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(Journal Article) Are ceramic water filters effective in preventing diarrhoea and acute malnutrition among under-five children in Sudan?
01.07.2020
Access to safe drinking-water at home is essential during the outpatient treatment of children with acute malnutrition due to their increased vulnerability to infections and disease. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ceramic water filters with safe storage in preventing diarrhoea and acute malnutrition among under-five children in Kassala state, Sudan. It was designed as an open-label randomized controlled trial, comparing two study groups. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews and direct observations, then processed and analysed using Epi Info 7.2.0.1. Use of water filters is a potential predictor of number of diarrhoea episodes per child (P < 0.001). The intervention group had a lower diarrhoea occurrence (P < 0.001), better monthly average weight gain (P = 0.012) and average mid-upper arm circumference increase (P = 0.001), and lower prevalence of acute malnutrition at the end of the study (P = 0.001) compared with the control group. Ceramic water filters with safe storage can be effective in preventing diarrhoea and acute malnutrition, and beneficial to children admitted to Community Management of Acute Malnutrition programmes in Kassala state. More research is needed to understand the pathways to achieving these outcomes. Other WASH interventions may be needed to interrupt the primary vectors of diarrhoea disease transmission in this setting. -
(Journal Article) Addressing women’s needs in water access for economic use: the case of Wukro town, Ethiopia
01.07.2020
In urban areas where water is not adequately supplied, women’s efforts to make a living out of water-intensive businesses face many challenges. The study examined how small-scale businesses run by women in Wukro town, Ethiopia are impacted by inadequate supply of water, and what coping strategies are employed. The lived experiences of women involved in small-scale water-intensive businesses, such as traditional beer brewing and coffee shops, were examined. In addition to these women, the perspectives and experiences of selected key informants as well as the officers at the local water utility have been assessed. Whether or not these women secure support from the social networks in their neighbourhood has also been considered. The study revealed that the unreliable supply of water in the town has impacted women involved in small business. It was indicated that some women manage to do well either by borrowing water from neighbours or purchasing from providers. In contrast, others who run businesses in rented houses with limited social networks expressed that they are struggling. Suggestions are made for the water utility to revise its working guidelines related to the provision of water services and to implement a gendered perspective in water management practices. -
(Journal Article) A call to action: organizational, professional, and personal change for gender transformative WASH programming
01.07.2020
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets aimed at improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are also an opportunity for the transformation of gender norms. To facilitate this transformation, this paper makes a call to action for global and national efforts for organizational, professional, and personal change. Several NGOs are leading a process towards a more reflective and transformative approach. This paper presents a number of examples – from headquarters, and others from country offices and research institutes – of the changes under way to support a stronger connection between the ‘outer faces’ of WASH professionals in the sector and the individual, personal inner spaces. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for personal and organizational change. -
(Journal Article) Providing municipal faecal sludge management services: lessons from Bangladesh
01.07.2020
Faecal sludge management (FSM) is a rising priority in the WASH sector, and governments and development agencies are increasing their investments in faecal sludge treatment plants (FSTPs). In Bangladesh there are plans to build 100 FSTPs in secondary municipalities. However, lessons from past experiences are not widely understood or considered. This article aims to fill that gap, shedding light on the drivers of success and challenges in the provision of municipal FSM services, analysing the cases of older FSTPs in four secondary towns in Bangladesh. Only one of these plants was fully operational, one was not operating, and two were partially operational. A challenge identified was that the faecal sludge treatment plants were not part of an integral and well-thought-out plan considering the whole sanitation service chain. Unbalanced partnerships between stakeholders was a crucial barrier to the long-term success of FSTPs, as it hindered the empowerment of the municipal governments to take ownership of FSM service provision. The financing and technical capacities of the municipalities were another barrier, which was covered by NGOs in the most successful plant. The study suggests that future investment in FSM services in secondary towns in Bangladesh and similar contexts should 1) put municipalities in the driving seat, 2) ensure adequate financing, 3) consider the whole sanitation service chain, and 4) strengthen the capacities of the local actors to deliver FSM services. -
(Journal Article) Global assessment of grant-funded, market-based sanitation development projects
01.07.2020
Evidence on the performance of market-based sanitation (MBS) interventions is needed to support renewed focus on using them to deliver sanitation services at scale. We conducted a comprehensive review of WASH grant-funding since 1980 to identify household sanitation supply projects using an MBS approach, assessed project characteristics and outcomes (population impacted), and reviewed project strategies against three key factors for scaling MBS (customer and business finance; availability and viability of local entrepreneurs; appropriate toilet product and business models). For a subset with higher outcomes, we assessed project strategies more fully against nine MBS strategies considered good practice, and the programme’s ability to leverage household investment. Of 103 sanitation supply projects in eight global databases, 49 qualified as MBS and occurred in 22 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Cumulatively, 27.6 million people, nearly all rural, gained access to basic sanitation via markets across these projects. ‘Large-scale’ MBS projects exceeding 50,000 people gaining basic sanitation (n = 27) compared with those that did not (n = 22) were longer and significantly more likely to address all three key factors (74 per cent vs. 41 per cent; p = 0.019), but on average applied only six of nine good practice strategies. Outcomes and programme leverage were higher in South/Southeast Asia than in sub-Saharan Africa. However, African projects tended to have shorter duration, fewer reached ‘large-scale’, and rarely employed a sales and marketing strategy. We discuss implications for improving the design and performance of MBS interventions globally and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. -
(Book) What Works for Africa's Poorest Children
David Lawson, Diego Angemi, Ibrahim Kasirye
While there has been substantial progress in reducing global poverty in recent years, hundreds of millions of vulnerable children remain trapped in extreme poverty. This is especially the case on the African continent, where children account for the majority and growing proportion of the population....
