Report | no. 360

Impact evaluation of drinking water
supply and sanitation interventions
in rural Mozambique
Since 2006, the UNICEF–Netherlands Partnership
Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation has
been supporting Water Supply and Sanitation
programmes in Mozambique. The largest
programme, the ‘One Million Initiative’ aims to
bring improved sanitation and clean water to
over one million people in rural Mozambique.
Half-way through the programme, a joint impact
evaluation was carried out by IOB and UNICEF’s

evaluation office. It found evidence of a large
increase in the use of improved water sources
and in the ownership and use of latrines. Much of
the increase can be attributed to an innovative
approach to sanitation. However, water from
improved sources and even more importantly,
stored water, are not always safe to drink. An
element of subsidy will continue to be needed to
sustain facilities and services.

More than Water

Published by:

11buz283729 | E

This project was a product of a cooperation between:

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB)
P.O. box 20061 | 2500 eb The Hague | The Netherlands
www.minbuza.nl/iob
© Ministry of Foreign Affairs | October 2011| ISBN 978-90-5328-414-8

Impact evaluation of drinking water
supply and sanitation interventions
in rural Mozambique

More than Water
Mid-term impact evaluation:
UNICEF – Government of The Netherlands Partnership for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene
‘One Million Initiative’, Mozambique

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Preface
Drinking water supply and basic sanitation has been a priority for the Netherlands’
development co-operation and for UNICEF for many years. Current attention is guided by
the international consensus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG 7
includes the target to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people in 1990 without sustainable
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Since 2006 the Netherlands supports UNICEF programmes through the UNICEFNetherlands Partnership Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. The biggest
programme is the UNICEF/Government of the Netherlands/ Government of Mozambique
water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion programme “One Million Initiative” in
rural areas in the provinces Manica, Sofala and Tete. Mozambique is both for the
Netherlands and for UNICEF a partner country to which for many years substantial support
to water supply and sanitary facilities has been provided.
The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the UNICEF Evaluation Office, in close cooperation with UNICEF
Mozambique, conducted a mid-term impact evaluation of the on-going programme.
A follow up impact study is envisaged at the end of the programme in 2013.
The objective of the support to water supply and sanitary facilities goes beyond sustainable
access to facilities: it aims to reduce the burden of water collection (typically a task for
women and girls), improve health, raise school enrolment and attendance, improve
livelihoods and, ultimately, reduce poverty. The for Mozambique innovative UNICEF
Community Approach to Total Sanitation (CATS) made the study particularly interesting.
Special attention is paid to drinking water quality at the source and at point of use and to
linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene behaviour. In addition the report
reviews some major challenges to reinforce sustainability.
There is a worldwide consensus on the impacts of programmes for water supply and sanitary
facilities; conventional evaluation studies do not, however, normally quantify these. The
impact evaluation has used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and
techniques. Through such an evaluation both Evaluation Departments wish to explore how
the effects of these programs can be measured. For the Netherlands the study is the fifth in a
series of impact evaluations of water supply and sanitation programs in different countries.
Rita Tesselaar of IOB was overall responsible for the impact evaluation, in coordination with
Samuel Bickel of the UNICEF Evaluation Office, and in close cooperation with Samuel
Godfrey, head of programme at the UNICEF Mozambique Office and Mr. Americo Muianga,
programme coordinator of the Directorate of Water, Government of Mozambique. The
main research consultants for the study were Jan Willem Gunning and Chris Elbers,
Professors of Development Economics at the VU University Amsterdam; Dr. Stephen Turner,
senior consultant in Resource Development and Belis Matabire, national consultant in
water supply and sanitation. The household, community and water point surveys were

|3|

Preface

implemented by the agency WE Consult, through the UNICEF Mozambique Office.
The study benefited from information and comments on draft versions of the report
received from the Directorate of Water, staff of the UNICEF Mozambique Office, Paul
Eduards of UNICEF headquarters, Dr. Christine Sijbesma of the IRC International Water and
Sanitation Centre, Antonie de Kemp and Henri Jorritsma of IOB, Dick van Ginhoven of the
responsible policy department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Felix
Hoogveld of the Netherlands Embassy in Maputo. Thanks are also due to all other informants and last but certainly not least, all the respondents to the survey questionnaires and
participants of group interviews. Special thanks are due to the water supply and sanitation
team of the UNICEF Mozambique Office for their information, advice and support throughout the study.
IOB and UNICEF Evaluation Office bear responsibility for the contents of the report.
Prof. Dr. Ruerd Ruben
Director IOB
Colin Kirk
Director UNICEF Evaluation Office
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Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Contents
Preface
Tables
Figures
Abbreviations
Main findings and issues

3
7
9
10
12

1

Background and methodology
1.1
Purpose and focus of the impact evaluation
1.2
Key evaluation questions
1.3
Methodology
1.4
Structure of the report

22
23
27
29
31

2

Problem and context
32
2.1
Demography and society
33
2.2
Natural environment
34
2.3
Economy and poverty
35
2.4
Health and nutrition
36
2.5
Water and sanitation policy and institutional context
38
2.6
External funding agencies’ policy and support to rural water and sanitation 41
2.7
Summary
43

3

The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013
3.1
Objectives
3.2
Approach and activities
3.3
Institutional strategy
3.4
Outputs to date
3.5
Costs
3.6
Summary

46
47
48
57
61
65
66

4

Impact analysis
70
4.1
Introduction
71
4.2
Data and Methodology
71
4.3
Water interventions of the One Million Initiative
74
4.4
Sanitation and hygiene - related interventions of the One Million Initiative 90
4.5
Health impact of the One Million Initiative
102
4.6
The One Million Initiative and Education
105
4.7
Summary
111

5

Sustainability assessment
5.1
Introduction
5.2
Policy and institutional arrangements
5.3
Institutional capacity
5.4
Other factors affecting sustainability

114
115
116
118
123

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Contents

5.5
5.6

Monitoring
Summary

Annexes
Annex 1
Terms of reference
Annex 2	Estimating the number of newly realised water points under the
One Million Initiative
Annex 3
Sampling design
Annex 4
References

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127
129
134
135
152
155
163

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Tables
Table 1
Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces: demographic data
33
Table 2
Poverty headcount, 1996-97, 2002-03 and 2008-09
36
Table 3
Selected health and nutrition indicators, 1997 and 2003
36
Table 4
Selected health and nutrition indicators, 2008
37
Table 5	Percentage of persons aged 15-49 testing HIV positive, Manica, Sofala
and Tete, 2000 - 2007
37
Table 6
One Million Initiative ODF awards, 2008 and 2009-10
52
Table 7
New water points and beneficiaries, 2008 - 2010
62
Table 8
Number of new water points, estimated from survey data
63
Table 9
New latrines and beneficiaries, 2008 - 2010
63
Table 10
ODF communities, 2008 – 2010
64
Table 11
Communities planned for CATS evaluation, evaluated, declared ODF, 2010 64
Table 12
School water supplies and latrines, 2007 - 2010
65
Table 13
Budget of the One Million Initiative
65
Table 14
Improved water points in survey locations
76
Table 15
Access to improved water points
77
Table 16	Percentage of households using improved water sources as their main
source of drinking water.
78
Table 17
Households response to water point intervention (number of households) 78
Table 18	Change in use of improved water sources caused by change in availability of
improved water sources and / or CATS intervention
79
Table 19
Payment mode for user charges for improved water sources
80
Table 20 Monthly payment according to water committee
81
Table 21
User charges
81
Table 22
Determinants of using improved sources of drinking water
82
Table 23
Changes in Water Quality at Source
84
Table 24 CFU Count at Source (2010)
84
Table 25
Water quality: subjective and objective 2010
85
Table 26 Perceived water quality determines switch to improved sources
85
Table 27
Water safety at point of use
86
Table 28 Trends in water consumption
87
Table 29 Water consumption and perceived water quality
88
Table 30 Water collection time
89
Table 31
Latrine Ownership and CATS intervention
90
Table 32	Open Defecation Practice and CATS intervention (changes 2008-2010. % points) 91
Table 33
Effect of CATS intervention on latrine ownership
92
Table 34 Latrine use and ownership (% of sample using a latrine)
93
Table 35
Improved latrines and safe sanitation
94
Table 36 Material and condition of the latrine’s walls in 2010 (percentage of latrines) 95
Table 37
Cleanliness of latrines
97
Table 38 Handwashing practice in 2010
98
Table 39 Handwashing with soap or ash (percentage of persons responding)
98
Table 40 Water handling (percentage of household reporting)
98

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Tables

Table 41
Handling of baby excreta (percentage of households reporting)
100
Table 42
Households satisfying the conditions to reduce water related diseases in 2010 101
Table 43	Prevalence (6 months recall) of water related diseases (percentage of households with any case of illness in last six months)
103
Table 44 Health effect of interventions
104
Table 45 Water point interventions at schools
105
Table 46 Number of schools with latrines and use by specific groups
106
Table 47 Latrine use by students
107
Table 48 Handwashing practice of students
108
Table 49	Enrolment and interventions in survey schools (average number of pupils
per school)
109
Table 50 Percentage of school age children enrolled in school
110
Table 51
Girls’ enrolment and programme interventions
111

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Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Figures
Figure 1
Transmission pathways of faecal-oral diseases
Figure 2	Reduction of diarrhoea as a result of water supply, sanitation and hygiene
improvement
Figure 3
Districts covered under the One Million Initiative
Figure 4	Coordination of activities and flow of informaion between provincial and
community levels
Figure 5
Agreements and information flows from community to district level
Figure 6
Number of water points by number of households served

25
26
47
58
61
75

|9|

Abbreviations

Abbreviations

| 10 |

AfDB
African Development Bank
ANC
antenatal clinic
ARA
Regional Water Authority
ASAS
Sector Support to the Water Sector
CAS
Water and Sanitation Committee
CATS
community approach for total sanitation
CDC
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
CFS
Child-Friendly Schools for Africa Initiative
CFU
Coliform forming units
CLTS
community-led total sanitation
CRA
Council for the Regulation of Water Supply
CUT
Single Treasury Account
DALY
Disability-Adjusted Life Years
DAS
Department of Water and Sanitation
DFID
United Kingdom Department for International Development
DNA
National Water Directorate
DPOPH
Provincial Directorate of Public Works and Housing
FIPAG
Water Supply Investment and Asset Holding Fund
GAS
Water and Sanitation Group
GOM
Government of Mozambique
GON
Government of the Netherlands
GTAS
Water and Sanitation Thematic Group
HDI
Human Development Index
HDR
Human Development Report
IOB
Policy and Operations Evaluation Department
INE
National Institute of Statistics
JMP
Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation
LOLE
Law of Local Organs of the State
mln
million
MDG
Millennium Development Goal
MT
Meticais
nd
not dated
NGO
non-governmental organisation
np
no page number
O&M
operation and maintenance
ODF
open defecation free
PARPA
National Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty
PEC
community participation and training
PESA-ASR Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Strategic Plan
PHAST
Participatory Hygiene And Sanitation Transformation
PRONASAR National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme
PSU
Primary Sampling Units
SD
standard deviation

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

SDC
SDPI
SINAS
SISTAFE
SNV
STEPS
TOR
UNAIDS
UNDP
UNICEF
VCT
WASH
WEDC
WHO
WSP

Swiss Development Corporation
District Service for Planning and Infrastructure
National Information System for Water and Sanitation
State Financial Management System
Netherlands Development Organisation
Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability
Terms of Reference
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Children’s Fund
voluntary counselling and testing
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Water, Engineering and Development Centre
World Health Organisation
Water and Sanitation Programme

| 11 |

Main findings and issues

Main findings and issues
In 2008 the Government of Mozambique, UNICEF and the Government of the Netherlands
agreed to an impact assessment at mid-term and at the end of the Netherlands supported
UNICEF Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene programme - the One Million Initiative - in
Mozambique. This report is on the mid-term impact assessment.
The impact evaluation is a joint responsibility of the Policy and Operations Evaluation
Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the central Evaluation
Department of UNICEF. The evaluation is implemented with major support from the
UNICEF Mozambique Office and the Government of Mozambique water sector authorities.
Within the framework of a partnership between the Government of Netherlands, UNICEF
and the Government of Mozambique, which aims at supporting the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals with respect to drinking water and adequate sanitation for
families and schools, the Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme – known as the
One Million Initiative – is being implemented in 18 districts of Manica, Sofala and Tete
provinces. The programme is to run for seven years (September 2006 – December 2013). It is
expected that by the end of the programme
| 12 |

• one million people in the rural areas use safe drinking water, through the construction of
new sources of water supply;
• 200,000 people use safe drinking water, through the rehabilitation of their sources of
water supply;
• one million people use adequate sanitation facilities;
• 1.2 million people adopt appropriate hygiene practices;
• 400 primary schools (with a total of 140,000 pupils) use appropriate drinking water,
sanitation and hygiene facilities;
• 18 districts and three provinces have strengthened technical and management capacities
for the planning, coordination and implementation of programmes for water supply,
sanitation and hygiene education.
The total budget for the programme is EUR 32.64 mln, of which 65% is provided by the
Government of the Netherlands, 19% by UNICEF, 13% by the Government of Mozambique
and 3% by beneficiaries. The programme implementation strategies are aligned with the
national water policy, which places priority on meeting the basic needs of the disadvantaged, on decentralised management and on the participation of users. The programme is an
important reference for the National Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (PRONASAR),
which is now in its initial phase of implementation. Its approach is participatory and
demand responsive, with user communities and schools expected to take leadership and
responsibility for the maintenance and management of their improved facilities and
behavioural change, supported by Government, NGOs and the private sector. The main
water supply technology applied is a borehole fitted with a hand pump. An important
component is the engagement of local NGOs to carry out promotion activities in the
targeted districts to build demand for improved services, as well as capacity to sustain
services and strengthen the supply side for the construction of latrines and maintenance

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

and repair of water points. The One Million Initiative revised its participatory sanitation and
hygiene transformation (PHAST) strategy by merging education components with a community-led total sanitation approach, amended to a community approach for total sanitation
(CATS). The implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene activities in the target provinces
is complemented by the development and strengthening of government capacities at
provincial and district level in order to ensure long-term sustainability of the interventions.
UNICEF Mozambique Office has reported that by the end of 2009 the One Million Initiative
had rehabilitated a total of 392 water points, completing this element of its work plan
(UNICEF, 2010a). By the end of 2010 it had built 994 new water points. The number of users
enumerated at these new water points totalled 967744, implying an average of 974 users per
water point, being still far above the national planning standard of 500 users per water
point.1 The number of users calculated on the basis of this standard would be 489500. On
both accounts the figures indicate that the programme has made good progress in
achieving its target number of beneficiaries.
The 2010 programme progress report further indicates that, following the replacement of
the PHAST approach with a community approach to total sanitation (CATS), the programme
has nearly reached its target of one million people using sanitation facilities. Over and
above these planned targets, 433 communities with a total population of 349,243 have so far
reported to be declared open defecation free (ODF). The performance of the schools
component has been slower, although (again moving beyond the original strategy) 362
schools had been declared ODF to November 2010. The sanitation facilities created are
mostly simple pit latrines made of local materials. The programme has reduced borehole
construction costs from EUR 10,772 in 2008 to EUR 5,255 in 2010, although work in more
difficult areas in 2011 may drive average costs up again. The CATS approach to sanitation
involving total communities has significantly reduced the average cost of latrine construction, which is now estimated at EUR 7.62.
The overall purpose of this impact assessment is to account for support provided and to be a
reference for programme management and for policy development. The focus of the
assessment is on the impact of interventions on the welfare of the final beneficiaries. The
ultimate purpose of the support provided goes beyond access to facilities; the support is
intended to improve health, reduce the time used for collecting water – particularly for
women and girls - raise school enrolment, retention and performance of children and
enable beneficiaries to improve their livelihoods. There is consensus on the importance of
such impacts but conventional evaluation studies do not usually quantify them. The study
further includes an assessment of the sustainability of the programme benefits. A mid-term
assessment of sustainability may seem premature. However experience suggests that a
number of factors commonly influence the sustainability of rural water supply and
sanitation interventions and that it is useful to identify their presence or absence at an early
stage of strategy implementation.
1

The DNA and key PRONASAR donor partners have recommended the adoption of 300 people per water
point within 1 km distance providing 20 litres/person/day as the standard for planning.

| 13 |

Main findings and issues

The methodology for the impact study entails a combination of quantitative and qualitative
methods and techniques. Impact is measured by comparing changes in impact variables
over time and between locations with and without programme interventions. The main
data collection techniques comprise sample based surveys, conducted in 2008 and 2010,
water quality tests, field observations and interviews with key informants.

