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WASH SITUATION IN SMALL TOWNS

IN CRWB WATER-AREA


















CONSULTANCY REPORT
Alma Consultancy
P.O. Box 876, Mzuzu


August 2012
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WASH SITUATION IN SMALL TOWNS IN CRWB Water-AREA

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Small towns in Malawi exhibit both rural and urban characteristics. Rural
characteristics relate to the economic linkages to agriculture. Urban characteristics
may relate to the role of light industry in the economy but are more often linked to
living conditions as a function of density, and changing social systems as a reflection
of increased diversity. This blend of urban and rural characteristics has implications
on the type of development approaches to be employed in order to address service
delivery challenges in these small towns. Typical rural approaches such as
community participation and mobilisation become more difficult to manage as
communities get larger and more diverse. On the other hand, small towns lack the
resources of cities, making the application of urban approaches, where economies of
scale or cross-subsidisation exist between users or between services, more difficult.

Most small towns tend to be diverse, dynamic and constantly evolving. They largely
act as agricultural market and food processing centres and as centres of
employment in small and medium-sized non-agricultural businesses. They normally
attract people from rural areas and this expansion often accelerates when social
services such as water, schools and health centres are provided. Generally
characterised by rapid unplanned growth leading to concentrations of low income
populations, people living in small towns are amongst the worst served for basic
services such as access to water and sanitation which has an impact on hygiene
standards and overall health status.

Investments in small towns have simply not kept pace with the growing need for
services. The predicted growth of small towns is a major development challenge
which threatens to derail efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
for water and sanitation. Given the difficulty of tailoring approaches to individual
contexts, in those countries where small towns receive assistance from central
governments and donors, there tends to be a one size fits all financing,
technological, management and capacity building package.

Despite the challenges of tailoring approaches to meet each small towns
requirements, there is a real need to get small towns onto the right track before
unregulated growth, weak capacity and unhelpful policies allow these burgeoning
towns to become sprawling, un-served and unmanageable urban areas. This is
within Water-Aid Global aim of promoting and securing poor peoples rights and
access through direct provision of adequate sanitation and hygiene services and of
safe drinking water services by 2015 (Water Aid, 2010: 6). Water Aid undertakes this
through partnerships and attempts to influence policy and service providers for better
delivery both in urban and rural areas considering that improved sanitation has
wider benefits like improved health, nutrition, higher school attendance among others
(Water Aid, 2011:5-6). It is in this light that Water Aid, sought an understanding of
the situation of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to inform decision making
with regard to efforts and resources investment in improving access to (and use of)
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sustainable and equitable water and sanitation services in small towns in three
supply zones of Central Region Water Board of Salima, Mponela and Kasungu.

This report presents findings of the situation analysis based on field visits to the
small towns, document review and discussions with various stakeholders.

2.0 THE FINDINGS


2.1 CONTEXT (All)
This section gives the context of the small town/market centre with details on
population size and growth rate, assessment of economy of the target small towns.

2.1.2 Population of the Centres

As shown in the table below, the centres vary in their population size which reflects
their economic levels and land area coverage. Kasungu is the largest (Kasungu
population grew from 27754 in 1998 to 39694 in 2008 at a growth rate of 3.6% )
followed by Salima. These centres have previously benefited from Government
urban infrastructure investments through the SCDP which targeted townships with
management set ups in form of elected councils. Kasungu was in 2009 elevated
from township status to municipal status. Third largest centre is Nkhotakota, like
Ntchisi and Dowa is a district centre. What is worth noting is that all the centres have
high growth rates of above 3% pa. This suggest that demand for services like water
and sanitation facilities will continue to increase. The economy of these centres is
influenced by the agriculture activities within their rural hinterland. Kasungu, Mchinji,
Mponela are located within tobacco growing area, while Dwangwa is sugar industry.
Nkhota-kota and Salima are headquarters of their districts and located along the
main roads. Dowa district economy depends primarily on agriculture with Tobacco
as the main cash crop.. Accomplishment of Ntchisi Road has greatly influenced
economic activities taking place at the district centre. With good road infrastructure it
is easy to link Ntchisi and Mponela and the rest of the country. This in turn has
influenced accelerated population growth rate. According to 2008 population cencus
the growth rate was 3.1%. However, the current growth rate is far much higher than
the rate established in 2008. In like manner Dowa District centre is most likely to be
affected by the completion of the road from M1.

It can be mentioned that there is disparity between the reported NSO population of
the centers and supply area population used by CRWB as shown in tables 1 and 3.


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Table 1: Population of Centres

Centre 2008 1998 1987 1987-2008
(%)
Kasungu 42,351 27,754 10,848 12.6
Mchinji 17,881 11473 4,542 14.
Kamwendo 7,439 3620 - -
Kochilira 880 - - -
Salima 27,852 20,355 10,608 7.7
Nkhotakota 24,726 19,262 12,149 4.9
Dwangwa 11,377 - - -
Chipoka 4,314 3,986 - -
Mponela 15,399 9,846 5,609 8.3
Dowa 7,408 4,493 2,704 8.3
Madise 6,884 - - -
Ntchisi 7,918 5773 3.060 7.6%

2.2 POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK(All)

This sections outlines the policy and legal provisions for the provision, management
and regulation of WASH services in the target small towns. The policy and regulatory
framework for WASH include the following:

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
The MGD 7 target 10 which aims to reduce by 50% the proportion of people without
access to safe water and sanitation provides the framework for any progress on
WASH in Malawi. Based on progress reports the country is making commendable
progress to the extent some claim the target on water can be met by 2015 even
though functionality rate of water points is very low. Noteworthy is that sanitation
lags behind water due to among other reasons, low prioritization and focus on
curative health detracts attention from preventive role of sanitation (Water Aid,
2011:7).

Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS)

The MGDS is the national overarching strategy for implementing government policy
to which all major developers are required to align project implementation. Under
theme one (sustainable economic growth sub-theme one), the MGDS recognizes the
contribution of sustainable use of natural resources such as forestry to economic
growth. Under priority 5 sub theme

With regard to Sanitation, MGDS states:
Sanitation and good hygiene practices contribute to the reduction of water borne and
other related diseases. A clean and healthy environment is not only essential, but
also a prerequisite for a healthy and productive society. Compared to many other
sub-Saharan countries, Malawi has made tremendous progress in achieving
universal access to basic sanitation. Overall access to improved latrine is estimated
at 46 percent; with 43 percent in rural areas and 65 percent in urban areas.
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During the implementation of MGDS, the country made progress in the area of
sanitation and hygiene. These include improved access to potable water from 73
percent in 2005 to 84 percent in 2009 and improved access to basic sanitation from
84 percent in 2005 to 93 percent in 2009 (WMS, 2009).
Malawi still faces a number of challenges in the area of sanitation and hygiene.
These include relatively low access to improved sanitation, low access to running
water, inadequate sewer facilities, unsystematic disposal of liquid, solid and other
forms of waste, inadequate capacity to manage sewer facilities and inability to
separate organic and inorganic components of waste to facilitate composting.
Considering the above challenges and the role sanitation plays to improve the health
of the population, Government through this strategy will pursue the following goal,
outcomes and strategies. Goal
The goal is to ensure use of improved sanitation facilities and adoption of safe
hygiene practices.
Medium-Term Expected Outcome
In the medium term, it is expected that there will be:




Key Strategies
The key strategies include:

based child care centres, markets and all other public places;
;



nitation and hygiene
services;




a) National Water Policy(2005)
The overall policy goal is to achieve sustainable, commercially viable provision of
water supply and sanitation services that are equitably accessible to and used by
individuals and entrepreneurs in urban, peri urban and market centers for socio-
economic development at affordable cost (page4)
The National Water Policy as reflected in its title is meant to address all aspects of
water including resource management, development and service delivery. The policy
has articulated a new water sector vision of Water and Sanitation for all, always.
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The new vision embraces and reflects the Governments overall development
objectives of poverty reduction and economic prosperity, and at the same time aims
at conforming to the regional and global trends and the requirements as reflected
under the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Summit on
Sustainable Development targets of 2015.

The policy comprehensively covers areas of water source management and
development, water quality and pollution control, water utilization, disaster
management and institutional roles and linkages. The policy amongst other issues,
aims at :-
Achieving sustainable and integrated water resources management and
development that make water readily available and equitably accessible by all
Malawians in pursuit of their socio-economic development and for
environmental sustainance.
To ensure water of acceptable quality for all the needs in Malawi.
Achieving sustainable provision of water supply and sanitation services that
are equitably accessible and used by individuals and entrepreneurs for socio-
economic development at affordable cost.
Promoting efficient and effective utilization, conservation and protection of
water resources for sustainable agriculture and irrigation, fisheries,
navigation, ecotourism, forestry, hydropower and disaster management and
environmental protection.
Undertaking the rehabilitation, upgrading, extension and construction of water
infrastructure.
Promoting international cooperation in the management of trans-boundary
and cross-boundary waters without compromising the countrys sovernity,
security and territorial integrity.
Dealing with challenges facing water resources management which include
the need to adopt Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
Principles, the need to conform to current regional and international
agreements and protocols on shared water resources, catchment protection
and management, and water resources monitoring.
Promoting the participation of the private sector in water resources
development, management and service delivery.
Strengthening and building capacity in water sector and;-
Clarifying the roles of the Ministry for Water Affairs and other other
stakeholders

National Sanitation Policy
The policy was approved in 2009 and clarifies roles of institutions in
sanitation services delivery. The Water policy approved in ....
The aim of National sanitation Policy is to provide a framework for development of
programes and initiatives that shall address sanitation and hygiene challenges as
cited in this policy These programmes will contribute to improving the health and
quality of human life, a better environment and a new way for sustainable wealth
creation.

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The policy provides guidelines for the development of an Investment Strategy that
will be supported by the development partners under a Sector Wide Approach
(SWAp) for sanitation. It is envisaged that this approach will a significant contribution
to the development of the country by committing funds to a national single effort that
will address the current poor sanitation and hygiene in Malawi.

Linkages with other relevant policies and programmes

The Goverment has developed several policies, pieces of regislation and regulations
related to sanitation and hygiene.

The Constitution of Malawi revised in 1995, enshrines responsible management of
the environment to provide a healthy living and working environment for all the
people in Malawi.
Vision 2020 which was developed in 1996, provides the long-term development
perspective for improving sanitation and hygiene services in the country.
Malawi Growth and Development Strategy, which was developed in 2006, among
other things seeks to increase access to clean water and sanitation, improve the
nutritional status of children and ensure food security.
The National Water Policy developed in 2005, endeavours to ensure availability of
efficient and effective water and sanitation services that satisfy the basic
requirements for every Malawian and the enhancement of the countrys natural
ecosystems.
The National Environmental Policy, adopted in 2004, outlines the need for pollution
control and the proper disposal of waste water, solid wastes and the protection of
water bodies, with the general principle of The polluter pays.
The public Heath Act. The Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Act as well as a
number of guidelines covering the safe disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous
waste at health facilities.
The Local Government Act and the Decentralization Policy, which promote
a) Accountability and good governance at the local level in order to help
government reduce poverty and
b) Mobilizing the masses for socio-economic development.
Bylaws set by the City, Municipal, Town and District Councils in so far as they impact
on sanitation.
The National Physical Development Plan which refers to the urban planning and
controls unregulated development.
The Social Disability Policy which emphasises the need for access to sanitary
facilities for the physically challenged persons.
The Nation HIV and AIDS Policy and Response Strategy (2005) which facilitates high
level commitment, strong multi-sectoral collaboration and sustained action against
the challenge.
The Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare Act of 1997 that among other things,
promotes provision of potable water, adequate improved sanitary facilities, drainage
systems and sound management of wastes at workplaces whatever appropriate.
The National Irrigation Policy and Development Strategy of 2000 which among other
things advocates addressing specific addressing specific problems that women face
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in irrigated agriculture in order to achieve greater participation of women in small
scale irrigation sector.
The policy has linkages with the National Water Development Programme, Housing
Programmes in urban and semi-urban, town and market centres, and all other
programs recognised in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy.
Institutional Challenges
The policy advocates that the various stakeholders play their roles and
responsibilities in implementing it. However, this might not be guaranteed because
various institutions have different mandates and implementation of the various
activities is determined b priorities set in their respective planning budgets approved
by Parliament

Legal and Policy Framework

The policy came to force after several sectoral policies and pieces of legislation have
been operational in the country. Most of the existing policies and acts are outdated
and due for review. The delay in reviewing and approving these policies and legal
instruments may cause some challenges in the implementation of the National
Sanitation Policy.

