Water supply and sanitation in Rwanda

Source: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2002, p. 51 and p. 25, quoting the 2001 inventory of rural water supply systems

Despite favorable rainfall, little use is made of rainwater harvesting, except by a few health centers and churches.

Concerning sanitation, only about 15% of urban wastewater is collected through sewers. As far as sanitation in institutions is concerned, only 20% of primary schools in both rural and urban areas have latrines. The situation in secondary schools, prisons, health centers and markets is also poor.

Service quality

About half of rural water schemes did not function in 2004 according to an extensive field survey. (to be completed)

Water resources and water use

Rwanda has abundant rainfall and water resources, totalling 5 billion cubic meters per year (177 billion cu ft/yr). [http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/wat_cou_646.pdf WRI] ] However, deforestation and erosion affect the productivity of springs, which are the main source of water supply in rural areas.

Rwanda has 22,300 springs registered in a spring inventory. Total water use was estimated at 150 million cubic meters per year (5.3 billion cu ft/yr) in 2000, of which 24% (36 million m³/year or 1.27 billion cu ft/year) was for domestic uses, corresponding to only 4 cubic meters per capita per year or about 11 liters per capita per day (140 cu ft/capita/yr or about 3 U.S. gallons or 2½ imperial gallons/capita/day). [http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries/rwanda/indexfra.stm FAO Aquastat] ] Another source estimates total water use at 800 million cubic meters per year (28 billion cu ft/yr) in 1993, of which 5% (40 million m³/yr or 1.4 billion cu ft) were for domestic uses.

History and recent events

From 1950 to 1984 water in rural areas was provided free of charge to beneficiaries and infrastructure was owned by the national government. Beginning in 1984 the responsibility for rural service provision was transferred to communities. In 1987 a decree (Arrêté Présidentiel n°291/11 du 15 mai 1987) transferred ownership of rural water infrastructure to districts, well before the government enacted a comprehensive decentralization policy.

From 1990-1993 the country was engulfed in a Civil War, followed by a massive Genocide in 1994.

Reconstruction activities after the war initially did not achieve a large increase in water supply and sanitation coverage, nor was there a sustainable management model for water systems in rural areas. Many users did not pay for water, some collected funds were mismanaged, and voluntary members of water committees in charge of operating and maintaining systems were often poorly motivated. As a result, about half of rural water schemes did not function in 2004 according to an extensive field survey. The adoption of a new sector policy based on a demand driven approach in 1997 did not change the situation much.

Decentralization and public-private partnerships

In 2000 the government began a process of decentralization, giving the country's 30 districts more revenues and decision-making authority. Districts, which were already nominally the owners of rural water infrastructure, now began to develop their capacity to plan and execute infrastructure projects.

In 2002 local government in the Northern Byumba Province, inspired by similar experiences in neighboring Uganda, contracted out service provision to the local private sector in a form of public-private partnership.

Following that local experience, the government eventually abandoned its policy of community management and decided in 2004 to promote local public-private partnerships following the "Byumba model". With the backing up of the national government, districts thus competitively bid out and signed contracts with private service providers throughout the country. In 2007, 140 rural piped water systems (25% of the total) were managed through public-private partnerships.

Investments in rural water supply increased substantially since 2002, leading to a significant increase in access to water supply in rural areas from 57% in 2005 to 71% in 2007 according to government figures.

Management contract for Electrogaz

In urban areas, in 2003 the utility ELECTROGAZ was placed under a management contract with Lahmeyer International to manage and restructure ELECTROGAZ in collaboration with Hamburg Water Works for 5 years. In March 2006, the management contract was terminated and management of the company reverted to the Government of Rwanda. [ [http://www.electrogaz.co.rw/index_files/Page15792.htm Electrogaz] ]

The government has set itself the target to achieve universal access to water supply and sanitation by 2020.

