The effect of community contribution on the functionality of rural water supply programs in Indonesia

Abstract

The influence of the community contributions, such as in-kind, i.e., related to physical contribution in various activities, and in-cash, i.e., cash contribution, on the functionality of the rural water supply program in developing countries is rarely discussed. This study aims to fill that gap by using the 10,789 community-based rural water supply and sanitation programs (PAMSIMAS) data in Indonesia. The in-kind contribution was measured by variables related to some activities conducted before the system was built, while the in-cash contribution was measured by the information related to tariff status, i.e., the monthly water fee. We found that health promotion activity was significantly associated with functionality (OR: 1.03; CI: 1.01–1.05; p ≤ 0.01). The influence of women's participation on functionality is much lower than other types of community contributions. Water supply systems that do not collect water fees from beneficiaries were more likely to be not functioning compared to systems with a tariff system. Moreover, the effect of monthly or regular in-cash or financial contributions on the functionality is significantly larger than all variables related to the in-kind contributions at the beginning of the project, e.g., planning or pipe system construction, with OR values ranging from 1.85 to 3.87 (p ≤ 0.001). This study concludes that a regular financial contribution is necessary to sustain the rural water supply program in developing countries.