Water Works Act (1995)
The Water Works Act No. 17 of 1995 which replaced the 1969 law is legal
instrument for regulation of WASH. The law establishes five water boards
(Blantyre, Lilongwe, Northern, central, southern) and empowers the boards
under section 1(3) to levy and enforce payment of rates and to engage in
research or investigation in connection with water supplies and water-borne
sewerage sanitation. Under section 6; the boards have power of control and
administration of, except for rural water supply areas, all waterworks and all the
water in such waterworks and the management of the supply and distribution of
such water. This provision implies that while rural water supply is the
responsibility of government, urban supply falls in the purview of the boards.
However, upon ministerial approval the boards can by contract extend supply
outside their water-areas (section 18) worthy to note is that by section 19, such
supply must be sufficient for the domestic purposes of the inhabitants within the
water-area. Regarding sanitation the boards are required to install and operate
waterborne sewerage sanitation schemes within the water-area.(section 20)
and may do so any land tenure type (section, 26)


Town and Country Planning Act (1988)
The Act provides for planned development and growth of urban centres.
However, due to weaknesses in the development control process, failure to
implement existing layout plans and lack of awareness, informal settlements
dominate the small towns. informality is a major contributory factor to challenges
of access to safe water and sanitation. A new bill to improve the situation has not
been debated by the national assembly for nearly 10 years. A review of planning
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standards and guidelines has been completed and it is hoped this can promote
access to safe water and sanitation.

Housing Policy




National Land Policy:
Land Policy consists of a whole complex of socio-economic and legal
prescriptions that include the system of land tenure, and influence how land
resources and the benefits from the land are to be distributed. Therefore,
national land management should entail decision-making and the
implementation of decisions about land.




National Decentralisation Policy & Local Government Act

The policy:-

(a) devolves administration and political authority to the district level;

(b) integrates governmental agencies at the district and local levels into
one administrative unit, through the process of institutional integration,
absorption, composite budgeting and provision of funds for the
decentralised services;

(c) diverts the centre of implementation responsibilities and transfers these
to the districts;

(d) assigns, functions and responsibilities to the various levels of
government; and

(e) promotes popular participation in the governance and development of
districts.

POLICY OBJECTIVES

The Decentralisation Policy seeks to achieve the following objectives:

(a) to create a democratic environment and institutions in Malawi for
governance and development; at the local level which will facilitate the
participation of the grass roots in decision making:

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(b) to eliminate dual administrations (field administration and local
government) at the district level with the aim of making public service
more efficient, more economical and cost effective;

(c) to promote accountability and good governance at the local level in
order to help Government reduce poverty; and

(d) to mobilise the masses for socio-economic development at the local
level.




Public Health Act

District Development Plans in which the small towns are located

The plans outline projects and initiatives which the councils would like to
implement within the planning period either with the help of Government,
NGOs, CBOs other bilateral and multilateral partners etc.

SOER & District Water Atlases (status reports on water supply)
Etc

These indicate the position of all water points within the area under
consideration, type of water facilities and the status of each water facility
including the implementer organizations

Environmental Management Act
Environmental Act which is An Act to make provision for the protection and
management of the environment and the conservation and sustainable
utilization of natural resources and for matters connected therewith and
incidental thereto.
The extent to which these policy and regulatory frameworks realize WASH goals
remains contentious with different levels of success claimed. For example,
UNICEF/WHO (2012: 12;23) suggest government has made significant progress
between 1995 and 2010 with over 22.8% (3.4 million people) gaining access to
improved sanitation and 48.4% gaining access to safe water leading a supply
coverage of 83%. Other authorities, especially NGOs argue that claims of success
do not consider functionality rate of facilities which reduced coverage significantly
(Water Aid, 2010 ). Definitions of concepts like improved, safe and adequate also
lack consensus hence variations on reported figures (Manda, 2009). In particular,
major urban centers reveal a serious unmet demand of WASH. The situation is more
glaring in the small towns which due to lack of management set up as exists for cities
remain untargeted in any sanitation and hygiene policy, funding and projects.

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2.3 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN WASH GOVERNANCE

This section outlines the roles played by the various organizations and institutions
with regard to WASH in the selected small towns and what is their capacity to
delivery on them.


2.3.1 Who are the Actors

Government: The Government of Malawi (GoM) is the policy holder for both water
supply and hygiene. The Ministry developed a National 10 Year Sanitation and
Hygiene Investment Plan and Strategy (NYSHIPS ) for the irrigation, water and
sanitation sector that will enable GoM to attain its vision of ensuring Sanitation for
All in Malawi and its Mission of ensuring that all people in Malawi own and have
access to Improved Sanitation facilities, practice safe hygiene, re-use and/or
recycling of waste. The Ministry is also directly responsible for rural water supply
delivery and in this regard controls all rural water supply schemes such as Mchinji,
Nkhamenya. Government sources funds from various development partners to
support CRWB to supply adequate water in the small towns.

CRWB: CRWB has been mandated to supply portable water in urban centers in an
monopolistic business environment. CRWB is a commercial entity and their
transaction are solely on cost recovery with small profit margin. With this in mind, all
partnership should be on a business front and can only be through the Ministry of
Irrigation and Water Development. The Boards provide low tariffs to low income
areas as corporate social responsibility With the pending sanitation act the water
boards are likely to extend their services to sanitation and hygiene intervention which
is currently a function of the town or district councils
1

CRWB has been mandated to supply portable water in the areas of concern in an
monopolistic business environment. According to the Director of water supply
services the water board is a commercial entity and their transactions are solely on
full cost recovery with small profit margin. With this in mind, all partnership should be
on a business front and can only be through the Ministry of Irrigation and Water
Development. The Boards provide low tariffs to low income areas as corporate social
responsibility and Malawi Government has already sourced grants from various
development partners to support the water boards to outreach these areas.It is
reported that all market centres like Nkhamenya in Kasungu etc are directly under
the responsibility of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development. The
Waterboards are only used to build their capacity on technical expertise. Water users
Association model of managing community water supply is a component of
District/town Council at the current setup. With the pending sanitation act the water
boards are likely to extend their services to sanitation and hygiene intervention.
However, at the moment, the town or district councils are mandated to support the
community on sanitation and hygiene.

Local Governments: These have mandate through the Local Government Act and
Decentralisation Policy. In this regard the council prepared District Strategic and

1
Discussion with Mr Gondwe, Director of Water Supply Services, MoIWD date???
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Investment Plans (DSIP) to have focused implementation of WASH projects, but the
DSIP specifically are for rural WASH programmes. The local governments
implement these WASH projects through the district executive committee (DEC) as
decision making body that oversee district coordinating team (DCTs) for WASH in
which the officers responsible for WASH, Water, Environmental Health and Planning
officers are focal points. THE CTs meet quarterly to evaluate annual plans However,
such operations and the DSIPs leave out small towns within the districts.
Furthermore, power struggles between the centre and local councils coupled with
lack of political will to conduct local elections create serious capacity challenges
leading council staff to lack independence and instead attempting to win the favour
of any development partner with little progress.

NGO/Civil Society: There several international and national nongovernmental
organisations engaged in the WASH sector. Some NGO are affiliated to religious
institutions operating in Malawi or outside. Generally, these tend to form tripartite
arrangements for project implementation involving an international NGO that sources
funding from a donor or parent NGO based outside Malawi, a local national NGO
and a local government. While some are in direct implementation, others fund
capacity building or identify facilitators for the target sectors. Among the major NGO
are: World Vision, Concern Universal, Plan International, Action Aid, Malawi Red
Cross, Pump-Aid, NICE, Livingstonia Synod, Nkhoma Synod, PSI among others.
Observations indicate that though these NGOs are based at urban centres but
undertake activities in the rural areas.

Communities: Communities are actors both as project beneficiaries, users and
through committees as manager of WASH facilities. Water committees, Water User
Associations and private Operators groupings are seen to operate in various small
towns visited with varying degrees of success.

Donors- donors is used here broadly to includes bilateral governments and
international financial institutions. In this regard the major donor in the WASH sector
are: Currently, important donors include UNICEF, AfDB, World Bank, JICA, DFID,
AusAid, EIB/ EU, Clinton-Hunder Foundation, JICA, Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation: funding to slum upgrading, DfiD (UK Aid) and UN Habitat support
national or local government in both rural and urban water supply and sanitation
programmes. International NGOs supporting the sector include World Vision,
Concern Universal, Plan International, Engineers Without Borders, Water for People,
Pump Aid and Emanuel International. It is intended that the NWDP II will be used as
a precursor to a full Sector Wide Approach (SWAp). It is expected that there can be
collaboration through NWDP II. Large-scale urban water supply in Lilongwe and
Blantyre, the two major cities in Malawi, is the responsibility of city-specific Water
Boards. Sewerage is currently the responsibility of City Councils although the Water
Policy and the Water Act (1995) transfer this responsibility to the Water Boards. On-
site sanitation and solid waste management also come under the Councils.
Currently, there are plans to create public asset companies and bring in
management contracts for these boards. For smaller cities, towns and market
centres, there are three Regional Water Boards, namely the Central, Northern and
Southern Region Water Boards. As part of urban reforms, the Government
announced in May 2010 the proposed merger of Lilongwe Water Board with the
Central Region Water Board to form a new Central Region Water Board, and
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Blantyre Water Board with Southern Region Water Board to form a new Southern
Region Water Board. Implications for WaterAid include the need to re-establish a
new partnership with the new the New Central Region Water Board for the
implementation of urban work which usually takes time, especially with changes of
management staff. However, with Water-Aids plan to start work in small towns in the
central region, it would mean dealing with a single entity for both urban and small
towns.



2.3.3 WASH Governance

At each centres (and within each district), there is a well established framework for
WASH governance which follow the decentralization framework. The DEC is
responsible for decision making at district level. Several working committees are
established by sector. A WASH working committee is among those in existence at
each District/municipal council. The WASH working committee comprises staff from
council secretariat represented by the director of planning, water officer,
environmental officer, Environmental Health officer (WASH officer) from the Health
Ministry stationed at the hospital and other staff members. The working committee
relies on data collected by the Health Surveillance Assistants (H.S.A) and water
quality analysis results from CRWB or Water Quality Central Laboratory or the
district water office to make decisions on WASH. With such an arrangement WASH
governance appears well catered for. However, community representatives are not
members of the working committees.