Main findings
1.	The number of new water points has increased substantially between 2008 and 2010 and
consequently the number of users per water point has fallen. The One Million Initiative
is responsible for the large majority of the increased use of improved water sources.

| 14 |

The number of new improved water points created between 2008 and 2010 under the One
Million Initiative is 994 according to the programme’s records. The sample indicates that
the percentage of households in the population using improved water sources for drinking
water has increased from 16% in 2008 to 28% in 2010. In the sample the increase is from 15%
to 42% of which more than two thirds can be attributed to the One Million Initiative.
Sample evidence shows that households in locations that got an improved water source
under the One Million Initiative are 32 percentage points more likely to use safe water
points. Similarly, receiving a CATS intervention makes it 16 percentage points more likely
that households switch to using improved water sources.
However the number of improved water sources is still far below the target of one water
point per 500 persons. Rough estimates of the water user population indicate that the
average number of persons per water point has fallen, especially in the targeted poorer
section of the population, where it declined from around 3,750 in 2008 to 1,250 in 2010.
2.	About one third of households in communities with a water point intervention did not
switch to an improved source. Use of improved water sources is mainly determined by
distance to the improved source.
31% of the households in villages where an improved water source was introduced continue using
unimproved water sources. This is particularly true for interventions early in the programme.
The continued use of unimproved sources traditional sources is mainly explained by long
distances to the improved water source. Distance to the source clearly has a strong effect on
using the improved water source. An increase of one kilometre in the distance to the
improved source reduces the probability that a household uses it by 18.3 percentage points.
In addition the high number of users, resulting in queuing and long waiting time at the
water point, may partly explain continued use of unimproved sources.
There are no indications that other barriers exist, including specific barriers for poorer
households. Charging for water has become more common but there are no indications
that user charges have acted as a barrier against using improved water sources. In 2010 80%
of the improved water sources users were reported to pay for water (as compared to 48% in

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

2008) and most households (70% in 2008 and 81% in 2010) found user charges reasonable or
cheap. A few informants reported that people still get water even if they do not pay,
irrespective of whether they are unable or unwilling to pay.
3.	The vast majority of households use the same water source for all domestic purposes.
The quantity of water consumed from improved water sources is low and even fell
between 2008 and 2010.
Water from improved water sources is not only used for drinking: 95% of households reported
that they use it for cooking, 91% for washing hands, 89% for washing of kitchen utensils, 84%
for bathing and 66% for laundry. About 30% of households reported using water from improved
sources for non-domestic purposes, mostly for small animals and construction.
Only 5% of all households and 11% of households that use an improved water source resort to a
secondary water source. These are mostly exclusively traditional sources. 10% of these households report using the unsafe secondary source for drinking. Most of the households use these
for bathing (96%), washing kitchen utensils (79%), washing hands (35%) and laundry (37%).
In 2010 households used only half of the recommended 20 l/p/d. The survey indicates a
mean domestic water use of 10.2 litres per capita per day in 2010, compared to 12.6 litres in
2008, which is a decrease of 2.4 litres, both in intervention and non-intervention areas.
Only 14% of the households in the sample consume more than 20 l/p/d. The fall in water
consumption is significantly less for households who perceive an improvement in the
quality of their drinking water.
4.	The recent switch to a new improved water source has led to a substantial increase in
water quality at the source and also at the point of use. Improved water sources are
however not always safe.
Earlier studies have shown that water quality often deteriorates considerably between the
source and the point of use. Nevertheless, in this evaluation it is found that when households switch to a microbiologically uncontaminated water source this increases the
probability that the water is also clean at the point of use by 47 percentage points. However,
this improvement does not apply to all households in programme villages: some households do not switch to improved water sources when they are available and improved water
sources are not always safe. This study finds that as much as 33% of the water samples taken
at the points of use in villages where new water sources had been introduced by the One
Million Initiative were still microbiologically contaminated.
A disturbing finding is that improved water sources are not always safe: in 2010 19% of the
samples from improved sources was contaminated by coliform bacteria. Less surprisingly,
of the unprotected sources 97% were unsafe in 2010. Confirming the findings from earlier
studies, water quality at the point of use is much lower than at the source.

| 15 |

Main findings and issues

While households do not appear to report water quality at source accurately they do
perceive quality improvement where interventions took place: there is a large and significant improvement in self-reported water quality as a result of switching to an improved
water source. On the other hand, households are not well able to judge the quality of water
at the source. Since there is evidence that the decision of a household to switch to an
improved source depends on the household’s assessment of its quality there is a case for
disseminating reliable information on water quality.
5.	There has been a large increase in the ownership and use of latrines, particularly for
households with more than average wealth increase. A large part of this increase can be
attributed to an innovative approach to sanitation: CATS. However only a few latrines
satisfy the conditions of adequate and safe sanitation.

| 16 |

There has been a large overall increase in the use of latrines. Households whose wealth increased
between 2008 and 2010 were more likely (10.5 percentage points) to acquire a latrine, suggesting
that costs of latrines plays a role. While some of this increase is autonomous (6.9 percentage
points), survey data indicate that The Community Approach to Total Sanitation (CATS) has
resulted in a substantial additional increase (13.6 percentage points) in the ownership of a private
latrine which in turn has led to increased use of latrines. This is a strong and robust result. This
positive finding is remarkable in view of the generally disappointing findings in other countries
on the effectiveness of sanitation and hygiene awareness programmes.
The question remains whether these latrines satisfy conditions for effectively breaking
disease transmission. Mozambique uses specific criteria for adequate and safe sanitation.
Adequate sanitation is defined as a latrine with a safe hole (not necessarily a slab), a roof (if
it does not have a concrete slab) and a lid over the hole. The concept of safe sanitation
further requires the presence of a handwashing facility with soap or ash and that it offers
privacy. Only a few latrines meet all the conditions of safe sanitation (2.9% in CATS
communities against 3.9% overall) and even fewer qualify for safe sanitation (1.4% in CATS
communities against 0.7% overall). Households in CATS communities have a lower share of
latrines with a “safe-hole” (45.5% against 53.6% overall). Households in locations with CATS
intervention however are more likely to have a handwashing facility (42% against 37%
overall) and a latrine with a lid (33% against 29% overall).
6.	Cleanliness of latrines has improved and the use of soap or ash instead of water only for
handwashing has increased. Also the practice of water treatment has become more
common. The changes are most prominent in locations with CATS interventions. No
evidence of impact on other hygiene practices was found.
Cleanliness of latrines has improved, especially in locations that received the CATS
awareness intervention. In the questionnaire “clean” is defined as absence of faeces or
urine. Latrines are generally clean: in 2010 more than 94%, regardless of programme
intervention. Handwashing using soap or ash has become more common. The change in
using soap or ash is most prominent in the case of handwashing after defecation: in 2010
more than 40% of adults reported to practice this, compared to only around 20% in 2008.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The vast majority of households do not treat water, 86% in both survey years. The data
suggest however that CATS interventions prompt more households to treat their water: 20%
of households in locations that only received CATS intervention treated their water, against
only 2% in 2008.
There has been a general increase in the use of lids on containers for fetching and storing
water. This increase is however unrelated to programme interventions. About half of the
households use racks for drying cooking utensils, especially in locations with water
interventions. Around 85% of households dispose safely of baby excreta. This number has
not changed between survey rounds.
7.	Prevalence of water related diseases generally declined according to the health
indicator used in this study, from 31 to 14%. The sanitation intervention is responsible
for 3 percentage points or a sixth of this decline. This is a strong and robust effect.
However, the precise quantitative health impact cannot be derived from it since the
indicator is very likely to underestimate prevalence of water related diseases.
There has been a general decline in the prevalence of water related diseases in the sample.
The analysis demonstrates that a significant part of this decline is due to the CATS interventions. Controlling for other determinants of the change in disease prevalence, this
intervention is responsible for a 3 percentage point decline of the disease indicator in the
sample.
The health indicator used in deriving this result appears to underestimate the prevalence of
water related diseases. This is no reason to question the finding of favourable and sizeable
health impact, but it does make it impossible to translate the decline in disease into a
reduction of disease burden in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), as was
envisaged in the terms of reference for the study.
8.	Enrolment in schools increased modestly, particularly for girls, but this is not related to
the interventions under the One Million Initiative, neither at the schools or at the
community level. The number and use of latrines in schools increased, in particular of
single sex latrines. The practice of handwashing after defecation has become much
more common in schools.
From the household and school surveys it does not appear that school enrolment went up
more as a result of interventions. Hence, contrary to what one might expect, there is no
evidence that water interventions stimulate enrolment of e.g. girls by releasing them from
water fetching chores.
The number of latrines per school increased rapidly in sample schools, from around 2 to 3
per school. At the same time the number of single sex latrines increased. By now, all survey
schools have separate latrines for boys and girls. Students increasingly use latrines,
reflecting better availability of facilities.

| 17 |

Main findings and issues

The practice of handwashing after defecation has become much more common: in 2010
there were only 12 schools (out of 68) left in which none of the girls and boys wash their
hands. In 2008 the number was 57 (boys) and 58 (girls).
9.	Good progress has been made towards sustainable benefits. However some weaknesses
in policy and institutional arrangements and economic and technical constraints
undermine long term sustainability.
It is too soon to say definitively whether the benefits being achieved by the One Million
Initiative are sustainable. Overall, good progress towards sustainable results is being made.
But a number of weaknesses will have to be resolved and major outstanding challenges
overcome, if true long term sustainable benefits are to be realised.

| 18 |

A broadly appropriate national policy framework and institutions for rural water and
sanitation are in place. This framework has been conducive to good progress of One Million
Initiative’s outcomes. The percentage of functioning water points in the programme area
has increased substantially, from 54% to 82%. The percentage of improved water points
managed by a committee also increased substantially, from 64% at 42 improved water
sources in 2008 to 77% at 86 improved water sources in 2010. 68% of the committees were
established in 2008 or later. Committees typically have between five and ten members, with
a roughly even gender balance (modal number of men was 3 and women 5). 72% of these
committees reported to have installed a maintenance group. Payment of a small amount
for use of the improved water points, usually per month, is common. According to the 2010
field survey this was done at 79% of the sample improved water points where only water
supply was improved and in 92% of the points where also sanitation interventions had been
undertaken.
Government and NGOs do not yet have the capacity to provide and sustain the required
services in the long term. The government has relied heavily on NGOs for programme
implementation. NGO capacity cannot be taken for granted when it is not clear if sufficient
funds will be available in the future for using it. For instance it is not clear whether the
community based activists currently employed by the NGOs working for the One Million
Initiative programme will continue to be paid after the end of the programme.
The private sector cannot play its important role in providing repair services because of
unattractive market conditions. Pump repairs can take a long time: in 2010, it took more
than three months to repair the last breakdown at 23 (52%) of 44 water points that needed
repairs.
Sustainable management by communities is not yet assured, despite promising progress to
date. One key issue is that knowledge, skills and procedures are not yet deeply rooted.
Administrative procedures introduced by the programme are often inconsistent or only
partially implemented. Institutional accountability mechanisms are not yet strong.
Sustainable management of water supply and sanitation infrastructure at schools is easier
to assure. School management structures are already in place and, with a bit of training and

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

support, should be able to extend their management functions to the effective maintenance of the new facilities. The sustainability of rural water and sanitation depends at least
as much on institutional maintenance as it does on technical maintenance.
The policy assumption that communities will be able to meet costs of major repairs and
replacement of water infrastructure from the water revenues is not realistic in the short to
medium term. Environmental problems are poorly understood, especially the potential
impact of climate change.
The sustainability of water supply services and the impact of benefits is also negatively
affected by the current high average number of users per water point.
The government’s monitoring system for community-based safe water and sanitation
results and sustainability is not yet sufficiently focused. The programme’s systems are being
used to keep track of community-based services. However these do not capture social,
institutional and behavioural aspects that determine whether innovations will be sustainable. Furthermore, a focused and effective monitoring system must also cover water quality.
Arrangements for this have not yet been developed, although the matter is receiving
attention.
| 19 |

Issues
The findings suggest a number of issues that will require further attention, notably:
1.	Contamination of drinking water: apart from inadequate monitoring arrangements,
adequate measures to ensure water safety at source and at point of use are not in place.
Access to safe water through public facilities goes beyond water supply infrastructure
and requires explicit attention for safe transport and storage of water and water
treatment.
2.	Limited perspectives for full rural water users’ responsibility for the depreciation cost of
their water infrastructure, requiring clarification and restatement of policy.
3.	Community institution-building: the youth and inexperience of most management
committees (two thirds established in 2008 or later) are one reason why the sustainability
of this capacity is still far from assured. Capacity gaps include skills of field staff and user
groups that go beyond implementation of standard approaches into appropriate
discretionary adjustments to specific local circumstances.
4.	Lack of provisions for sustained services of community-based activists playing a key role
in building and sustaining community structures.
5.	Current lack of capacity to take into account environmental aspects.

Main findings and issues

6.	Lack of adequate provisions for institutional maintenance for rural water and sanitation
- one possibility under discussion is that PRONASAR could fund an on-going role for the
NGOs that currently provide this vital service.
7.	Current lack of an economically viable linkage of private sector supply with water user
demand for technical and institutional services.
8.	On-going challenges regarding the maintenance of latrines – which should be facilitated
by the widespread use of local construction and materials – and of CLTS-induced
behaviour: there is reportedly little international evidence yet on the latter.
9.	The need for continued strengthening of local and national monitoring arrangements,
linked to management arrangements, to ensure timely availability of reliable data on
installation of water supply facilities and their functioning, on drinking water quality,
sanitation facilities and hygiene practices and on institutional factors that may undermine services provided, with a view to timely address bottlenecks.

| 20 |

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

| 21 |

1
Background and methodology

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

1.1

Purpose and focus of the impact evaluation

In 2008 the Government of Mozambique, UNICEF and the Government of the Netherlands
agreed to an impact assessment at mid-term and end of the Government of Mozambique/
UNICEF Water supply, Sanitation and Hygiene programme - the One Million Initiative Mozambique. A substantial part of Netherlands development funding for water supply and
sanitation goes to UNICEF programmes. The One Million Initiative is the largest Netherlands
supported programme. Programme implementation started in September 2006 and will end
in December 2013. The current report is on the mid-term impact assessment.
The impact evaluation is jointly executed by the Policy and Operations Evaluation
Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. R.Tesselaar and the
central Evaluation Department of UNICEF, Mr. S. Bickel, with major support of the water
supply and sanitation team of the UNICEF Mozambique Office and the Government of
Mozambique water sector authorities. Technical services for evaluation design, data
collection and analysis have been provided by Professors J.W. Gunning and C. Elbers of the
Amsterdam Institute for International Development, a research team of WE Consultant
based in Maputo, and freelance consultants Dr. S. Turner and Mr. B. Matabire.
Within the framework of a partnership between the Government of Netherlands, UNICEF
and the Government of Mozambique, which aims at accelerating the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) with respect to the access to drinking water and
adequate sanitation for families and school communities, the Water Supply, Sanitation and
Hygiene Programme– the One Million Initiative – is being implemented in 18 districts of the
provinces Manica (Gondola, Guro, Machaze, Manica, Mossurize and Sussundenga), Sofala
(Chemba, Dondo, Gorongosa, Marínguè, Muanza and Nhamatanda) and Tete (Angónia,
Changara, Chifunde, Tsangano, Marávia and Zumbo). As a result of this partnership it is
expected that
• One million people in the rural areas use safe drinking water, through the construction of
new sources of water supply;
• 200,000 people use safe drinking water, through the rehabilitation of their sources of
water supply;
• One million people use adequate sanitation facilities;
• 1.2 million people adopt appropriate hygienic practices;
• 400 primary schools (with a total of 140,000 pupils) use infrastructures of drinking water,
sanitation and hygiene;
• 18 districts and 3 provinces have strengthened technical and management capacities for
the planning, coordination and implementation of programmes for water supply,
sanitation and hygiene education.
The total budget for the programme is EUR 32.64 mln, of which 65% is provided by the
government of the Netherlands, 19% by UNICEF, 13% by the Government of Mozambique
and 3% by beneficiary contributions. The programme is by far the largest in the provinces
and is spearheading rural water supply policy implementation.

| 23 |

Background and methodology

The focus of the assessment is on the impact of interventions on the welfare of the final
beneficiaries. The ultimate purpose of the support provided to water supply, sanitation and
hygiene goes beyond coverage: the support is intended to improve health, reduce the time
used for collecting water – particularly for women and girls –, raise school enrolment,
retention and performance of children and enable communities to improve their livelihoods. There is consensus on the importance of such ultimate impacts on human welfare
but conventional evaluation studies do not usually quantify them. Quantification is a key
characteristic of the impact study. The study further includes an assessment of sustainability
of the programme benefits. Sustainability is defined as the (probability of ) continuation of
benefits after major development assistance has been completed.2 The assessment
addresses relevant institutional factors, linked as they are to society’s governance and
politics, as well as technical, economic and environmental determinants of sustainability.

| 24 |

For the Government of Mozambique and the UNICEF Mozambique Office the impact
assessment is expected to provide information that will help to steer the programme and
inform policy and policy implementation. For the UNICEF central Evaluation Office the
study is expected to provide an opportunity for global learning on impact evaluation of
water supply and sanitation programmes. For the Policy and Operations Evaluation
Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs the impact assessment is
one in a series of impact evaluations of Netherlands supported programmes for water
supply and sanitation facilities. The evaluations will provide information for a policy
evaluation planned to be completed in 2011.

Theory of change underlying water supply and sanitation programmes
Recent estimates of the World Health Organisation (WHO) ascribe about 10% of the global
disease burden to water borne diseases; and in a low income developing country like
Mozambique the situation is obviously worse than average. 16.2% of all deaths and 17.2% of
the disease burden (measured in DALYs – Disability Adjusted Life Years) are estimated to be
due to water borne diseases in Mozambique, the problem being more pronounced for
children (Prüss-Üstün et al., 2008).
Transmission channels of water borne disease and, accordingly, the way to achieve
improvements are far from straightforward as Figure 1 illustrates. The consumption of safe
water, leading to a reduction of water induced illness (impact), depends on numerous
influencing factors such as sanitation and hygiene behaviour and knowledge. Improving
the latter could be the objective of a hygiene intervention, implemented separately or in
co-ordination with the water intervention.

2

Source: OECD/DAC terminology for evaluation and result based management.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Figure 1 Transmission pathways of faecal-oral diseases
Pathogen
source

Medium

Environment

Interface

Flies

Dry sanitation
Involving reuse

Human
excreta

Soil

Humans

Hands
Waterborne
sewage
Nonrecycling
latrines

Animal
excreta

Surface
water

Food

Ground
water

Drinking
water

Source: Fewtrell and Colford, 2004, p. 3

The assumed causal chain from interventions to health impacts can be summarised as
follows: provision of water infrastructure facilitates the increased use of safe drinking water
and thus helps to reduce the intake of disease-inducing pathogens. The intake is further
reduced by the removal and safe deposit of human faeces (rich in pathogens) by means of
an adequate sanitation infrastructure (latrines, water closets) and proper hygiene behaviour, which improves water quality on the one hand and reduces direct contact with
pathogens on the other hand. It is therefore important that hygiene and sanitation
practices are included in the impact analysis. Time savings due to closer proximity to water
points, better availability in terms of quantity and possibly reduced queuing time are
another impact channel. The reduction of health threats further contributes to time savings
as less time needs to be spent on being ill or caring for sick family members.

