering formal legal water rights, therefore granting those who use water below this threshold weaker legal status. This REACH Story of Change explores a science-practitioner partnership which assesses water permit systems in Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The findings have been presented at key international forums and gained significan media attention, influencing policy discussions on water governance reform to better support inclusive rural development and farmer-led irrigation.
REACH Story of Change: Cleaning the tap: Tap hygiene for safer drinking water
Water use behaviour impacts the hygiene of water collection points which can therefore impact water quality. While previous research has focused largely on household hygiene, REACH research has demonstrated how a systematic gap between engineering and hygiene considerations in the water sector is reducing access to safe drinking water. This Story of Change explores how regular cleaning of water point spouts and taps in Bangladesh could substantially reduce the number of people who lack access to uncontaminated drinking water (currently estimated to be between 2-4 billion people worldwide).
