User:Mag2718/sandbox

Practice Experience with Maji Safi Group
This summer I'll be working with Maji Safi Group (MSG), a nonprofit organization in Shirati, Tanzania. MSG focuses on water, sanitation, and feminine hygiene education, though they are also piloting a few different toilet programs and possibly a water distribution project this summer. As I have a technical background, I hope to work closely on these pilot programs, though I also would like to delve deeper into the educational aspects of WASH. Proper WASH techniques are vital to the sustainability and success of any projects attempting to improve water and sanitation. Residents of Shirati do not have access to running water and oftentimes retrieve water from Lake Victoria, which is infested with parasites and other water-borne bacteria.

Water supply and sanitation in Tanzania
This is a big picture article focusing on water infrastructure in Tanzania. There is a lot of potential to work specifically on water supply in rural areas on this page, which would allow me to focus more on the challenges being faced by my PE organization.

WASH
Maji Safi Group mainly focuses on WASH education and so this would be a good article to contribute to. MSG currently has 12 programs related to water and sanitation education and I could use these as a starting point for research on different WASH activities and their challenges.

Evaluating Content:
Everything in the article seemed relevant, though much of it is outdated as the article has not been updated since 2015. Thus, statistics about water and sanitation accessibility, as well as information on the status of various government and local programs, can be updated. I think the article focuses heavily on the political and economic sides of water and sanitation in Tanzania without bringing this content back to how residents are affected and all of the social aspects. Additionally, there is much more information on urban areas than on rural areas, though this could easily be due to the lack of available information in rural areas.

Evaluating Tone:
The overall tone of the article was neutral, especially as it provided information from a variety of players (government, local government, community management, and international aid organizations.) Based on the outline of the article, I think an unintentional consequence of ending with a heavy amount of information related to external cooperation causes international aid to overshadow the policy and service attempts being made by the government and domestic agencies.

Evaluating Sources:
Many of the sources linking to information from Tanzanian surveys as well as census data used to support statistics in the article are broken. This may mean that the data was moved to a newer location, but further research is required to determine this. Other sources including journal articles and reports from well known organizations like WaterAid are functioning. However, I also noted that some sources link to news websites like BBC and Times that are less reliable than peer reviewed journals or reports.

Checking the Talk Page:
This article is part of 3 WikiProjects: WikiProject Water supply and sanitation, WikiProject Africa / Tanzania, and WikiProject Sanitation. Each of the projects gives a B rating. Other than this, one user noted 2 suggestions for improving the article which have to do with WASH education in schools and the operation of local government authorities in rural areas. Both of these are topics that relate to my PE and thus seem like a good starting point for further research and editing.

Area
Sokile, Charles S., Willy Mwaruvanda, and Barbara Van Koppen. "Integrated water resource management in Tanzania: Interface between formal and informal institutions." conference African Water Laws: Plural Legislative Frameworks for Rural Water Management in Africa. 2005.


 * This article discusses the different approaches between informal and formal institutions in Tanzanian water management. I think this will be helpful in my Wikipedia editing as my area article seems to focus mostly on formal institutional approaches. In general, I also think informal approaches to water management will provide valuable information for my PE, as Maji Safi Group works in a rural area of Tanzania with very limited formal water infrastructure.

Strauch, Ayron M., and Astier M. Almedom. “Traditional Water Resource Management and Water Quality in Rural Tanzania.” Human Ecology, vol. 39, no. 1, 2011, pp. 93–106., doi:10.1007/s10745-011-9376-0.


 * Like the previous article, this paper also discusses more informal/traditional approaches to water management in Tanzania. It explains the benefits of traditional resource management (TRM) and local ecological knowledge (LEK) in improving water access and sustainability in rural Tanzania that I would be good to think about going into Shirati as an outsider.

Mashauri, Damas A., and Tapio S. Katko. "Water supply development and tariffs in Tanzania: from free water policy towards cost recovery." Environmental Management 17.1 (1993): 31-39.