Existing empirical evidence
Evidence on the effectiveness of water supply and sanitation programmes has become more
numerous during the last few years although the knowledge is still far from complete. The
probably most thoroughly researched area is the effect of WSS interventions on health,
especially on reducing diarrhoea morbidity. Results of existing studies have been summarised in several meta studies (e.g. Fewtrell et al., 2005; Waddington and Snilstveit, 2009).
This literature concludes that there is little or even no health impact of village level water
provision. Waddington and Snilstveit (2009) conclude that water supply interventions
“appear ineffective” while water quality interventions (e.g. chlorination, filtering, boiling)

| 25 |

Background and methodology

significantly reduce child diarrhoea morbidity. Fewtrell et al. (2005) come to a slightly
different and positive conclusion. Their evidence is summarised in Figure 2 and illustrates
that even though water supply (column b) has the lowest effect on health in comparison to
sanitation infrastructure, hygiene promotion and point-of-use water quality improvements,
a new water point should still reduce diarrhoea by about 20%. Figure 2 does also show that
the same intervention might have different effects depending on the context, as the
variation in the effect documented in different studies illustrates. (The variation is visualised by the vertical lines3 in Figure 3, while bars show study averages in diarrhoea reduction). Interestingly, Fewtrell et al (2005) as well as Waddington and Snilstveit (2009), find
multiple interventions (consisting of combined water, sanitation and hygiene measures)
not to be any more effective than interventions with a single focus. Other studies (e.g. Esrey,
1996), however, stress the importance of adding a hygiene promotion component to water
supply and sanitation measures in order to increase the impact of water interventions.

Reduction in diarrhea morbidity (%)

Figure 2 Reduction of diarrhoea as a result of water supply, sanitation and hygiene improvement

| 26 |

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

(a) Sanitation

(b) Water
availability

Previous reviews

(c) Water quality (d) Hygiene
promotion

(e) Handwashing

Fewtrell et al. (2005)

Source: Fewtrell et al., 2005

It becomes apparent that although evidence is quite numerous and meta-studies on health
effects have been conducted, knowledge is far from firmly consolidated. Furthermore,
context specific influences seem to play a major role. Knowledge gaps on other impacts
attributed to water supply, sanitation and hygiene interventions are even larger. Rather firm
evidence does exist on time savings induced by improved water sources in rural areas.
However, very little is known on how these time savings translate into other activities and
whether the desired improvement in livelihoods of the beneficiaries is actually achieved.
Evidence on presumed time saving effects induced by sanitation and hygiene interventions
is even scarcer. If economic benefits triggered by WSS interventions are estimated, it is
usually done by approximation, e.g. by multiplying the saved number of sick days or
induced time savings by a wage rate which seems to adequately reflect the context (Hutton
and Haller, 2004).
3

95% Confidence Intervals

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Adding to the open questions on the impacts of WSS interventions, some researchers
(Zwane and Kremer, 2007; Waddington and Snilstveit 2009) have criticised existing studies
for often having inadequate research designs (without proper control and treatment
groups). More important, large-sample studies of governmental programmes with
experimental or quasi-experimental evaluation design on the health impact of village level
water provision are scarce.

1.2

Key evaluation questions

The key questions addressed by the impact assessment are the following:

Programme and context
1.	What have been key problems addressed by the UNICEF Water Supply, Sanitation and
Hygiene programme in Mozambique?
2.	What has been the approach and specific interventions to address the problems?
3.	What have been the achieved main outputs as compared to targets (number of new and
rehabilitated water points, number of latrines, infrastructure at primary schools,
community level water and other relevant committees, government, NGOs and private
sector support services)?
4.	What have been the costs for key cost units and cost trends?
5.	How did the institutional strategy for providing and sustaining works and services
evolve?
6.	Have roles and responsibilities been clearly defined? Are these adequately understood
and fulfilled by beneficiaries and other stakeholders?
7.	How did this strategy affect programme outputs?

Effects
Community water supply, sanitation and hygiene component
8.	What has been the average number of users per improved water point in the sample?
9.	What has been the effect on the percentage of the population that use an improved
water source?
10.	Have there been barriers to the access to the improved water source? If so, which
proportion of households in the sample communities do not have access and why?
11.	Is the improved water point the only water source for domestic use? If not, which other
(improved and unimproved) sources are used, when and by how much are these used
and for what purposes?
12.	What has been the effect on the microbiological and chemical quality of drinking water
(at source and point of use)?
13.	What has been the effect on the amount of water used per day per person for domestic
purposes (total, from improved water source)?
14.	What has been effect on the access and use of improved sanitary facilities (for men,
women and children)?

| 27 |

Background and methodology

15.	What has been the change in relevant hygiene awareness and practices (such as
cleanliness of latrine, handwashing with soap or substitute at critical times, safe water
storage, use of rack for cooking utensils, safe handling of baby excreta)?
16.	What has been the effect of the interventions on the health of the target population (in
terms of DALYs reduction4)?
17.	What has been the effect on time use for collection of water, and for which household
members?
18.	In what way have time savings been used (for domestic work, field work, income
earning, schooling, etc.)? Who are the primary beneficiaries?
19.	Is the water from the improved water source used for other purposes, besides domestic
purposes? If so, for which purposes and by whom?
School Component

| 28 |

20.	What has been the effect on the number and percentage of schools with a functioning
safe water source in the school yard or within 200 meters from the school yard?
21.	What has been the effect on the change in the number and percentage of schools with
latrines (separated for girls, boys and school personnel)?
22.	Do these schools have an operation and maintenance system in place?
23.	What has been the effect on the use of latrines for girls, boys, and school personnel?
24.	What has been the effect on handwashing practices for girls, boys, and school personnel (before meals and after going to the toilet)?
25.	What has been the effect of programme interventions on school enrolment and
outcomes (for girls and boys)?

Sustainability of benefits
26.	Are an appropriate national policy framework and institutions in place?
27.	Does the government at provincial and district level, NGOs and private sector involved
have the capacity to provide the required services for sustaining services in the long
term?
28.	Is sustainable management of the facilities by beneficiary communities and schools
ensured?
29.	Are there issues that affect sustainability of benefits, not captured under question 27
and 28? Have these been addressed and with what result?
30.	Is the Government monitoring system for community based safe water and sanitation
results (including quality of services) and sustainability focused and is information used
to keep track of community based services and address bottlenecks in a structural way?
The questions on sustainability slightly deviate from the questions taken up in the overall
ToR for the impact assessment as per the agreed ToR for the sustainability assessment
mission.
4

DALYs stand for Disability-Adjusted Life Years and is mostly used in international research as measure
for disease burden. A DALY stands for one year of life that a person loses as a result of less good health.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

1.3

Methodology

Programme and context description
Questions 1-7 have been addressed largely on the basis of review of programme documentation – in particular policy and programme design documents and progress reports, as well
as the field study described below.

Impact assessment
The impact assessment addresses questions 8-25. Interventions under the One Million
initiative can broadly be divided into five areas: (1) providing safe water points; (2) increasing the number of latrines; (3) promoting improved hygiene awareness and practices; (4)
providing safe water and latrines as well as hygiene education in schools; (5) capacity
building. Questions 8 up to 25 on outcome and impact relate to the interventions 1 to 4.
Questions 26 to 30 relating to the fifth intervention are less suitable for statistical impact
evaluation and have been taken up in the section on sustainability assessment.
The objective of the impact assessment is to estimate the impact of a large scale intervention on use of WASH services and changes in hygienic practices and subsequently on time
savings, health and socio-economic indicators. With respect to the impact on health and
socio-economic indicators the focus has been on diarrhoea and cholera5 and the use of
extra time and/or water on school enrolment and outcomes.
The intervention is large scale in the sense that the individuals affected by the programme
are a big proportion of the population: as high as 50% over the course of the programme.
The actual ‘levels’ or ‘intensities’ of the four intervention areas mentioned above will differ
between sampled communities, making it possible to compare outcomes for different
combinations of interventions at different stages.
The mid-term impact assessment covered the 80 villages and schools (40 randomly selected
and 40 treatment villages and schools) assessed during the baseline survey. A full intervention history for each of these sampling units has been made available to assist in the design
of the survey.

The sample and data collection
In order to obtain more direct measurements of the impact of the One Million Initiative, a
sample was drawn of 80 communities from 9 of the 18 districts covered by the Initiative.
Details about the sampling procedure can be found in Chapter 4. Half of the sample, or 40
communities, is representative of the general population of the 9 sample districts. The
other 40 communities were drawn from a poorer target section of the population. When
the sample was drawn this part of the population was expected to get relatively more new
5

Prevalence of cholera in the sample was too low to analyse in a systematic way.

| 29 |

Background and methodology

safe water points and be more intensively affected by the One Million Initiative. Thus, the
complete sample of 80 communities has intentionally oversampled ‘treatment communities’ in order to get a better picture of activities under the One Million Initiative and achieve
greater statistical precision when comparing (high intensity) treatment to no treatment (or
low intensity treatment) communities.
For each of the sample communities a number of surveys have been carried out: a household sample was conducted among 20 households selected (by systematic sampling) from a
randomly chosen contiguous group of approximately 100 households (or 500 persons). This
survey covers, besides general household characteristics, health and water and sanitation
practices. In addition, a focus group discussion and water point survey was conducted in the
neighbourhood where the 20 sample households live. Water samples were taken at a
selection of households (10% of sample) and at the water sources used by these households
to test for microbiological contamination. Also, information from health posts close to the
sampled location has been collected that can be linked to the various samples.6 This
information includes the number of recorded cases of particular diseases and disease-specific mortality data.

| 30 |

A separate survey has been conducted among 80 schools from the 2 programme districts
participating in the Child-Friendly Schools for Africa Initiative (CFS), see page 54 in Chapter 3.
These districts are not covered by the other surveys. All sample households, schools and
communities have been visited twice, in 2008 and 2010, and will be visited again in 2013.

Sustainability assessment
Questions 26-30 have been addressed on the basis of:
• review of documentation, including annual sustainability assessment reports commissioned by UNICEF;
• interviews with key informants at community, district, provincial and national levels;
• data from the field surveys.
A mid-term assessment of sustainability may seem premature. Definite conclusions on
sustainability of the arrangements can only be reached in the long term on the basis of
empirical observations about whether the intended beneficial impacts continue to be
enjoyed. However experience suggests that a number of factors commonly influence
sustainability of rural water supply and sanitation interventions and that it is useful to
identify their presence or absence at an early stage of strategy implementation. This chapter
offers observations indicating trends towards sustainability.

6

Use of this information was not successful, probably because the catchment area of a health post is too
large to identify the effect of the interventions.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The following sets of factors have been identified. First institutional factors, linked as they
are to the fundamental quality of society’s governance and politics, are often most
influential and complex determinants of sustainability of rural water supply, sanitation and
hygiene promotion interventions and beneficial impact. The assessment therefore gives
them special attention. The assessment focuses on local institutions, as this is the level of
governance most critical to the sustainability of rural water supply and sanitation arrangements. However, it has also addressed the influence of changing structures and roles at
provincial and national level on sustainability of benefits.
Linked to institutional factors is a set of technical factors such as durability of water supply
infrastructure and operation and maintenance. A third set of factors are economic factors:
the question what resources is society able and willing to invest in the installation,
operation, maintenance and renewal of water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion
arrangements and how are costs and benefits of these investments distributed across society
and over time. Fourth, environmental factors play various fundamental roles in determining sustainability (for example influencing availability of groundwater). The fifth set of
factors are behavioural factors explaining uptake of water, sanitation and hygiene messages,
such as the degree to which people perceive the messages to be true, observe benefits and
perceive higher costs or labour to be a good trade-off for the benefits.
| 31 |

1.4

Structure of the report

The report continues in chapter 2 with a description of the relevant context. Chapter 3
describes the One Million Initiative 2006-2013, its approach and activities, institutional
strategy and outputs to date. Chapter 4 provides the mid-term quantitative impact analysis.
Chapter 5 continues with the assessment of sustainability of programme interventions and
beneficial impact.

2
Problem and context

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

2.1

Demography and society

The population of Mozambique was 20.6 mln in 2007, with 69% classified as rural (GOM,
2010a). The average population density was 26 people per square kilometre. The density for
2010, at 29 per square kilometre, ranks Mozambique joint 37th (with the Democratic
Republic of Congo) out of 54 African states and territories (UN Data, 2010). Demographic
data are shown below for the three provinces where the One Million Initiative works.
Table 1 Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces: demographic data
Province

Population,
2007

Population/km2,
2007

% rural
population, 2007

Annual population
growth rate, 2007 (%)

Manica

1,438,476

23

75

3.8

Sofala

1,671,864

25

62

2.4

Tete

1,801,528

21

86

4.2

Source: GOM, 2010a

It can be seen that all three provinces are predominantly rural and have population
densities below the national average. The demography of Sofala province is influenced by
the presence of the city of Beira. But this province showed the slowest rate of population
growth of the three. Tete showed the highest, due to strong migration (mostly by younger
men) to its expanding economy. Most of Tete, like most of the other two provinces, is made
up of purely rural communities. The size of 67 of the communities surveyed in nine districts
across the three provinces for the One Million programme’s baseline study in 2008 ranged
from an average of 632 in Guro district (Manica) to 3,338 in Gorongosa district (Sofala) (WE
Consult, 2009: 21). Variance in rural settlement distribution and size depends largely on the
productivity of the natural environment, although ethnic and cultural factors also play a
role. In all areas, however, there is a degree of nucleation that makes the provision and use
of service points like boreholes and wells a feasible strategy. At the same time, the distance
that community members may have to walk to a water point within their settlement may
vary significantly, and the population of some rural communities is large enough to require
two or more water points if minimum supply quantities are to be assured.
The people of the three provinces have a common historical background – centuries of
colonial domination and 35 often turbulent years as citizens of independent Mozambique
– but belong to many different ethnic groups. Community institutions function largely in
the many local languages, with only a minority of rural people also fluent in the official
language of Portuguese. People’s political, military and social experience varied during the
liberation struggle and subsequent civil war. Many in northern Tete province, for example,
spent years in refugee camps in Malawi and retain strong links with that country. Various
broadly standard social features prevail across the One Million programme area, however.
These include the resurgent role of and respect for traditional authorities following the
more favourable shift in government policy towards them; the gender distribution of roles
in rural livelihoods, with a prominent place for women in water supply and sanitation
issues; and a general willingness to pursue group action and responsibility in the develop-

| 33 |

The province of Tete

ment and management of local infrastructure. Despite significant progress in the extension
of administrative services across the ten provinces and 128 districts of Mozambique, rural
society must still fend largely for itself in the day to day conduct of its affairs.
| 34 |

2.2

Natural environment

The natural environment in the three provinces of the One Million Initiative ranges from
the coastal lowlands of Sofala to the cooler uplands where Tete province borders on Malawi
at altitudes of more than 1,500 metres above sea level. The agricultural potential of these
provinces varies with soils, topography and rainfall, which ranges from under 500 millimeter per year in northern Manica province to over 1,000 millimeter per year in some areas
near the Sofala coast and in the highlands of Tete. Droughts became more frequent in the
second half of the 20th century, but central and southern Mozambique are also notoriously
vulnerable to cyclones and flooding. Across the country, average rainfall is expected to
decrease by 5-10% during this century as a result of climate change (European Commission,
2006: 17-18). The seasonal rainfall pattern influences fluctuations in disease risk arising
from open defecation, as well as the availability of water for collection from rivers and
pools.
Groundwater resources are widely available in these three provinces. Their exploitation
through boreholes equipped with hand pumps forms the technical backbone of rural water
supply strategy. The depth of suitable aquifers varies. Negative boreholes (where drilling
finds saline, little or no water) are common, and in some areas (notably Machaze district in
Manica province), adequate water is often available only at depths not suitable for the hand
pumps used in most of the programme. Angonia and Changara (Tete), Guro and Mossurize
(Manica) and Maringue (Sofala) are other districts with common geohydrological and/or
salinity problems. Due largely to salinity, only five out of 30 boreholes drilled in Chemba
district (Sofala) in 2009 were positive. Investigations to date suggest that arsenic levels in

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

groundwater are not a significant concern in these provinces. Current and anticipated levels
of groundwater extraction with hand pumps for domestic use are not believed to pose any
threat to groundwater availability, although the rates and mechanisms of aquifer recharge
in these provinces are not yet well understood. The development of commercial irrigated
agriculture and the rapid expansion of mining in Tete province could influence groundwater availability for domestic use, if those activities themselves exploit aquifers rather than
surface water. These are not immediate threats, however.

