A livelihood approach to water interventions in rural areas and implications for Multiple Use Systems

Among all constraints to development, water has been systematically highlighted as one of the most important challenges to rural poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. Highly variable and erratic precipitations, poor development of hydraulic infrastructure and markets, and lack of access to water for domestic and productive uses, all contribute to maintaining high the vulnerability of rural people in the region. Through a recent study, FAO and IFAD have been investigating the linkage between water and rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The study argues that there are ample opportunities to invest in water in support to rural livelihoods in the region, but that interventions must be targeted adequately. The key word is "context-specificity", and the main challenge is to understand where and how to invest. A comprehensive approach is needed, where investments in infrastructure are matched with interventions in institutions, knowledge and finance in ways that offer an opportunity to get the best return in terms of poverty reduction, and taking into account the extreme heterogeneity of situations faced by rural people over the region. Multiple use systems (MUS) are important in this context as infrastructure systems better address people's need than sectoral water development programmes. The paper presents the main results of the study with special emphasis on the potential of investments in multiple use systems in the different livelihood zones of sub-Saharan Africa.