Responsibility for water supply and sanitation

Policy, regulation and planning

The Ministry of Lands, Environment, Forests, Water and Mines (Ministère des Terres, de l’Environnement, des Forêts, de l’Eau et des Mines - Miniter), through its water and sanitation directorate (Direction de l’eau et de l’assainissement), is in charge of determining water policies and strategies in Rwanda. It is also in charge of monitoring drinking water quality and promoting user awareness.

The Ministry of Local Government, Good Governance, Rural Development and Social Affairs (Minaloc) is in charge of accompanying local participatory planning processes, appying the government's Community Development Policy. [ [http://www.minaloc.gov.rw/spip.php?article24 Minaloc: Community Development Policy] ] Actual planning is carried out by Rwanda's 30 districts through District Development Plans which are elaborated using a participatory approach. The districts also own the water infrastructure.

The regulatory agency Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA), created by law in 2001, is responsible for the economic regulation of the telecommunications, electricity, water, sanitation, gas and transportation sectors. Its mission is to:

* Ensure that certain utilities provide goods and services throughout the country to meet in transparency all reasonable demands and needs of all natural persons and organizations;
* Ensure that all utility suppliers have adequate means to finance their activities;
* Continually promote the interest of users and potential users of the goods and services provided by utilities so that there is effective competition when competition is introduced in each utility sector and protection of users from abuses of monopoly positions is ensured due to the fact that certain Public utility sectors have a monopoly over the market.
* Facilitate and encourage private sector participation in investments in public utilities;
* Ensure compliance by public utilities with the laws governing their activities. [ [http://www.rura.gov.rw/en/index.htm Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency Mission] ]

The purpose of the agency's water and sanitation department is to:

* regulate in a way that promotes fair competition, sustainable and efficient use of water resources;
* ensure better quality of services to customers at fair prices;
* ensure effective protection of environment by enforcing wastes disposal and by-products treatment regulations.

In practice, according to the agency's annual reports up to 2004, it seems that the regulatory agency focused much of its activities in the water and sanitation sector on the supervision of the management contract for Electrogaz.

Service provision

Urban areas. The public enterprise Electrogaz is in charge of urban water supply (as well as electricity and gas supply) in urban areas, including the capital Kigali and 10 other towns. Its monopoly was lifted in 1999.

Rural areas. There are 847 piped rural water systems in Rwanda and 19,300 protected springs. Most of the piped water systems are pumped systems, as opposed to gravity systems, since in Rwanda many settlements are at higher altitude than the water sources serving them. Many systems serve a large number of villages: The largest ones serve up to 120,000 people living in villages dozens of kilometers apart. Almost all users are served through water sales points where water is sold or given away for free by the bucket. House connections are rare in rural areas.

Services in rural areas are provided by community-based organizations (about 650 systems), by private operators under contract with district governments (about 140 systems) and privately owned systems (about 60), most of which were privately owned since at least 2000.

Financial aspects

Tariffs

Water tariffs in rural areas are usually measured by jerrycan (bucket) for water sold at water kiosks or public standposts. In rural water systems managed by private operators in 2004 the water tariffs per jerrycan of 20 liters varied between 14 and 25 Rwandan Franc (RWF), equivalent to about 2.5 to 4.5 US cents per gerrycan or US$ 1.25 - 2.25 per cubic meter. [ [http://www.rura.gov.rw/en/index.htm Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency Annual Report 2004, p. 24] Exchange rate of 1:550 from www.oanda.com for 2006, since no 2004 exchange rate was available. ] Some people get free water at standposts, if they are classified as poor by the community and approved as such by the local authorities. [ Personal communication from Bruno MWANAFUNZI, Water and Sanitation Program (Africa), 22 May 2008 ]

For the few house connections the volumetric tariff was set at between 622 and 850 RWF per m3 (US$ 1.13 and 1.55 per m3).

Note: No tariffs for urban areas are available.

Cost recovery

Cost recovery in rural water schemes has apparently improved in those schemes that are run as public-private partnerships, despite the fact that some poor users receive water for free. Private operators also pay a monthly rent to the districts for the right to use the systems, which remain publicly owned.

