Abstract
Global progress towards the goal of universal, safely managed drinking water services will be shaped by the dynamic relationship between water risks, values and institutions. We apply Mary Douglas’ cultural theory to rural waterpoint management and discuss its operationalisation in pluralist arrangements through networking different management cultures at scale. The theory is tested in coastal Kenya, an area that typifies the challenges faced across Africa in providing rural communities with safely managed water. Drawing on findings from a longitudinal study of 3500 households, we examine how different management cultures face and manage operational, financial, institutional and environmental risks. This paper makes the case for cooperative solutions across systems where current policy effectively separates communities from the state or markets. The contribution of this research is both a theoretical and empirical case to consider pluralist institutional arrangements that enable risks and responsibilities to be re-conceptualised and re-allocated between the state, market and communities to create value for rural water users.
| Original language | Undefined/Unknown |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 268 |
| Number of pages | 277 |
| Journal | Global Environmental Change |
| Volume | 50 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Funding
The corresponding author is a DPhil scholar supported by the Oxford University Clarendon Fund , working in the Water Programme of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. We acknowledge financial support from the ‘Mobile payment systems to reduce rural water risks in Africa’ project (ES/N000137/1) funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the UPGro programme on ‘Groundwater Risk Management for Growth and Development ’ ( NE/M008894/1 ) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council , the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the UK Department for International Development , as well as the ‘REACH: Improving water security for the poor’ programme ( GB-1-201880 ) funded by the UK Department for International Development . An anonymous version of the data will be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request at the end of the grants. The views expressed and information contained in this paper are not necessarily those of or endorsed by these funders, who can accept no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them. The corresponding author is a DPhil scholar supported by the Oxford University Clarendon Fund, working in the Water Programme of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. We acknowledge financial support from the ‘Mobile payment systems to reduce rural water risks in Africa’ project (ES/N000137/1) funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the UPGro programme on ‘Groundwater Risk Management for Growth and Development’ (NE/M008894/1) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the UK Department for International Development, as well as the ‘REACH: Improving water security for the poor’ programme (GB-1-201880) funded by the UK Department for International Development. An anonymous version of the data will be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request at the end of the grants. The views expressed and information contained in this paper are not necessarily those of or endorsed by these funders, who can accept no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Oxford University Clarendon Fund | |
| Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment | |
| Economic and Social Research Council | ES/N000137/1 |
| Natural Environment Research Council | NE/M008894/1 |
| Department for International Development, UK Government | GB-1-201880 |
| Department for International Development, UK Government |