 * While slightly outdated, this journal article provides a good background history of Tanzanian water policy. Incredibly interesting to me is that Tanzania attempted to implement a free water policy to all rural areas in the 1960s as a political campaign promise during the fight for independence, but due to obvious infrastructure and economic concerns, this policy fell through within a few years. The article follows this history starting in the colonial era up until the 1990s as Tanzania struggled to build infrastructure and revamp their water policies in a more sustainable and realistic manner.

Giné, Ricard, and Agustí Pérez‐Foguet. "Sustainability assessment of national rural water supply program in Tanzania." Natural Resources Forum. Vol. 32. No. 4. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008.


 * This article provides a more comprehensive understanding of Tanzania's water policies, namely the National Water Policy (NAWAPO) and the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (NRWSSP), launched in 2002 and 2006, respectively, and also offers insight into how sustainable these programs are for the long-term. It explains some of the goals of the NAWAPO in accordance with the UN's MDGs, but also offers interesting insight in saying that goals such as the MDG on water focus more on short-term provision of water to communities without encouraging long term operations, maintenance, ownership, and sustainability. According to the authors, NAWAPO and the NRWSSP have outlined plans that focus more on this second aspect of sustainability, but doing so requires increased time, investment, and capitol that the country does not have. This has resulted in the plans stalling. However, this article was published in 2008 and it would be interesting to find a more recent article with updates since then.

* Remainder of source summaries are in final essay annotated bibliography.

Madulu, Ndalahwa F. "Linking poverty levels to water resource use and conflicts in rural Tanzania." Physics and chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C 28.20-27 (2003): 911-917.

Kjellén, Marianne. "Complementary water systems in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: the case of water vending." International journal of water resources development 16.1 (2000): 143-154.

Mandara, Christina Geoffrey, Carja Butijn, and Anke Niehof. "Community management and sustainability of rural water facilities in Tanzania." Water Policy 15.S2 (2013): 79-100.

Sector
Waddington, Hugh, et al. "Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions to combat childhood diarrhoea in developing countries." New Delhi: International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (2009).


 * The article conducts a meta-analysis of 71 WASH interventions in 35 developing nations and highlights their differences and outcomes towards combating water-borne illnesses. The Wikipedia WASH article does not seem to provide in-depth information on different approaches to WASH interventions/education and this is what I want to delve more deeply into.

Moe, Christine L., and Richard D. Rheingans. "Global challenges in water, sanitation and health." Journal of water and health 4.S1 (2006): 41-57.


 * This article covers 5 different challenges to providing safe access to water, sanitation, and hygiene in a sustainable manner internationally. It would especially be useful for contributing to the "challenges" section of the WASH wiki article. It provides information and leading research questions for providing WASH to developing nations, as well as developed nations like the US. I think this would be interesting to look at and I could use it to add to the wiki page, which mostly talks about a lack of WASH in developing nations.

Butterworth, John, et al. "Finding practical approaches to integrated water resources management." Water alternatives3.1 (2010): 68-81.


 * This article discusses the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) as it applies to developing nations. It explains that the recent support of IWRM in developed nations has failed to recognize its implementation in developing nations that do not have viable economic resources to achieve efficient water resource management plans on the same scale. For these cases, Butterworth et al. propose that developed nations instead incorporate a "light" version of IWRM that takes into consideration local power and water management committees as a step in the right direction. I think this would be interesting to include in either the "challenges" or "activities" section of the WASH article as it provides information for both developed and developing nations struggling to achieve sustainable water management policies.