2.3

Economy and poverty

The rural economy of Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces is dominated by subsistence
agriculture. 86% of households covered by the 2008 baseline survey reported agriculture as
their most important economic activity, with 6% reporting permanent paid employment as
most important. Animal husbandry was the most commonly mentioned second or third
economic activity (WE Consult, 2009: 33). Most of the population lives in poverty. Using a
wealth index based on possession of a bicycle, a radio or a watch, the baseline survey found
that 56% of female headed households fell into the poorest group, as opposed to 17% of
households headed by men. Little of the commercial farming established by colonial settlers
survives, although the commercial agriculture sector is now expanding again. There is
significant economic growth and infrastructural development along the ‘Beira corridor’
between that port and the Zimbabwe border. The strongest economic activity is in the rapidly
expanding coal mining sector in southern Tete province, which is causing rapid commercial
growth in Tete city and attracting labour from the rural hinterland.
Mozambique’s Human Development Index (HDI) dipped from an already low level during
the first half of the 1980s, and has risen steadily since. At 0.284 in 2010, however, it
remained below the averages (0.389) for sub-Saharan Africa and for all ‘low human
development’ countries (0.393), and ranked 165 in the world (the Democratic Republic of
Congo was in 168th place). Inequality is also a significant factor: on a different HDI calculation that takes inequality into account, Mozambique scored only 0.155 in 2010. On a
Multidimensional Poverty Index that takes health, education and standard of living into
account, Mozambique’s 2010 score was 0.481, with a multidimensional poverty headcount
higher than that for income poverty – indicating that some people above the income
poverty line still suffer one or more of these other deprivations (UNDP, nd).
There are many ways to measure poverty. They all show the continuing gravity of the
problem in Mozambique, but they also show some improvement since the end of the civil
war. The data below show an overall stagnation in the poverty headcount between 2002-03
and 2008-09, as well as significant negative and positive swings. Taken as a whole, the
central zone of Mozambique, in which the One Million Initiative provinces lie, experienced
an increase of 14.2% in the poverty headcount during that period. Sofala province experienced a significant rise in its poverty headcount. There was a smaller increase in Manica,
while the poverty headcount fell in Tete. Government analysis warns that “undue emphasis
should not be placed on the precision of poverty estimates at the provincial level…

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Problem and context

Nevertheless, the broad spatial pattern of changes in consumption poverty (i.e., improvements in the North and South, worsening in the Centre) is also consistently confirmed by
other data sources and analytical methods”. It points to very slow rises in agricultural
productivity, weather shocks that reduced 2008 harvests, especially in the Central provinces,
and sharp increases in fuel costs (GOM, 2010b: xii, xiv).
Table 2 Poverty headcount, 1996-97, 2002-03 and 2008-09
1996-97
%

2002-03
%

2008-09
%

National

69.4

54.1

54.7

Urban

62.0

51.5

49.6

Rural

71.3

55.3

56.9

Manica

62.6

43.6

55.1

Sofala

87.9

36.1

58.0

Tete

82.3

59.8

42.0

Source: GOM, 2010b: 26
| 36 |

2.4

Health and nutrition

The interrelated burdens of poor health and inadequate nutrition are key dimensions of poverty,
as noted above. Mozambique’s second Poverty Reduction Strategy, PARPA II, noted that although
there had been a favourable trend in indicators of poor health, they were still high (GOM, 2006:
12). Rural people in Mozambique still carry a heavy burden of disease, which is linked to the
nutritional status of their children. Rates of HIV infection are high; malaria is a widespread killer;
cholera outbreaks are common; diarrhoea is a commonplace for the rural and urban poor.
With particular reference to child mortality and nutrition as poverty indicators, the table
below shows selected data for 1997 and 2003.
Table 3 Selected health and nutrition indicators, 1997 and 2003
Infant mortality,
per 1,000 live births

Under 5 mortality,
per 1,000 live births

1997

1997

2003

Stunting,
2003
%

2003

Wasting,
2003
%

National

147

124

219

178

41.0

4.0

Urban

101

95

150

143

29.2

3.1

Rural

160

135

237

192

45.7

4.3

Manica

91

128

159

184

39.0

2.8

Sofala

173

149

242

206

42.3

7.6

Tete

160

125

283

206

45.6

1.6

Source: Fox et al., 2005: 12

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

From the 2008 Multiple Indicator Cluster survey, the following data point to some continuing improvement with regard to mortality among infants and children under five, but a
deterioration with regard to stunting and wasting.
Table 4 Selected health and nutrition indicators, 2008

National

Infant
mortality, per
1,000 live
births, over
10 years prior
to survey

Under 5
mortality, per
1,000 live
births, over
10 years prior
to survey

% of
children
who had
diarrhoea in
the last 2
weeks

Underweight
(below -2 SD
from median
weight for
age)
%

Stunting
(below –2 SD
from median
height for
age)
%

Wasting
(below -2 SD
from median
weight for
height)
%

105

154

17.6

17.5

43.7

4.2

Urban

93

135

18.4

12.9

34.8

3.0

Rural

110

162

17.2

19.4

47.2

4.7

Manica

94

154

16.0

19.2

48.3

3.7

Sofala

76

130

15.8

15.5

40.5

3.2

Tete

108

174

18.0

18.5

48.0

2.6

Source: GOM, 2009a: np
| 37 |

The World Health Organisation reported that diarrhoeal disease caused 8% of deaths in
Mozambique in 2002 (WHO, 2006). Measuring the incidence of diarrhoea is difficult,
because of recall and reporting inconsistencies. The 2008 baseline survey for the One
Million Initiative was told that more than 90% of members of sampled households had not
been sick with diarrhoea or other waterborne diseases over the previous six months – a
period which coincided with the dry season, when these illnesses are much less common
than in the wet season (WE Consult, 2009: 31).7 Cholera is not a major killer, but periodic
outbreaks, often associated with floods like those of 2008, do cause significant suffering in
these provinces. Malaria, on the other hand, is a constant burden on the quality of life and
on economic productivity: it caused 9% of all deaths in 2002 (WHO, 2006).
Table 5 Percentage of persons aged 15-49 testing HIV positive, Manica, Sofala and Tete, 2000 - 2007

Manica

ANC: women

2000

2001

2002

17.7

12.4

22.7

VCT: women and men
Sofala

ANC: women

31.2

24.4

ANC: women

28.0

VCT: women and men

15.9

12.8

2007
16.0
23.0

24.8
16.6

26.1

2006

17.3
29.1

28.7
20.4

2004
17.5

19.3

VCT: women and men
Tete

2003

13.0

24.2

Source: GOM, 2009b: 70, 72, 74
7

Since the survey was held in the dry season this report uses six months recall data on water related
diseases. This is unfortunate, and deviates from current scientific practice, where e.g. for diarrhoea a
two week recall period is the standard. See also the discussion of Evaluation Question 16 in Chapter 4.

Problem and context

Nationwide, 12.5% of Mozambicans aged 15-49 were estimated to be HIV positive in 2007
(CDC, 2010; UNAIDS and WHO, 2008: 3). HIV prevalence data must be treated with caution at
provincial level, as they are based on a limited number of sentinel sites and incomplete
time series. However, those shown in Table 5 indicate the severity of the pandemic. As in
other southern African countries, HIV and AIDS are a major constraint on the economy and
on institutions.

2.5

Water and sanitation policy and institutional context

Mozambique’s recent strategy for reducing poverty has emphasised the roles of enhanced
water supply and sanitation and of effective water resource management. PARPA II
(2006-2009) identified these as priority interventions. Improving water and sanitation is
seen as a key strategy for strengthening human capital. Its objective was to achieve 55%
coverage of the rural population with safe water supplies by 2009, and 70% by 2015. For
rural sanitation, the targets were 40% by 2009 and 50% by 2015 (GOM, 2006: 84-85, 112).
These targets have been maintained and elaborated in PARPA III, which covers the period
2010-2014.
| 38 |

The continuing evolution of water and sanitation policy in Mozambique can be traced back
to the national Water Law that was enacted in 1991. This affirmed all inland water resources
as the property of the state, set out a river basin approach to water resource management,
and established a National Water Council, which meets infrequently to discuss major shifts
in policy. It assigned overall responsibility for water management to the Ministry of Public
Works and Housing, where it remains (in the Ministry’s National Water Directorate, DNA).
The law also established the principles of social, economic and environmental appraisal of
proposed developments in the sector.
Water sector reform took a major step forward with the approval of the National Water
Policy in 1995. The main principles of this policy, maintained in the revision of 2007, are:
• decentralised, autonomous and financially self-sustaining provision of water supply and
sanitation services;
• a greater role for the private sector;
• integrated water resources management taking environmental impacts into account;
• recognition of water as an economic as well as a social good;
• more beneficiary participation; and
• a greater focus on capacity building.
In short, the National Water Policy aims at a withdrawal of central government and its
ministries and institutions from operational service provision…
(Van Woersem et al., 2007: 23)
Privatisation has been a marked feature of the development of Mozambique’s urban water
supply. As one external analysis put it in 2006, “Mozambique reformed its water sector
largely by the book” (Gökgür and Jones, 2006: 2). The Water Supply Investment and Asset

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Holding Fund (FIPAG) was established as an autonomous public body in 1999, and a Council
for the Regulation of Water Supply (CRA) was set up in 2000 with responsibility for “the
regulation and monitoring of the water supply operations in all urban areas of Mozambique
with a view to balance and conciliate the interests of the water consumers with those of the
operators and of FIPAG… [these] new institutions are functioning well and the coverage of
the major towns is gradually increasing” (van Woersem et al., 2007: 22-23). However, the
early years of privatised operation of urban water utilities were turbulent and, although
arguably increasing the availability of potable water to consumers, led to major losses for
the operators “due primarily to social pricing, but also to excess labour, the [catastrophic]
flood [of 2000] and delayed investment” (Gökgür and Jones, 2006: 2). More recently, the
consensus is that the role of the private sector in urban water supply is developing
successfully.
Urban areas under the auspices of FIPAG and the CRA are identified through a Delegated
Management Framework, through which public-private partnerships are established for
water utilities. All other water supplies, urban and rural, are the responsibility of the
Provincial Directorates for Public Works and Housing (DPOPH), under the policy and
strategic guidance of the DNA. For rural water supply, the key policy principles are:
• highest priority for the satisfaction of basic human needs with regard to water, taking
into account the circumstances of the poor;
• provision of an average of 20 litres per person per day from wells or boreholes with hand
pumps;
• a planning standard of 500 people (100 households) per water point, which a PRONASAR
meeting in November 2010 recommended should be revised to 300 people, with actual
coverage based on enumerated populations (PRONASAR, 2010: 1-2);
• users should not have to walk for more than 30 minutes to the water point;
• the price of water should reflect its economic value, “thus trying to cover the costs of
operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of equipment”;
• government is responsible for investments;
• government should refrain from direct service provision, but be responsible for regulation, facilitation and priority setting;
• institutional capacity building is a priority, with emphasis on district and community
levels;
• communities should participate in all phases of the water project cycle, through local
democratic institutions;
• direct service provision, e.g. for construction and project supervision, should be carried
out by the private sector.
(GOM, 2001: 7-8)
The demand responsive approach at the heart of rural water policy requires communities to
make an initial contribution towards the installation of a water point (usually between 2%
and 10% of construction cost, up to MT 2,500 (EUR 56)). This does not always happen in
practice: the 2010 survey undertaken for this study found that initial payments had been
made for 11 (15%) out of 71 water points. Policy also expects users to take full responsibility

| 39 |

Problem and context

for the subsequent operation, maintenance and ultimate replacement of the facility. Under
revised national funding arrangements that began in 2008, water and sanitation sector
funding is channelled directly to the DPOPH at provincial level and to the district authorities, which, through their District Services for Planning and Infrastructure (SDPI) are taking
increasing responsibility for direct support to communities. Under the One Million
Initiative, however, all contracts for rural water supply construction and supervision are
issued by the provincial DPOPH (although payments are made directly by UNICEF).
Municipalities and district administrations are responsible for piped water systems in the
smaller urban centres, although the operation of these systems is being contracted to
private operators.

| 40 |

The current process of decentralisation is rooted in the adoption of the 1990 Constitution
(Massuanganhe, 2005: 13). This provided for the development of local authorities and for
local government elections. Decree 15 of 2000 gave a stronger role to traditional leaders and
to recognised community authorities. The main legislation governing decentralisation is
the 2003 Law of Local Organs of the State (LOLE), which establishes the framework for local
government and development functions at provincial and district levels. Under the
planning and budgeting systems that are emerging within this framework, districts draw up
annual budget proposals that are passed upwards for review through the provincial level to
the central Ministry of State Administration and Ministry of Finance. As in many countries,
the budget allocations that are ultimately approved are usually lower than the original
district requests. Districts employ staff to work in various sectors, including water and
sanitation, although again there are budget constraints in this regard. SDPI liaison with
communities is supported by District Consultative Councils, which have a monitoring and
supervision role and can help to develop and apply accountability principles and procedures
at the local level.
Formal elaboration of a national strategic plan for rural water supply and sanitation has
only occurred in the last few years. A Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Strategic Plan
(PESA-ASR, also known as a Road Map) was developed in 2007, although not formally
approved. This “defines the medium and long term vision, objectives, priorities and
strategic guidelines for the WASH sub-sector with the aim of meeting the MDGs” (Alfai,
2010: 3). The Strategic Plan has since been developed into a National Rural Water Supply and
Sanitation Programme (PRONASAR), which serves as the vehicle for a sector-wide approach
by government and its development partners. During an initial phase (2010-2012),
PRONASAR is being launched in 15 districts where no other major donor-funded water and
sanitation projects are active. It is intended to absorb and integrate all rural water and
sanitation interventions over the years to come, while ultimately serving as the single
funding channel for donors’ sector budget support. It retains the 2015 service targets, linked
to the MDGs, that were quoted above.
NGOs play important roles in the rural water and sanitation sector. They are supposedly
differentiated from the private sector by their not for profit status, but this distinction is
often blurred in practice. In fact they function as part of the general pool of non-governmental service providers – as part of the private sector, in other words. Their principal role is

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

in extension, education and animation work at household and community levels – what is
known in Mozambique as PEC (partipação e educação comunitaria – community participation
and training). For this work they fill an important gap in currently available capacity, often
working side by side with technicians in the district administration.
Since the enactment of the Water Law in 1991, the strategic emphasis has primarily been on
enhanced water supply. In 2007, a National Water Resources Management Strategy was
approved. This “comprises a comprehensive portfolio of water resources management
projects and plans in such areas as water resources development; water resources assessment; monitoring; river basin management; flood risk analysis and disaster management;
international rivers; establishment and further strengthening of regional water management entities (ARAs); administration of water law, water policy, regulations and utilisation;
institutional strengthening and capacity building” (World Bank, 2007: 30). ARAs are meant
to become financially self-sustaining through the collection of water use fees. They should
play a major role in the future in integrated water resource management for Mozambique,
providing a technical and institutional framework within which rural water supply would be
assured. However, this lies some way in the future. Of the five ARAs, the one for southern
Mozambique has made the most institutional progress. In the three provinces covered by
the One Million Initiative, the ARA Centro, ARA Centro-Norte and ARA Zambeze have so far
had little influence on rural water and sanitation interventions. Also in the longer term, a
law on groundwater rights that is currently being prepared may affect public schemes that
use these resources.

2.6

External funding agencies’ policy and support to
rural water and sanitation

Like many other countries, Mozambique has now experienced several years of debate and
uneven progress with regard to the harmonisation and more integrated management of
external support to its water and sanitation sector. In 2002 the Netherlands began to
channel assistance through a sector budget support mechanism, ASAS. It continued this
support through three phases of ASAS, to 2008. ASAS Phase IV runs to 2011. No broader
sector-wide approach developed, however. Most other external funding agencies have been
slow to engage with sector budget support. As elsewhere, they have often been more
sceptical than the Netherlands (which also continues with more conventional bilateral
project support through CARE in northern Mozambique and with UNICEF for the One
Million Initiative). Meanwhile, a recent estimate suggests that development assistance
made up some 85% of all investments in the water and sanitation sector over the last three
years (WSP, 2010: 15). Modes of support range from Dutch funding through ASAS (on plan,
on budget (i.e. structured into the Mozambique government’s plan and budget) and host
government discretional (i.e. managed and disbursed at host government discretion)) to
the United States’ Millennium Challenge compact (on plan, on budget but donor discretional) and many other externally-funded activities which are on plan and on budget but
not passed through the Mozambique treasury and donor/lender discretional. From 2006,

| 41 |

Problem and context

government has been writing all significant externally funded projects on budget and on
plan, even though disbursements often still do not take place through the national treasury.
Despite the high levels of external support to the sector, overall disbursement rates are poor
at 60%. “The reason for poor disbursement stems primarily from weak project management, especially by donors. ‘On-treasury’ funding is disbursed at a rate of 82%, as opposed
to donor-managed projects which disburse at an average rate of 58%” (WSP, 2010: 15).

| 42 |

The Netherlands is a major supporter of the water and sanitation sector in Mozambique, as
are the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation, the World Bank, the African
Development Bank (AfDB), UNICEF and the European Union. Other significant bilateral
agencies giving assistance to this sector include the United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development (DFID), the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) and Sida.
Several international NGOs are also active, including Helvetas, CARE, World Vision and SNV.
In total there are three multilateral and 15 bilateral agencies providing support to the sector.
Achieving co-ordination and clear direction in this crowded landscape is a significant
challenge for DNA and the Ministry of Finance. PRONASAR and its Common Fund are the
key instruments for this purpose. The Netherlands and a number of other external funders,
including AfDB, SDC, UNICEF and DFID, have committed support to the Common Fund. The
AfDB has developed a programme for PRONASAR implementation in Nampula and
Zambezia provinces with a planned budget of USD 20 mln, for implementation over three
years from March 2011 with contributions to the Common Fund from The Netherlands and
over a dozen other external funding agencies. Dutch sector budget support through ASAS is
gradually being replaced by contributions to the Common Fund, through the GOM’s Single
Treasury Account (CUT). The latter is expected to make up some 12% of all external support
to the water and sanitation sector in 2009-2011 (WSP, 2010: 14). By 2011, the Netherlands
aims to be channelling at least 60% of its programme aid to the sector through it.
PRONASAR does also offer parallel funding mechanisms for funders not yet ready to
channel their support through CUT and the Common Fund, although “the outside-CUT
funding option and the parallel mechanisms will be gradually abandoned as e-SISTAFE [the
much improved State Financial Management System] is rolled out to all administrative
levels, including Districts and as confidence [in] public financial management systems and
tools increases” (Alafi, 2010: 4).
Several structures and procedures have gradually strengthened donor co-ordination and
collaboration. Confidence in government’s budget management (through SISTAFE,) is
gradually growing – although monitoring and reporting remain weak. A general
Programme Aid Partnership links government with all the funding agencies that provide at
least some of their input as direct budget support or programme support. Budget support
rose from 31% of all aid in 2004 to 38% in 2008, with programmatic support rising from 63%
to 66% over the same period. In water and sanitation, government and development
partners meet regularly at national level in the Water and Sanitation Group (GAS, currently
chaired by UNICEF) and undertake Joint Donor Reviews. At provincial level, Water and
Sanitation Thematic Groups (GTAS) meet monthly. Various agencies have signed up to the
Code of Conduct for the sector, and in May 2010 an initial group signed the Memorandum
of Understanding for the PRONASAR Common Fund. A recent assessment concluded that

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The aid co-ordination atmosphere has improved significantly over the last decade. The joint review process
has become more substantive, inclusive and collegial. Government budgeting, disbursement and
procurement processes have improved considerably. Considering the available evidence, confidence in
government’s ability to manage donor funding and produce value for money is steadily improving.
However, donor funding is still too fragmented, leading to an excessive administrative burden on
government institutions, especially the DNA. Further development of SWAp arrangements will improve
this situation, but will need to be accompanied by extensive capacity building.
(WSP, 2010: 12-13)
Government and the donor/lender community increasingly see PRONASAR as the way
forward for the water and sanitation sector: both technically, as a way of integrating and
replicating the best lessons on sustainable approaches, and institutionally, as a means of
co-ordinating and merging external support to the sector under the strategic and budgetary
management of the Government of Mozambique. As will be shown in this study, similar
hopes are expressed about the technical and institutional sustainability of the One Million
Initiative’s approaches after 2013: UNICEF and DNA hope to see them maintained and more
widely applied through PRONASAR.

