The financial costs of delivering rural water and sanitation services in lower-income countries

摘要

Despite the impressive progress over the last two decades in which millions ofpeople worldwide have gained first time access to improved water and sanitationinfrastructure, the reality for many is that shortly after infrastructure constructionthe actual service received by users slips back to unacceptably low levels.However, due to inadequate research and inconsistencies with how data and costdata has been collected and reported, very little is known of the necessary levelsof expenditure required to sustain an acceptable (so called “basic”) water andsanitation service and this inhibits effective financial planning for households,communities, governments and donors alike.This thesis sought to provide a better understanding of what has historically beenspent to provide different levels of water and sanitation services as a means tobetter understand the necessary expenditure required. Empirical findings arebased on a large data sample of nearly 2,000 water points, over 4,000 latrines,and over 12,000 household surveys, which have been collected as part of threeresearch projects (WASHCost, Triple-S, and WASHCost Sierra Leone), acrossfive country research areas (Andhra Pradesh (India), Burkina Faso, Ghana,Mozambique, and Sierra Leone).Findings for water supply systems show that the combination of high capitalinvestments of: $19 and $69 per person for community point sources and $33 –$216 per person for piped systems; and low recurrent expenditures of: $0.06 -$0.37 per person per year for point sources and $0.58 - $7.87 per person peryear for piped systems; results in less than half of users receiving a “basic” levelof service. Evidence based estimates of the required expenditure for acceptableservices are found to be far greater than the “effective demand” expressed interms of the willingness to pay of service users and national government for theseservices.Findings for sanitation show that constructing a household latrine that achieves“basic” service standards requires a financial investment of at least $40 that islikely to be an unaffordable barrier for many households in lower incomecountries. In addition the costs and affordability of periodic pit emptying remainsa concern.Ultimately this research suggests that if international standard of improved waterand sanitation services are to be sustained in rural areas, the international sectorwill likely have to provide additional investments to meet a significant proportionof the recurrent costs of delivering these services.