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(Book) Agriculture and the Generation Problem
Despite predictions that they are destined to disappear, smallholder or family farms still number more than 500 million worldwide, and account for 80 percent of the world’s food. However, smallholder farmer populations are ageing, and many of them have no successor. Young rural men and women are tur...
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(Book) Le traitement des boues de vidange
De nombreux pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire connaissent une urbanisation rapide, ce qui crée un besoin de services, notamment d’assainissement. Alors que certains quartiers dans les villes et agglomérations sont équipés d’égouts, la plupart des habitants, en particulier les citadins pauvres, c...
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(Book) Poor People's Energy Outlook 2019 Arabic
PPEO 2019 is the culmination of five years’ research, exploring what it takes to realise the kinds of energy services that enable people living in energy poverty to thrive. The report compiles and updates key messages and recommendations on energy access planning (PPEO 2016), financing (PPEO 2017) a...
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(Book) Perspectives énergétiques des populations pauvres 2019
Les PPEO 2019 sont l’aboutissement de cinq années de recherches pour explorer par quels moyens donner corps aux types de services énergétiques qui permettraient aux populations pauvres en énergie de prospérer. Le rapport synthétise et met à jour les messages et recommandations clés en matière de pla...
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(Book) Panorama de la pobreza energética 2019
El PPEO 2019 es la culminación de cinco años de investigación, explorando qué se necesita para hacer realidad el tipo de servicios energéticos que permiten a las personas pobres en energía prosperar. El informe recopila y actualiza los mensajes y recomendaciones clave sobre la planificación (PPEO 20...
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(Book) Communication for Development
From girl’s education awareness and action, to attitudes towards violence against children, communication for development (C4D) is a critical tool for sharing knowledge and creating social change. Evaluating how effective such communication has been in creating social change presents challenges. How...
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(Journal Article) Fostering smallholder investment and innovation through inclusive financial services
01.03.2020
This article provides a framework, with supporting examples, for addressing finance for smallholder investment for innovation. Smallholder households function in interconnected ‘systems’ radiating outwards from the household unit: livelihoods, agricultural market systems, community and society, and infrastructure and policy. An inclusive livelihoods model analyses what would need to be true for uptake of innovations by women, men, and youth, and what financial and non-financial products are needed. ‘Customer centric’ integrated value chain financing solutions are tailored to smallholder market segments along eight pathways for growth. A roadmap for facilitating innovation and change using priority pathways, yet grounded in proven financial and development principles, is recommended. Tools and approaches include: value chain facilitation and capacity development – aggregation, market linkages, and private–public partnerships; financial tools – transaction-based financing, flexible products, and risk mitigators; and innovations in service delivery – digital and ICT applications. -
(Journal Article) Dimensions of water insecurity in pastoralist households in Kenya
01.01.2020
Pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya face increasing water security risks attributable to disruptions in their socio-ecological environments. Sedentarized pastoralists, women, and children are most vulnerable to spatial-temporal variations in water availability. This vulnerability is exacerbated by embedded power relations within existing socio-cultural and water governance systems. A preliminary study carried out in 2016 examined pastoralist women’s disempowerment in relation to the domestic water security constraints they face. The research found anecdotal evidence that women with diversified livelihoods and social capital are more resilient to water stress. The follow-on study was carried out in 2018 and aimed to provide empirical evidence on factors behind water security and to identify factors that enhance resilience for vulnerable pastoralist communities. The study covered both urban and rural communities in Samburu County and applied a mixed-methods research methodology incorporating quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The study was also used to test a scale for measuring household water insecurity which could potentially improve the methodology for assessing shock-related stress in these high-risk communities. Results show extreme levels of water insecurity, especially in rural areas, and indicate a close relationship between water security and social capital as indicated in the earlier study. Livelihood diversity does not appear to influence water security but households with higher numbers of livestock tend to be more water insecure than households with smaller herds. This is supported by reports from women that the additional burden of watering homestead-based livestock makes them more vulnerable. -