2.7

Summary

The three provinces in which the One Million Initiative works – Manica, Sofala and Tete –
are predominantly rural and have population densities below the national average. People
generally live in communities of between a few hundred and a few thousand people,
meaning that more than one water point per community is often necessary. They share a
broadly common historical background, although there is great linguistic and cultural
diversity. On the other hand, all communities are generally willing to pursue group action
and responsibility in the development and management of local infrastructure. Most of the
population live in poverty. Mozambique’s Human Development Index for 2010 was ranked
165th in the world. The central zone of Mozambique, in which the One Million Initiative
provinces lie, experienced an increase of 14.2% in the poverty headcount between 2002-03
and 2008-09. The baseline survey for the One Million Initiative found that 56% of female
headed households fell into the poorest group, as opposed to 17% of households headed by
men.
Rural people in Mozambique carry a heavy burden of disease, which is linked to the
nutritional status of their children. Rates of HIV infection are high (12.5% of those aged 15 to
49 in 2007); malaria is a widespread killer; cholera outbreaks are common; diarrhoea is a
commonplace for the rural and urban poor. There was deterioration in child stunting and
wasting indicators between 2003 and 2008.
Groundwater resources are widely available in these three provinces. Their exploitation
through boreholes equipped with hand pumps forms the technical backbone of rural water
supply strategy. Salinity is a common problem in some areas, and deep aquifers sometimes
necessitate more expensive pumps.

| 43 |

Problem and context

Mozambique’s rural water and sanitation policy is rooted in the 1991 Water Law and the 1995
National Water Policy (revised in 2007). The national policy emphasises decentralised,
autonomous and financially self-sustaining provision of water supply and sanitation
services; a greater role for the private sector; integrated water resource management;
recognition of water as an economic as well as a social good; more beneficiary participation; and a greater focus on capacity building.
Rural water supply principles reflect national policy. They give highest priority to the
satisfaction of basic human needs with regard to water, taking into account the circumstances of the poor. All citizens should be able to obtain at least 20 litres of safe water per
day from water points situated not more than 30 minutes’ walk from their homes. The
policy target until late 2010 was that each water point should supply 500 users; the recent
recommendation is that this should be revised to 300 (PRONASAR, 2010).

| 44 |

Government should provide investment funds for rural water supply, but not build or
operate them – these are functions for the private sector and for users respectively, with
support from provincial and district authorities that are guided by the national Directorate
of Water Affairs (DNA). District administrations and their planning offices spearhead state
engagement in the sub sector. Users are expected to pay for their water supplies at a rate
reflecting their economic value and thus covering the operation, maintenance and ultimate
replacement of the infrastructure. User participation is therefore emphasised at all stages of
the water project cycle.
An initial Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Strategic Plan has now been elaborated into a
National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (PRONASAR), which serves as the
vehicle for a sector-wide approach by the government and its development partners. During
an initial phase (2010-2012), PRONASAR is being launched in 15 districts where no other
major externally-funded water and sanitation projects are active. Government and the
donor community increasingly see PRONASAR as the way forward for the water and
sanitation sector: both technically, as a way of integrating and replicating the best lessons
on sustainable approaches, and institutionally, as a means of co-ordinating and merging
external support to the sector under the strategic and budgetary management of the
Government of Mozambique.
Despite almost a decade of Netherlands commitment to sector budget support, most
external funding agencies have been slow to engage with this concept. Achieving co-ordination and clear direction in the crowded donor/lender landscape for rural water and
sanitation is a significant challenge for DNA and the Ministry of Finance. PRONASAR and its
Common Fund are the key instruments for this purpose. Dutch sector budget support is
gradually being channelled into the Common Fund. Government and development
partners meet regularly at national level in the Water and Sanitation Group (GAS, currently
chaired by UNICEF).
NGOs play important roles in the rural water and sanitation sector. Their principal role is in
extension, education and animation work at household and community levels. For this

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

work they fill an important gap in currently available capacity, often working side by side
with technicians in the district administration.
In 2007, a National Water Resources Management Strategy was approved. Regional water
management entities are being established, but have so far had little influence on rural
water and sanitation interventions.

| 45 |

3
The One Million Initiative,
2006-2013

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

3.1

Objectives

The One Million Initiative is implemented as part of the Netherlands and UNICEF partnership to enhance water supply, sanitation and hygiene in eastern and southern Africa.
Unusually, the programme proposal presents two logical frameworks with separate
statements of overall objective and project purpose. The first is for the ‘technical component’ of the programme; the second, for the ‘institutional component’. This design
approach is not carried through to the main body of the proposal, however. There, five
components are presented: rural sanitation, rural water supply, hygiene education, school
sanitation and hygiene education, and community-based water resource management.
Figure 3 Districts covered under the One Million Initiative

| 47 |

According to the logical framework, the overall objective of the ‘technical component’ is
“reduced incidence of water and sanitation-related diseases, particularly among the most
vulnerable group (children and women) living in rural areas; increased economic growth
and a higher ranking in the Human Development Index”.
The project purpose for the ‘technical component’ is stated as follows:
To enable a minimum of 1.2 million currently un-served people to use domestic water from improved water
sources, and 1 million to use improved sanitation facilities and adopt safe hygiene practices, such as
handwashing with soap (or ash where soap is not available) after toilet use and before eating/feeding. To
enable 140,000 school children to access and use improved sanitation, handwashing and water supply
facilities in 400 primary schools. To ensure that 200,000 users have renewed access to safe water through

The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

the rehabilitation of their non-operational water points.
(GON and UNICEF, 2006: 12)
Five results are therefore shown in the logical framework for the technical component of
the programme.
• Increased access and use of safe drinking water from 44.4%, 45.9% and 66.8% to a least 70% in Manica,
Sofala and Tete provinces respectively by 2011;
• Increased access and use of improved sanitation facilities from an average of 42% to at least 50% in
Manica, Sofala, Tete provinces by 2011;
• Increased girls’ enrolment and retention in 400 primary schools in Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces by 2011;
• Increased (at least 1 million) number of caregivers (particularly women) applying safe hygiene practices in
the project area;
• Reduced… % of non-operational water points from 30% to 15% in the project area.
(GON and UNICEF, 2006: 12-13)
The water supply objective combines a planned 200,000 people benefiting from an
estimated 400 rehabilitated water points and 1,000,000 using 2,000 new water points.
These plans were based on the GOM standard at the time of 500 users per water point.
| 48 |

The logical framework for the ‘institutional component’ of the programme states the
overall objective as “increased access to water supply and sanitation by the targeted
population, through improved management of sector funds and programme activities”. The
project purpose for this component is stated as follows:
Strengthened sector capacities (particularly at the sub-national level) to plan, co-ordinate, implement,
supervise sector activities; document and disseminate sector lessons learned and good practices.
(GON and UNICEF, 2006: 15)
The five results shown for the ‘institutional component’ are:
• Roles and activities of the different actors in this and other similar projects clarified;
• Planning, monitoring and evaluation systems improved;
• Districts and provinces provided with resources to meet the requirements of this and other projects;
• Competence and performance of the human resources of the sector developed to meet the requirements of
this and other projects;
• Actual and future partner competence and performance improved, in order to respond to the complexity of
this and other similar projects.
(GON and UNICEF, 2006: 15)

3.2

Approach and activities

Introduction
Evaluation question 2 in the TOR for this review (Annex 1) asks about the approach and
interventions adopted to tackle the problems that the One Million Initiative seeks to

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

address. This section and the section on institutional strategy below aim to answer this
question. When the programme was launched, Mozambique had already made substantial
progress in developing policy and approaches for rural water and sanitation (see Chapters 2
and 5). It has worked within these existing frameworks rather than inventing or imposing
different strategies. It has nevertheless supported some significant improvements to
approaches in the sub sector that have arisen from its operations so far.
The programme was launched in July 2006. The remainder of that year and much of 2007
were devoted to initial staffing, procurement and capacity building arrangements, although
some community-level mobilisation (PEC) activities and rehabilitation of existing water
points took place in 2007. Full field operations were under way from 2008.

Water supply
The programme’s approach to rural water supply has focused on community water points
equipped with hand pumps managed by new or revived village water and sanitation
committees. These pumps extract groundwater, which is widely but not universally available
in sufficient quantities, of suitable quality and at depths for which the standard Afridev
pump is suitable. As shown above, the emphasis is on the construction of new water points,
although rehabilitation of existing ones is also an important part of the approach.
Increasing efforts have been made over the life of the programme to refine the technical
approach so that communities in areas with more difficult conditions can also benefit. For
example, the stronger Afripump has been introduced in some areas where suitable aquifers
are found at greater depths, and a number of mini piped systems have been rehabilitated.
The latter use a diesel pump to extract water from deep boreholes into a tank from which it
is reticulated to a number of stand pipes as well as health posts and schools. In addition,
the Mozambican authorities have urged the programme to support the rehabilitation of
piped systems in several small towns. A proposal to do this in three towns within the area of
the One Million Initiative was submitted to the Netherlands authorities in October 2009 but
has not yet been approved.
The One Million Initiative’s approach conforms to national policy in two important ways.
First, it emphasises community ownership of water supply infrastructure, along with
responsibility for operation and maintenance costs. Using PEC service providers to
stimulate the formation of community water and sanitation committees, or revive the many
moribund ones, has therefore been a central part of the programme’s strategy.
Communities are usually required to contribute MT 2,500 (EUR 56) before construction of a
water point begins. Payment for use of the improved water supply is common, according to
the 2010 field survey, which found that this was done at 79% of the sample improved water
points where the programme had only improved the water supply. Where the programme
had improved the water supply and undertaken sanitation interventions, payment was
reported at 92% of the sample points. Usually, households pay each month. During
community visits for this review, a monthly user payment of MT 5 – MT 15 per household
was reported in most instances.

| 49 |

Borehole fitted with handpump

| 50 |

Secondly, the One Million Initiative puts strong emphasis on private sector involvement.
Neither UNICEF nor government agencies are directly engaged in construction, supervision,
repair work nor spare parts supply. Instead, the programme has taken various measures to
stimulate networking between engineering and drilling companies, artisans and retailers –
including, for example, the Drilling Association of Mozambique. The programme follows
the government’s procurement system and procedures. All engineering and PEC contracts
are issued by the provincial Departments of Public Works and Housing. UNICEF observes
but does not directly participate in tender review and contract award by the provincial
authorities. It pays all contractors directly in consultation with the DPOPH, which obtains
the relevant approvals from district authorities.
As it gained experience, the One Million Initiative has refined its technical approach to
water supply in various ways. Contracting arrangements have changed. Initially, the
programme used a third party management contract approach, employing engineering
firms to undertake geohydrological investigations and supervise separately contracted
borehole drilling contractors. Although there was good progress in drilling wells, many
were negative and there was uncertainty about who should carry the responsibility for this
ineffective expenditure. Since 2009, a turnkey approach has been adopted: drilling
contractors are responsible for groundwater survey and must carry the responsibility for
failed boreholes – a significant transfer of risk. Costs have also been reduced by limiting the
fees for engineering supervision contracts to 15% of total construction cost and by promoting the use of cheaper light weight drilling rigs. Special efforts were made to ensure
appropriate hand pump quality, following the identification of numerous sub-standard
pumps and parts during the 2008 drilling programme. Tight criteria and procedures are now
in place to ensure appropriate quality.
The contracting approach has also evolved with regard to the NGOs employed for PEC
activities. Initially, these contracts focused on the submission of written deliverables. This
was found to distract NGOs’ attention from the substance of their work in the field. The

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

revised approach (from 2009) makes such contracts payable on the basis of achievement of
targets in the field, using a series of indicators of sustainability, sanitation, new water point
installation, hygiene promotion and HIV and cholera awareness.

Sanitation and hygiene
Drawing on its experience during 2008 (the International Year of Sanitation), the One
Million Initiative revised its sanitation approach significantly. The programme was designed
with separate components for rural sanitation and hygiene education. The Triple A
approach (assessment, analysis, action) and participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) tools were to be used for hygiene education. The programme proposal’s
separate section on stimulating demand for rural sanitation referred to “an integrated
planning approach to water, sanitation and hygiene” and the value of participatory
methods for this purpose (GON and UNICEF, 2006: 43 and 32). In practice, the One Million
Initiative found that “PHAST proved to be a slow tool in bringing about behaviour change
and a difficult one to be mastered by facilitators on the ground” (UNICEF, 2010a: 9). It was
decided to merge the sanitation and hygiene education components through a communityled total sanitation (CLTS) approach, in conjunction with an awards scheme for recognition
of ODF status – this combined approach is usually being referred to as ‘community
approach for total sanitation’ (CATS: Godfrey, 2009). At the same time, the programme has
developed an integrated ‘PEC Zonal’ approach to rural water and sanitation extension work
across its target districts.
Under the revised approach, contracted NGOs undertake a basic PEC Zonal programme of
integrated water, hygiene and sanitation education and mobilisation across an entire
district. They are awarded one year contracts for this work by the DPOPH. These contracts
may be renewable subject to adequate delivery according to enhanced performance
indicators (see above). The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) provides training
to PEC NGOs and helps DNA to monitor their performance. The NGO employs animators,
who in turn recruit and train activists at community level. The latter are local residents and
receive a monthly stipend as well as bicycles to assist them in their work.
Having undertaken PEC Zonal across a district, the NGO then undertakes the more intensive
CATS process in selected communities.
Community led total sanitation (CLTS) is an approach that uses participatory tools to trigger community
self-analysis of their sanitation problems and the taking of a joint decision to make improvements… CLTS/
CATS uses participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques (community map, transect walk, faecal-oral
disease transmission demonstration) to trigger collective changes in sanitation practices… The CLTS
approach requires good facilitation skills in order to ‘capture the moment’ when the entire community is
triggered to take action on their sanitation situation. It requires a facilitator with the ‘right’ skills, which
some of the animators is yet to acquire… A key ‘triggering moment’ is the demonstration of the faecal
contamination of food.
(Godfrey, 2009: 6, 8, 9)

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

CLTS triggering is a direct and confrontational process in which people are plainly shown
the links between the faeces they leave in the open and the frequent contamination of the
food they eat, and take a ‘walk of shame’ through the community’s defecation areas (WSP,
2007: 23-24). These participatory exercises are easier to achieve in small communities than
in large ones (Godfrey, 2009: 8-9). If successful, the triggering induces every household in
the community to build a latrine, and every individual to give up the practice of open
defecation. In a process facilitated by the PEC NGO, communities then apply to be designated open defecation free (ODF).
…an incremental approach is promoted in CATS which focuses on the elimination of open defecation
rather than the construction of individual toilets. This approach, while deviating from the previous
approach that had informed the present project proposal, has proven to have a major public health impact
in other countries as it encourages collective behaviour change.
(UNICEF, 2009: 10)

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In 2008, a multi-agency evaluation team organised by UNICEF assessed the ODF applications
made by 159 communities. This resulted in 34 communities being awarded ODF status. A
generous hierarchy of prizes went with the awards. It is the ODF award system that
distinguishes CATS from CLTS (Godfrey, 2009: 6, 17). Awards initially included prizes for the
District Administrator of the district with the highest number of ODF communities and
latrines and for the leader of every sub district or administrative post containing ODF
communities. On the recommendation of a study commissioned by the programme
(Godfrey, 2009), a more modest system of awards was instituted from 2009, when 619
communities were mobilised through the CLTS process and, despite the less generous
prizes, 130 awarded ODF status (UNICEF, 2010a: 10).
Table 6 One Million Initiative ODF awards, 2008 and 2009-10
Award level

Award

2008

2009

2010

District Administrator

Photocopier or computer

Yes

No

No

Chief of Administrative Post
[sub district]

Mobile phone or radio

Yes

No

No

Community Leader

Bicycle

Yes

Yes

Yes

Community

Water point or classroom

Yes

No

No

Community households

Hygiene kit

Yes

Yes

No

Source: UNICEF, 2009: 10

Communities designated ODF also receive a sign to this effect, usually erected at the
entrance to the village. This process of application, evaluation and ODF award has captured
popular and official imaginations and has proved a powerful incentive to enhanced
sanitation practice.

