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Fintech for the water sector – advancing financial inclusion for more equitable access to water

For many low-income households in the developing world, incomes are highly variable and uncertain. High up-front costs combined with irregular incomes result in unequal access to water, sanitation, and irrigation. Households typically can, and should, cover the costs of accessing water resources, but they cannot do this without help. Financial inclusion can help households access water resources. Financial inclusion focuses on ensuring everyone has access to useful and affordable financial products and services, including transactions, payments, savings, credit, and insurance. The emerging field of financial technology (fintech) can help address barriers to financial inclusion in the water sector while potentially reducing or eliminating the need for subsidy. Fintech solutions already address some of the needs of developing-nation households—applications include payments and mobile money, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) models, insurance technology (insurtech), and virtual banks. This paper explores how fintech can support expansion of market-based solutions for water, sanitation, and irrigation, identifying several use cases where fintech is already being used to address financial inclusion and access to water. In addition to ways that fintech can help households access water supply and sanitation services, the paper also examines how fintech can help water utilities serve low-income customers more effectively and assist small-scale service providers in growing their businesses.

IKEDA, J. and LIFFITON, K. (2019): Fintech for the water sector – advancing financial inclusion for more equitable access to water. In: Water Papers: PDF
Monitoring Rural Water Points in Tanzania with Mobile Phones: The Evolution of the SEMA App

Development professionals have deployed several mobile phone-based ICT (Information and Communications Technology) platforms in the global South for improving water, health, and education services. In this paper, we focus on a mobile phone-based ICT platform for water services, called Sensors, Empowerment and Accountability in Tanzania (SEMA), developed by our team in the context of an action research project in Tanzania. Water users in villages and district water engineers in local governments may use it to monitor the functionality status of rural water points in the country. We describe the current architecture of the platform’s front-end (the SEMA app) and back-end and elaborate on its deployment in four districts in Tanzania. To conceptualize the evolution of the SEMA app, we use three concepts: transaction-intensiveness, discretion and crowdsourcing. The SEMA app effectively digitized only transaction-intensive tasks in the information flow between water users in villages and district water engineers. Further, it resolved two tensions over time: the tension over what to report (by decreasing the discretion of reporters) and over who should report (by constraining the reporting “crowd”)

LEMMENS,R., LUNGO, J., GEOGIANDOU,Y. and VERPLANKE, J. (2017): Monitoring Rural Water Points in Tanzania with Mobile Phones: The Evolution of the SEMA App. In: International Journal of Geo-Information : Volume 6 Issue 316 URL [Accessed: 09.07.2020]
Exploring the dynamics of water innovation: Foundations for water innovation studies.

The urgent need for innovation to address multifaceted and intertwined water-related challenges is becoming increasingly clear, acknowledged and responded to with cumulating sources and amounts of funding. Nevertheless, the water sector has been claimed to be less innovative than other sectors. This Special Volume on the dynamics of water innovation is based on the realization that, in general, there is a striking absence of academic studies on the dynamics of water innovation. This SV is therefore designed to lay the foundations for the field of water innovation studies, in an effort to integrate the emerging insights. Together, the contributions in this SV capture the current understanding of the dynamics of water innovation and provide insights into how the water innovation process can be fostered. The purpose of this introductory article is threefold, namely to frame the discussion on water innovation dynamics in order to contextualise the contributions of this SV, to provide systematic guidance for studying water innovation dynamics and to suggest the way forward for water innovation studies. It captures the extent of the field of water innovation studies with a review of the literature of the last three decades and frames water innovations. Based on five decades of innovation research and drawing on three areas (management, strategy and policy), we provide an innovation studies taxonomy that consists of four organising dimensions: type of innovation, stage of innovation, level of analysis and measurement. This taxonomy enables researchers to study the dynamics of water innovation from different combinations of conceptual and thematic angles, drawing on the field of innovation studies in a systematic fashion. Finally, we reflect on the way forward for water innovation studies with suggestions for future research.

