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Research seminar

Kampala

24-26 Sept 2012

AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO STRENGTHENING POST-CONSTRUCTION

SUPPORT

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Definitions• Wide acceptance that majority of community-based service providers are unable to

manage their water supply without some form of post-construction support• So that service providers can professionalize – see building block on professionalisation• Earlier research showed that vast majority of community-based service providers seek

and get support• However, often in an ad hoc manner; need to differentiate that from structured support.• Different terms: post-construction support, institutional support mechanisms, follow-up

support• Suggested terminology:

– Ad hoc support: one-off or unstructured support activities to service providers or users and user groups

– Direct support: structured support activities to service providers as well as to users or user groups

– Indirect support creating and regulating the enabling environment for rural water supply services provision and support to service authorities

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Types of activities under direct support

• Monitoring, including water quality testing and auditing – so also linked to building block on monitoring

• Advice:– Technical, e.g. O&M– Administrative support, e.g. tariff setting– Organisational, e.g. obtaining legal registration

• Conflict resolution• Support in identifying capital maintenance needs Training and

refresher courses• Provision of information• Resource mobilization

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Different forms of classifying support

• On-demand and supply-driven– Possibility to anticipate problems– On-demand – either ad hoc or through structural

contact

• Support agent provides all support directly, or indirectly, acting as node, contracting out certain support activities

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Relation between service provider, service authority and support agent

Service provision arrangement

Arrangements for directsupport (support agent)

Fully internal Service provision function fulfilled by service authority.

Does not apply.

Mixed Service provision function spread between service authority, CBO and even third parties, such as a dedicated line agency or private mechanics.

Support activities entail both operation and (capital) maintenance work and direct support. Both of which can be internal or external

Fully external Service provision function fulfilled fully by CBO.

Range of support options

Service provision function fulfilled by private utility.

Probably no or very little support needed. Only the monitoring and control function lies with the service authority.

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Arrangements for providing direct support

Institutional arrangement for support agent Examples

Internal arrangement

Direct support by local government e.g. through local government technicians, such as hand pump mechanics or promoters.

Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique

External arrangement

Central government, via deconcentrated offices, parastatal agencies, or contracting to specialised entity

Circuit riders in Central AmericaChile: regional utilities, contracted by national government

Association of community-based service providers, jointly hiring technical support

Indonesia, Senegal, Brazil, Honduras, USA

Local government subcontracting a specialised agency (e.g. urban utility, private company or NGO) or individuals (e.g. private hand pump mechanics), who may provide a mix of direct support and O&M activities.

SSA in South Africa, handpump mechanics

NGOs, mostly ad hoc. El Salvador

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Examples: internal arrangements

Zimbabwe•Mixed model•Local government providing support but also doing some service provision tasks

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Examples: external arrangements

Honduras•Circuit riders from deconcentrated offices of national government•Support function only, through monitoring, (re)training and technical advice

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Examples: external arrangements

South Africa•Support Service Agent contracted by local government•Supporting CBO in administration but also doing part of the service provision functions, in O&M and capital maintenance

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Examples: external arrangements

El Salvador•NGO with circuit rider model of technical advice and (re)training•Monitoring limited to water quality test•Bulk supply of materials (chlorine)•Largely funded out of donor aid

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State of direct support in the sector

• In many countries, mandate for support not explicitly defined• Even where it is, few specific mechanisms or modalities in

place• Limited dedicated financial resources

– Some user contribution– Largely financed by State, or through donor funds

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Comparing expenditure on direct support in various case studies

Case ExpDS (US$/ person/ year)

Mozambique 0.0015El Salvador 0.25India (Andhra Pradesh) 0.32Mali 0.34 Ghana 0.78Honduras 0.90Namibia 1.12-2.76 (actual)

2.59-5.49 (required) South Africa 1.69-3.93Chile 3.44Brazil 3.63

Source: Smits et al., 2011

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Expenditure and costs of direct support

• Annual expenditure on direct support of less than US$ 1 per person per year reported that the relevant agencies were unable to fulfil their mandate

• Annual expenditure of above US$ 3 per person all reported reasonable levels of performance

• Realistic cost of support is probably a couple of US dollars per person per year

• In countries with higher expenditure on support, this is not provided by local government, but by dedicated agencies

• Some scope for user contributions, but largely financed through taxes of transfers

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Experimental approach

• As there is no one “best” institutional model, need to take experimental approach (single loop learning), within resource constraints:

– Institutional modalities for direct support, e.g. HPMAs) – building on existing diversity of modalities

– Mechanisms and activities of direct support, e.g. monitoring and mobile phone applications

• Complemented by clarifying mandates• As well as, critical analysis

– Impacts of different models– Identifying aspects of support that are most critical– Threshold level (non-linearity), below which direct support cannot have significant impact

through financial modelling• As basis for testing completely new models (double loop learning)

– Improving resource base of districts to provide meaningful support– Completely new institutional modalities

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Implications for Tripe-S

• Assess current direct support mechanisms, their impacts and levels of resourcing

• Identify possible incremental improvements and test these – Develop the outline the experiment – with partners– Impacts and costs– Assess limitations – real and ideal level of resource needs

• Identify radically different modalities and test these– Develop the outline the experiment – with partners– Impacts and costs– Assess limitations – real and ideal level of resource needs

• Based on this, work on specifications of mandates