Transition Management for Improving the Sustainability of WASH Services in Informal Settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa—An Exploration

Giorgia Silvestri,Karlijn Schipper,Julia Wittmayer,Roel Van Raak,Philip Nyenje,Hans Komakech,Robinah Kulabako,Sampson Oduro-Kwarteng

doi:10.3390/su10114052

Abstract

This paper explores how transition management processes can be designed to address the unsustainability of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in informal settlements in cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The unsustainability of services related to WASH in informal settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa is deeply embedded in current societal and governance structures, cultures, and practices; it is context-dependent and involves numerous actors with different interests. Based on a literature review and empirical work in Arusha (Tanzania), Dodowa (Ghana), and Kampala (Uganda), we identify five context dimensions that account for the unsustainability of WASH services: (a) multiplicity of WASH practices, structures, and arrangements; (b) governance capacities for WASH services and maintenance; (c) landownership for sustainable access to WASH; (d) public participation in decision-making related to WASH; and (e) socio-economic inequalities governing access to WASH. These dimensions pose numerous conceptual and application challenges for transition management. Based on these challenges, recommendations are formulated for the design of a contextualized, participatory transition management process that is not only functional, but also emancipatory.

Highlights

Ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all is one of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 [1]
To establish an empirically informed understanding of WASH services in informal settlements in SSA, we focus on the cities of Arusha (Tanzania), Dodowa (Greater Accra Region, Ghana), and Kampala (Uganda)
This paper explores how transition management processes can be designed to address the unsustainability of WASH services in informal settlements in cities in SSA

Summary

Introduction

Ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all is one of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 [1]. There have been many attempts to address the lack of (access to) WASH services in SSA—including those provided by governments, international donors, (local) NGOs, and other organisations. These interventions, in many cases, are not sustained over time and/or have failed to meet expected outcomes [7,8,9,10]. The unsustainability of these services is deeply embedded in current societal and governance structures, cultures, and practices, and involves numerous actors with different interests and values Such kinds of problems have been characterized as wicked or persistent and cannot be solved by business-as-usual, or by optimization strategies [13,14]. Achieving more sustainable WASH services requires systemic ways to understand the complexity of the problems at hand and to propose innovative governance approaches

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Conclusion