IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/5387.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Provision of water to the poor in Africa : experience with water standposts and the informal water sector

Author

Listed:
  • Keener, Sarah
  • Luengo, Manuel
  • Banerjee, Sudeshna

Abstract

Standpipes that dispense water from utilities are the most common alternatives to piped water connections for poor customers in the cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. Fifty-five percent of the unconnected urban population relies on standpipes as their first water source. Other informal water providers include household resellers and a variety of water tankers and vendors, which are the first water source of 1 percent and 3 percent of the urban population, respectively. In the cities studied, the percentage of unconnected households ranges from 12 percent to 86 percent of the population. The percentage of unconnected people covered by standpipes is substantially higher for countries with higher rates of household connection, while the percentage of unconnected people covered by water tankers or water vendors is higher for countries with lower rates of household connection. Water prices in the informal market are much higher than for households with private connections or yard taps. Although standpipes are heavily subsidized by utilities, the prices charged by standpipe operators are closely related to the informal water reseller price. Standpipe management models also affect the informal price of water. For example, the shift from utilities management to delegated management models without complementary regulation or consumer information has often led to declines in service levels and increased prices. Standpipes are not the only or even the most efficient solution in peri-urban areas. Programs that promote private household connections and arrangements that improve pricing and services in the household resale market should also be considered by policy makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Keener, Sarah & Luengo, Manuel & Banerjee, Sudeshna, 2010. "Provision of water to the poor in Africa : experience with water standposts and the informal water sector," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5387, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5387
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2010/07/28/000158349_20100728141604/Rendered/PDF/wps5387.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Menard, Claude & Clarke, George, 2000. "A transitory regime : water supply in Conakry, Guinea," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2362, The World Bank.
    2. Water Utility Partnership for Capacity Building (WUP) Africa, 2003. "Better Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor : Good Practice from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14746, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Banda, E.M. & Mwale, F.D., 2018. "Utility performance in supplying water to informal settlements: A case study from Malawi," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 151-157.
    2. Schäfer, Andrea I. & Hughes, Gordon & Richards, Bryce S., 2014. "Renewable energy powered membrane technology: A leapfrog approach to rural water treatment in developing countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 542-556.
    3. Heinrich Zozmann & Alexander Morgan & Christian Klassert & Bernd Klauer & Erik Gawel, 2022. "Can Tanker Water Services Contribute to Sustainable Access to Water? A Systematic Review of Case Studies in Urban Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-27, September.
    4. Azunre, Gideon Abagna & Amponsah, Owusu & Takyi, Stephen Appiah & Mensah, Henry & Braimah, Imoro, 2022. "Urban informalities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A solution for or barrier against sustainable city development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    5. Jimenez-Redal, Ruben & Parker, Alison & Jeffrey, Paul, 2014. "Factors influencing the uptake of household water connections in peri-urban Maputo, Mozambique," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 22-27.
    6. Lehmann, Paul, 2011. "Making water affordable to all: A typology and evaluation of options for urban water pricing," UFZ Discussion Papers 10/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    7. Dennis Wichelns, 2013. "Enhancing the performance of water prices and tariff structures in achieving socially desirable outcomes," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 310-326, September.
    8. Ryan Schweitzer & C. Pezon & Abdul Pinjari & Catarina Fonseca & James R . Mihelcic, 2013. "Household expenditure on water service Financial and economic expenditures of rural and peri-urban households across socio-economic classes and seasons in Burkina Faso," Post-Print hal-02012158, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Clarke, George R. G. & Menard, Claude & Maria Zuluaga, Ana, 2002. "Measuring the Welfare Effects of Reform: Urban Water Supply in Guinea," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1517-1537, September.
    2. Bain, Robert & Bartram, Jamie & Luyendijk, Rolf, 2013. "Universal Access to Drinking Water: The Role of Aid," WIDER Working Paper Series 088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Ioannis N. Kessides, 2004. "Reforming Infrastructure : Privatization, Regulation, and Competition," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13525, December.
    4. Clarke, George R.G. & Wallsten, Scott J., 2002. "Universal(ly bad) service - providing infrastructure services to rural and poor urban consumers," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2868, The World Bank.
    5. Meran Georg & von Hirschhausen Christian, 2017. "Increasing Block Tariffs in the Water Sector – An Interpretation in Terms of Social Preferences," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 1-24, July.
    6. Kerf, Michel, 2000. "Do state holding companies facilitate private participation in the water sector? evidence from Cote d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2513, The World Bank.
    7. Vivien Foster & José Luis Guasch & Luis Andrés & Thomas Haven, 2008. "The Impact of Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure: Lights, Shadows, and the Road Ahead," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 59818, February.
    8. Sylvy Jaglin, 2001. "L'eau potable dans les villes en développement : les modèles marchands face à la pauvreté," Revue Tiers Monde, Programme National Persée, vol. 42(166), pages 275-303.
    9. Clarke, George & Menard, Claude & Zuluaga, Ana Maria, 2000. "The welfare effects of private sector participation in Guinea's urban water supply," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2361, The World Bank.
    10. Philippe Marin, 2009. "Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Water Utilities : A Review of Experiences in Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2703, December.
    11. Jensen, Olivia & Blanc-Brude, Frederic, 2006. "The handshake : why do governments and firms sign private sector participation deals ? Evidence from the water and sanitation sector in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3937, The World Bank.
    12. Robert Bain & Rolf Luyendijk & Jamie Bartram, 2013. "Universal Access to Drinking Water: the Role of Aid," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Thierry Buchs, 2005. "Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Lessons from Experiences to Date," Microeconomics 0502007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Luis A. Andrés & J. Luis Guasch & Thomas Haven & Vivien Foster, 2008. "The Impact of Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure : Lights, Shadows, and the Road Ahead," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6545, December.
    15. repec:idb:brikps:358 is not listed on IDEAS

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5387. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.