Uganda: Rural water supply: major strides in sector coordination and performance

Uganda is endowed with significant freshwater resources. Natural resources are the country’s primary asset base, providing a source of livelihood for more than 90% of the population. However, uneven geographical distribution, coupled with pressures from rapid population growth, increased urbanization, industrialization and environmental degradation, is a big challenge to the sustainable development of the country’s freshwater resources. The annual population growth rate is 3.4% (31,8 million inhabitants estimated as 2010), which poses a major challenge in increasing safe water coverage, especially in rural areas. The largest source of water for the rural population in Uganda is spring water, followed by boreholes. Shallow wells with hand pumps, gravity flow schemes and rainwater harvesting are also used.

Poverty incidence remains high, in spite of progress made, and is firmly entrenched in rural areas. In the early 1990s, the rural water sector was characterized by a relatively weak sector policy framework, limited sector coordination and insufficient institutional capacity. More than 60% of the rural population, some 9 million rural inhabitants lacked access to safe drinking water. In terms of water service delivery, there was a relatively weak sector policy framework, limited sector coordination and insufficient institutional capacity (human, financial and technical), particularly at local government level.

Since 1990, Uganda has made notable progress in increasing access to improved drinking water sources in rural areas and has taken major strides in improving its national and local rural water service delivery systems.

Significant progress in rural water supply was achieved from 1990 to 2008. Considerable progress has been made in implementing the national water policy and attaining national water targets. In the rural water and sanitation sub-sectors, there has been a steady improvement in service coverage over the years. Rural access to improved water source increased from 39% in 1990 to 64% in 2008 which means 11.9 million rural people gained access to improved water sources. In 2010, access was recorded at
65%. Uganda is, as such, a relative leader in terms of improving access to rural water supply when compared with neighbouring countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Challenges going forward include:
• Adequate social sector spending will be needed to maintain sector progress in the long term, particularly in a context of rising unit costs and population growth. Progress was driven by increases in external and domestic development finance and by improved resource allocation to the local level for rural water service delivery. Yet progress may stall as a result of the decline in sector spending and by a shift in focus away from the poverty agenda towards the maintenance of macroeconomic stability, debt servicing and export-driven growth. The social and economic case for basic WSS investments needs to be heard if progress is to be maintained.
• A decline in political backing for the sector and a broader neo-patrimonial logic has restricted further progress and affected the implementation of reforms. Development advocates will need to fully understand these deep-seated – and often intractable – historical and contextual factors to promote WSS sector change more effectively.
• Increasing access to improved water sources needs to be balanced by an adequate focus on sustainability and equity outcomes. Progress will stall, or be reversed, if insufficient attention is given to the OM of water points and to equitable access to water points, especially for the poor and marginalised.
• Incentives linked to project-based aid persist in Uganda, despite progress in this regard. For instance, donors may benefit from the visibility associated with separately managed and ‘branded’ projects. If institutional incentives are not addressed – at all levels – reforms are much less likely to be sustained over time.