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Uganda is a relative leader in terms of improving access to rural water supply.

Rural water supply in Uganda: Major strides in sector coordination and performance

Water of adequate quantity and quality is essential to sustaining human life and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although progress has been made globally in providing access to improved water sources, challenges remain in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Uganda has been no stranger to these challenges. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with rapid population growth putting pressure on freshwater resource availability. Poverty incidence remains high, in spite of progress made, and is firmly entrenched in rural areas, which are home to more than 80% of Ugandans. In the early 1990s, the rural water sector was characterised by a relatively weak sector policy framework, limited sector coordination and insufficient institutional capacity. More than 60% of the rural population - some 9 million rural inhabitants - lacked access to safe drinking water.

Nevertheless, Uganda has made notable progress in rural water sector coordination and performance, and has increased rural access to improved water sources. Sector progress surged in the late 1990s and into the mid-2000s. Challenges going forward include declining sector resource allocation, some fragmentation of sector activities and changing political economy priorities.

Region: 
Uganda
Sector: 
Water, sanitation and hygiene

Key Messages

  1. Since 1990, Uganda has made notable progress in increasing access to improved drinking water sources in rural areas and has taken major strides in improving its national and local rural water service delivery systems.
  2. A combination of factors, exogenous and endogenous to the sector, has helped drive progress. These include: a strengthened sector policy and institutional framework; shifting aid modalities and improved development cooperation; development financing and enhanced resource allocation; and national leadership and political support, particularly up to the mid-2000s.
  3. Key lessons learnt include: aid can be more effective when it 'works with the grain' and when the incentives of donors and recipients are aligned with reform processes; the scope and longevity of sector reform depends greatly on the degree of government leadership and  political support and the logic of the political system; equity and sustainability issues need to be addressed systematically if progress is to be maintained; and a shift from the poverty agenda to one of macroeconomic stability and export-driven growth poses risks to social sector progress.

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