WASH

Active Project: Jan 2025 to June 2029

Title: Public Result Oriented Cooperation in Ethiopia for Effective Development (PROCEED) Initiative: Multi-practice, integrated support to foster scaling-up of proven solutions, and effective interventions in rural water service and agricultural sectors of Wolaita Zone, SER.

Component: Sustainable Rural Water Service and Sanitation

Rationale:

For many rural families of the targeted Woredas of Wolaita Zone, access to safe water is still very complicated and becomes particularly critical during the dry season. Those families are then forced to travel long distances in order to fetch water (40 minutes round trip, on average), often of poor quality. This distance considerably reduces the amount of water that can be transported and consumed at household level (between 4 to 6l per day per person for all uses). The time devoted to fetch water for domestic consumption and watering animals is considerable. As these tasks are generally for women, it has a direct effect on their conditions and the management of their time. For women who do not have access to a nearby water point, the time spent to fetch water is estimated between 10 to 20 days per year!

These problems, identified by Ethiopian institutions, are taken into account in public policies, and decentralized services are trying to address them. However, while legislation and human resources’ capacities are present, institutions have difficulty in transforming these political wills into concrete, effective results, notably due to:

-The absence of appropriate guidelines for translating legislation into a series of effective actions to be implemented by stakeholders on the ground;

-The lack of platforms for consultation and operational coordination between public institutions, local elected authorities and representatives of civil society, especially women;

-Technical solutions not fully adequate (design of gravity networks not adapted to rural mountain environments, etc.).

Strategy

I) Scaling up

RCBDIA with more than 15 years of experience in the region , has develop solutions that are now recognised by the local institutions as enabling effective and sustainable preservation of farms and water service. Combining fodder production with SWC intervention and creating durable access for potable water to the rural community has been promoted and well adopted by the rural community. During the past project period the feasibility of scaling out of this intervention piloted through public institution. Now under this project full pledged intervention will be implemented in the targeted Zone and Woredas through the government sector bureau while technically backed by RCBDIA Field team.

These solutions revolves around the creation of platforms that bring together elected official, civil servant and community representative to implement practical field solution such as the multiplication and diffusion of grass and its plantation on anti-erosive structure in agriculture and the monitoring by local actors of clear water service performance indicator, the investment directed to where it will have maximum effectiveness, a novel and adapted friendly maintenance design and stringent standards in construction in water supply.

The aims of this project is to progressively transfer those know-how and approach to the relevant institutions (BoA, ZAD, WAO, BoWIMD, ZWD and WWO) through the redaction of precise methodologies, the organization of coaching, peer-to-peer transmission of experience, establishing clear and simple information flow enabling each level to have a precise vision of the situation in their area, field level and close support from RCBDIA staff to government experts.

Local institutions will be capacitated to:

  • Create, support and strengthen WUAF that deliver an effective water service and able to improve their users water aces (through  maintenance)
  • Have a clear vision of resource and need in their area and capable to design scheme which are context adapted, maintenance friendly, robust and durable
  • Strengthen local contractors and supervising their works to ensure a high quality standards of construction

II) A result based selective approach

The strategy aims to promote result-based investments, taking into account the capacity of local actors to implement projects efficiently and ensure their long-term sustainability. This principle aligns with the government strategy, as outlined, for example, in the National Rural Water Supply Operation & Management Strategic Framework for Ethiopia (section 4.3.2), which states that “support for the provision of additional facilities must be based on evidence of proper management of existing facilities.” The approach is based on the principle that for investment to have maximum effectiveness, it must be results-driven: stakeholders managing development activities in a territory must be able to successfully achieve a first set of simple activities before gradually engaging in more complex ones. In practice, the number of water schemes constructed will depend on the capacity of the Federations to manage existing schemes, the ability of the Woreda to support these federations, and to ensure the quality of the constructions.

The expected output:

  • 74 WUAFs are supported and supervised by WWO experts with the technical support of RCBDIA
  • 86 WP are constructed or rehabilitated through finance channeled by the region with the technical support of RCBDIA and 62 WP are constructed or rehabilitated with RCBDIA direct financing
  • In the 74 WUAFs supported, maintenance mechanisms put in place allow around 179,280 existing users to maintain their access to water over time (664 WP will be kept in a fully functional state

Past Project

Sustainable Rural Water Service and Sanitation (Jan 2022-Dec 2024)

Target

  • 66 rural Kebeles located at 5 Woredas
    • Ofa, Kawo Koysha, Kindo Didaye, Boloso Sore and Boloso Bombe
  • 17,460 persons (2910 HH) first time access to water service (66 Wpts)
  • 181,061 persons (30177 HH) benefit from sustainable Operation & Maintenance
  • Budget allocated: 28,124,292.00 ETB

Key strategy: From “Water Facility” to “Water Service”

  • Investment on new water schemes (facility) is subject to WUAF/WWO performance in terms of O & M management (15 point indicator dashboard)
    • Semi professionalization of WUAF as service provider (utility model)
    • Business plan based tariff setting + Strict collection + Stronger financial management
    • Delegation and performance contract b/n WUA & WUAF
    • WA recruitment, job description + activity calendar + Diagnosis followed by interventions
  • Institutional support to WWO/ZWMED
    • MOU with result based incentive in support to WUAF
    • Logistic support to WWO/ZWMED
    • Tools and system support (Joint planning and reporting tools, M & E tools …
    • Capacity building trainings and Coaching
Note

WWO:  Woreda Water Office

ZWMED: Zone Water Mines and Energy Department

WUA: Water Users Association

WUAF: Water Users Association Federation

WA: Water (Service) Agent