ODF Community

Some doubts have been expressed as to whether the communities are actually ODF or have built latrines
because of the award and the associated prizes. The findings indicate that the majority of the communities
made collective decisions to improve their sanitation situation as result of the demonstration of faecal
contamination of food during the triggering of CLTS and persuasion by their leaders post-triggering.
(Godfrey, 2009: 17)
Despite the growing popularity of the ODF concept, the approach remains a challenge at
many levels. There are many reasons why some communities achieve more cohesion and
common purpose than others, and may consequently find it easier to achieve ODF status.
Even in a willing community, it only takes a few uncooperative individuals to preclude the
required 100% achievement level. (On the other hand, the 100% requirement has not always
been applied strictly: see the paragraph below). However, ODF is not the only result of CATS.
Even if a community fails to erect the coveted ODF sign, a large majority of its people may
have enhanced their hygiene and sanitation practices, despite the significant risks posed by
a minority of non-adopters.
It is also important to recognise that avoiding open defecation is sufficient for adequate
hygiene practice. Everyone may use a latrine, but the latrine may be dirty, or lack a lid; or
appropriate handwashing may not be universal. A dirty latrine can even bring the risk of
contamination closer to the household than previous defecation further away in the bush.
ODF is therefore a step forward, but latrine condition and hygiene practice require ongoing
monitoring and (where necessary) appropriate remedial action if sustainable sanitation
progress is to be achieved.
The large majority of the latrines constructed as a result of the One Million Initiative have
been built from traditional materials. Most of them (55%) do not have a slab or lid. Many
households use a stone or other improvised lid to cover the opening. According to the JMP

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

classification8 they are “unimproved”. The programme has promoted the use of cement
latrine slabs, although with limited success. From 2008, it facilitated the establishment of
32 demonstration centres at which latrine construction techniques could be seen. These
centres were linked to the programme’s efforts to form and support artisans’ associations
for the manufacture of slabs and the provision of water supply repair services, as well as
efforts to stimulate local traders to stock and sell spare parts. Artisans were encouraged to
form associations for slab manufacture and the provision of repair services, and in many
cases the programme facilitated agreements between community water and sanitation
committees and these associations, or individual mechanics, for maintenance and repairs.
Although many effective links remain in place between committees and individual
mechanics, the demonstration centres and the manufacture of latrine slabs at them have
proved less successful, as have the artisans’ associations.

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There has been understandably limited demand for the more expensive concrete latrine
slabs (despite the subsidy for their manufacture provided by the programme). These slabs
are also difficult to transport (Godfrey, 2009: 16). It would be important to find out if these
latrines are achieving the intended hygiene and sanitation benefits, even though the lack of
a washable slab surface does not allow them to be defined as “improved” latrines according
to JMP standards. Hygiene education has been integrated in the PEC and CLTS processes,
and latrines built as a result of the One Million Initiative are often equipped with a simple
handwashing facility that is used with soap or ash.

Schools
Design of the schools component took into account existing policy and programmes in
Mozambique, with which UNICEF was already intensively involved. The programme
proposal noted the work done by government, UNICEF and other partners since 2002 in
developing a child-centred hygiene education programme at schools, which included the
promotion of child-to-child sanitation committees. UNICEF had also supported the
inclusion of water, sanitation and hygiene education in the school curriculum that was
introduced in Mozambique in 2001 (GON and UNICEF, 2006: 45). Meanwhile, UNICEF has
also been implementing a Child-Friendly Schools for Africa Initiative (CFS), which in
Mozambique has been focused on seven districts. This “integrated multi-sectoral minimum
quality package” includes water, sanitation and hygiene components (UNICEF, 2010b).
The One Million Initiative’s schools strategy has been to align this programme component
with the CFS and to launch implementation in the two CFS districts that are also One Million
target districts. Following a baseline assessment of schools in each district, interventions
involve the construction of water supplies and latrines as required (there should be one latrine
per 50 pupils, equipped with simple handwashing facilities), together with hygiene education
programmes that link schools with communities. The CLTS approach, termed School Led
Total Sanitation, has also been used in the schools component, on the grounds that
8

JMP is the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation of the WHO and UNICEF.
See WHO-UNICEF (2006).

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

• school children learn quickly and become active agents of change at the family level;
• the trigger of the school when done in parallel with the community may have a complementary effect;
• the trigger in schools can generate synergies between teachers and parents (school and
community);
• the school is a place of concentration of many children (risk of spreading diseases);
• the proper disposal of faeces can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by 32%;
• the correct handwashing can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by 35%.
(UNICEF, 2010b)

Monitoring and sustainability
The monitoring approach originally established by the programme proposal envisaged that
the One Million Initiative would be included in the regular planning and review process of
the UNICEF country programme. The proposal also set out an independent third party
monitoring approach: “building on sector experiences, sector co-ordination bodies such as
the Water and Sanitation Co-ordination Working Group (GAS) and other sector partners
working in the project area will be engaged to carry out independent project monitoring”.
These third party inputs were meant to complement routine monitoring and reporting by
the implementing partners and by “communities analysing their community action plans
and maps” (GON and UNICEF, 2006: 71).
A more elaborate and comprehensive monitoring approach has since been developed. At an
early stage in the programme, UNICEF and the governments of Mozambique and the
Netherlands agreed to include the One Million Initiative in a series of impact evaluations of
Dutch funded rural water and sanitation interventions being carried out by the Policy and
Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For
this purpose a detailed baseline survey of 1,600 households was undertaken in August –
October 2008 (WE Consult, 2009), followed up by a mid-term survey in the same months of
2010. The current review also contributes to the overall impact evaluation process.
In 2008, the One Million Initiative undertook the first of an annual series of sustainability checks
(Godfrey et al., 2009). These major exercises are contracted out to private sector service providers.
In a sample of intervention communities, a series of assumed indicators of sustainability are
investigated, spanning institutional, technical, social and financial factors. Using the same
methodology, sustainability checks have now been carried out for 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The 2008 sustainability check showed that none of the communities surveyed had achieved
what was judged to be a ‘satisfactory’ level of sustainability with regard to rural water
supplies. This led the programme to investigate its operations and approaches in detail and
renew its commitment to promote sustainability at all levels. This was done through a four
phase sustainability action plan that included workshops at district and administrative post
(sub district) levels to review the challenge of sustainability and measures to address it;
followed by four principal initiatives in each area:
• the creation of a manual database for all water points in the district, which is now used as
a monitoring and management tool at district (and sometimes administrative post) level.

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

Handwritten on flipchart paper, these databases show basic demographic data about
each locality in the district, along with the numbers of working and broken hand pumps;
information about user contributions to O&M costs; and numbers of improved and
traditional latrines, bathrooms, drying racks and rubbish pits. This initiative was linked to
on-going development of the National Information System for Water and Sanitation
(SINAS: see below) and the introduction of GIS software for monitoring by provincial
Departments of Public Works and Housing;
• the signing of agreements between local mechanics and community leaders for the
provision of maintenance and repair services, so that in principle every community water
and sanitation committee can call on its designated service provider for these purposes;
• the identification of local entrepreneurs who will procure, stock and sell spare parts;
• on-going preventive maintenance by community committees.
At present, despite the discussion of this issue in the programme proposal (GON and UNICEF,
2006: 42-43), water quality is not routinely tested. Conductivity and microbiological tests are
done before a new water point is commissioned, but after the initial assurance that the supply
is safe there is no subsequent regular monitoring. With the support of UNICEF, responsible
government institutions are now developing a strategy to address this issue.
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The National Information System for Water and Sanitation (SINAS) was launched in 2007 by
the DNA and a number of development partners, including UNICEF. This is meant to
become an integrated, harmonised national system on basic water supply and sanitation
parameters. In the One Million programme districts, the initial steps towards the SINAS
system have already been taken, with the creation of manual databases and the launch of
data collection and monitoring procedures at community level (see below). SINAS is already
populated with some data, with an inventory of point sources about 80% complete across
the country. However, it is not yet fully operational or effective, following a generally slow
process of development to date and the transfer of its previous co-ordinator to other duties.
Additional Netherlands support may strengthen leadership of the system from 2011.
Meanwhile, introduction of monitoring instruments and training of provincial and district
personnel continue in various parts of the country, in the hope that SINAS may achieve fully
national operation for rural water supply in 2012 and for rural sanitation in 2013.
The One Million programme’s approach to institutional sustainability has combined the
employment of additional staff to work at provincial and district levels (DPOPH and SDPI
respectively, with additional M&E support from SNV); the training of government personnel
and community members; and the provision of operating resources such as vehicles,
motorcycles and computer equipment to DPOPH and SDPI offices in the target provinces
and districts.
To build human resources in the target areas, the One Million Initiative has employed 30
technical staff: 12 have been posted to DPOPH offices and one to each of the SDPI offices in
the districts covered by the programme. Government has agreed on a proactive strategy to
transfer these posts to its establishment. In November 2010, 11 of these 30 positions had
been transferred to the government payroll. Training efforts have included:

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

• training on construction quality control, water supply and quality, sanitation and
financial management for 50 provincial and district technicians and supervising
engineers;
• HIV/AIDS training for 86 provincial and district technicians and NGO staff;
• database management training for three provincial and 18 district technicians;
• training for PEC NGOs on CATS.
Sustainability has become an increasingly prominent theme in the training provided at
community level by PEC NGOs, focusing on community water and sanitation committees
and community leaders. This includes emphasis on efficient monitoring and record keeping
as a necessary component of sustainability. Register books have now been designed and
introduced for use by committees in recording group membership, payments, maintenance
issues, events and expenditures.

3.3

Institutional strategy

This section addresses three evaluation questions posed in the TOR at Annex 1.
5.	How did the institutional strategy for providing and sustaining works and services evolve?
6.	Have roles and responsibilities been clearly defined? Are these adequately understood
and fulfilled by beneficiaries and other stakeholders?
7.	How did this strategy affect programme outputs?
The institutional strategy of the One Million Initiative has been to operate within the
existing structures and systems of the DNA and of provincial and local government, working
with these partners to develop and deliver institutional enhancements where necessary.
UNICEF undertakes no direct implementation, except for monitoring: it contracts directly
for the annual sustainability checks. Leading roles are given to district authorities, primarily
through the SDPI, and to communities themselves.
The programme has posted a regional technical team to work from the DPOPH offices in
Beira. This small group of UNICEF staff and five consultants provides oversight, facilitation,
support and training, working through the three DPOPH offices in Manica, Sofala and Tete
provinces. Annual planning and programming of field activities (water supplies, PEC and
CATS work and the schools component) are undertaken by the SDPIs in consultation with
the DPOPH and the PEC NGOs, with support from the regional team. The DPOPH and SDPI
offices have been strengthened with the professional staff referred to above, all of whom
are expected to be on the government payroll before the programme ends.
As was noted earlier, the PEC NGOs play an important part in the field strategy of the One
Million Initiative and are employed on one year contracts. Although they are required to
undertake PEC Zonal work across entire districts, their subsequent more detailed hygiene
and sanitation efforts inevitably concentrate on communities identified as more interested
or socially ready to engage with CATS. These communities are identified in consultation
with the district authorities, not solely by the NGO. It will take time and increasingly

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

challenging effort to fill in the current ODF patchwork and achieve total sanitation in all
districts and communities. NGOs will find it harder to meet their targets – although growing
experience will arguably sharpen their skills for this purpose. While it could be suggested
that the current performance appraisal system for NGOs encourages them to work in ‘easier’
communities, it would be natural under any system to start where success is more likely and
to tackle the more challenging communities later. Furthermore, the philosophy of the One
Million Initiative and of Mozambican policy is that these changes are also the responsibility
of individuals, families and communities. If some of these remain reluctant despite all
reasonable encouragement, gaps in coverage will remain.
At district level, their senior staff operates as part of the SDPI team: programming their
work jointly, sharing office space and often sharing transport. The DPOPH team in Beira
(Sofala province) supplied the diagram of institutional structure and information flows
reproduced in Figure 4. This shows the four levels of government administration and the
PEC NGOs working side by side, with communication in both directions, and both structures interacting with communities and their water and sanitation committees.
Figure 4 Co-ordination of activities and flow of information between provincial and community levels
| 58 |

GOVERNMENT

NGO
DPOPH

COORDINATOR

SDPI

SUPERVISOR

P. Admin

ANIMATOR

Locality

ACTIVIST

COMMUNITY (CAS)

Source: DPOPH, Sofala

The community water and sanitation committee is at the heart of the implementation
strategy at local level. The concept of such a user representative group was already well
established in Mozambique prior to the One Million Initiative. The programme has
therefore had to revive defunct or ailing committees in some places, and facilitate the
establishment of completely new ones in others. These bodies are far from universal,
however. The 2008 baseline survey found that only 22% of 161 water points reported having
a committee, while in the 2010 survey the proportion had risen to 31% (of 245 water points).
The percentage was 64% for the 42 improved water sources and 8% for unimproved water
sources. In 2010 the percentage for the improved water sources was higher, 77% for 86

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

improved water sources as compared to only 5% for unimproved sources. And it was 21% at
the 132 water points in the INE sample and 42% at the 113 water points in the PEC sample. Of
the 75 committees reported at water point level in 2010, 68% had been established in 2008
or later. One third of them were reported to cover more than one water point in the
community. At community level, the survey found that 61% of communities said that their
water points were managed by a committee - all of which were said to be operational -, with
24% managed by community leaders (the most local government official, usually a
traditional leader). Committees typically have between five and ten members, with a
roughly even gender balance. The modal number of male members in 2010 was three, and
of female members five. They commonly appoint a maintenance group with special
responsibility for this function and for liaison with mechanics. In 2010, 72% of the 75
committees reported such a group. In addition to maintenance, committees’ responsibilities include levying user charges and managing the funds received. In 2010, 82% of
committees on which there were data reported having an account book, compared with
67% in 2008. Other tasks are locking and unlocking the pump, ensuring cleanliness and
discipline at and around the water point, arranging repairs, promoting latrine construction
and enhanced hygiene in the community and, in some cases, constructing and managing
small gardens watered with runoff from the pump apron. In all this work communities are
meant to be supported by the NGO activists, who are drawn from the local area and
supervised by NGO animators, as shown in the Figure 4. The 2010 survey found that 36% of
communities answering the question reported that their water committee met twice a year;
25% said that it met three or four times a year, and 15%, monthly. Another 15% said that the
committee only met annually.
The issue of water user charges is discussed in section 4.3 below, which shows that most
respondents who paid anything at all considered that the prices charged were reasonable or
cheap. Asked in 2010 whether problems with their water points are sorted out quickly, 81%
of communities that responded to the question said yes. The most common aspect of water
point management said to require improvement was a faster reaction to problems
(mentioned in 30% of communities), followed by improving the length of time for which
water is supplied (23%) and improvements to accounting (23%).
When maintenance and repairs are needed, the water and sanitation committee may pay for
them out of the funds collected through user charges, or it may collect additional money for
the purpose. In the 2010 survey, half of 573 respondent households (286) said that they had
contributed for repairs within the last 12 months. Pump repairs can take a long time: in
2010, it took more than three months to repair the last breakdown at 23 (52%) of 44 water
points where repairs had been needed. Where spare parts had to be bought, they were
procured from the district capital in 45 (67%) of the 67 cases; from the provincial capital in
six (9%) of the cases, and from ‘other’ sources, possibly including mechanics and artisans,
in 11 (16%) of the cases. One common reason why pumps surveyed in 2010 were not working
does not augur well for sustainability: they had been ‘abandoned’ in nine (23%) of 40 cases
of non-operation. In eight (20%) of the breakdown cases, the problem was the lack of one
spare part; in seven (18%) a major rehabilitation was required.

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

The programme’s emphasis on sustainability and on the role of pump maintenance and
spare parts in assuring it has led to the investment of much institutional effort in building
links between communities and mechanics, either singly or in artisans’ associations.
Building these links, and building an effective private sector support structure for rural
water and sanitation, is not easy. Demand for parts is intermittent, scattered and limited
– especially at present, when so much of the infrastructure is still new. Even when retailers
can be persuaded that there is some business opportunity in stocking them, they are
unlikely to have the liquidity to be able to buy and keep any significant level of stock when
turnover is so low. Skilled mechanics are thin on the ground, and may not see work for
community committees as their most lucrative line of business. The programme’s strategy
was to group them into associations, particularly so that it could contract with these groups
for some of the initial construction work. However, the artisans have little experience of,
nor necessarily much interest in, this mode of collaborative operation. As a result, few if any
of the artisans’ associations remain active, and the demonstration centres that were meant
to be part of this strategy have mostly proved unsuccessful too. The 2010 survey found that
ten (12.5%) out of 80 communities reported the presence of an artisans’ association.