Investment

Level and composition

Investments in rural water supply and sanitation increased from US$ 3.5 million in 2002 to US$ 32 million in 2006.

(to be completed in terms of breakdown by water/sanitation, and with investment figures for urban areas)

Mechanism

Investments are channeled from donors and the national government to districts and communities through a Community Development Fund (CDF) established in 2001. 10% of tax revenues are allocated to the CDF by law, although actual transfers remained short of this target in 2003. In that year, 4 bn Rwandan Francs (RWF) were approved, but only 1 bn RWF were disbursed. [ [http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2005/10/24/000012009_20051024111136/Rendered/PDF/324980rev0pdf.pdf Urban Infrastructure and City Management Project, Project Appraisal Document 2005, p. 28] . See also [http://www.rwandagateway.org/article.php3?id_article=2800 Rwanda News Agency] , 5th-September 2006, EU “pleased” with CDF performance ]

The 30 districts of Rwanda sign annual performance contracts with the President of the Republic about the construction of water facilities and the protection of catchment areas. A commission assesses progress on a quarterly basis.

Financing

A large share of investments is financed by donors, including by the World Bank.

Communities contribute to the initial capital costs.

External cooperation

Donors in the Rwandan rural water sector follow a unified implementation framework which is based on the government’s national strategy and program and medium-term expenditure framework. [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/IDA/0,,contentMDK:21256336~menuPK:3266877~pagePK:51236175~piPK:437394~theSitePK:73154,00.html World Bank:IDA at work] ] According to the Rwandan Development Gateway, in 2005 Rwanda’s "achievements in establishing an aid coordination, harmonization, and alignment framework are being recognized as international best-practice." [ [http://www.rwandagateway.org/article.php3?id_article=1915&lang= Rwanda: Aid Effectiveness] ] This is significant progress compared to the observation in the government's 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, which had observed "a piecemeal and uncoordinated approach" among donors in the sector and had called for a sector-wide approach.

The World Bank supported rural water supply and sanitation through a series of projects, including the US$ 72.3 million [http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P002222 water supply 02 project] (1987-1998) and the US$ 20 million [http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?Projectid=P045182&theSitePK=40941&pagePK=64283627&menuPK=228424&piPK=73230 Rural Water and Sanitation Project] (2000-2007). The latter has provided 352,000 people with access to improved water services by December 2006. At the same time more than 12 percent of the 830 water-piped systems existing in the country were privately managed.

In 2005 the European Union (EU) signed a contract with the Rwandan government for a major water project in the Bugesera Region (Kigali rural) worth 16 billion Rwandan francs (Euro 23.24 million). The water project will benefit the four districts of Kanzenze, Gashora, Bicumbi and Kanombe in the eastern part of Kigali city. [ [http://www.rwandagateway.org/article.php3?id_article=789 Rwanda News Agency 21st-July 2005] ]

The African Development Bank has recently committed US$12 million to rural water supply and sanitation. The British, Dutch and Belgian governments also support water supply and sanitation projects in Rwanda. [ [http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/19/38562991.pdf OECD Rwanda] ]

Notable facts

Compared to many other developing countries two notable facts make the water sector in Rwanda stand apart:

* The rapid spread of locally initiated public-private partnerships in rural areas, with the support of the government, now covering 25% of rural water systems
* The use of a common approach by all donors in the rural sector, following a clearly established government strategy

External links

* [http://povlibrary.worldbank.org/files/Rwanda_PRSP.pdf 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper]
* [http://www.minitere.gov.rw/ Ministry of Lands, Environment, Forestry, Water and Mines] (MINITERE)
* [http://www.minitere.gov.rw/page_en.php?subaction=showfull&id=1129416311&archive=1129472269&ucat=2&lang=en Water and Sanitation Directorate in Minitere]
* [http://www.electrogaz.co.rw/ Electrogaz]
* [http://www.statistics.gov.rw/ National Institute of Statistics (NISR)]
* [http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/RWA_2000_004.pdf 2001 Evaluation of the UNICEF Water and Environmental Sanitation Program]

References