(Journal Article) Return to learn: recommendations from revisited rural ecosan projects in Burkina Faso
01.01.2020
Burkina Faso has extensive experience with urine-diverting dry toilets (UDDTs) and the reuse of human excreta in agriculture in line with the ecological sanitation (ecosan) principles of containment, treatment, and reuse. Around 30 such ecosan projects have been implemented over the past 15 years, including installation of approximately 13,500 household UDDTs, accompanied by awareness-building and training on toilet use, emptying, and reuse. Recently, efforts have been made to revisit former and current project sites in the spirit of ‘return to learn’. We identified four such learning initiatives (studies/events), from which we draw recommendations to improve the sustainability of future implementation of ecosan in Burkina Faso and similar contexts. Key recommendations include increased attention to different user needs, handwashing and training on emptying/reuse as well as research and innovation on toilet design, urine collection/handling, menstrual management, and cost reduction/financing. Burkina Faso has set up the ambitious goal of 100 per cent toilet coverage and optimal reuse in the national sanitation programme by 2030, with UDDTs projected to make up 15 per cent of the 2 million toilets needed in rural areas. It is therefore timely to take stock and learn from past interventions. In addition, to enable resource recovery and reuse at scale, it will be important to develop a supportive policy and legal framework with collaboration between the WASH, agriculture, health, and environmental sectors. -
(Book) Poor People's Energy Outlook 2019
PPEO 2019 is the culmination of five years’ research, exploring what it takes to realise the kinds of energy services that enable people living in energy poverty to thrive. The report compiles and updates key messages and recommendations on energy access planning (PPEO 2016), financing (PPEO 2017) a...
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(Book) Counterrevolution
The far right is on the rise. The rhetoric of anger and resentment emanating from personalities like Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Rodrigo Duterte and Viktor Orban is captivating and mobilizing large numbers of people. In an increasing number of countries, the extreme right has already captured the g...
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(Journal Article) Better together: improving food security and nutrition by linking market and food systems
01.09.2019
Market-based approaches to food security often increase agricultural productivity and income yet sometimes fail to enhance nutrition. When food security programming combines market and food systems with a specific focus on women and girls, economic and nutrition outcomes benefit. We identify distinctive and shared elements from market and food systems and highlight how they enhance nutrition outcomes when they are combined. We describe food security programming by CARE and World Vision in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, demonstrating nutrition gains in food insecure households. -
(Journal Article) Towards demand-driven services? The role of feedback mechanisms in agribusiness-based advisory services for smallholder farmers
01.09.2019
In many developing countries, agribusinesses are highly engaged in providing services to smallholder farmers, including agricultural advisory services or extension. As private service providers depend on farmers’ choice, eliciting farmer feedback and learning from farmers’ demands seem to become more important. However, the phenomenon of agribusiness-based advisory services has received relatively little attention in the study of advisory services. Little is known on whether and how agribusinesses operationalize the idea of demand-driven service provision. This is a critical oversight as agribusinesses are increasingly present as service providers and hence shape the prevailing service landscape for smallholder farmers. Based on a study of 29 agribusinesses providing advisory services to farmers in developing countries, this paper explores the extent to which agribusinesses provide demand-driven services based on farmer feedback and how they integrate and learn from such feedback. -
(Journal Article) Developing agro-pastoral entrepreneurship: bundling blended finance and technology
01.06.2019
Development of agro-pastoral and pastoral entrepreneurship in arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) of East Africa is constrained by lack of access to financial services, limited technology, and low capacity to engage in high value crop production. This is exacerbated by high risks associated with providing these services to pastoralist communities in ASAL areas in Kenya. The communities’ preference for ethical financial products and services has exacerbated this exclusion. This article presents a new intervention area that addresses these challenges. It argues that bundling ethical financial services with agricultural technology and capacity building positively affects entrepreneurship and income generation among pastoral communities that are transitioning into crop production. This article is based on the Islamic Relief Kenya (IRK) project implementation experience and participatory action and quantitative research conducted with randomly selected members of 180 Alpha Group Savings and Loans Associations (AGSLAs).