Institutional mechanisms for water supply to informal settlements in Zambia a grounded theory approach
Effective provision of water services to informal settlements in Zambia has, andcontinues to challenge policy makers and those mandated to provide this service.Despite effecting widespread reforms for the sector in the mid to late 1990’s witha prime intent of rapidly reinvigorating the sector, problems still remain as vastnumbers of the informal settlement populace continue to live without adequateand sustained access to clean water. The complex nature of these informalsettlements has been cited as one of the key factors responsible for this situationin that the housing units are constructed devoid of any municipal planning andcontrol; are poorly constructed; and, not laid out in a systematic geometric arraywhich is essential for effective provision of modern water reticulationinfrastructure. Other factors include challenges by the service providers tomobilise resources required to install the network infrastructure and also theirinability to fully meet and recover their operational costs. The literature reviewquestioned whether other actors should be willingly allowed to participate in orderto augment service provision and also whether provision of incentives to theservice providers would serve to eradicate this condition of poor service delivery.The research was undertaken using a grounded theory approach within thesocial constructivist paradigm which is most suited where there is an absence oftheory to underpin the research area, or where the existent knowledge base inthe particular area is devoid of any theoretical foundation. The methods of datacollection included focus group discussions and in-depth semi-structuredinterviews. The research revealed that existing service delivery approaches tothese areas needs to be remodelled primarily through overhaul of the existentpolicy framework, if they are to fully cater for the various operational impedimentsinherent in informal settlements. Other findings included the requirement ofoperational incentives to entice the service providers to service these areas andthe formation of ‘quad partnerships’ through which to render services. Thetheoretical propositions (key cornerstones) for informal settlement water supplystated in this research were derived and assembled from these key findings.
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Department of Construction Economics and Management