This Story of Change discusses the role of Sustainable Land Management activities in securing water for livelihoods and household use.
Research theme
Addis Ababa’s water crisis: challenges and opportunities
This brief lays out options to better monitor and manage groundwater use, and to improve the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater to support sustainability for Addis Ababa’s water supplies.
Effects of chronic exposure to arsenic on the fecal carriage of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli among people in rural Bangladesh
Antibiotic resistance is a leading cause of hospitalization and death worldwide. Heavy metals such as arsenic have been shown to drive co-selection of antibiotic resistance, suggesting arsenic-contaminated drinking water is a risk factor for antibiotic resistance carriage. By collecting drinking water and stool from mothers and their children (<1 year), the study aimed to determine the prevalence and abundance of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli among people and drinking water in high and low arsenic-contaminated areas of Bangladesh. The positive association detected between arsenic exposure and antibiotic resistance carriage among children in arsenic-affected areas in Bangladesh is an important public health concern that warrants redoubling efforts to reduce arsenic exposure.
Improving the Reliability of Water Service Delivery in Rural Kenya through Professionalized Maintenance: A System Dynamics Perspective
This study applies system dynamics modeling to assess the potential impact of scaling up professionalized maintenance services on piped water systems in Kitui County, Kenya. The study results show that over a
10 year simulation, calibrated with 21 months of empirical data and based on a range of key assumptions, delivery of professionalized maintenance services across the county may increase countywide functionality rates from 54% to over 83%, leading to a 67% increase in water production.
Water policy, politics, and practice: The case of Kitui County, Kenya
This article uses an action-orientated knowledge framework to consider types of knowledge produced through rural water “policy experiments” in Kitui County, Kenya over the past 10 years. Actionable recommendations for the further development of county-level water policy include: 1) ensure local ownership of the policy-making process whilst enabling appropriate technical and legal support; 2) take long timeframes of institutional change into account in donor programming; and 3) establish water, sanitation and hygiene forums that bring diverse actors within the sector together to build cohesion, facilitate knowledge exchange, enable collaborative learning, and deliver action.
Equitable urban water security: beyond connections on premises
This study investigates to what extent urban water security is equitable in a small town in Northern Ethiopia with almost uniform access to piped water services. Development of a household water insecurity index considering issues of quality, quantity, and reliability, demonstrated high spatial variability in water security between households connected to the piped water system.
When Water Quality Crises Drive Change: A Comparative Analysis of the Policy Processes Behind Major Water Contamination Events
This paper explore the delayed policy response to the arsenic crisis in Bangladesh through comparison with water contamination crises in other contexts
Intra-seasonal rainfall and piped water revenue variability in rural Africa
Rainfall patterns influence water usage and revenue from user payments in rural Africa. The authors explore these dynamics by examining monthly rainfall against 4,888 records of rural piped water revenue in Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda and quantifying revenue changes over 635 transitions between dry and wet seasons.
Evaluation of System-Level, Passive Chlorination in Gravity-Fed Piped Water Systems in Rural Nepal
This article presents a nonrandomized evaluation of two passive chlorination technologies for system-level water treatment in use in western Nepal. Our findings suggest that whilst safe storage, service delivery models, and reliable supply chains are required, passive chlorination technologies have the potential to radically improve rural household access to safely managed water.
Gender gaps in sustainable land management and implications for agricultural productivity: Evidence from Ethiopia
This discussion paper looks at whether a large-scale watershed program promoting sustainable land management (SLM) in Ethiopia increases adoption of SLM in male-headed vs female-headed households. Our findings show that the SLM program significantly increased adoption of SLM practices (soil bunds, stone terraces, mulching) in male-headed households but that adoption was centered on jointly owned plots and male-owned plots, with no significant adoption on women-owned plots.
