Kristin Komives

Community Participation and Water Supply Sustainability Evidence from Handpump Projects in Rural Ghana

We investigate the extent to which different forms of community participation explain variation in handpump sustainability using data collected from 200 rural communities in Ghana. Data sources include household surveys, engineering assessments of water points, and interviews with water committees and village leaders. The depth of community members’ involvement in project planning is positively associated with handpump sustainability, whereas the breadth of community participation is not. All else held constant, handpump sustainability is enhanced by household members’ involvement in management-related decisions, but is compromised when households are responsible for technical decisions.

Access to Utilities by the Poor : A Global Perspective

The authors address the question of infrastructure reforms in a novel way by focusing on the impact which they can have on consumers through the prices paid by different groups and on their access to the networks. They analyse original material from four Latin American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru – and two European countries – Spain and the UK. Access is especially relevant when considering immature systems which have not yet extended to cover the majority of the population, as is the case in many Latin American countries. The authors also address the widespread impact of privatization on the economy (via macroeconomic influences) and the more general issues of subsidies and regulation which are endemic to these industries. The book focuses on the reform of four sectors: telecommunications, electricity, gas, and water and sanitation.