Actual operations of water supply governance varies by centres /scheme especially
with regard to management of communal water points/kiosks. In general CRWB
appear to advocate private operators to manage communal water points. The
decision was reached when the board found that communities were unable to settle
water bills because water committee leaders misappropriated revenue collected from
the community which led to disconnections. Within Mponela Zone the bills that led to
Kiosk disconnection ranged from 15,000 in Dowa to K40,000 in Ntchisi and K20,000
in Mponela. Private operators therefore run the kiosks as a business and ensure
continued supply. It should be noted that for this reason, the price of water varies
significantly between and within the schemes. These differences are outlined below:

Kasungu: There is a serious concern on water shortages at Kasungu town but some
stakeholders such as the district commissioner are not aware why the situation was
like that. This showed lack of consultation despite there existing an existing structure
involving a district WASH officer at the hospital and a district Water Officer.

Observations and FGDs also revealed that price of water varies significantly within
Kasungu Town. For example, a private operator running a tap at the market charged
water at K40/pail while other operators charge water at K15/pail. Though locality
and use type appear to be a major factor, the price differential is quite large. It is
unsurprising that at Kasungu a market, one unsafe shallow well next to a public toilet
soak-away pit supports the operations of restaurants/chips sellers and buyers both
for cooking and drinking more so when supply at the commercial tap is erratic.
Members of MHPF/CCODE have two self funded and managed Kiosks to supply
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water to the grouping (total of 80 houses) housing project. A water seller is
responsible for all transactions-collecting cash and paying bills. The kiosks have
never been disconnected.

However, consultations indicate that problems relate to sanitation as communities
appear used to open/bush defecation and pit latrines. The argument that skyloo
toilets can save space when the people have enough space does not make sense.
In addition communities find it hard work to mould bricks or use cement just for a
toilet slabs.


Mchinji: a grouping of the private operators was formed called Community Liaison
Group (CLG) the only such organization in three zones. The other governance
structure was observed in Nkhota-kota where a community Water Committee was
established. Elsewhere water committees only exist in rural areas where it is a
requirement before a borehole can be provided to the community. The WASH officer
based at the Hospital promotes Community Lead Total Sanitation (CLTS) and
School Lead Total Sanitation (SLTS) (at primary schools and community based child
cares centres), but the majority of activities are rural based. Even data collection
assumes that urban centres do not exist (data is collected and reported only by
Traditional area).


Ntchisi Area:

Ntchisi Area:Interviews with the DPD in Ntchisi District Council revealed that sanitation and
hygiene issues are generally absent at Ntchisi District Centre. Few activities are being
implemented at the the District Centre by the District Heath Officer (WASH Officer) and the
District Water Officer. NGOs are operating in the rural areas. The choice of an operation
area is based on the criteria set by the NGO. It was generally noted that NGO have vested
interest in some rural areas and hence they do not operate in small towns. Some NGOs are
Christian based and therefore operate where their followers stay. There is also a general
feeling that the Malawi Government through the district and town councils priorities offering
services to urban centres but neglects the rural areas. If the NGO operates in an urban
centre where the Government is already implementing WASH activities it becomes difficult to
quantify the results (impacts and effectiveness) from the NGO actions. This scenario forces
the NGOs to operate in rural areas where Governments interventions are almost absent.


It was reported that all water kiosks are
operated by individuals. There are no
Water User Associations in the area. A
visit to one of the kiosks (Kiosk No 6)
confirmed that the kiosks are being
operated by individuals. The kiosk that
was visited (Kiosk No 2) was closed at the
time of the visit due to rationing by
CRWB. It was fairy in good condition even
though the soak way needed
improvement. The kiosk has two taps but
only one is operating at present. It was
WESM: The community to be provided a
borehole must mobilize (fundraise)
K15,000 as deposit, must establish a
water committee; must ensure gender
balance, ensure to repair the borehole.
To this effect local persons may be
trained to repair the borehole and use
funds from the initial deposit. Members
also pay for the water at minimal cost to
ensure continued cash availability for
repairs.
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reported that customers pay MK500.00 per month.

Dowa: Interviews with the DPD in Ntchisi District Council revealed that sanitation and
hygiene issues are generally absent at Ntchisi District Centre. Few activities are being
implemented at the the District Centre by the District Heath Officer and the District Water
Officer. NGOs are operating in the rural areas. The choice of an operation area is based on
the criteria set by the NGO. It was generally noted that NGO have vested interest in some
rural areas and hence they do not operate in small towns


It was reported that all water kiosks are operated by individuals. There are no Water Users
Associations in the area. A visit to one of the kiosks (Kiosk No 6) confirmed that the kiosks
are being operated by individuals. This kiosk was closed at the time of the visit due to
rationing. It was fairy in good condition even though the soak way needed improvement. The
kiosk has two taps but only one is operating at present. It was reported that customers pay
MK500.00 per month.


2.4 WATER SUPPLY SITUATION

This section provides a detailed description of water supply services, management
and coverage. The planned and actual capacity of the system and the functionality
levels.

Technically all small towns are utilizing either surface water or groundwater. None of
the small towns were observed to be utilizing rainwater harvesting. Surface water
uses river intakes which operate as run of river schemes or storage schemes with
storage reservoirs up stream. Availability of groundwater is depended on the
hydrogeology of the area under consideration. Specific information is found under
each scheme.

The CRWB is mandated to supply potable water to some of the centres as
prescribed in the Water Works Act. CRWB sources water from surface and
underground sources either by using a river intake or boreholes and pumping into
treatment works for treatment before distribution to clients. From the treatment work
water is pumped into storage reservoirs located strategic points within the supply
area. Distribution is generally by gravity. However, it was observed in some schemes
that water was pumped directly from a borehole into the distribution system.

Mponela Scheme-
CRWB Supply water to an estimated 58% (7500) of the estimated 13000 supply
area population of Mponela scheme. Supply is through 24 hours/day pumping from
boreholes that get their water stored in the weathered basement complex aquifer.
Generally, sustainable surface water sources are absent. Mponela has a total of 851
metered customers and 15 on the waiting list. However, 149 were disconnected at
the time of visit due to unpaid bills.

The main challenges at Mponela Scheme include:
Not enough storage tanks. There is only one tank of capacity 200 m
3
.
There are seven (7) plant houses/boreholes, but the yields are very low at an
average of 0.9 l/sec for each borehole
16 | P a g e

There are many customers at Chikuluti Low Density area, but due to low
pressure, supply cannot be extended
Too many power outages, lead to low production and hence failure to supply
24hrs/ day
Low budgetary allocation of K1.7 million for the whole Mponela Zone which
has been negatively impacted by devaluation of 2012.
New projects include the proposed new 350 m
3
tank under the World Bank project
estimated at $2.0 million. With the new tank, it is expected that supply will improve.
For example, during testing, 3 newly drilled boreholes yielded 8 l/sec and 3 others
yielded 2 l/sec. The major determinant of sustainability remain weather and the local
characteristics of the aquifer. Other future plans are to reach more low income
communities by increasing the number of kiosks from 9 thereby increasing customer
base by at least 5%. Considering the budgetary limitations, sanitation and hygiene
aspects are not considered except to advise customers, during installation to ensure
the water points are kept clean. In addition, although there are NGOs such as World
Vision, stationed at Mponela, these do not operate within the supply area of the
scheme.

Madisi Scheme
Madise Scheme has a potential supply area population of 10,500 but coverage is
only 48% (5,000). Supply is from 4 boreholes and three tanks (one of which in
nonoperational). The main challenges in Madise Scheme include:
Only one bore hole is effective at 0.5 l/sec which is still too little. One borehole
is not operational
Power outages disrupt production
There are no NGOs to support CRWB efforts
Madise scheme expects to use internal sources to drill two(2) new boreholes to
increase supply and customer base by at least 3 within 2012/13 financial year. Five
(5) kiosks are also planned as this can serve the low income groups who lack
alternative water sources since surface and ground water sources are salty in the
area. Other consideration relate to the need to rehabilitate existing boreholes.

17 | P a g e

Mchinji Scheme:
Mchinji supply water from
Chimwankhuku and Mtenjemanage
streams. Additional supply is from
overflow of the rural water supply
scheme operated by the Ministry of
Irrigation and Water Development
(rehabilitated in 1994). The overflow
is due to low demand downstream ( a
situation that calls for some kind of
partnership between the bodies).
Water is then led into storage tank of
1500 m
3
by gravity from where 8
hours supply is assured even in
absence of power. Since only stream
water is used flocculants are not
used as water is not very turbid.
Population in the supply area is 21,
160 but coverage is about 50%
(10,580) with only 1800 customers.
Breakdown by category was not
available, but there are 29 kiosks (8
disconnected). CRWB sells water to
Kiosk at K51.36 / m
3
which is
equivalent to 40 pails. Operator sell
the water at K600 / m
3
which is a
very high profit margin. It was
surprising that Kiosks operators
failed to pay bills to point of
disconnection. When kiosks were
disconnected , there were bills
ranging from K20, 000 to K200,000
(the total owed by Kiosks was over
K500, 000).

Kochilira scheme
The scheme was developed in 1956
to supply water to the Kochilira Rural
Hospital . The Scheme sources water
from two sources (a) a shallow well installed with a motorized pump and a borehole
which is a stand by source. Water is pumped via 100 mm pipes into 43 m
3

overhead steel tank only for the hospital, staff and a few households. It can pump
water for 3 hours to supply for a whole day. The total population in the supply area is
4, 565, but only 301 (6.6%) is served with only about 50 customers with 7
disconnected. Though the scheme was developed specifically for the hospital, there
were plans to expand to Kamwendo but the idea was reversed when a new scheme
was developed at Kamwendo. By September, 2012 replacement and rehabilitation of
Kochilira tank and will be accomplished.


Mchinji Private Operators: Since 2002, kiosks
were non-operational because of outstanding
bills. This led to decision to privatise. CRWB
advertised to expression of interest followed by
interviews. Those recruited were observed for
one year. In two years, use of operators was seen
as effective: paid outstanding bills, paid current
bills, cleanliness at kiosk, cleanliness at soak
away, and respect to customers. An operators
formed the community Liaison group with
support of CRWB. CLG has 21 members (ought
to be 29), membership corresponds with number
of kiosks. The 8 are no longer because their
kiosks are disconnected. No operator can be
outside CLG. Operators are responsible for all
maintenance work after the meter. MOU was
signed in which chairman ensures bills are paid
to CRWB, if not one loses membership of CLG
and kiosk is disconnected. CRWB on heir [art
must supply adequate water continuously. When
there tariff adjustment CLG is told in advance
and a decision is made to revise kiosk rate or not.
CRWB and CLG hold regular meetings and
attend each others meetings. CLG has since
opened a welfare bank account at MSB. CLG
Kiosks have different operational schedules, 17
open 6-11 am and 3-6.30 pm (4 open all day).
Clients pay K15 /25 litre pail; 5/litre pail sell at
K5. Some clients pay monthly K500 for 6 pail
daily. In a month an operator can earn as much
as K6,000-K7,000 and pay half of it to CRWB.
This description is based on discussion with
Kapusa Nkhata: operator of Kiosk No. 15 since
2006 and chairman of CLG. As social
responsibility, Kapusa Nkhata allowed an elderly
woman to draw water for free when kiosk is
open.
18 | P a g e

Kamwendo Scheme:
The scheme is new having been developed after 2010. Supply is from 7 boreholes
into a 500 m
3
tank. Though 500 had made applications, the CRWB expects over
1150 connections in total by 2012. Kamwendo scheme used funds meant for
Nkhamenya where both water and sanitation could have been covered. The failure
to extend Kochilira scheme gave the urgency for Kamwendo project. Sanitation
issues were removed due to price variations.

