Just add water!
Planning for rural livelihoods & economic
activities
A case study
Du Toit D 1,Kruger E2,Maimela B2,Mabunda T 1
1Association forWater andRuralDevelopment,
Hoedspruit Limpopo, South Africa
2Mahlathini Development Foundation, Kwazulu Natal,
South Africa
Context
•Giyani Local Scale Climate Resilience Programme (GLSCRP): Managed by the Water Research
Commission (WRC) and funded by the Flanders government, focusing on rural water supply
programmes.
Context: Rural water supply
•The provision of water in rural areas of South Africa remains an
ongoing challenge, even with an enabling policy and legal
environment.
•Rural communities frequently face water scarcity due to
infrastructural inefficiencies, governance issues, cost, load
shedding, resource availability and the impacts of climate
change.
•The traditional approach to water provision, which often relies
on expanding bulk infrastructure networks, is not always
feasibleintheshort/mediumrunandposessignificant
implementation challenges (Kruger et al., 2021).
Importance of Addressing Water Challenges in Rural South Africa:
•Water is essential for both domestic use and economic activities, especially in rural areas where
livelihoods depend heavily on agriculture and small-scale farming.
•Ensuring reliable access to water is critical for improving the quality of life, supporting
sustainable livelihoods, and fostering economic development in rural communities.
Multiple use systems -MUS
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van Koppen, B., Moriarty, P., & Boelee, E. (2006).
"Multiple Use Water Services to Advance the
Millennium Development Goals." Research
Report 98, International Water Management
Institute (IWMI)
Source: DWAF, 2006
Multiple
Use
Ladder
(Source: Renwick,etal 2007 ; van Koppen et al 2009)
Mayephuvillage: case study
Waterprofiles
Generally there are 4 household profiles in the village:
1. Those with only 25L container storage options (roughly
700L/week) – equivalent to 18,9L/pppd
2. Those with 25L and 210L drum storage options (roughly
1400L/week) – equivalent to 37,7L/pppd
3. Those with containers, drums and JoJo tanks (roughly
3000L/week) -equivalent to 80,9L/pppd
4. Those with all of the above and their own boreholes
(roughly 3000L/week plus roughly 2500L-5000l/week
from their own systems)- equivalent to 200L/pppd
Group 4Group 2Group 3
Group 1
17% of households 25% of households24% of households 34% of households
Storage in Mayephu…
Group 4Group 2Group 3Group 1
What does this mean?...
•It is only those households in the 4th group, with
their own boreholes who manage to maintain
reasonably sized household gardens (200-400m2).
•For households in the 3rd group, with JoJo tanks
filled from the communal system roughly 30% have
much smaller gardens (20-100m2).
•The households in groups 1 and 2 are not active in
productive activities.
Village Water Dialogues
•Communities in Giyani are resilient and have
developed their own coping systems
•There are signs of Agency and stewardship.
•Village structures self regulate and manage
availability according to local rules
•Access/use of storage is a major community
management issue
•Villages self organise around savings for
infrastructure maintenance but usually for crisis
times.
What we learnt
•Storage, of any description, is an important in rural settings but often under
considered
•Storage makes it possible for people to be involved in productive uses and
contribute to food security
•Storage is a relatively cheap option for rural projects
•Storage needs monitoring (mostly not done) and management
•Waterqualityandstoragearefrequentlynot
considered in rural programmes
•Rainwater harvesting is under developed
•Over specified storage, on the other hand, is a
problem for groundwater and borehole over
exploitation.
© 2017 The Association for Water and Rural Development
Flanders Gov and WRC are
acknowledged
Du Toit D 1,Kruger E 2,Maimela B 2,Mabunda T1
1Association for Water and Rural Development,
Hoedspruit Limpopo, South Africa
2MahlathiniDevelopment Foundation, Kwazulu
Natal, South Africa
Thank you