Exploration of the simultaneity of safety, affordability, universality and equitability in drinking water services in Mangochi District in Malawi,

Abstract

Safety, affordability, universality and equitability are key elements of the Sustainable Development Goal target on drinking water (Target 6.1). The achievement of this target would depend on the simultaneous attainment of these four elements. This simultaneity was explored in a cross-sectional mixed methods study conducted in Mangochi District. A household survey, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observations, water quality testing and market prices survey were the data collection methods. A mixed sampling design involving purposive, stratified, cluster and random sampling techniques was employed. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, correlation tests, logistic regression, Gini index and thematic analysis were applied as data analysis methods. SPSS v20 and ATLAS.ti 9 were the main data analysis software for quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The study findings show that, despite access to improved water sources being as high as 92% in the study area, there was high-level inequality in the distribution of water sources among the four TAs, and the water services were unaffordable to 21% of the households according to affordability ratio calculations. In addition, the water sources had poor quality, with only 48% and 12% complying with Malawian standard MS733:2005 and WHO guidelines respectively. The study concludes that the elements of safety, affordability, universality and equitability of access to drinking water services cannot be achieved simultaneously. The study recommends that Mangochi District Council should consider a district-wide approach in the implementation of water supply investments, whereby funds from all partners can be pooled together towards some strategic investments. Future study should carry out an economic analysis on what it would take to achieve the universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water services in the district.