Main Challenges for Mchinji Schemes:
Some locations are far from mains, hence are not served
Communities complain they do not get adequate supply
In the dry season there is shortage of supply due to low head at source,
hence dry taps
Misuse of water , hence unaccounted for water and high bills
Annual funding of K1 to K2 million is inadequate
Proposed projects include:
3.5 km and 2.4 km extensions to Maula and Masausto areas in 2012/13
fiscal year
New connection to Ludzi stream with internal funds totaling K2.0 million
(before devaluation). Currently hydrological designs are under finalization.
Since CRWB supply water based on where people develop, other projects
depend on demand e.g. towards Zambia border where many people are
building houses.
Kasungu Scheme
Water is supplied from Chitete Dam, developed in 1968 and rehabilitated in 1993 by
raising the old dam. Production is estimated at 1000 m
3
/day with two storage tanks
of 750 m
3
and 450 m
3
. Additional supply is from Nguluyanawambe dam ( 750m
3
/day). The current population in the supply is about 50,147 of which 66% (33,097)
is currently served with supply.

The main challenges include:
Some areas do not have water despite being connected e.g. Chithiba School
after Chitete; Kasalika residential area. At Chiteyeye, the tank is on site, but
the households lack any water, Chitete has no water every morning. This
affects sanitation and hygiene
The system is old, demand is higher than supply, hence tanks are nearly
always empty. Estimates showed that by 2012 demand would outstrip supply
due to low capacity (CRWB, 2009 :19)
Open defecation in town is common. The existence of flying toilet has been
noted in some informal settlements due to low latrine coverage or lack of
space within individual Housing plots.
Use of unsafe water in wells (e.g. at the market) due to erratic supply and high
cost of water supplied by private operators
19 | P a g e

Apparent inequity- Belele and Kamvunguti (and some parts of Chitete) which
are high income locations 24 hours supply.
Other centers of Nkhamenya and Chatoloma appear neglected despite that
Nkhamenya will be growth centre
Proposed projects include:
Expansion of supply to Yasenya where there no water. Construction of a new
tank at Mapuloti Area.
Rehabilitation and expansion of the scheme under International
Development Bank funded National Water Development Project. This involves
increasing reticulation network, rehabilitation of old pipelines, increasing
production and improving financial performance. Though the project which
was expected to be completed by 2011, had stalled, it was in 2012 on course
with identification of new contractors. The project will also improve filters at
the dam, construct two (2) tanks/reservoirs. Total estimated cost of the
project was $587,115.
20 | P a g e


Dry private commercial tap at Kasungu Market
Kasungu: Kiosk No.4 Chitete (there are six other kiosks in the area): The Kiosk is privatised to Mrs
Samson since 1998. She paid K4000 to buy the kiosk. Patrons either pay K15/pail of 20 litres or choose to
pay monthly fee of K600. She has 20 customers who opted for monthly payments. The kiosk is open 6-11
am and 4-6 pm. She earns about K6,000 profit from which she pay a K1,500/month as a wage for a water
seller , Her bills range from K4000 to K11,000/month.
21 | P a g e


The important well at Kasungu Market

Dowa scheme

Central Region Water Board supply water to an estimated population of 4,644 which
is 58% coverage of Dowa s 8,000 population. The Board is utilizing a dual supply
system with both surface and ground water. The source of surface water is Lingadzi
River with an intake near Kongwe Mission. The water comes from Kongwe Dam
which takes its name after the mission. The Board is utilizing 1 borehole of ground
water with an average yield of 2 litre /s. Total production is at 13, 500m
3
/month with
billed volume of 11,000 m
3
/ month reflecting 30% non revenue water. It was
reported that generally the actual non revenue water falls within the average value of
18%. The customer base comprises 738 connections with 636 active connections. A
total of 102 are disconnected due to non payment of bills. The actual break down of
customers shows that there are 565 individual customers in domestic category, 35
institutions, 12 kiosks (2 disconnected), 24 commercial customers ( non
disconnected).

The major challenges for the scheme include:
Inadequate capacity of the system means that production is less than the total
demand for Dowa Boma.
Power outages affect the operation of the system.
Nonpayment of bills especially by Government Institutions.
Aging of the plant electro-mechanical equipment.
Siltation of the dam due deforestation uphill.
22 | P a g e

Presence of Manganese at the borehole site affect water quality.
High cost of chemicals e.g. alum for coagulation and sodium hypochlorite for
disinfection

Proposed future projects include extension of the network, especially towards the
road from M1 that is currently under construction, in order to increase customer
base by 3% in 2012. There is also a proposal to rehabilitate and upgrade the
treatment facilities in order to meet current and future demand. Cash estimates
were not made available. The CRWB team also expressed their wish to
implement activities for the protection of the catchment area.

Ntchisi Scheme

CRWB utilizes a dual supply system from both surface and ground water. The
source of surface water is Kaombe River with its intake approximately 5Km south of
Ntchisi Boma. Kaombe River has a yield of 3.6l/s. The Board is utilizing 3 boreholes
to source ground water with an average yield of 1.8l/s. CRWB supply water to an
estimated population of 9,586 at Ntchisi Boma with the connected population totaling
6,514 people , that is, a coverage of 66%. The customer base comprises 872
individual customers in domestic category, 25 kiosks ( 6 disconnected), 32
institutions and 23 commercial connections.

The major challenges for the scheme include:
Inadequate yield for the dual system considering the fact that the population has
overgrown translating into water demand that is far much higher than what the
scheme capacity. This leads to water rationing. Some distribution lines operate
for a period of 2 hrs only during the day while others can only access water at
night.
Technically the Slow sand Filter fails to remove turbidities from the surface water.
The situation was worsened by removal of pressure filter for unexplained
reasons.
high levels of siltation at the intake due to agricultural activities upstream that
lead to erosion.
The distribution system has some pipes that are corroded and smaller than
required for a growing population
Some critical areas lack supply because of funding shortage.
Power outages due to the rationing affects the pumping hence it is not possible to
supply 24 hours a day
The improvements under pipeline were as follows:
Identification of a new source the can beef up the supply capacity of the existing
system.
Rehabilitating and upgrading the distribution system to remove bottlenecks.
Extending the distribution network to reach communities that are currently not
supplied.
Rehabilitating the treatment plant to improve the treatment efficiency.
23 | P a g e

No financial estimates were provided.


Salima Scheme

Water supply in the urban area is from underground using four (4) powered
boreholes which are about 50m in depth and provide a yield of 16l/s. The scheme
has three storage tanks; Mpatsa and Kaphatenga tanks which have a capacity of
500m
3
each and the one close to CRWB offices with a capacity of 222m
3
. The
Supply area has a population of 21,000 out of which only 70% are covered with the
Supply through a total of 2482 connections. However, at the time of visit only 2146
connections were reportedly active. The customer base comprises 1884 individual
customers in domestic category, 84 kiosks out of which only 44 are currently active,
67 institutions and 151 commercial connections.

The major challenges for the scheme include:
Illegal boreholes drilled within the supply area by individuals exert
unexpected competition
The borehole site area has been encroached by resident i.e. the 100 mm
radius of reserved area for the borehole site is not observe by the
communities.
Power outages is hamper pumping regime and consequently affects
production.
Some CWP are being operated by village headmen which on this setup it
is a threat to operational
sustainability.
CWP constructed by MASAF were
taken as free water sources by the
communities leading their
disconnection.
Low income communities utilize
alternative unimproved sources
because Kiosk operators Charge
what is deemed as exorbitant rates.
In case of communal kiosk
managed by water committees,
chiefs want their relatives to use
water for free or direct free
collection during funerals leading to
high bills and disconnection
There is a proposed project to train kiosk
operators on Kiosk management and
operation. Another project will expand Senga
Bay scheme to cater for 3000 customers at
MAFCO and 1000 customers at Parachute
Salima Kiosk No 45 Chipembedza:
the kiosk was previously run by a
water Committee. It was privatised
because the committee failed to
account for funds leading to its
disconnection. Mrs Mzati Maotcha
who operates the Kiosk since
2010 is the third person to do so
after two others previously failed to
manage it. She paid K20,000 to
CRWB in two instalments to be
allowed to operate it. The Kiosk is
open all day from 6am -6pm.
Unlike elsewhere, the kiosk has
sustained supply. All client must
pay cash. She charges K10/pail
and can make K100-K300/day.
The minimal earning imply many
households also use other
sources.
24 | P a g e

Battalion under the World Bank . There is also planned extension to Ngolowindo
from Salima Town and Kaphatenga using internal funding



Kiosk No. 45 is open all day-Salima

Nkhota Kota Scheme
CRWB sources water from 6 boreholes at Chitenje (5km out of the boma centre)
which are 35 m- 50 m deep and pumps it into storage tanks at St Pauls (750 m
3
),
Airport (75 m
3
) and at district hospital for the hospitals exclusive use ( 75 m
3
).
Since underground water is perceived pure, only chlorine is used to disinfect the
water at Nkhota Kota Scheme. The total population in the supply area is about
19421 with 17940 served ( 92% ). The total customer base is 1650. The
breakdown of customers by category was not available except that there are 52
kiosks (13 disconnected). Of the kiosks, 9 have water committee instituted on their
re-opening by a businessman who paid outstanding bills and ensured that bill
payment is honored thereafter. Other kiosks have since been privatized. The CRWB
sells water to kiosks at K56.50 / m
3
to kiosks. The communities therefore make a
reasonable profit by charging K10/pail of 20 litres. It is unclear why kiosk get
disconnected.

Challenges include:
Rapid unplanned growth of the urban area (DSIP, p. 15)
Supply pipes are far from some locations, hence some fail to get connect
because of high cost
25 | P a g e

Frequent power outages affect pumping and supply to communities
Planned projects include construction of a new tank (1500-3000 m
3
) along Kasungu
Road even though funding has not been identified.
26 | P a g e


Some Water Committee members-Nkhota-kota


Dwangwa Scheme

Dwangwa Scheme is relatively new having been launched in 2007 and financed from
internal sources. It is the only scheme operating from rented offices. It supplies water
from two boreholes with yields of 1.6 litre /second and 4.55 litre /second. The water
is led into a 400 m
3
Reservoir tank. Supply area population is estimated at 12,000
(excludes Illovo) with a total of 1304 with 634 (49%) disconnected. The high
Nkhota-Kota: Kiosk No. 19 FGD: the kiosk is managed by a water committee which was elected on 11 April
2012. The kiosk has been disconnected for nearly 10 years. To open the Kiosk, a businessman Edward Mdechi
asked communities to organize themselves by electing a committee that would sell the water to pay bills. Once the
committee was elected, he paid all outstanding bills. The kiosk is open only 6-9 am. Each household pays
K150/month( raised K200/month since July). Monthly earning were K4000 and have increased to K7200. Bills are
at maximum of K5150. This gives a small profit. The community has strict rules: a member of the committee sits at
the kiosk in turn to ensure each family draws an agreed amount of 4 pails. On the first day of the month, each
Household, gives cash to the secretary for recording and the secretary transfers the cash to the treasurer. A
household that fails to pay on 1
st
of the month, has a grace period of 5 days. Thereafter , they cannot draw water
at the Kiosk until they pay the full amount. With the approach, the community has no more problems, except in
July when CRWB had wanted to disconnected water for delays to pay the bill, but CRWB discovered it was their
own delay to deliver the bill. This process was not smooth. The new committee replaced another one that had
existed until July because one person has so much power as he held three positions (chairman, treasurer and
member)- so they community, fearing this could lead to misuse of fund, removed some powers and gave him only
one position of chairman. When asked whether they learnt WASH issues, the committee members said they
taught themselves that it is important to clean the area around the Kiosk, and each committee members has a role
on the roaster.

