Water and Politics in Africa

  Rural Community Based Water Management     Our first case study is in Uchira, a relatively large rural village in Tanzania, where they developed a gravity fed water supply for both public and private taps. Community management was really successful in some respects, vastly improving water quality and ensuring year-round supply. However, this case study also exemplifies the often-contested reality of community-based management. Despite improvements in water supply, the level of community participation and perceived ownership remained low. External consultants were brought in, ‘re-enforcing the perception that the scheme is not owned by the community at large’ ( Cleaver & Toner, 2006:  211 ). Despite being ‘hailed as an alternative to professional bureaucratic management,’ this case of community management still resulted in a shift towards ‘professionalisation’, excluding local people. (Cleaver & Toner, 2006:  211).     Year round water supply increased the quality of  life for

This week we’ll look at the history of community-based water development schemes.   The words, ‘community-based water management’ have warm connotations. Positive images of ‘empowered’ communities come to mind - people taking control of their own needs, triumphing over rapacious transnational corporations looking to commoditise water and maximise profits.   This view of service provision in Africa stems from the fact that the development community is ‘still enamoured - at least nominally - with the potential of participatory approaches’ ( Cleaver & Toner, 2006 : 207). However, community-led water management is often over simplified. Hailed as a ‘panacea’ to Africa water provision ( Harvey & Reed, 2006:365 ), the reality is far more varied, far more human, and far more vulnerable. Widespread admiration for community-based projects often results in an ‘uncritical analysis of this type of development project’ ( Page, 2003: 483 ), misrepresenting how they are deployed and what othe