Zambia

In 2016, a results-based funding model was developed to improve the reliability of rural drinking water supply services in Kenya. The Water Services Maintenance Trust Fund (WSMTF) has tested a professional service delivery model in two counties and attracted new sources of results-based funds to guarantee water services in rural communities.

The WSMTF provides an example of how the funding gap can be met by non-donor funds in results-based contracts. In 2017, donor funds paid for 81% of WSMTF contracts, by 2021, the donor proportion had fallen to 14%. In the same period, the annual WSMTF resources increased from just under USD 50,000 to over USD 150,000.

The WSMTF has informed the work of the Uptime Catalyst Facility which has issued results-based contracts guaranteeing reliable drinking water for over 4 million rural people in 12 countries in 2023.

This report, developed by USAID’s REAL-Water initiative, synthesizes a desk review of emerging trends in rural water services delivery, with a focus on 12 countries (Ghana, India, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, the Philippines, Uganda, and Zambia), drawn from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) 2021 list of high-priority, priority, and strategically aligned countries. It also maps water service delivery across an array of categories (including institutional and legal arrangements, regulation, monitoring, technical capacities, and financial capacities) and reports on an e-survey conducted among 400 respondents in the rural water supply sector.

This report presents the history and geographic extent of the rapid handpump corrosion phenomenon in Zambia, including fragmented and seemingly forgotten solutions. The report charts when and where the phenomenon became evident in the country, the measures taken (or not), and what was learned (or not), and proposes next steps for the Zambian government and its cooperating partners to tackle this pervasive problem.
Rapid handpump corrosion occurs when aggressive groundwater reacts with galvanised iron (GI) riser pipes and rods of a handpump, and the India Mark II in particular. The materials corrode, with the pumped water becoming bitter in taste, with an unpleasant smell and a rusty colour. This not only renders the water unfit for drinking from a user perspective but also considerably reduces the pump lifespan. In Zambia, the main cause of rapid handpump corrosion is contact between groundwater with a pH of less than 6.5 and GI pipes and rods. However, salinity is also a problem in some parts of the country and can result in rapid corrosion too.

The Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ) Netherlands commissioned IRC to determine the potential of the SMART approach in reaching SDG6, and other related SDGs. Thus, an assessment was realised in eight African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia).

The SMART approach comprises three pillars: 1) The use of innovative technologies, the SMARTechs; 2) Training of the private sector and 3) Promoting Self-supply. The use of SMARTechs (including manually drilled boreholes, various lifting devices including rope pumps and solar pumps, rain water harvesting systems and household water treatment) is considered as a way of reducing costs and scaling up the options for community and household investments at family level

The report is based upon review of documents, primary data collection (in late 2021) in Tanzania and Zambia including water point surveys and focus group discussions, key informant interviews and water quality testing.

Cette initiative vise à étudier l'ampleur et l'étendue de la corrosion rapide des pompes à motricité humaine en Afrique subsaharienne, à documenter les problèmes de qualité de leurs composants et à mieux comprend re les chaînes d'approvisionnement des pompes à motricité humaine y compris les mécanismes d'assurance qualité. En impliquant et en informant les parties prenantes dès le début de la recherche, l'initiative a tenté de catalyser l'action aux niveaux mondia l et national pour réduire l'incidence de la corrosion rapide des pompes à motricité humaine et améliorer la qualité de leurs composants.

Le premier rapport estime la dépendance aux pompes à motricité humaine en Afrique subsaharienne, examine la littérature sur la fonctionnalité et la performance des pompes à main et synthétise les informations sur la qualité technique des pompes à motricité humaine provenant de diverses études et évaluations.

Les rapports II et III de l'initiative Halte aux dégradations rassemblent les preuves de corrosion rapide des pompes à motricité humaine et de mauvaise qualité de leur s composants en Afrique subsaharienne. Dans le même temps, ce rapport conclut en exhortant les parties prenantes à se réunir et à explorer une autre question « La fonctionnalité des pompes à motrici té humaine n'est pas binaire quelles sont donc les implications pour les programmes, les projets, les services, le suivi et les évaluations »