Sandy Cairncross, Caroline Hunt, Sophie Boisson, Kristof Bostoen, Val Curtis, Isaac CH Fung, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, Water, sanitation and hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoea, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 39, Issue suppl_1, April 2010, Pages i193–i205, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyq035


 * This article is similar to the Waddington et al. article above in that it is a meta-analysis of the efficacies of WASH interventions. Cairncross et al. studied the effects of handwashing, water quality improvements, and sanitation on diarrheal morbidity and mortality. Like the Waddington article, WASH interventions do not seem to show as high reductions in diarrhea as would be expected, with the effects handwashing being the greatest out of the three intervention types at 48% reduction. Moreover, evidence for water quality improvements seemed to be tarnished by biases in the various studies examined and continue to point to a need for point source treatment over centralized treatment. Lastly, evidence found for the effects of sanitation were weakest, though the studies also were unable to completely distinguish between water quality improvement and sanitation due to the nature of the communities studied.

* Remainder of source summaries are in final essay annotated bibliography.

Snilstveit B. and Waddington H. "Effectiveness and sustainability of water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions in combating diarrhoea", Journal of Development Effectiveness, 1.3 (2009): 295-335.

Carter, Richard C., Sean F. Tyrrel, and Peter Howsam. "The impact and sustainability of community water supply and sanitation programmes in developing countries." Water and Environment Journal 13.4 (1999): 292-296.

Tilley, Elizabeth, et al. "Looking beyond technology: an integrated approach to water, sanitation and hygiene in low income countries." (2014): 9965-9970.

Dreibelbis, Robert, et al. "The integrated behavioural model for water, sanitation, and hygiene: a systematic review of behavioural models and a framework for designing and evaluating behaviour change interventions in infrastructure-restricted settings." BMC public health 13.1 (2013): 1015.

Area
My research so far into Tanzanian water infrastructure has shown that strides are being made to provide better management and accessibility, but that there are also many challenges still being faced in implementing major plans. From a governmental perspective, power is held within the Ministry of Water and legislation has been passed in recent decades to protect watershed basins and outline overarching water policy and practices in the 2002 National Water Policy (NAWAPO), a National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (NRWSSP) in 2006, and a recent Integrated Water Resources Management Plan. However, it seems like a combination of minimal funding and deficiency in skilled workers is making these policies and goals difficult to implement. On top of this, the rural areas of Tanzania continue to lack basic water and sanitation infrastructure. In these regions, informal bodies manage water and sanitation at the grassroots level. The challenge now is to involve local expertise, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and grassroots power in nation-wide water policy debate and development. From more recent research, one of the main goals of the central government's new frameworks is to decentralize and devolve water management such that local authorities have increased oversight. In this regard, it seems like they understand the importance of TEK and community participation and ownership of water systems, but that implementation of the policies isn't progressing according to their written ideals. On top of this, the government currently is relying on foreign investments and aid for about 60% of capital costs for water projects, with NGOs providing about 10%, the government providing about 25%, and local communities expected to contribute the remaining 5%. As Tanzania is still in a "cost-recovery" phase after the failed "free water for all" period in the 1960s-1980s, dependence on foreign aid is understandable, but also raises questions of long-term sustainability and government responsibility.

Sector
In terms of WASH in general, my research has laid out a few fundamental challenges being faced by the global community. For the purposes of my PE and personal interest, the challenges that stick out the most to me are water contamination, growing water scarcity, and reducing the inequities faced by low-income, rural communities with regards to proper access to water and sanitation. The United Nation's movement "International Decade for Action: Water for Life" over the past decade has brought with it increased funding for water and sanitation interventions in developing countries in order to curb deaths from water-borne illnesses. However, research has shown that these interventions, including water source treatment, point of use treatment methods, and sanitation/hygiene education have only been partially successful in reducing sickness and improving public health. At the same time, it is clear that many studies relating to WASH interventions are flawed in that there are either multiple confounding variables, multiple interventions are studied at once, or there is simply an inability to properly carry out randomized controlled trials and blind studies due to the nature of WASH practices. As a result, it is difficult for researchers to make conclusive claims, yet determining what is and is not working is critical in making changes to the next wave of water and sanitation development and, more personally, to how I should work within the approaches and interventions that MSG utilizes. Nonetheless, interventions like point-source treatment and education about handwashing have thus far proven to be the most reliably effective.