27 | P a g e

disconnection rate may be because some who rushed to have connections realized
it was not cheap as there are no kiosks within the scheme on which many low
income households depend in other small towns. Consequently, there are nearly 10
boreholes within CRWB Supply Area at the mosque, housing areas, lodges, Chipiku,
Bus stage, including at a house adjacent to CRWB office).

The main challenges include:
Inadequate supply. Some locations to the south (Mowe Area around Nkhoma
CCAP church) have no supply and rely on shallow wells and boreholes;
There are dry taps are usually in the evening and worse in September to
November each year due to low pressure
No other actor can supply water within Dwangwa town because it is
jurisdiction of CRWB who lack capacity
Existing projects includes finalization of newly drilled borehole and 200 m
3
tank
(internally funded) to increase base to customer 1500 around Mowe and
Smallholder Cane Growers housing Area. Another borehole is planned to the south
of Dwangwa River. There are also plans for construction of kiosks to reach low
income communities.


Protected Shallow well at a lodge -Dwangwa




28 | P a g e


Table 2: Customer Base
Scheme Populatio
n in
Supply
Area
Individ
ual HH
Institutio
ns
Commerc
ial/
Industrial
Kiosk/C
WP
2

Disconnect
ed
Waiting List
Kasungu
3
50,147 2677 118 160 44 na 40
Kochilira 4565 32 4 3 1 9 na
Kamwen
do
7240 na na na na na na
Mchinji 21,160 1301 59 85 29(8)
4
na na
Mponela 13,000 781 25 36 9 149 21
Madise 10,500 342 17 9 0 91 0
Ntchisi 9,586 872 32 23 25 (6) 0 0
Dowa 8,000 565 32 27 12 (2) 102 0
Salima 21,000 1884 67 151 84 (44)
5
340 0
Chipoka - 167 15 9 6 - -
Senga
Bay
- 211 9 12 7 - -
Nkhota-
Kota
6

24,726 na na 53 (13) na na
Dwangwa 12,000 585 25 24 0 634 5


2.5 SANITATION AND HYGIENE SITUATION

This section gives a detailed description of the type and levels of sanitation coverage
and management and the existing gaps. The common facilities in order of preference
are water borne flush toilets, ventilated improved pit latrine, the traditional pit latrine
and other.

According to UNICEF/WHO, (2012:21) in Malawi only 51% have improved access to
sanitation, 33% share pit latrines, 8% have unimproved toilet and 8% practice open
defecation. It is also interesting to note that Malawi made significant strides on
sanitation since 1995 with 22.8% (some 3.4 million people) gaining access to
improved sanitation by 2010 (UNICEF/WHO, (2012:22). However, as shown in
sections that follow trends in the small towns are not encouraging.

2.5.1 Kasungu Zone-

12.7% use flush toilets, 4.8% use VIP and 80.9% use traditional pit latrines while
1.7% have no toilet at all and 0.3% use other means. Municipal council takes the
lead especially on solid waste. Wastes are collected from selected residential areas

2
The brackets indicate number of Kiosks disconnected, highlighted to differentiate with other
disconnections (commercial, institutional or HH)
3
Active customers as of now are 3900
4
Zone Manager reports a total of 16 Kiosks
5
Some were constructed under MASAF and have never been used because communities thought
they would be free water sources
6
Total number of customers at Nkhota-kota is 1650
29 | P a g e

for disposal at an open dump near Chiwengo village. Liquid waste management is
largely through emptying of septic tanks and disposal outside the municipal
boundary near Carmel location off the M1 road to Lilongwe. The Municipal Council
established committee around skip site and sensitized communities on the
importance of proper waste management in relation to sanitation and hygiene.
There are 32 H.S.A within the urban centre who collect WASH data to assist in
decision making. Several NGOs are based at Kasungu but operate in rural areas.
These include World Vision, Red Cross, Plan Malawi, Centre for sustainable
Community Development. One NGO, NICE partners with the council and Hospital to
sensitize communities on the right to development and on WASH issues. A CBO,
Malawi Homeless People Federation which is supported by a Lilongwe based NGO,
CCODE, has a branch within Kasungu Town. The CBO largely deals with WASH
and housing among slum communities. With the exception of H.S.A. stationed in the
urban centre, even the WASH office of Ministry of Health id rural based where it
promotes CLTS and SLTS.




30 | P a g e


Kiosk remain closed for Most of the day. Mchinji

Kasungu Town

More here..
12.7% have a flush toilet, 4.8% have VIP, 80.9% have traditional pit latrines, while
0.3 have other types of toilets and 1.7% (or indeed 674 people or 140 HHs) have no
toilet facilities. Within Kasungu, MHPF has an organized structure in which revolving
loan funds are used to build ecological sustainable skyloo toilets which cost nearly
k50,000 each. Fifty (50) such toilets have since been constructed for members of
MHPF.

Mchinji Town / Boma

Sanitation and hygiene are not seriously considered. As such community hygiene at
kiosks is missing because sanitation as construed as sewerage reticulation only by
CRWB- and the board has not taken this role officially. Though Mchinji boast of
awards for over 72% open defecation free rate on CLTS in 568 villages, lack of
sanitation and hygiene coverage of the Boma threatens to derail progress towards
open defecation free society by 2015.

2.5.2 Mponela Zone-

Ntchisi Area

31 | P a g e

Central Region Water Board reported that they are not currently involved in the
sanitation and hygiene issues. However, they play an advisory role on how to take
care of water points particularly kiosks.

Interviews with the DPD in Ntchisi District Council revealed that sanitation and
hygiene issues are generally absent at Ntchisi Boma but there some players in rural
areas like TA Nthondo, TA Chilowoko, TA Kasakula and TA Wasambo. The same
information was echoed by the Director of Environmental Affairs in the same council.
It was reported that the players in WASH activities include Plan International that
provide financial assistance to CICOD through the Global Sanitation Fund ( GSF) in
TA Kasakula, Water Aid in TA Wasambo through the PDI program, World Vision
Malawi in TA Nthondo, T M Associates and MFAMA. It was reported that the WASH
issues for the urban centre fall under Ministry of Health which implies that the District
Health Officer is responsible.

It was observed that the District has implemented a considerable portion of software
part of the WASH programs. Training in Sanitation Marketing was conducted.
Training in Community Lead Total Sanitation (CLTS) was also conducted. The
District has plans to implement 15 Ecosan pilot toilets and out of the 15 toilets 4 are
to be implemented at the Boma.

According to 2008 census curried out by the National Statistical Office Ntchisi had 18
flush toilets, 0 ventilated improved pit latrines, 77 traditional pit latrines and 5 other
unspecified latrines.

The major challenges highlighted under WASH were as follows;-
Serious water shortage since Central Region Water Board cannot supply
water full time. WASH activities are interlinked and rely on the availability of
safe water.
Ntchisi Boma is not a planning area as such there no codes, acts or bylaws
that can guide the development. Even if there may be some codes of practice
they cannot by enforced without the backing of an act of parliament. This
implies that residents develop the area without any pattern and hence making
the provision of services very difficult. The same implies to the quality or
workmanship including those for washing and toilets.
It was observed that there no ward councilors at present which means that
there is no body to make bylaws.
It was observed that there are proper damping sites for wastes thus making
waste management a problem.

Dowa Area

Central Region Water Board reported that they are not currently involved in the
sanitation and hygiene issues. However, the District Water Officer is the one
responsible for coordinating, supervising and monitoring the activities related to
WASH in the District.

According to the information sourced from the District Water Officer, 87 water points
were constructed by partners. Of these 87 water points only 4 are boreholes while
32 | P a g e

the rest are shallow wells with Mark V pumps. However all these water points are
located in the rural areas.
The overview for Dowa Rural in as far as WASH issues
are concerned looked as presented in the table below by
2011. Data for 2012 has not been collected yet.
Even though the information on major challenges was
not explicitly stated, one would note that they may be
similar to the Ntchisi scenario which were highlighted
under WASH as follows;-
Water shortage since Central Region
Water Board cannot supply water 24hrs/day. Sanitation
and Hygiene issues are interlinked and rely on the
availability of safe water. The fact that water supply is
intermittent, it means that Sanitation and hygiene are
also affected.
Dowa Boma is not a planning area as such
there no codes, acts or bylaws that can guide the
development. Even if there may be some codes of
practice they cannot by enforced without the backing of
an act of parliament. This implies that residents develop
the area without any pattern and hence making the
provision of services very difficult. The same implies to
the quality or workmanship including those for washing
and toilets.
There are no ward councilors at present
which means that there is no body to make bylaws.
There are no proper damping sites for
wastes thus making waste management a problem.
Degradation of the catchment is one of the
major challenges of Dowa Water Supply Scheme.
There is growing evidence that
underground water is being degraded.



2.5.3 Salima Zone

Salima Town:

District Water Officer is responsible for coordinating,
supervising and monitoring the activities related to
WASH in the District. However, the work is undertaken
jointly with district coordinating team comprising all wash
related offices such as the district hospital, planning
directorate, education office among others. It was
reported that development partners like UNICEF and
Works for Rural Health (WRH) have only supported interventions on Sanitation and
hygiene activities in rural areas. The only urban intervention in Salima was in 2002
Nkhota-Kota: Kiosk No. 19 FGD:
the kiosk is managed by a water
committee which was elected on 11
April 2012. The kiosk has been
disconnected for nearly 10 years.
To open the Kiosk, a businessman
Edward Mdechi asked
communities to organize
themselves by electing a
committee that would sell the water
to pay bills. Once the committee
was elected, he paid all
outstanding bills. The kiosk is open
only 6-9 am. Each household pays
K150/month( raised K200/month
since July). Monthly earning were
K4000 and have increased to
K7200. Bills are at maximum of
K5150. This gives a small profit.
The community has strict rules: a
member of the committee sits at
the kiosk in turn to ensure each
family draws an agreed amount of
4 pails. On the first day of the
month, each Household, gives
cash to the secretary for recording
and the secretary transfers the
cash to the treasurer. A household
that fails to pay on 1
st
of the month,
has a grace period of 5 days.
Thereafter , they cannot draw water
at the Kiosk until they pay the full
amount. With the approach, the
community has no more problems,
except in July when CRWB had
wanted to disconnected water for
delays to pay the bill, but CRWB
discovered it was their own delay to
deliver the bill. This process was
not smooth. The new committee
replaced another one that had
existed until July because one
person has so much power as he
held three positions (chairman,
treasurer and member)- so they
community, fearing this could lead
to misuse of fund, removed some
powers and gave him only one
position of chairman. When asked
whether they learnt WASH issues,
the committee members said they
taught themselves that it is
important to clean the area around
the Kiosk, and each committee
members has a role on the roaster.

