Growth, water and livelihoods?

How does investment in water supply and sanitation contribute to the government's wider objectives of economic growth and poverty reduction? What are the implications for sector policy and programming? These are important questions which RiPPLE's Growth theme is seeking to address.

Growth prospects in Ethiopia centre on agriculture but are severely constrained by risk and vulnerability and chronic food insecurity. Various studies have shown that access to markets and asset inequality are key factors determining the extent to which growth in a given location is 'pro-poor'. Access to water supply and sanitation (WSS) is a major form of asset inequality in Ethiopia , where less than 40% of the population has access to safe water and less than 20% has access to sanitation facilities. It not only affects the health, welfare and productivity of rural households, but also impacts on their ability to engage in available market opportunities, through savings of time and labour and small scale productive uses.

Our Aims

The aim of RiPPLE's Growth theme is therefore to support implementers to develop WSS interventions which help protect poor households against livelihood shocks and promote food security and productivity. RiPPLE is addressing these issues through a range of research and learning activities designed to strengthen the linkages between macro level policy debates and lessons learned through implementation on the ground.

Activities

Case Studies 

Analysis of links between access to WSS and patterns of growth and poverty reduction in Ethiopia has been carried out using macro- and micro-level data. At the same time, case studies undertaken in East Harerge zone, Oromia region, have examined the costs and benefits of multiple use water services and the role water plays in food security in a rural setting. Full reports will soon be available.

Preliminary headline findings:

• The benefits of providing water for multiple uses (i.e. irrigation, livestock and domestic) largely outweigh the additional costs compared with providing water for single use only.
• Water investments can play a role in supporting food security, even without irrigation: 88% of households in one case study asserted that their food security had improved following water supply interventions, through improved health and the ability to diversify their sources of income. At the macro-level, a significant relationship was found between households' improvements in drinking water sources and (self-reported) improvements in their food situations.
• There is a strong linkage between access to an improved water source and the amount of productive work (e.g. farming or other employment) which a household is engaged in.

Long-term Action Research Studies (LARS)

Drawing on these studies, and research carried out under other themes, RiPPLE is now engaged in developing long-term action research with its partners in Ethiopia, which will begin this summer. This action research is being designed in partnership with LPAs at regional and woreda level, and LPA members will be closely involved. The aim is to forge close links between research, policy and practice, to ensure that the research results are relevant and can be directly used by implementers and policy-makers to improve provision of water services. One LARS will focus on water-livelihood-growth linkages, including the role of water in vulnerabilty and emergencies, and the Growth theme will be centrally involved in the development and research activities of this study.

Page last updated 16 Jun 2008