Drafting
Bold taken from Wiki article, normal font are my additions.

Water supply and sanitation in Tanzania


 * To go under the Rural Areas section as a new subsection:
 * In rural areas that lack formal water systems or water management, traditional forms of water resource management and sanitation practices are passed down generationally as local ecological knowledge. Here, distrust between the government and indigenous groups stemming from the failed Free Water policy results in a lack of compliance with formal regulations. For example, water conflicts at the village level are often resolved informally, rather than being brought to primary and district courts that they find time consuming, expensive, and unjust. Instead, informal water management practices are carried out at a grassroots level by traditional village elites, such as the mwanamijie in Sonjo villages. Rules including when and where water can be collected as well as punishments or fines when these rules are broken are closely connected to local religious beliefs, customs, and cultural values. Formal institutions that lack the technical skill and capital to build and maintain water systems in indigenous communities can take advantage of informal systems to lighten their responsibility, but the central government often fails to recognize these systems as legitimate.
 * Formal institutions and international aid agencies also place high emphasis on provisioning of potable water, ignoring other water needs faced by rural communities, including water supplies necessary for irrigation, livestock, and washing. When treated water is only made available in sufficient quantities for consumption, residents are forced to continue using traditional, contaminated sources for all other activities resulting in persistence of enteric diseases and continuing conflict over water availability. Participation of community stakeholders in the process of rural water system development can prevent underemphasis of these needs.
 * Under Rural Areas Overview
 * There are two main types of COWSOs: Water Consumer Associations (Vikundi vya Huduma ya Maji), who are responsible for drinking water supply, and Water User Associations (Vikundi vya Watumiaji Maji), who are responsible for water resources and for solving conflicts among water users. As of 2006, 121 Water User Associations have been established. Formally, Water User Associations require payment of membership fees, participation in meetings, development of constitutions and by-laws, and election processes for leadership positions. However, consistent member participation remains low as villagers opt instead for participation in informal associations that have fewer requirements.
 * The role of COWSOs is to operate and maintain the water supply systems on behalf of the community. They are expected to meet all the costs of operating and maintaining their water supply systems through charges levied on water consumers, and to contribute to the capital cost of their systems. However, inadequate technical training of community associations in operations and maintenance has resulted in misuse and disrepair of rural water systems, with 40% of rural water schemes experiencing persistent non-functionality.
 * Intro Section
 * The Government of Tanzania has embarked on a major sector reform process since 2002 when an update was made to the National Water Policy NAWAPO. At that time, the central government reported that only 42% of rural households had access to improved water and that 30% of all water systems in the country were inoperative.
 * Policies and Strategies section after paragraph on NWSDS
 * The National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (NRWSSP) 2006-2025 aims to provide a policy framework for provision of equitable and sustainable water access to 65% of the rural population by 2010, 74% by 2015, and 90% by 2025. The NRWSSP is the second iteration of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (RWSSP) that was piloted in 2002. The program is run by the Ministry of Water and includes goals for institutional reorganization as well as a focus on data collection and monitoring through a Management Information System. As of 2008, challenges related to insufficient capital, bureaucratic delay, and lack of local oversight have resulted in minimal progress.
 * Urban Areas section after first paragraph
 * In Dar es Salaam, insufficient piped water supplies, especially in poor squatter settlements and neighborhoods, has forced residents to resort to complementary water systems to meet their daily needs. These include illegal connections, illegal pumping, and purchasing water from pushcarts that resale at 15-25 times the official price. It is estimated that 29% of water supplied in the city is from illegal connections and that only 30% of residents have a legal connection to the utility distribution line.
 * Free Water Supply section
 * According to a report by WaterAid, “the resulting water projects were unsustainable and left a legacy of distrust among villagers for government programmes”.[27] Villages were selected based on purely technical criteria by the district water department without consultation with communities. Deep boreholes were drilled and equipped with pumps and diesel engines that should have been maintained by the government using central funds. This did not work well and many of the pumps were inoperable.[27] In other communities, mismanagement of government provided funds and a desire to implement as many water systems as possible led to the initial construction of projects that never reached completion. In subsequent years public services collapsed and a serious outbreak of cholera occurred in many urban areas between 1976 and 1980.[26]
 * A mid-term review of the RWSP conducted in 1985 showed that only 46% of the rural population had access to water supply services. Among the reasons were the lack of involvement by beneficiaries, the use of inappropriate technologies, insufficient financial resources, poor operations and maintenance procedures, and an inadequate, overly centralized institutional framework.