33 | P a g e

under DANIDA funded Urban Environmental Management Project when Malimba
low income (3,000 population) location was targeted with VIP latrines (2 model
latrines, community training and supply of cement for pit latrine construction) (Salima
town Assembly, 2002:32) . The access to safe to safe sanitation in Salima Town is
low. 10% have flush toilets, 6.6% have VIP latrines, 80% use traditional pit latrines
while 1.2% used other type of toilet and 1.8% had no toilet at all in which case one
would conclude they were using open defecation. The prevalence of traditional pit
latrines is a source of water and sanitation related diseases due to the high water
table and poor drainage due to low altitude of the centre. Poor drainage is an
additional contributory cause of malaria. Reflecting the poor WASH situation, since
the 1995, cholera outbreaks have become commonplace (Salima Urban SOER, p.
15).
Challenges include
:
lack of sewer works for disposal of sewerage collected from household
and other septic tanks. The only available disposal pond is owned by the
Hospital who despite under utilizing the facility restrict disposal by other
institutions within the town. As such septic tank remain un-emptied which
leads to spillage of human waste.
inadequate funding to develop an urban disposal facility ( 6 stabilisation
ponds) on land already identified off Senga Bay Road, hence open
dumping of solid waste and forest dumping of liquid waste Parachute
Battalion Forest
too many pit latrines lead to underground pollution e.g. CRWB borehole
was closed around Kamuzu Road market for this reason
open defecation in public places such as markets compromises CLTS in
nearby villages e.g. Villagers of Kudayiza and Mfuti regularly complain of
open defection by traders from the market
Water logging leads to collapse of pit latrines
Geological characteristics of the district has rendered some sanitation
interventions to obsolete. There is no solid waste collection services
provided by the council to the community because of lack of capacity.
Only the district hospital has a liquid waste treatment facility. However, the
facility does not accommodate liquid waste from residential areas
Dissolution of the township since 2009 has affected delivery of WASH
services in the town as the District council is only concerned with rural
areas.

What is of interest is that some of these challenges had been expected to be
resolved by the Action Plan of 2002-2007 e.g. construct sewage disposal, construct
land fill , but they are still outstanding.( See Salima Urban Environmental Action
Plan 2002, pp 6-7)

Nkhota kota

34 | P a g e

According to discussion with district councils staff, water and sanitation are not a
priority at the town because these are catered for by CRWB. The CRWB itself has
little interest in sanitation and hygiene and relies on hospital staff to sensitise
communities. The only involvement of CRWB in sanitation and hygiene is advice
given to communities to keep the area around kiosks clean. However, there are
some areas that use shallow wells because of disconnections and lack of access to
existing supply. There are at least 15 boreholes at the Boma including at the
Government hospital and 12 schools within the Boma mainly because CRWB fails
to supply (adequate ) water. Sanitation is not a concern at priority No 13 in the
development plan and focuses only on sanitation and hygiene in public places such
as markets (DDP, pp. 3 & 110, it is also clear from the Sanitation & Hygiene Mapping
Report of 2010 that sanitation and Hygiene are seen only in the context on market
centers). An emerging concern during consultation was waste management is also a
concern as there is no dumping site. Evidence of this problem was a cholera
outbreak 4 years ago and 921 cases in 2001. It was also noted that 4% of hospital
admissions at government hospital are due to diarhorea. Therefore although the
council has target of 70% adequate sanitation and 76% safe water access by 2015,
the urban centre/Boma which grows at nearly 5% per year, is excluded from the
plans-the only proposed project being preparation
of detailed layout plan for the Boma.

The district Council is trying to work with PDI to
adapt their experience with sanitation clubs in
rural area where WASH has been integrated in
Kasakula-Mwansambo Piped Water supply
system to the urban set up at the Boma.PDI
already has a partnership with the Council,
communities and Water Aid. [sanitation clubs are
groups of 25 school children who learn WASH
principles with the expectation of influencing
parents at home. The approach has benefit of
sustainability]. Using this arrangement PDI would
commence with mobilization and sensitization at
the Boma. The Council also has Satellite imagery for Nkhota Kota Boma and will
soon procure another for Dwangwa. This is expected to assist in planning for these
two centers.

The above challenges were reported to be caused by:
a. political interference was a cause for disconnections. The politicians promised
to pay on behalf of people but never paid up.

Dwangwa Town.

Sanitation and Hygiene like elsewhere is neglected at Dwangwa. CRWB only
involvement in sanitation and hygiene is advice to clients during water connection on
the need to keep the surrounding clean. The exception is the area under Illovo
Sugar where an Environment Policy developed in 2011 ensures there is hygiene
education to all workers and households. In the town many households lack toilets.
Based on discussions with stakeholders, ten (10) households may share one pit
In the Nkhota-Kota District
Development Plan (2010-
2013:3), among the 13
priority problems or
issues, low access to
potable water is first
priority while poor
sanitation in public places
is 13
th
priority. Sanitation
within the town generally
does not appear as an
issue

35 | P a g e

latrine in some locations. Schools within the town also have high sanitation demand.
E.g. Dwangwa JP school with 1000 pupils had only one toilet.

It is no surprise that the town has an average of 100 cases of blood diarrhea due to
use of unsafe water within cane fields and wells. Schitomiasis is also experienced.
Attempts made include distribution of prazquantel and abendozole to treat words.
Awareness projects have also commenced with assistance of Water Aid/ WESM,
sanitation clubs, but these NGOs have to go outside their jurisdiction to undertake
such activity (e.g. WESM constructed a K247, 000 VIP at Dwangwa JP School)
despite their project being rural based. Potential for stakeholder participation in
sanitation (including waste disposal ) exist as seen from a July 2012 awareness
campaign on sustainable waste disposal whereby Dwangwa based institutions joined
hands to support WESM in public awareness campaign by contributing cash (totaling
K182,000), drinks and other materials as follows:
Illovo: 10 drums to be used for waste disposal within Dwangwa town
Standard Bank : soft drinks for participants during the initiative
Ethanol ; K20,000
Dwangwa Cane growers ltd: K60,000
Unitrans :K50,000.
Table 3: Situation of WASH [re-do table]
Large/District Centres Other main/Rural Market Centres
IC ICY CW
P
UW PW BH SP R/
S
IC I
C
Y
C
WP
UW P
W
BH SP R/S

Kasu
ngu
17 36 37 1 2 6 0 0 Dwan
gwa
3 18 17 0 0 56 0 0
Nkh
otak
ota
15 18 16 3 0 46 0 0 Madisi 1
2
29 39 5 6 5 0 5
Dow
a
12 29 44 6 2 7 0 0 Mpone
la
7 19 28 17 16 12 0 1
Ntch
isi
20 29 12 4 1 30 0 3 Chipo
ka
4 16 2 2 8 61 0 3
Sali
ma
10 25 22 5 8 26 1 2 Namit
ete
2 2 0 17 37 42 0 0
Mch
inji
9 30 36 5 12 6 0 1 Kamw
endo
0 0 0 5 22 72 0 0
Ded
za
16 26 31 8 9 10 0 0 Kochil
ira
1
4
8 1 12 38 23 0 4

Source: NSO (2010)

36 | P a g e



Open Dumping of Garbage, Mchinji
3.0 ISSUES, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This section outlines the major issues emerging issues from the consultation and analysis
of the findings. The section also makes specific recommendations based on the situation
analysis, key challenges and issues. The recommendations provide the entry point for
potential engagement by Water Aid in these selected small towns.

3.2 Conclusion

The aim of the study was to undertake a situation analysis of WASH in small towns within
the supply area of CRWB with specific target being Mponela, Kasungu and Salima Zones.
Based on document review, field visits and consultations with various stakeholders/actors,
it was found that there are several commendable efforts within these zones to sell WASH
to stakeholders and donors. For example, GoM developed a national policy specifically for
the WASH agenda and an investment plan has since been finalized. The CRWB itself has
several projects underway or planned to improve water supply. [read Various editions of
the Malawi Millennium Development Goals Report to check progress].

However, planning, funding and implementation of WASH in these small centers is
skewed to water supply. A vivid example is drawn from Nkhota-Kota District Development
Plan in which among the 13 priority problems or issues, low access to potable water is
first priority while poor sanitation in public places[ not everywhere] is thirteenth priority. A
clear spatial disparity is observed with regard funding. Whereas sanitation and hygiene
receive large sums of funds in the districts, these funds are all allocated to rural areas. It
can be speculated that global trends suggesting urban bias compel actors to target the
rural areas.
7
The understanding that CRWB adequately caters for urban areas is
misplaced as the institution has a serious capacity challenge to supply water to meet
demand in part because of lack of capacity by ESCOM to supply power on which CRWB

7
For example, an estimated 96 per cent of the urban population globally used an improved water supply source in 2010,
compared to 81 per cent of the rural population and 80 per cent of the worlds urban population had piped water connections,
compared to only 29 per cent of people in rural areas; 79 per cent of the urban population use an improved sanitation facility,
compared to 47 per cent of the rural population. (UNICEF/WHO, 2012:12;23)
37 | P a g e

is constantly dependent. For this reason, despite the rapid urbanization the country faces,
development planning generally excludes the small urban centers within the districts. The
Mchinji Water Atlas for 2008 for example, shows the boma centre just any other settlement
within TA Zulus Area (Mchinji District Assembly, 2010 :16). Furthermore, CRWB itself and
its externally funded projects, lack mainstreaming of sanitation and hygiene. In short, while
urban water supply can rely on CRWB, urban sanitation and hygiene are shunned by all
actors in these small towns. It is also clear that due to failure by communities to honour bills,
the favoured option by the CRWB is private operators who, nonetheless, are not well
coordinated leading water alarming price differentials (e.g. general trend for kiosk water is
K10/pail, at Kasungu Market a private tap operator charges K40/pail
8
)

Several key issues came out of the consultation and document review which are singled,
without regard to order, out for purposes of recommendations below.


3.2 Key Issues and Recommendations

Recommendations relate to supply and demand sides of support to service delivery,
capacity building and how to influence policy and regulatory frameworks formulation or
review.

i. Issues: The issues of WASH tend to consider only residential areas and schools,
but leave out widespread open defecation and unsustainable waste disposal at
public places such as market places. Recommendation: This gap should not be
left to widen by the proposed expansion drive outside LLWB supply area.

ii. Issues: There is an apparent misconception that CLTS is rural based in all
districts and towns visited. In Mchinji an urban specific concept was even
suggested: Peri-Urban LTS. Recommendation- more sensitization of both
staff and communication is required so that CLTS is understood to mean simply
that communities lead the process regardless of locality (urban or rural)

iii. Issue: Policy and regulatory policy and law prevent drilling of boreholes urban
centres, and only CRWB has mandate for potable water supply. However,
CRWB lacks capacity for full coverage. Recommendation: Water Policy and
Water Works Act require review to provide for cases where there is failure to
supply potable water by CRWB and how such supply can meet Government and
WHO water quality standards

iv. Issue: Many NGOs, both international and Local are based at the centres
visited. However, all of them undertake activities only in the rural areas (areas
outside designated urban centres as defined by Physical Planning department)
on the pretext that urban areas are well catered for by CRWB who have legal
mandate over such areas. Recommendation: advocacy is required to big
organizations to support WASH in small urban centers and also for local and
international NGOs operate at urban centres within existing policy and legal
frameworks. In this context proper targeting of advocacy campaigns at decision

8
Of course the operator is billed commercially
38 | P a g e

makers and major donors (such as EU/GOM directors) and recognition of SWAp
can go a long way in realising this agenda.

