M.Sc. (Development Planning) thesis, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, 1999

M.A. / Providing water services to a community takes careful planning and consideration. It is essential that communities are included from the onset in the processes of the project so that their needs, expectations and circumstances can influence decision-making as well as the activities required for the installation and subsequent delivery of the service. This type of involvement is referred to as community participation and it is a very important aspect when a new development takes place in any sector. This study investigated the nature of community participation that took place when a rural village in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, received a water service from the government. This study also assessed the impacts (beneficial and detrimental) on the needs and expectations of the new water system and the level of satisfaction with the service from the viewpoint of community residents. The methods that were used to gather data were focus group meetings, in-depth interviews and a satisfaction survey. The investigation revealed that community participation was not very extensive and was limited to community meetings and labour by community residents. Seven potential benefits of participation, namely, better health, quality of life, equal benefits, human rights, employment opportunities, affordability and sustainable development were identified, but most of the respondents claimed to have only experienced the health benefit from these positive outcomes. Concerns were mostly about the municipality’s insufficient consultation and the tap water not being easily accessible and constantly available. The satisfaction survey confirmed these complaints. Although the study could not show that the dissatisfaction of the community was related to low levels of community participation at the onset of the water service and the lack thereof afterwards, it was recommended that ongoing community participation can resolve the issues that the community might have with the water service and its provider.

This thesis analyses how and why the recurrent costs of water services are shared between different actors in the rural local government areas in Mali which are supported by the international NGO WaterAid. This analysis of the financing arrangements for rural water services is used to critically assess theory, policy and practice in three areas: the community-based management approach to service delivery, the role of decentralised local governments in supporting community management, and the ability of external organisations to influence institutional change. Empirical evidence is presented for the period 2008-2011, drawing on research fieldwork undertaken in collaboration with WaterAid and its partners in 2010 and 2011, as the organisation introduced its own Sustainability Framework to help understand and address the challenges to delivering sustainable rural water services. The thesis argues that approaches to understanding local institutions for natural resource management based on ‘critical institutionalism' (Cleaver 2012), which emphasises the importance of improvisation and adaptation across different scales, should be placed within broader political economy analysis frameworks for assessing challenges in public services delivery from national to local levels. The use of such a framework shows how WaterAid and its partners adopt a ‘critical institutionalist' perspective at community levels to support users in developing ways of raising funds for water services which draw on both traditional practices and NGO influences. However at local government and national levels their approach is based on ideas of ‘best practice' rather than ‘best fit' (Booth 2012): although the costs of local government support to communities under the model promoted by WaterAid lie within international benchmarks, it is unclear over what timescale this approach could be scaled up in Mali without donor support. This demonstrates the limited ability of local governments to ensure the delivery of decentralised public services without additional external resources and support themselves.

Social network analysis was used in combination with qualitative methods to identify characteristics of stakeholder networks that supported cases of institutional development in rural water sectors in Ghana, Malawi, India, Tajikistan, and Bolivia. Institutions studied included local governments, a national government institution, and community operator committees managing water treatment facilities. Interviews with 162 participants in these countries used a facilitated network drawing exercise to capture data on stakeholder relationships and perceptions of factors supporting institutional development. Quantitative analysis of these networks and qualitative analysis of perceived factors identified three network characteristics as supporting institutional development for rural water supply in multiple countries and types of institutions. The three characteristics are: information and skill ties between an institution and stakeholders at lower levels of sector hierarchy; information and skill ties between an institution and stakeholders at higher levels of sector hierarchy; and coordination between stakeholders at higher levels of sector hierarchy that strongly engage an institution. These three characteristics can be observed from a network perspective, and qualitative descriptions of these interactions can improve understanding of the nuance and benefit of particular network ties. Social network analysis on its own cannot predict whether an institution will develop if these network characteristics exist, but it can be used to identify where network ties are absent or weakly developed. Methods and findings from this research enable a rigorous analysis of complex stakeholder interactions in rural water sectors to identify where particular relationships might be strengthened, and strengthening the environments that support institutional development has the potential to lead to the stronger institutions that are necessary for sustainable rural water service delivery.

Thesis (MScEng (Civil engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / In this study, the minimum standards required for the design of rural piped water supply projects as set by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) are evaluated with respect to capital pipe cost using the Nooightgedacht rural water supply scheme selected as a case study.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2008

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1947.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1947.

Thesis (M.S.P.D.(Prof)) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.