WEHN, U. and MONTALVO, C. (2017): Exploring the dynamics of water innovation: Foundations for water innovation studies.. In: Journal of Cleaner Production : Volume 171 , 1-19. URL [Accessed: 09.07.2020] PDF
A categorization of water system breakdowns: Evidence from Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda

In rural sub-Saharan Africa, one in three handpumps are non-functional at any time. While there is some evidence describing factors associated with non-functional water systems, there is little evidence describing the categories of water system breakdowns that commonly occur. Insufficient water availability from broken down systems can force people to use unimproved water sources, which undermines the health benefits of an improved water source. We categorized common water system breakdowns using quantitative and qualitative monitoring data from Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda (each N > 3600 water systems) and examined how breakdown category varies by water system type and management characteristics. Specific broken parts were mentioned more frequently than all other reasons for breakdown; hardware parts frequently found at fault for breakdown were aprons (Liberia), pipes (Tanzania and Uganda), taps/spouts (Tanzania and Uganda), and lift mechanisms (Nigeria). Statistically significant differences in breakdown category were identified based on system type, age, management type, and fee collection type. Categorization can help to identify common reasons for water system breakdown. The analysis of these data can be used to develop improved monitoring instruments to inform actors of different breakdown types and provide reasons for system non-functionality. Improved monitoring instruments would enable actors to target appropriate resources to address specific breakdowns likely to arise based on system type and management characteristics in order to inform improved implementation of and post-construction support for water systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

KLUG, T., CRONK, R., SHIELDS, K.F. and BARTRAM, J. (2017): A categorization of water system breakdowns: Evidence from Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. In: Science of The Total Environment: Volume 619 URL [Accessed: 09.07.2020]
Innovation A to Z

Innovation A to Z is a mind map to help entrepreneurs make informed business decisions when thinking of launching an innovative product or service. It takes the reader through an innovation funnel that will help him/her determine whether the idea has potential to be innovative in the specific market. 

https://www.boardofinnovation.com/tools/innovation-a-to-z/ [Accessed: 09.07.2020]
Operator Models

This study on operator models for integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) aims to understand and classify the diversity of ways in which waste management services are organized across the world.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (2013): Operator Models. Respecting Diversity. Concepts for Sustainable Waste Management. URL [Accessed: 09.06.2020]
AWIS facilitator's guide

This document was developed to guide the facilitation of the Annotated Water Integrity Scan (AWIS). The AWIS was established by the Water Integrity Network (WIN) and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre in response to the call made in the 2008 Global Corruption Report (GCR) for participatory and qualitative tools to analyse corruption in, and enhance the integrity of, water service development and delivery.

VISSCHER, J.T. HERMANN-FRIEDE, J. (2011): AWIS facilitator's guide. A guide to help implement an Annotated Water Integrity Scan. Berlin, Germany: Water Integrity Netowork and transparency International URL [Accessed: 01.06.2020] PDF
Annotated Water Integrity Scans

The Annotated Water Integrity Scan (AWIS) responds to the call made in the 2008 Global Corruption Report (GCR) for participatory and qualitative tools to analyse corruption in, and enhance the integrity of, water service development and delivery.

The AWIS is a diagnostic tool for multistakeholder workshops, and has three main objectives:

- Establish an overview of the integrity of different sub-sectors of the water sector, to highlight areas which are vulnerable to corruption.

- Identify priority areas for action to enhance water integrity.

- Increase awareness about the water integrity situation and stimulate improvement.

The AWIS will be repeated annually (or every two years) to explore whether it can be used as a monitoring tool. This manual is meant for a broad group of actors interested in exploring and improving integrity and governance in the water sector. This includes staff from government agencies, NGOs, think tanks, universities, the private sector and other organisations involved in development co-operation and the water sector. Policy makers and managers may be particularly interested in the promotion of the tool and the implications of its findings. The manual will also help potential facilitators of AWIS workshops as they prepare for their session.

VISSCHER, J.T. HERMANN-FRIEDE, J. (2011): Annotated Water Integrity Scans. A manual to help assess integrity levels in specific sub-sectors of the water sector. Berlin, Germany: Water Integrity Network and International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) URL [Accessed: 01.06.2020] PDF
Community-Based Partnerships

This webpage provides tips for task forces on how to establish partnerships with community-based organizations.

The Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center Community-Based Partnerships. URL [Accessed: 28.05.2020]
At the heart of the community

This article makes available UNHCR’s experiences from the point of view of large humanitarian organisation concerning inherent advantages to, challenges faced in and how to practically approach working with CBOs in general.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Innovation Service (2020): At the heart of the community. How to work with community-based organizations. URL [Accessed: 28.05.2020]
Working with Community-Based Organizations

This Guide describes a community-based approach to chronic disease prevention in underserved communities at high risk for disease. Chapter 4 focuses on working with Community-Based Organizations.

Contra Costa Health Services (2002): Working with Community-Based Organizations. .