v. Issue: CRWB (and other authorities by default or design) are keen to enforce
sections preventing other operators in their supply area, but do minimal on
provisions requiring sufficient water supply and consideration of sanitation and
hygiene. The prevention of boreholes in urban areas is contradictory as the
CRWB itself also supplies from boreholes. In Salima Town, one such borehole
behind Kamuzu Road market was permanently closed because of faecal
contamination, the single justification for borehole restriction in urban centers. It is
therefore apparent that being a commercial body, borehole restriction in urban
centers, can simply be regarded as monopoly guaranteeing, because the main
issue is that of water quality rather than who supplies(the major difference
between them is that CRWB boreholes are powered while others are manual).
Recommendation: policy and legal review as well as external intervention for
capacity building are required to ensure implementation of all applicable laws
regarding delivery of WASH by CRWB and to deliver adequate water supply to
communities disregarding who does it.

vi. Issue: Water Kiosks were privatized to ensure payment of bills by communities.
However, this has created some kind of monopoly that leads to unreasonable
price increases which may prevent many people from accessing the potable
water in the process beating rationale of Kiosks/CWP i.e. to supply subsidized
potable water to low income groups unable to have individual connections. In
addition, there are variations in the cost of water as some kiosks charge monthly
fees while others charge per pail. Recommendation: communities need training
and capacitating on CWP/kiosk management by adapting the concept of WUA
(and small water boards overseeing WUAs). Initiated by Water Aid, the approach
of WUA achieved good results within LLWB supply Area to the benefit of both
communities (water availability and job creation) and to LLWB (revenue) (Water
Aid, 2004).

vii. Issue: informally settled areas appear to suffer more neglect with regard to
WASH because of unwritten policy to deprive such settlements of services as a
way to discourage squatter development. Recommendation: in addition to
realization of the constitutional provisions regarding the right to development,
there should be attempts at arresting informal settlements growth before
challenge compounds.

viii. Issue: failure by WASH stakeholders to fully disclose funding levels creates an
artificial shortage of resources and also having too many NGOs in specific spatial
localities at the expense of others. This is despite the policy being a rallying point
to raise the profile and funding for WASH that could help realize the vision of
Government and MDGs. Recommendation: All actors in WASH require to open
up, work together honestly and pool resources.

ix. Issue: Decentralization Policy and LGA mandate local councils to plan projects,
fundraise and implement which is a prudent undertaking considering that
39 | P a g e

councils are closer to the communities and have first hand information. However,
lack of political will and reluctance to implement the policy and law as well as
inadequate human resources at the local level makes it difficult for councils to
prepare bankable proposals to get funding to implement WASH projects.
Recommendation: The GoM should show political will to implement the
decentralization policy and LGA by holding council elections. Stakeholders
should capacitate local councils on WASH through training.

x. Issue: The definition of concepts that define progress or lack of progress in the
WASH sector remain controversial (e.g. safe, improved, adequate) and create
confusion. Recommendation: Under SWAp consensus is needed on definition
of concepts to have one measure for success or failure in the WASH agenda.

xi. Issue: Water Aid has one office in Lilongwe. It is difficult to implement projects in
small towns where many are used to rural culture. when Water aid sub contracts,
it gives too high targets. Recommendation. Water Aid to continue partnering
with local NGOs who have direct linkages with communities and district councils,
but require adjustment during project implementation by using midterm evaluation
reports as a learning tool.

xii. Issue: The proposal to expand from LLWB supply area into CRWB Supply Area
suggests that Water Aid has been successful within LLWB, but evidence shows
there are gaps especially with regard to sanitation and hygiene at public places.
Recommendation: Water aid should work on sanitation and hygiene in public
places within LLWB supply area as they expand into CRWB Supply Area.

xiii. Issue: Low income communities either demand boreholes or use unsafe sources
of water because of perception that potable water is costly. Sometimes, Kiosks
are disconnected for bills of only K4000, yet communities demand boreholes
which require K15,000 deposit or commitment fee because CRWB only provides
the kiosk with any training of its management. Such requests also conflict
government policy empowering only the CRWB in urban centers.
Recommendation: Water delivery to communities should incorporate capacity
building on management, operation and maintenance in addition to awareness.
xiv. Insufficient budgetary allocation from Government which portrays lack of political
will. Government approach has for long times attach sanitation funding to health,
which is a curative strategy. Best approaches demand sanitation to be attached
to water supply which is a preventive strategy. There is a need for Organisations
to assist in mobilizing political to will to trigger a paradigm shift. There is no
coordinated approach between Malawi Government and Non Government
Organisation. According to the Directorate of Sanitation and hygiene, NGOs are
usually not willing to disclose their level of funding and specific interests in there
outreach areas. What has been witnessed is more organization concentrating on
the same areas while other areas are left out.Sanitation and hygiene
interventions have been implemented through the City/town/district councils.
However, the implementation has been focusing on rural areas only with little or
no support to urban and peri-urban poor. Through UNICEF support some
districts have developed District Strategic Investment Plans (DSIPs), that spells
40 | P a g e

out short falls and proposed intervention on WASH. However, these plans have
been rural biased.with the Pending National Sanitation Act Water Boards will be
managing liquid wastes. However, at the time of visit, only NRWB and SRWB
had already submitted sewerage development plans. CRWB strategic sanitation
plan preparation had stalled because the consultant was not able to complete the
exercise.
xv. Issue: The National Sanitation Policy does not specify the main player in
implementing sanitation intervention. This leads to lack of commitment
even in the formulation of District Investment Plans. Even though the
issues of sanitation and hygiene require multi-sectoral interventions, it is
suggested that one sector plays a leading role so that the same issues can
be reflected in the budgets and must have clear targets.
xvi. Issue: There is a disparity in the policies and acts in that some of the
contradict on who is responsible for sanitation in the small urban centres.
The Water Works Act empowers CRWB to be responsible for sanitation
while the Local Government Act empowers the town and district councils to
be responsible. There is need to clearly harmonize these acts so that one
player can fully take control of sanitation.
xvii. Issues: Considering the fact that some schemes like Ntchisi do not have
reliable sources of water at the moment, it is important to explore more
surface and ground water resources within the scheme surroundings in
order to assess feasibility of developing them.
xviii. Issue: Most of sanitation and hygiene activities involve transforming
peoples behavior i.e. the software part. It may be equally important to
partner with expert institutions for educating the masses or indeed mass
communication media for effective dissemination of information on
behavior change.
xix. Issue: Some schemes are facing challenges due to reservoir siltation and
ultimately the growth of some plants that hasten the drying up of
reservoirs. For example Kasungu Water Supply Scheme has a dam that is
badly affected by siltation close to M1 road. It is suggested that economics
of dredging such reservoirs should be assessed before looking at
possibility of construction of new dams which are often expensive and
most donor communities do not support them due to environmental and
social concerns particularly resettlement.
xx. Issue : Generally

REFERENCES
Manda, 2009, Water and Sanitation in Urban Malawi- Can the Millennium Development
Goals be Achieved ? A study of Informal Settlements in three cities, London, IIED
Mchinji District Council, 2007, District Rural Water and Sanitation Strategic investment Plan,
2007-2015
Mchinji District Council, 2010, Mchinji Water Atlas 2008 Status Report on Rural Water
Nkhota-Kota District Council, 2010, Nkhota Kota District Development Plan, 2010-2013
41 | P a g e

Nkhota-Kota District Council, 2009, District Water and Sanitation Strategic investment Plan
Nkhota-Kota District Council, 2010, Sanitation and Hygiene Mapping Report
NSO, 2010, Population and Housing Census 2008: Analytical report Volume 9-Spatial
Distribution and Urbanisation, Zomba
NSO, 2000, Malawi population and Housing Census 1998 Report of Final Census Results,
Zomba
Salima Town Assembly, 2002, Salima Urban Environmental Action Plan, 2002-2007
Salima Town Assembly, 2004, Salima Urban Profile
Salima Town Assembly, 2002, Salima Urban State of the Environment Report
UNICEF/WHO (2012) Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2012 Update
MoIWD, 2012, National 10 year Sanitation and Hygiene
Investment Plan and Strategy, Lilongwe
MoIWD, 2010, Sanitation Planning Study for Towns in the Central region of Malawi :
Kochilira-Kamwendo Baseline Assessment and Socio economic Study Report , Manjoo
Consulting
Water aid, 2004, Managing Communal Water Kiosks in Malawi-Experiences in water Supply
Management in Poor Urban Settlements in Lilongwe
Water Aid, 2010, Water Aid in Malawi-Country Strategy, 2011-2015
Water Aid, 2011, Sanitation Framework

APPENDICES




APPENDIX 1: TORS




42 | P a g e

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Situation Analysis of Selected Small Towns

Introduction

Water-Aid is an International Non-Governmental Organisation established in 1981
with a mission to overcome poverty by enabling the worlds poorest people to gain
access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education with its vision to see a world
where everyone has access to safe water and improved sanitation.

Water-Aid has operated in Malawi since the year 2000 and supports programmes of
work in both rural and urban areas. These programmes include work in Salima,
Mzimba, Machinga, Nkhota-kota Districts, and Lilongwe City and the national policy
and governance programme. Water-Aid would like to expand its work in Malawi to
small towns by 2013. As part of this process Water-Aid in Malawi intends to
undertake a rapid situational analysis of WASH in selected small towns within three
supply zones for the Central Region Water Board.


Background

Small towns in Malawi exhibit both rural and urban characteristics. Rural
characteristics relate to the economic linkages to agriculture. Urban characteristics
may relate to the role of light industry in the economy but are more often linked to
living conditions as a function of density, and changing social systems as a reflection
of increased diversity. This blend of urban and rural characteristics has implications
on the type of development approaches to be employed in order to address service
delivery challenges in these small towns. Typical rural approaches such as
community participation and mobilisation become more difficult to manage as
communities get larger and more diverse. On the other hand, small towns lack the
resources of cities, making the application of urban approaches, where economies of
scale or cross-subsidisation exist between users or between services, more difficult.

Most small towns tend to be diverse, dynamic and constantly evolving. They largely
act as agricultural market and food processing centres and as centres of
employment in small and medium-sized non-agricultural businesses. They normally
attract people from rural areas and this expansion often accelerates when social
services such as water, schools and health centres are provided. Generally
characterised by rapid unplanned growth leading to concentrations of low income
populations, people living in small towns are amongst the worst served for basic
services such as access to water and sanitation which has an impact on hygiene
standards and overall health status.

Investments in small towns have simply not kept pace with the growing need for
services. The predicted growth of small towns is a major development challenge
which threatens to derail efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
for water and sanitation. Given the difficulty of tailoring approaches to individual
contexts, in those countries where small towns receive assistance from central
43 | P a g e

governments and donors, there tends to be a one size fits all financing,
technological, management and capacity building package.

Despite the challenges of tailoring approaches to meet each small towns
requirements, there is a real need to get small towns onto the right track before
unregulated growth, weak capacity and unhelpful policies allow these burgeoning
towns to become sprawling, un-served and unmanageable urban areas.

Considering the foregoing, it is in Water-Aids view that in order to plan for any
interventions in small towns in Malawi, it is imperative that a clear situational analysis
should be undertaken. It is for these reasons that WaterAid in Malawi intends to
engage the services of a consultant to carry out a situational analysis of selected
small towns/market centres.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of the situational analysis is to provide essential background
information to inform Water-Aids decision of where its resources and efforts could
most effectively be invested to achieve greatest impact in improving access to (and
use of) sustainable and equitable water and sanitation services for residents of the
selected small towns in three supply zones of Central Region Water Board. While
the CRWB works in 5 zones, Water-Aid would like to commission a situation analysis
for the towns/market centres in the following three zones;
1. Salima
2. Mponela
3. Kasungu

Within the zones, there are the district centres as well as small trading and market
centres which include, Nkhamenya, Senga Bay, Chipoka, Nkhota-kota, Dwangwa,
Madisi, Ntchisi, Dowa, Kochilira, Mchinji and Kamwendo which form part of the
supply area.