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Despite these setbacks, the programme has made some progress with its institutional
strategy of building a more participatory and broader-based structure of action and
communication at the local level. The diagram reproduced in Figure 5 below is often used in
One Million Initiative districts to show the way communications used to flow before the
programme and the way they move now. Previously, communication (such as it was) was
simply between the community and the district. Now, the two intermediate levels of local
government – the locality and the administrative post – are also involved in the process.
Maintenance groups are meant to be active at community level; the activist and mechanic at
locality level, where there may be formal agreements with a spare parts supplier and a
mechanic. These two private sector agents are also located at administrative post level,
which is the territory usually covered by one NGO animator. Spare parts sellers are also likely
to be found at the district capital. More in theory than in practice, there may be district level
artisans’ associations, and agreements at district level for spare parts supply and maintenance services.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Figure 5 Agreements and information flows from community to district level
District level agreement with artisans’
association and spare parts supplier

District

Artisans’
association
District spare
parts supplier
Administrative post level agreement with
spare parts supplier and mechanic
Spare parts
supplier

Activist and
mechanic

Administrative post

Animator and
mechanic

Locality level agreement
with spare parts supplier
and mechanic

Current flow

Maintenance
group
Locality

Community

Flow before the programme
Source: DPOPH, Manica

Overall, the institutional strategy of the One Million Initiative has achieved a clear definition and a reasonably widespread understanding of roles and responsibilities in the rural
water and sanitation sub sector. Provincial and district staff understand very clearly how the
system is meant to work: an example is their frequent reference to the arrangements shown
in the figure. However, the institutional understanding is not yet fully embedded at the
community level. That will take longer than the three years’ effective operation of the One
Million programme so far. Sustainable fulfilment of the various roles by the beneficiaries
and other stakeholders is also a long-term goal. The signals to date are largely encouraging,
with the exception of private sector engagement at the local level. Here, initial efforts to
federate artisans and formalise service relationships between mechanics, entrepreneurs and
communities have had unconvincing results. As Section 3.2 argues, external efforts to
influence market relations and behaviour in the rural sector of developing countries are
rarely successful.

3.4

Outputs to date

Evaluation question 3 for this review (Annex 1) asks about the main outputs of the One
Million Initiative, compared to the targets that were set. Based on programme progress
reporting targeted and realised outputs for water supply and sanitation facilities are
described in this section.

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

Water supply
By the end of 2009 the One Million Initiative had rehabilitated a total of 392 water points. It
had already reached its target number of 200,000 beneficiaries for this activity by the end of
2008, and the budget for this activity has been exhausted (GON, 2010: 6).
The programme has also made strong progress with the installation of new water points, as
shown in Table 7 below. The construction of new water points began in 2008.
Table 7 New water points and beneficiaries, 2008 - 2010
New water points
(target)

New water points
(actual)

No. of beneficiaries
enumerated

2008

280

306

109

385,456

2009

470

302

64

327,765

2010

406

386

95

254,523

994

86

967,744

Total
1,156
Sources: GON, 2010: 7 and programme data
| 62 |

% of target
achieved

The target for 2010 shown in the table is the one communicated by the programme in its 13
November performance update. The annual programme report for 2009 shows a target of
406 boreholes and “130 communities with alternative technological options e.g. rainwater
harvesting, spring protection and mini piped water supply schemes” (UNICEF, 2010a: 14).
It can be seen that the One Million Initiative is reaching its target number of beneficiaries,
at 97% of the planned 1,000,000, even though it has completed only 49% of the target 2,000
new water points. The average number of beneficiaries per water point so far is 989.
Beneficiary numbers are counted and reported by the PEC NGOs. The programme average is
substantially higher than the government norm (until recently) of 500 per water point, and
higher still than the proposed new planning standard of 300.
Water point construction performance has been relatively even across the programme
provinces and districts, although in Mwanza district of Sofala province only four of the year
target of ten water points were completed in 2010.
In 2009 the programme rehabilitated three mini piped water supply systems based on a
deep borehole equipped with a diesel pump and a reticulated supply to a number of
community stand pipes and public facilities. A further six systems have been rehabilitated in
2010 in Machaze and Nhamatanda districts. These activities have been part of the steady
expansion of the programme’s technical focus beyond the primary emphasis on boreholes
equipped with Afridev pumps. Alternative Afripumps for deeper boreholes have been
investigated and installed in some areas. Elsewhere, technologies such as rainwater
harvesting, shallow wells and spring protection works have been explored and applied.
A total of 130 communities were planned to be served with alternative water technologies in
2010. Further installations using these methods will be tendered by the One Million
Initiative in 2011.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The numbers reported in Table 7 can be compared to numbers estimated on the basis of the
survey data, as shown in Table 8.9 According to this table the number of newly created water
points is estimated to be 449, much lower than the number of 994 reported in Table 7.
However the estimated number reflects the situation of August 2010. According to programme records 136 new water points had been created by that date rather than the 333
reported in Table 7. The estimate of 449 new water points must therefore be compared to a
reported total of 744 (= 306+302+136). The estimate of 449 is not very precise; the 95%
confidence interval for the estimate is from 117 to 782. The lower statistical estimate of 449
new water points could therefore well reflect sampling error.
Table 8 Number of new water points, estimated from survey data
Water Points Created

Total

Standard error

95% confidence interval

All water points

833

257

313

1352

Rehabilitated

383

169

41

726

117

782

New water points
449
164
Source: authors’ calculation based on programme information and sample analysis

Sanitation and hygiene
| 63 |

The CATS has resulted in rapid progress with regard to latrine construction. Table 9 shows
that the programme has already exceeded its target of 1,000,000 people with access to
improved sanitation facilities. As discussed in section 4.4 owning a latrine results in using it
as well.
Table 9 New latrines and beneficiaries, 2008 - 2010
New latrines
Planned

Beneficiaries
Actual

Planned

Actual

% of target beneficiaries

2008

6,000

55,200

30,000

276,000

920

2009

121,000

66,000

605,000

330,000

55

2010

50,000

83,815

250,000

481,118

192

Total

177,000

205,015

885,000

1087,118

123

Sources: GON, 2010: 9 and programme data

The primary target of the CATS is the declaration of communities as open defecation free.
Table 10 shows that significant numbers of people in the programme provinces are now
living in ODF communities, although they are far fewer than the total number who are
using improved sanitation facilities. This year’s programme progress review for the
Netherlands government stated that “the number of ODF communities is the best indicator
for progress in the sanitation and hygiene component of the programme. The programme
will report in the future on the number of ODF communities and the progress that is being
9

Annex 2 explains how these estimates were derived.

The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

made on the sanitation ladder (concretely the proportion between improved and traditional latrines)” (GON, 2010: 10). As noted in Section 3.2, there has been debate about the
relevance of formal definitions of ‘improved’ latrines. Focusing assumed programme
benefits only on communities declared ODF would be debatable too, given that many
households in communities that do not achieve this status are also benefiting from latrines
that the programme has stimulated them to build.
Table 10 ODF communities, 2008 – 2010
Triggered

Declared ODF

Population of ODF communities

2008

159

34

26,000

2009

619

151

124,835

2010

0

248

198,408

Total

1,467

433

349,243

Source: programme data

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Overall, the programme reports a reduction in open defecation across the target provinces
from 66% of the population in 2007 to 30% in 2009. Table 11 gives more detail on the ODF
process for 2010. All the communities declared ODF in that year had been triggered during
the 2008 and 2009 campaigns, as there was no new triggering in 2010 (Table 10). Achieving
this status implies a major behavioural change for the target population, and is far from
being the immediate or automatic result of the ODF process. That is why the planned
number of ODF declarations (i.e. the estimated ultimate success rate) shown in the table is
much less than the number of communities planned for CATS coverage.
Table 11 Communities planned for CATS evaluation, evaluated, declared ODF, 2010
Province

Planned

Evaluated

Declared ODF

Planned ODF

% of ODF target achieved

Manica

280

181

93

95

98

Sofala

237

218

75

115

65

Tete

172

146

80

85

94

Total

689

545

248

295

84

Source: programme data

Programme outputs with regard to hygiene are less specifically reported. The programme
delivers hygiene education activities as part of the PEC Zonal and CATS processes. It reported
that in 2008 it “reached 500,000 people in rural areas in 18 districts with social mobilisation
and hygiene promotion activities and adopting appropriate hygiene practices” (UNICEF,
2009: 8). For 2009, it stated that “327,765 people were reached with social mobilisation and
hygiene promotion activities, to adopt appropriate hygiene practices such as handwashing
with soap or ash and safe excreta disposal through the use of basic sanitation. This exceeded
the 257,000 target” (UNICEF, 2010a: 5). Chapter 4 presents this study’s findings on changes
in hygiene behaviour between the 2008 baseline survey and the 2010 mid-term survey.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Schools
Outputs from the programme’s schools component have lagged somewhat behind plan so
far, as Table 12 shows.
Table 12 School water supplies and latrines, 2007 - 2010
School water supplies

School latrine facilities

Planned

Built

% of plan

2007

50

47

94

Pupils
?

Planned

Built

% of plan

10

-

0

2008

30

30

100

2009

80

66

83

2010

40

22

Total
(2008-2010)

200

165

Pupils

10,500

30

30

100

10,500

23,100

240

60

25

14,000

55

9,370

60

162

270

18,900

83

42,970

340

252

74

43,400

-

Sources: GON, 2010: 8 and programme data. No data on pupil numbers in 2007. No school latrine facilities built in 2007

The 2010 field survey found that 52 (87%) out of 60 school drinking water points were
working without problems; two were working imperfectly and six were out of order. Almost
all (95%) of these school water points had maintenance groups, typically made up of
members of the general community rather than parents of schoolchildren specifically.
Up to December 2010, 362 out of 501 schools that had been implementing School Led Total
Sanitation were awarded ODF status (UNICEF, nd (a): 1).

3.5

Costs

This section addresses evaluation question 4 about the key costs and cost trends in the One
Million Initiative to date.
The total budget for the One Million Initiative, over six years, is USD 42.82 mln, made up as
follows.
Table 13 Budget of the One Million Initiative
Funding source

Budget contribution
EUR mln

% of total

USD mln

Government of the Netherlands

21.57

28.30

65

UNICEF

6.03

7.91

19

Government of Mozambique

4.22

5.53

13

Beneficiary contributions

0.82

1.08

3

Total

32.64

42.82

100

Source: programme data

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

The 2010 GON review of programme performance cited a cost per beneficiary of a rehabilitated borehole of EUR 3.81 (USD 5.00), and a cost per beneficiary of a small piped system
rehabilitated by the programme as EUR 5.03 (USD 6.60). It calculated that the depletion of
the borehole drilling budget was in line with the number of boreholes drilled to date
relative to the target of 2,000. However, it noted that the programme had yet to drill in areas
where costs were likely to be higher, and concluded that average costs per borehole would
have to be reduced further if the target is to be achieved within budget (GON, 2010: 7-8).
Since 2008, the One Million Initiative has taken a number of measures to enhance the
efficiency of drilling contract management and lower the average cost per borehole. In
2008, that cost was EUR 10,772 (USD 14,130). This was two to three times the cost per
borehole (in 2006) in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Uganda and Ghana (UNICEF, nd (b): 1). It
was reduced to EUR 6,680 (USD 8,762) in 2009 and EUR 5,255 (USD 6,893) in 2010. Based on
the nominal number of 500 beneficiaries per borehole this amounts to USD 14 per capita.

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The 2010 GON review also notes that “the CLTS approach, introduced in 2008, has really
boosted latrine construction and reduced unit costs” (GON, 2010: 9). The programme itself
has reported that “with the introduction of the CATS, there has been a significant increase
in community contribution, with communities meeting the full cost of the materials and
the construction of their latrines. This cost has been estimated at… approximately USD 10
[EUR 7.62] per latrine” (UNICEF, 2010a: 18). For the average 5-person household the per
capita cost is therefore approximately USD 2. However, these construction costs exclude the
cost of delivering the CATS to communities, on which data are not available.
No more specific data on the costs of the One Million Initiative are currently available.
However, Mozambique is one of four countries in which the WASHCost project is currently
working to collect and analyse cost data for water and sanitation services in rural and
peri-urban areas (WASHCost, 2010: 2). Reviewing 29 water point construction contracts
undertaken in 2009, the project found that the average cost was EUR 5,891 (USD 7,727, MT
255,000). This is lower than the average cost incurred by the One Million Initiative in 2009,
but higher than the cost it achieved in 2010, as shown above.

3.6

Summary

The One Million Initiative, launched in 2006 and operating to 2013, is implemented as part
of the Netherlands and UNICEF partnership to enhance water supply, sanitation and hygiene
in eastern and southern Africa. It has a budget of EUR 32.64 mln, of which 65% is provided
by the government of the Netherlands, 19% by UNICEF, 13% by the government of
Mozambique and 3% by beneficiary contributions.
Its overall technical objective is “reduced incidence of water and sanitation-related diseases,
particularly among the most vulnerable group (children and women) living in rural areas;
increased economic growth; and a higher ranking in the Human Development Index”. Its
overall institutional objective is “increased access to water supply and sanitation by the targeted
population, through improved management of sector funds and programme activities”.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The programme therefore aims to benefit 200,000 people with 400 rehabilitated water
points and 1,000,000 people with 2,000 new water points. Through sanitation and hygiene
education activities it aims to increase access to and use of improved sanitation facilities
from an average of 42% to at least 50% in Manica, Sofala, Tete provinces by 2011: the
intention was to facilitate the construction of 200,000 new latrines. Water supply, latrine
construction and hygiene construction in 400 primary schools serving 140,000 pupils and
teachers should lead to increased girls’ enrolment and retention.
The programme’s approach to rural water supply has focused on community water points
equipped with hand pumps, managed by new or revived village water and sanitation
committees, which extract groundwater. It emphasises community ownership of water
supply infrastructure, along with responsibility for operation and maintenance costs. It also
puts strong emphasis on private sector involvement in construction and maintenance.
Various innovations in contracting conditions and procedures have significantly reduced
construction costs. Community facilitation and institutional support are mainly provided
by NGOs contracted with programme funds. Again, the programme has achieved stronger
NGO performance through enhanced contracting arrangements.
The One Million Initiative has replaced its original participatory hygiene and sanitation
transformation (PHAST) approach with a community approach for total sanitation (CATS),
combining community-led total sanitation (CLTS) with an award system for communities
that achieve open defecation free (ODF) status. This has accelerated performance. If
successful, the confrontational CLTS triggering process induces every household in the
community to build a latrine, and every individual to give up the practice of open defecation. NGOs undertake a broad-based extension process across entire districts, laying the
foundations for water supply work and for more intensive CLTS activities in selected
communities, leading ultimately to community applications for ODF designation.
The large majority of the latrines constructed as a result of the One Million Initiative have
been built from traditional materials. The programme has also promoted the use of
concrete latrine slabs, although with limited success.
The programme’s work in schools has been merged with UNICEF’s existing child-centred
hygiene education programme and the Child-Friendly Schools for Africa Initiative.
Interventions involve the construction of water supplies and latrines as required, together
with hygiene education programmes that link schools with communities.
To build human resources in the target areas, the One Million Initiative has employed 30
technical staff: 12 have been posted to DPOPH offices and one to each of the SDPI offices in
the districts covered by the programme. Government has agreed a proactive strategy, now
well advanced, to transfer these posts to its establishment.
The One Million Initiative has given detailed attention to monitoring and the progress
towards sustainability that monitoring should reveal. It has now undertaken three annual,
wide-ranging ‘sustainability checks’. The disappointing findings of the first of these (in

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The One Million Initiative, 2006-2013

2008) prompted a comprehensive review and refinement of programme strategy. Measures
taken include the introduction of manual database procedures at district level and the
facilitation of signed agreements between communities and private mechanics and traders
for maintenance and spare parts supply. (The strategy of linking artisans into associations
based at demonstration centres has been largely unsuccessful.) The programme’s monitoring system is meant to feed into the emerging National Information System for Water and
Sanitation (SINAS). There is no system for water quality monitoring yet, although steps are
being taken to establish one.
Overall, the institutional strategy of the One Million Initiative has achieved a clear definition and a reasonably widespread understanding of roles and responsibilities in the rural
water and sanitation sub sector. Provincial and district staff understand very clearly how the
system is meant to work. Institutional understanding is not yet fully embedded at the
community level. That will take longer than the three years’ effective operation of the One
Million programme so far. Complete fulfilment of the various roles by the beneficiaries and
other stakeholders is also a long-term goal. The signals so far are largely encouraging, with
the exception of private sector engagement at the local level.

| 68 |

The One Million programme’s strategy has had a number of positive effects on its outputs.
The capacity of communities, local government, NGOs and the private sector has been built
and combined with largely beneficial results, accelerating delivery and reducing costs. By
the end of 2009 the One Million Initiative had rehabilitated a total of 392 water points,
completing this element of its work plan. By the end of 2010 it had built 994 new water
points. The number of users enumerated at these new water points totalled 967,744,
implying an average of 974 users per water point. The programme is thus nearing its target
number of beneficiaries.
Due to its replacement of PHAST with the CATS, the programme has already nearly reached
its target of one million people using improved sanitation facilities. Over and above these
planned targets, 466 communities have so far been declared ODF. The performance of the
schools component has been slower, although (again moving beyond the original strategy)
362 schools had been declared ODF by December 2010.
The programme has reduced borehole construction costs from EUR 10,772 in 2008 to EUR
5,255 in 2010, although work in more difficult areas in 2011 may drive average costs up
again. The CLTS approach to sanitation has significantly reduced the cost of building a
latrine, which is now estimated at EUR 7.62.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

| 69 |

4
Impact analysis

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

4.1

Introduction

This chapter analyses the impact of the One Million Initiative in the provinces Manica,
Sofala and Tete. It addresses evaluation questions 8-25 listed in chapter 1. The chapter is
organised as follows. In Section 4.2 data and methodology are discussed. Section 4.3
analyses the survey evidence on households’ use and access to improved water sources
(evaluation questions 8-13 and 17-19). Section 4.4 discusses sanitary facilities and hygienic
practices (evaluation questions 14-15). Section 4.5 uses statistical impact evaluation to
analyse the impact of programme interventions on health (evaluation question 16), while
the impact on educational outcomes is discussed in Section 4.6 (evaluation questions
20-25). For each of the evaluation questions a summary of the findings is presented first.
This is followed by a detailed discussion of the evidence on which the summary is based
after which a more detailed discussion follows. Section 4.7 concludes and contains a
summary of the most important findings.

