Assessing community management of water sources in rural Tanzania

Millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to safe drinking water sources. Especially children under five years die from the effects of water borne diseases. In rural areas a major challenge is the low sustainability of implemented water supply systems. Remoteness, high dispersion of population, low access to spare parts, lack of financing, poor maintenance and bad water quality are just a few of the many hurdles. An emerging neoliberal environment since the 1980s has emphasised the economic value of water. Based on this idea many Sub-Saharan African governments and service providers follow a decentralised demand responsive approach. This approach aims on the one hand to enhance community participation and on the other hand move the responsibility of managing the water sources from the national level to the water users themselves.
This research study investigates the communal management of water points in a village in rural Tanzania. Following an explorative and people-centred approach, the study provides local in-depth views on how water is accessed and how water sources are managed. The focus is on the barriers people face when bearing the responsibility to manage their water sources. The sustainable livelihood approach and Giddens’s view on behaviour frame this study. The findings were collected during three months of fieldwork with predominantly qualitative methods, analysed and interpreted according to the theory.
The study shows that water access and its management are strongly influenced by gendered division of labour, communal power structures, cultural traditions, and daily habits. Instead of understanding water as a bare natural resource with an economic value, this study indicates that water is also a social fact.