Embracing  failure:  diagnosing  the  causes  of  water  insecurity  to  improve  future  interven9ons  Nick  Hepworth  Declan  Conway  Bruce  Lankford  

Diagnosing  water  security  status  and  determinants  

•  Kenya  •  Uganda  •  Tanzania  

•  82  water  resource  managers    

•  Hydrometric  measurements  • Water  Quality  analysis  •  Document  analysis    •  Field  observa9ons  •  Transect  walks  •  Par9cipatory  Appraisal  •  Interviews  

1.  Mul9ple  case  study  research    (Yin  2004)  

2.  Picture  aided    

discussion  (PAD)  

3.  External  valida9on  visits  

4.  Ques9onnaire  survey  &  key  informant  interviews  

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Example:  Gomba  Estates  -­‐  irrigated  export  agriculture  

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Example:  Pastoralists,  Mbulu  District  

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Determinants  of  ins9tu9onal  performance  

• Difficult  contexts  (climate,  poverty,  history)  

• Resources,  finance  and  capacity  • Data  and  management  systems  

Explicit  constraints  

• Ambiguous  authority/sovereignty  • Corrup9on  and  capture  • Weak  ins9tu9onal  incen9ves  • Low  prac99oner  mo9va9on  

Tacit  constraints  

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Ins$tu$onal  personality:  in  addi9on  to  capacity  -­‐  people,  organisa9ons  and  ins9tu9ons  -­‐  require  incen9ves,  mo9va9on  and  intent  in  order  to  deliver  ‘public  good’  outcomes  on  water  security.    

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Ins9tu9onal  personality:    prac99oner  mo9va9on  

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Ins9tu9onal  environment  

•  Turf  wars  •  Corrup9on  and  interference  

•  Failure  of  gov-­‐on-­‐gov  and  gov-­‐on-­‐donor  safeguards  

Management  and  workplace  

• Few    or  no              examples  of  success  • Pay  and  condi9ons  • Top  down  management  

Inappropriate  interven9ons  

•   Overreliance  on  well  paid  TA  cripples  mo9va9on,  ownership  &  learning  •     Brain-­‐drain  out  of  public  sector  •   The  tyranny  of  workshop  culture  

Mo9va9on  tested  using  ‘self-­‐determina9on  theory’  (Deci  &  Ryan)  

Deliberated  in  the  public  domain  by  ci9zens,  prac99oners,    stakeholders    &  financiers  

Ins9tu9onal  personality:  social  accountability  &  organisa9onal  incen9ves    

1.  Who  is  responsible?  Water  security  duty  bearers  and  resources  

available?  

2.  Who  is  affected?    Water  security  rights  holders  and  

impacts?    

3.  Performance  monitoring  

How  are  duty  bearers  performing,  what  are  the  social  and  economic  implica9ons?  

4.  Integrity  and  oversight  

Reflec9on  on  performance  and  opportuni9es  for    construc9ve  change  

Stronger  ins9tu9onal    incen9ves  and  improved  

performance  

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Signpos$ng  progress…    

 1.   Be6er  governance:  help  rights  holders  to  hold  

duty  bearers  to  account  2.   Be6er  research:  trace  and  test  links  between  

interven9ons,  ins9tu9onal  performance  and  outcomes    

3.   Be6er  aid:  address  root  causes  of  systemic  issues    /  genuine,  sustainable  capacity  mobilisa9on  

4.   New  approaches:  e.g.  explore  wins  and  advocacy  poten9al  provided  by  corporate  engagement  (and  manage  the  risks)  

 

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