Key objectives for the situational analysis are:
1. Review existing information and documentation concerning the context of selected
small towns as well as the provision, coverage and status of WASH services within
them

2. Visit and consult representatives of CRWB and the district council(s) to
understand from their perspective:
a. their roles within the provision and on-going management of WASH in the small
towns/market centres.
b. any strategies, policies or guidelines that govern the development,
management and use of WASH services in small towns
c. the context of selected small towns and WASH services within them
d. any challenges and key issues in the provision and maintenance of WASH
services in small towns
e. information on current and future investments and initiatives that have been
targeted for these areas and the extent to which they are addressing WASH
needs in the small towns.

44 | P a g e

3. Visit the selected small towns and meet representatives from the private
sector / operators, I/NGOs and communities who develop, maintain and use
WASH services to understand from their perspective:
a. their roles within the provision and on-going management of WASH in small
towns
b. the context of selected small towns and WASH services within them
c. any challenges and key issues in the provision and maintenance of WASH
services in small towns.

4. Visit the selected small towns and meet representatives from the private sector /
operators, I/NGOs and communities to examine the process of decision making in
the delivery of WASH services to households, to understand
a. the effectiveness of the process in the design, planning, and implementation
of WASH investments
b. the role of CBOs/INGOs or CSOs in that process
c. the institutional and regulatory issues that affect the
i. delivery of WASH services,
ii. promotes voice and participation in deciding and monitoring service
quality, pricing and equity of access and
iii. promotes the presence and ability of CSO to engage with and
influence water utilities or services providers

The analysis will take place over three week period.


Scope

The situation analysis will document current levels of access to water and sanitation,
type of services, the role of service providers, and the policy and regulatory
frameworks within which services are managed. The final report will provide an
informed assessment of potential options for Water-Aids engagement in:
a. supporting service delivery
b. building stakeholder capacity
c. influencing the policy and regulatory framework

Specifically, the situational analysis among other aspects outlined above will
address:
Context: Context of the small town/market centre including population size
and growth rate, water and sanitation coverage stats, assessment of
demographics and economy.
Water: Detail description of water supply services, management and
coverage. The planned and actual capacity of the system and the functionality
levels.
Sanitation: Detail description of the type and levels of sanitation coverage
and management and the existing gaps.
Roles and responsibilities: Roles played by the following organisations and
institutions with regard to WASH in the selected small towns and what is their
capacity to delivery on them:
o Central Region Water Board
o District council
o Private sector / operators
45 | P a g e

o INGO / NGOs/CBOs
o WUAs / Communities / HHs
Policy and regulatory framework: Provisions, rules and responsibilities
existing policies set out for the provision, management and regulation of
WASH services in small towns
Outputs

Produce a detailed Situational Analysis Report that clearly sets out the current
situation in selected towns, as well as the identified key challenges and issues. The
report should clearly set out the current situation in the selected towns as well as the
identified key challenges and issues. The report should also assess Water-Aids
potential for impact and make specific recommendations for Water-Aids potential
future engagement in the selected small towns relating to:
a. supporting service delivery (both the supply and demand sides)
b. building stakeholder capacity
c. influencing the policy and regulatory framework

The report should not exceed 30 pages of font Arial 12, single spacing.


Dates of the Review and Final Report

The exercise should be completed within 30 days (weekends inclusive) from the
signing of the contract.

Outline of person specification / evaluator, the skills required / qualifications

The Consultant must have a broad range of experience of the water and sanitation
sector in Malawi, preferable including a detailed understanding of the rural, urban
and small town contexts. They should have experience of undertaking situational
analysis, evaluations or similar exercises for WASH and have an excellent
knowledge of relevant sector policies and practices governing WASH work in
Malawi. The Consultant may be requested to provide evidence of such similar work.


Facilities to be provided by the Client

Water-Aid shall make available to the Consultant literature available within its
resource centre. The consultant will however be expected to gather further
information from other sources.

Technical and financial proposal

The Consultant will be required to provide a detailed technical proposal for the whole
assignment. In the technical proposal, they should detail the methodologies that will
be used together with a work plan. The financial proposal should apart from the
consultancy fees, include all reimbursable expenses such as transport and
accommodation.


46 | P a g e

APPENDIX 2; LIST OF PEOPLE CONSULTED

Lilongwe
Name Institution Position Contacts Date
Ngaba Chatata WESNET National Coordinator 0888892206 6/8/12
Clement
Masangano
WESNET Project officer 0999341457 6/8/12
Tabi Kayange
Mnolo
CCODE WASH programme
Manager
0995974818 6/8/12
Mpasa MoIWD Director of Sanitation 0999499634 6/8/12
Chimwemwe
Nyimba
UNICEF WASH specialist cnyimba@unice
f.org
0999540559
6/8/12


MCHINJ I
Name Institution Position Contacts Date
Chiphaso, CRWB Scheme Manager
Scheme
7/8/12
Smarton Banda Council District water officer smartba_com@
yahoo.com;
0999465933;08
88570325
7/8/12
Kalusa Nkhata Community Liaison
Group (CLG)
Chairman 0999662424 7/8/12

KASUNGU
Lende District Council District Commissioner 0888868416 8/8/12
Steve Kazembe CRWB Zone Manager 0999204319 8/8/12
Binali Kachilo Municipal Council Acting DPD binalikachilo@y
ahoo.com
0993706977
8/8/12
Langson
Hawonga
Municipal Council Acting Environmental
Health Officer
lhawonga@yah
oo.com
0999722410
8/8/12
Daniel Gamadzi Ministry of Health Environmental Health
Officer
chifdg@yahoo.c
o.uk
0881954840
8/8/12
Nyore Musiya CRWB BLI 011908320 8/8/12
Gerald Chirwa NICE DCEO gerald.chirwa@
yahoo.com
0999255178
8/8/12
Mrs Samson Kiosk Owner 0999408017 8/8/12

MPONELA 8/8/12
Mrs Helen
Somanje
CRWB Acting Zone Manager

CRWB Madisi scheme 8/8/12
Mponela Accountant 8/8/12
Mponela Scheme
Manager
8/8/12

47 | P a g e

SALIMA
Peter Banda CRWB Scheme Manager Ppbanda80@ya
hoo.com;
0111904746
9/8/12
Isaac Msiska CRWB Zone electrician 0999399374 9/8/12
Lighton Chinoko Salima Town Environmental Health
officer
0999365075 9/8/12
Geofrey M
Kalumpha
Salima District Water Supervisor 0111904072 9/8/12
Charity
Mgwadira
Work for Rural
Health
WASH Field Advisor mgwadiracharity
@yahoo.co.uk
0993629193
9/8/12
Michael Kalawe Work for Rural
Health
Project Coordinator michaelkalawe3
7@gmail.com
0881787503;
0999264849
9/8/12
Noel Khunga Ministry of Health WASH officer 0999645656;
0111902128
????
Mrs Mzati
Maotcha
Chipemebedza
Location
Kiosk No.45 Operator 0993946451 9/8/12
Pilirani
Chaguza
NICE Programme Assistant 0999419599 9/8/12
Paul Magwere CRWB Water Assistant 0111904398 9/8/12

NKHOTAKOTA
Kingsley C.
Mthunzi
CRWB Water supervisor 0999451859 10/8/12
Osward
Nkhoma
Water Dept - 099270961 10/8/12
J. Kathumba Nkhota kota District
council
DPD 0888875415 10/8/12
M.H Kapalula St Annes Hospital Senior Environmental
Health Officer
0999294414 10/8/12
Shadreck
Chimangansasa
TLC WATSAN 0999244461 10/8/12
B.T. Nkhoma Health WASH officer 0888144134 10/8/12
James Longwe Participatory
development
initiatives (PDI)
Executive director 0995416466;08
88547135
tazalongwe@ya
hoo.com

10/8/12
Thoko Chigona Education SHN coordinator 0884452192
nkhotakotadem
@yahoo.com

10/8/12
Victor
Kasuzweni
District Council Environment officer 0999952693 10/8/12
Anastazio
Mpumulo
information District information
officer
0999028870 10/8/12
Andreas
Dziatzko
GIS Physical Planner 0888990020 10/8/12
Anthony
Chalakwa
Ministry of Health 10/8/12
Anthony Zimba Community dev officer 0888586680 10/8/12
48 | P a g e

George Chikako Community dev 0999257911 10/8/12
Golden
Nyiremnda
Forestry Forester 0888594221
golden.nyirenda
@yahoo.com

10/8/12
William
Msankhira
Education - 0999683203 10/8/12

Mai veronica
Stambuli
Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
Chair
Gloria Nduta Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
Vice chair
Gloria
Matewere
Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
Secretary
Rose Mwale Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
Vice secretary
Irene Msekeni Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
Treasurer 0881494616
Alice J abili Kiosk 19 Water
Committee

ELisi Malaya Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
Member
Abdul Nkhoma Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
Member
Veronica
Nduta
Kiosk 19 Water
Committee
member





DWANGWA
Ockens Chipeta WESM Branch Manager chipetaockens
@gmail.com;
chipetaockens
@yahoo.com
0888585440
10/08/12
Samuel Mhone WESM WASH coordinator atsogolerimhoni
@yahoo.co.uk
0999409645;
0888548096
10/08/12
Lyson Lipululu CRWB Water Assistant in
charge
0999480689 10/08/12
Ms Evlyn Moto CWRB Stores Clerk -
Hawkins Chirwa Concern universal 0888865823 10/8/12

NTCHISI
R.N. Gobede CRWB Scheme Manager 0999274400 10/8/12
J.H. Chirwa CRWB Scheme Incharge 0991713386 10/8/12
Mr A.B.C.
Mdoko
Council DC 099917342 10/8/12
Mr P.
Manyungwa
Council DOA 0999917342 10/8/12
49 | P a g e

Mr K. Nyirongo Council Acting DPD khonyirongo@y
ahoo.com;
0992837586
10/8/12
Mr. H.
Kafanikhale
Concil District Environmental
Health Officer
hkafanikhale70
@gmail.com
0999851089
10/8/12
Mrs Joyce
Adam
Kiosk 6, User, owned
by Mrs Ackim Banda
0999491763 10/8/12

DOWA
Allan Gomani CRWB Scheme Manager 0888617653 10/8/12
Timothy Banda Council District Water Officer Timothybanda1
7@gmail.com;
0999226957
10/8/12
Rabson Ngozo Council Director of Planning &
Development
0888387487 10/8/12
Mr Yusuf Laki Council Environmental District
Officer
lakiyusufu@roc
ketmail.com;
0999223809
10/8/12
Mrs Noria.
Mataka
Kiosk 2. Operator 0995706658 10/8/12
Mery Wailesi Kiosk 2. Operators 0995706658. 10/8/12
Jersy Limani Kiosk 2. operator 0995706658. 10/8/12
Felia Yasin, Kiosk 2. operator 0995706658. 10/8/12
Mrs Adam Kiosk 2. Customer 0995706658 10/8/12


Appendix 3: List of Centres visited

Name Date
Mchinji /Kamwendo 7/08/12
Kasungu 8/8/12
Mponela 8/8/12
Salima 9/8/12
Nkhota Kota 10/8/12
Dwangwa 10/8/12
Dowa 10/8/12
Ntchisi 10/8/12