The impact of participation on sustainability : an analysis of the Malawi Rural Piped Scheme Program

This article examines how well schemes constructed under the Malawi Rural Piped Scheme Program are functioning and being maintained today, between 6 and 26 years after they were completed. The very smallest schemes, and the one most recently constructed, were performing very well, but about half the schemes were performing poorly, and a third of these are functioning abysmally. Some of the reasons for the schemes' problems reflect particular features of the way in which the program was implemented in Malawi, e.g., the government's policy to provide fee piped water in rural areas, and the large physical size of the schemes. Other problems, though, stem from shortcomings in the basic participatory strategy, e.g., underestimating the economic costs to the community of participation, assuming that local organizations will perform preventive maintenance, and assuming that government will perform its role if this is limited to backstopping functions.