MUS,
Livelihoods &
Growth?
Tom Slaymaker (ODI)
MUS Meeting, Delft
Feb 12-13th, 2007
Outline
• RiPPLE conceptual development
(Theme 3 focus on WSS livelihoods & growth)
• Wider thinking on ‘pro-poor growth’
(beyond growth plus welfare)
• Positioning water sector debates
(livelihood promotion or livelihood protection?)
• Emerging issues in Ethiopia context
(food security-MUS-growth linkages)
• Water livelihood and growth impacts
(indicators
RiPPLE
• RiPPLE conceptual framework comprises two overlapping focus
areas:
- Money into water (effective finance and delivery of WSS services)
- Water into money (impact of WSS services on livelihoods & growth)
• Theme 3 focus:
- How to improve livelihood & growth
impacts of WSS services?
• Thematic development (ongoing):
- Background/concept paper
- Scoping studies in 3 regions
- Annotated bibliography etc
 Long term action research
WSS-growth linkages 1
• Responding to the Pro-Poor Growth
Agenda
– What does pro-poor growth mean?
• Twin goals of growth & poverty reduction
– Factors determining growth
• Sources of growth & markets (agric, non-agric)
– Enabling environment & strategic investments
– (Re)distribution of benefits
• Ways in which poor people participate & benefit
– Market access and asset inequality
 WSS/MUS as constraint/catalyst to PPG?
WSS-growth linkages 2
• Linking livelihood protection and
livelihood promotion
– Risk & (chronic) vulnerability impact on
growth prospects
• Growth plus welfare is not enough
– Reduce or mitigate livelihood risk
• Mainstreaming risk reduction in sector strategies
– Targeted support for vulnerable groups
• Innovative forms of social protection
Towards water sector investment which not only
protects basic needs but also promotes growth?
Positioning Sector Debates
Macro
Sectoral
Micro
Growth & poverty
Reduction
Better WSS
services
Livelihood protection
& promotion
Public investment
priorities
Access &
Affordability
(MDGs)
Safety nets & food
security
Sector
coordination
Design &
sustainability
(MUS)
Risk & vulnerability
context
Finance and
delivery
Targeting &
inclusion
(equity)
HH food & non-food
income
Emerging issues in Ethiopia
Our aim is to support implementers to develop WSS interventions
which help protect poor households against livelihood shocks and
promote food security and productivity.
Emerging sub-themes/hypotheses
1. Food Security – access to WSS is a key determinant of the
success and impact of food security interventions
2. Multiple Use Services – systems which provide for livestock and
micro irrigation in addition to WSS are more cost effective and
sustainable
3. Growth – equitable access to WSS assets enables more poor hh
to benefit from market opportunities
Question Sets
1. WSS-Food Security
–
–
–
What are the benefits of water interventions in different locations?
How do these translate into food & income at household level?
What are the limiting factors (water sector and beyond)?
2. Multiple Use Services
–
–
–
How can designing for multiple use create new livelihood
opportunities?
What are the costs & benefits associated with multiple use systems
(finance & management capacity)?
How to achieve an appropriate balance between quality & quantity?
3. WSS-Growth
–
–
–
What is the micro level relationship between increased household
consumption and improved water access?
What is the impact of wider trends in water security for efforts to
improve access to WSS? (links to mapping and planning)
Is there a correlation between macro level trends in WSS access and
patterns of poverty reduction +/or growth?
What to measure?
•
•
•
•
•
Impact assessments typically focus on economic rates of return. Studies
show high rates of return to WSS but this is not particularly helpful in
terms of prioritising allocation of limited resources at a local level e.g.
UAP for education, health & WSS but no capital budget.
Attribution of specific impacts on livelihoods and growth is difficult and
frequently depends on complimentary measures in other sectors e.g. the
value of additional labour at hh level depends on education levels.
Returns to micro irrigation depend on access to other inputs including
agric extension & credit facilities and access to output markets.
Growth is basically a function of increased consumption (food, non-food)
at household level but poverty impact needs to be understood in terms
of asset creation/protection and overall reduction in vulnerability e.g.
number of months per year dependent on food aid.
Equity & distribution of benefits? Who benefits from time and energy
savings? Whose nutrition improves? Who controls hh
expenditure/investment? What is increased income spent on?
Don’t forget negative impacts e.g. widening inequalities through loss of
assets/opportunities mediated through social exclusion and adverse
incorporation. Winners and losers from any given project, programme or
policy.
Impact indicators
Broad indicator
Specific indicator
Change indicator
(quantitative)
User feedback
(qualitative)
Incidence of
poverty/food
insecurity
Depth,
distribution,
trends
Hanging in
Stepping up
Stepping out
Asset protection
Resilience
Asset building
Rural water
supply and
sanitation
coverage
Availability,
access & use
Quality,
affordability,
sustainability
Consumption
levels
Time savings
Equity of access
Cost-benefit
Multiple uses
Rates of
(agricultural)
growth
Patterns and
distribution of
growth (national,
regional,
sectoral)
Employment &
wages
HH food & non
food income
Freq of shocks &
stresses
Asset ownership
Asset
productivity
Purchasing
power
Vulnerability
Gender aspects
Quality of
service
Method/approach
• Long-term action research
– HH surveys monitoring changes linked to
specific interventions or initiatives
• HH food & income, scheme design & management
• (x villages, x woredas, x regions)
• Short duration case studies on waterlivelihood-growth linkages
– Micro/meso level (primary & secondary data)
• Water quality, technology, gender, finance,
drought, access to markets, migration
– Macro aspects (secondary data)
• Correlations, causality, trends, transitions
Big Policy Qs?
• Public investment priorities
- what is the relative importance of water
access vis-à-vis other forms of asset inequality
(education, health) in terms of poverty
reduction and growth?
• Inter-sectoral linkages
- beyond universal access targets what are the
implications for targeting & sequencing
investment across different sectors?
• Market-based approaches
- how to support development of markets and
demand responsive institutional frameworks