WASH


 * Add subsection titled Water Distribution Systems under Challenges section:
 * Improper management of water distribution systems in developing nations can exacerbate the spread of water-borne diseases. The World Health Organization estimates 25%-45% of water in distribution lines is lost through leaks in developing countries. These leaks, especially when combined with power outages that prevent pipes from maintaining positive pressures, allow for contaminated water and pathogens to enter the distribution line. Cross-contamination of wastewater into potable water lines has resulted in major disease outbreaks, such as a typhoid outbreak in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 1997.
 * Under Failures of Wash section:
 * National government mapping and monitoring efforts, as well as post-project monitoring by NGOs or researchers, have identified the failure of water supply systems (including water points, wells and boreholes) and sanitation systems as major challenges. Many water and sanitation systems are unsustainable, failing to provide extended health benefits to communities in the long-term. This has been attributed to financial costs, inadequate technical training for operations and maintenance, poor use of new facilities and taught behaviors, and a lack of community participation and ownership.
 * Access to WASH services also varies internally within nations depending on socio-economic status, political power, and level of urbanization. A 2004 estimate by UNICEF stated that urban households are 30% and 135% more likely to have access to improved water sources and sanitation respectively, as compared to rural areas. Moreover, the poorest populations cannot afford fees required for operation and maintenance of WASH infrastructure, preventing them from benefitting even when systems do exist.
 * Under Evidence regarding health outcomes section:
 * ...The nature of WASH interventions is such that high quality trials, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs), are expensive, difficult and in many cases not ethical. Causal impact from such studies are thus prone to being biased due to residual confounding.[citation needed] Blind studies of WASH interventions also pose ethical challenges and difficulties associated with implementing new technologies or behavioral changes without participant's knowledge. Moreover, scholars suggest a need for longer-term studies of technology efficacy, greater analysis of sanitation interventions, and studies of combined effects from multiple interventions in order to more sufficiently gauge WASH health outcomes.
 * Similarly, handwashing promotion has been found to be associated with a 47% decrease in morbidity. However, a challenge with WASH behavioral intervention studies is an inability to ensure compliance with such interventions, especially when studies rely on self-reporting of disease rates. This prevents researchers from concluding a causal relationship between decreased morbidity and the intervention. For example, researchers may conclude that educating communities about handwashing is effective at reducing disease, but cannot conclude that handwashing reduces disease. Point-of-use water supply and point-of-use water quality interventions also show similar effectiveness to handwashing, with those that include provision of safe storage containers demonstrating increased disease reduction in infants.
 * Under  National Wash plans and monitoring section:
 * In 1992, the United Nations proposed Integrated water resources management (IWRM) as a solution to WASH challenges and policy failures. An integrated approach to water management aims to minimize challenges associated with water-borne disease, water justice, poor compliance with safe hygiene behaviors, and sustainability by involving stakeholders at every level of management and consumption. This approach also recognizes the political, economic, and social influence of WASH as well as the need to coordinate water and sanitation management. Critics of current implementation of IWRM argue it has been externally imposed on developing countries and can be culturally inappropriate to the needs of individual communities. Instead, a hybrid approach that includes greater community-level management and flexibility but with the same goals as IWRM has been suggested.
 * Also deleted from bottom of the Wikipedia article an uncited sentence about WASH only referring to water quality and not IWRM. This does not seem to be true based on the current literature.