4.2

Data and Methodology

In order to obtain direct evidence on the impact of the One Million Initiative a random
sample was drawn of 80 communities from 9 of the 18 districts covered by the Initiative.
Details about the sampling procedure can be found in Annex 3. Half of the sample, or 40
communities, is representative of the general population of the 9 sample districts. This part
of the sample has been drawn on the basis of the 1997 census and will therefore be called
the INE sub-sample.10 The other 40 communities were drawn from a poorer ‘target’ section
of the population. When the sample was drawn in 2008 this part of the population was
expected to be more intensively targeted by the One Million Initiative. This part of the
sample is based on an enumeration of communities by PEC11 staff and is therefore called the
PEC sub-sample. Thus, the complete sample of 80 communities has intentionally oversampled locations which could become ‘treatment communities’ in order to get a better
picture of activities under the One Million Initiative and achieve greater statistical precision
when comparing (high intensity) treatment to no treatment (or low intensity treatment)
communities. As a result of the randomization the INE sub-sample can be used to estimate
statistics at the level of the general population and the PEC sample can be used to zoom in
on a poorer section of the population. The two sub-samples can be combined to investigate
the impact of interventions of the One Million Initiative.
For each of the sample communities a number of surveys have been carried out: a household survey was conducted among 20 households selected by systematic sampling from a
randomly chosen contiguous group of approximately 100 households (comprising around
500 persons). This survey covers general household characteristics, as well as water,
sanitation and hygiene practices. In addition, a focus group discussion and water point
survey was conducted in the smaller community in which the 20 sample households are
10
11

The census was conducted by INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatistica), the national bureau of statistics.
See section 2.5 for information on the PEC.

| 71 |

Impact analysis

living. Water samples were taken at a selection of households (10% of sample) and at the
water sources used by these households to test for microbiological contamination.12 A
separate survey has been conducted among 80 schools from the 2 programme districts
participating in the Child Friendly Schools for Africa Initiative (CFS), see page 54. These
districts are not covered by the other surveys. All sample households, schools and communities have been visited twice, in 2008 and 2010, and will be visited again in 2013.
The sample design differs in an important way from the conventional treatment/control
comparison. When the sample was drawn UNICEF indicated that treatment and control
groups should not be distinguished ex ante, since this would involve telling some communities that they would not benefit from the Initiative or only at a later stage. As a result control
and treatment groups can be identified only ex post. This has an important implication: the
effects of the Initiative cannot be assessed by simply comparing the outcomes for treatment
and control villages since treatment villages were not selected randomly. They may well
differ systematically from control villages, if only because poorer villages were more likely
to receive treatment. Such selection effects obviously invalidate the customary treatmentcontrol comparison.

| 72 |

The econometric technique of ‘difference in differences’ estimation overcomes most if not
all such concerns. This method focuses on changes over time rather than on levels of
variables. For example, if the prevalence of water borne diseases is found to be higher in
treatment villages than in control villages, it is clearly not legitimate to conclude that the
health effect of water and sanitation interventions was perverse: presumably treatment
villages already had a higher prevalence. But suppose that initially prevalence was 50% in
villages which later received treatment and 30% in control villages and that after the
interventions prevalence was 25% and 20% respectively. Then it is natural to assume that
without the interventions prevalence in the treatment villages would have fallen as much as
in the control villages, i.e. by 10 percentage points. In fact a much larger fall is observed:
from 50% to 25%, i.e. a fall of 25 percentage points. It is the difference between these two
changes over time - in fact a difference between two differences hence the terminology
“difference in differences” or double differencing” - which is of interest. Since prevalence
fell 15 percentage points more in the treatment villages than one would expect on the basis
of the trend observed in the control villages there is a prima facie case that this measures the
causal effect of the intervention.
This is the approach usually employed in this report. Nevertheless this report also includes
some cross-sectional tables comparing levels of outcomes rather than changes. Because of
the selection problem any findings based on such level comparisons cannot be considered
as causal effects. On the other hand one would expect that the lower living standards in the
treatment communities mentioned above have an unfavourable effect on many outcome
variables. This means that any favourable effect of the intervention suggested by a compari12

Also, information from health posts close to the sampled location has been collected that can be linked
to the various samples. This information includes the number of recorded cases of particular diseases
and disease-specific mortality data. However, this information could not be used since the catchment
area of a health post is too large to identify the effect of the interventions.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

son of levels is likely to be an underestimate of the true effect. In this sense the crosssection comparison can still be useful.
Technically, the method of double differencing is implemented by regressing changes (over
time) in a variable of interest such as the prevalence of diarrhoea on a number of ‘explanatory’ variables, including a variable indicating whether a location has received an intervention (say, hygiene promotion) in the period considered. If the regression coefficient for that
variable is statistically significant, then that is evidence that the intervention has resulted in
an improvement in health. The confounding effect of determinants of health not included
in the regression is largely eliminated by this procedure.13
This method can be extended by including more intervention variables in the explanatory
variables of the regression, e.g. in addition to hygiene training the availability of safe water
sources, latrine construction and so on. (This is extremely useful since the One Million
Initiative in fact amounts to a combination of interventions) The regression coefficients
estimated for these variables indicate how much impact (in terms of reduced diarrhoea) is
caused by a change in that variable. The results therefore not only indicate what works but
also by how much.
For proper understanding of the many regression tables in this chapter it is useful to
consider an example. The following table is a copy of Table 18.

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Copy of Table 18: Change in use of improved water sources caused by change in availability of
improved water sources and / or CATS intervention
Mean value dependent variable: 0.277
Estimate

Clustered Standard Errors

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

(Trend)

0.072

0.043

1.68

0.094

Water point intervention in
location = 1, otherwise =0.

0.318

0.089

3.57

0.000

CATS intervention in
location = 1, otherwise = 0

0.159

0.093

1.71

0.087

Source: data from household survey and programme data on interventions. The dependent variable is equal to 1 if a
household switches from unsafe to improved water sources, -1 for a switch from safe to unsafe sources, and 0 if the
source type has not changed. N = 1310. Only households interviewed in both survey rounds have been included.
Adjusted R-squared: 0.170

The aim of the regression is to explain the ‘dependent variable’ which is defined in the
Table’s caption as the change in the household’s use of improved water sources. The
dependent variable is equal to 1 if a household switches from unsafe to improved water
sources, -1 for a switch from safe to unsafe sources, and 0 if the source type has not
changed. The average value of the dependent variable is given at the top of the Table as
13

The notable exception is the case where the variable of interest, say diarrhoea prevalence, is affected by
unobserved variables which change over time. (If unobserved variables do not change over time the
differencing procedure eliminates the bias they might cause.)

Impact analysis

0.277. This means that in the sample there was a net increase of 28 percentage points in the
use of improved water sources. The dependent variable is related to the ‘explanatory’ or
‘independent’ variables listed in the first column. In this case they include an autonomous
trend, a variable representing water point interventions and a variable representing CATS
interventions. The main effects are given in the second column, headed ‘Estimate’. The
precision of the estimated effects can be gauged from the third column, which contains
standard errors: precision is higher if the standard errors are smaller compared to the
estimated effects. Throughout this Chapter ‘clustered’ standard errors are used to account
for the fact that households have been sampled from a limited number of locations.
Columns four and five contain t- and p-values and indicate the statistical significance of the
estimated effects. A high t-value (above 2 or below -2) and a low p-value (below 0.05)
indicate high significance. For instance, a CATS intervention in a household’s community
increases the probability that the household switches to an improved water source by an
estimated 15.9 percentage points. However, this estimate is not very precise, with a standard
error of 0.093, or 9.7 percentage points, resulting in a relatively low t-value (1.71) and
correspondingly high p-value (0.087). At this level of significance (8.7%), many would not
dismiss the possibility that the estimated impact of the CATS intervention is an accidental
result of sampling rather than reflecting impact.
| 74 |

A moot point is whether the results of a regression justify a causal interpretation: can one
conclude that the dependent variable is caused by (some of ) the explanatory variables or is
the regression merely expressing correlation between variables which could stem from
other processes? In the case of double-difference regressions the effects of many of such
potential ‘other processes’ are filtered out, warranting a causal interpretation.

4.3

Water interventions of the One Million Initiative

Evaluation question 8. What has been the average number of users per improved water point in the sample?
There has been a massive increase in the number of sample households using improved water points
between 2008 and 2010. However, the number of improved water points is still far below the target of one
water point per 500 persons. The average number of persons per improved water point has fallen,
especially in the (targeted) poorer section of the population, where it declined from around 3570 in 2008
to 1250 in 2010.
Survey data do not allow a precise answer to this evaluation question. The 2008 and 2010
rounds of the Water Point survey included a question on the number of households served
by the water point in the dry and rainy seasons. However, this question was asked only for
water points with payment and it was answered only for 38 (44%) of the improved water
points concerned. Figure 6 shows the outcomes for these 38 water points in the dry season.14
The question expresses the concern that water points may serve more than the 500 persons
they are nominally supposed to serve. Such excessive use of water points could lead to early
14

The graph for the rainy season is almost identical.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

failure or long waiting times at the pump. Indeed Figure 6 shows that only 66% of these 38
improved water points report less than 100 families as users, while some water points serve
as many as 600 households. Note, however that these data are not very reliable due to the
limited number of responses.
Figure 6 Number of water points by number of households served (dry season, 2010)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4

| 75 |

2

0
60

0

0-

55

55

0
50

050

45

0

045

0
40

040

35

0

035

0
30

030

0

025

25

0

020

15

0-

20

0
15
0-

00

10

-1
50

0-

50

0

Source: Water Point survey 2010

The number of users also affects the quantity of water per capita per day that can be
obtained from the improved source. Comparing the population numbers reported in the
community surveys to the available number of improved water points it follows that there
were 2,971 persons per functioning improved water point in the sample areas in 2008, and
1,387 in 2010, showing that there is still a vast shortage of improved water points and,
consequently, that the usage intensity of improved water points is likely to be much higher
than desirable.
Table 14 summarises the presence of improved water points in the INE and PEC sub-samples.
One can deduce from the Table that the population per functioning improved water point
in the INE sample was 2,571 in 2008, and 1,543 in 2010. The improvement was markedly
better in the PEC sample, where population per functioning improved water point was 3571
in 2008, and 1,250 in 2010 (using 2008 population numbers). This reflects the worse initial
conditions for the PEC section of the population, as well as the targeting of programme
interventions at this group.

Borehole fitted with handpump

Table 14 Improved water points in survey locations
INE sample
| 76 |

2008
Improved water Points
Functioning Improved water Points

2010

2008

2010

32

56

26

49

21 (66%)

35 (63%)

14 (54%)

40 (82%)

54,000

Population15

PEC sample

50,000

Source: Household survey

15

These survey based numbers are worse than the official figures for the three provinces
covered by the One Million Initiative. Table 15 summarises government data on the access to
water from improved sources. According to this Table access to an improved water point in
2009 was available to 59% of the population in these three provinces. The population per
functioning improved water point according to the table is 956 in 2007 and 875 in 2009.
This is much better than the sample-based estimates mentioned above. A possible
explanation for the difference is that there are relatively more improved water points in the
districts not covered by the survey.

15

Population numbers are from the Community Surveys. These are very rough estimates. Hence
population numbers have been rounded to the nearest 1000. The estimates for 2010 and 2008 do not
match well. Therefore only numbers for 2008 have been included. Population growth in Mozambique is
around 2.5% per annum. According to the 1997 Census the 9 sample districts had a population of
818,797 persons. A rough estimate for 2008 is therefore 1.07 million suggesting that around 1 in every
20 persons is living in communities covered by the survey.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Table 15 Access to improved water points
Population
(thousand)
2007

Number of
functioning
improved WP
2009

2007

Improved WP
coverage (%)

2009

2007

2009

SOFALA, overall

1141

1184

1288

1390

60.5

60.8

Nhamatanda

235

255

116

189

25.5

37.9

Muanza

11

10

19

34

100.0

100.0

Gorongosa

97

99

53

108

27.4

54.6

MANICA, overall

1063

1077

1116

1378

56.2

66.4

Gondola

215

178

251

309

59.1

88.1

Sussendenga

141

149

100

160

40.3

59.4

Guro

51

52

103

141

100

100.0

Mossurize

166

173

91

139

31.6

49.7

TETE, overall

1453

1490

1422

1518

52.8

52.4

Angonia

361

380

254

275

36.9

37.8

Chifunde

59

61

55

64

46.3

52.7

Tsangano

155

163

124

122

41.3

38.5

Changara

157

163

196

228

65.6

72.0

Total

3657

3751

3826

4286

56.2

59.1

Source: GoM. Economic and Social Plan (PES), 2007

Evaluation Question 9. What has been the effect on the percentage of the population that use an improved
water source?
The sample indicates that the percentage of households in the population using improved water sources for
drinking water has increased from 16% in 2008 to 28% in 2010. While part of this increase is autonomous,
most is due to water point interventions under the One Million Initiative. In the sample these interventions
cause a 32 percentage point increase for improved water sources and a 16 percentage point increase for CATS
hygiene awareness training in the number of households taking drinking water from improved sources.
Water point interventions are well targeted: they are placed in locations where many households still use
unsafe water sources.
The number of households using improved water sources as their main source of drinking
water has increased between the two survey rounds, as evidenced in Table 16 below. In the
sample the percentage of households increased from 14.6% to 42%. This large increase
partly reflects oversampling of treatment locations. Progress in the general population can
be estimated from the INE sub-sample and is much more modest, but still considerable,
from 16% to 28%.

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Impact analysis

Table 16	Percentage of households using improved water sources as their main source of
drinking water
Percentage of households in the
sample

Percentage of households in the
population

2008

14.6%

16.3%

2010

42.0%

28.0%

Source: Household survey. The population average is based on the INE sub-sample using household weights

Obviously, households can switch to an improved water sources only if they have access to
one. Switching to an improved source requires access to such a source, but also the
willingness of households to make the change. According to Table 17 many households do
make the switch when new improved water sources are introduced in their communities,
but not all. The first row of the Table shows that 31% of the households (204+5+18 out of
740=620+60+60) in the communities with a water point intervention (new or rehabilitated
water points) do not switch to using an improved source. There are also a few households
(2%) switching to unimproved sources, possibly because of problems with the water point
or conflicts in the community.16
| 78 |

Table 17 Households response to water point intervention (number of households)
Main source used for drinking water

Water point interventions

2008

2010

No

Unimproved

Unimproved

889

662

204

5

18

Unimproved

Improved

477

100

284

55

38

Improved

Unimproved

39

20

19

0

0

Improved

Improved

195

78

113

0

4

1600

860

620

60

60

Total number of households

Total

2008

2009

2008 and 2009

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions

The regression reported in Table 18 shows whether the introduction of a new improved
water source induces households to use it as their main source of drinking water. According
to the Table the share of sample households using improved sources increased 27.7
percentage points. This large increase partly results from an autonomous trend (7.2 points)
but mainly from the water point and CATS interventions. This implies that more than 20 of
the 27.7 point increase in the use of improved sources can be attributed to activities under
the One Million Initiative. A water point created under the One Million Initiative increases
the percentage of households using improved sources of drinking water by 32 percentage
points. The regression testifies to the success of water point interventions of the One
Million Initiative: the explanatory variable “Water point intervention” only considers water
points created under the One Million Initiative. The 32 point impact not only shows that
16

The high number of improved water source users in 2008 in the communities where the intervention
was carried out in 2008 is explained by the fact that many of these interventions occurred prior to the
baseline.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

people switch to improved sources if they can, but also that the placement of the interventions has been well targeted: for instance, if a new improved water point would be
introduced in a community where already 100% of the households are using improved
water sources, then that community would have zero switches and contribute nothing
(indeed discount) the value of the coefficient. This favourable targeting of interventions was
already mentioned above when discussing the sample.
According to Table 18 another important determinant of switching to a safer water source is
the CATS intervention (see Section 3.2). This is a confrontational method to enhance
hygiene awareness and sanitary practices. Although the coefficient is not significant at the
conventional level of 5%, the size of the coefficient (a 16 percentage point increase) suggests
that the CATS intervention might be important in inducing people to switch to improved
water sources.
The robustness of the regression reported in Table 18 has been investigated by carrying out a
number of similar regressions (not reported here) using different sets of households and
adding potential confounders such as changes in wealth.17 These variations do not change
the basic result but some findings are worth reporting. If the regression is carried out only
for communities that already had a functioning improved water source according to the
baseline survey, a water point intervention does not have a significant impact on switching
to an improved water source, however the sanitation intervention (CATS) does increase the
probability of a household switching to an improved water source by 30 percentage points.
On the other hand, if there was no functioning improved water source in the community at
baseline, the water point intervention induces 42% of the households in these communities
to start using the new improved source, whereas the impact of CATS is not significant in this
case. Two other variables that play a role in the decision to switch to an improved water
source are distance and perceived water quality. This is further discussed under Evaluation
Questions 10 and 12 below.
Table 18	Change in use of improved water sources caused by change in availability of
improved water sources and / or CATS intervention
Mean value dependent variable: 0.277
Estimate

Clustered Standard Errors

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

(Trend)

0.072

0.043

1.68

0.094

Water point intervention in
location = 1, otherwise = 0.

0.318

0.089

3.57

0.000

CATS intervention in location
= 1, otherwise = 0

0.159

0.093

1.71

0.087

Source: Data from household survey and programme data on interventions. The dependent variable is equal to 1 if a
household switches from unsafe to improved water sources, -1 for a switch from safe to unsafe sources, and 0 if the
source type has not changed. N = 1310. Only households interviewed in both survey rounds have been included.
Adjusted R-squared: 0.170
17

The regression in Table 18 is a ‘double difference’ regression and therefore relatively insensitive to
confounders that change only slowly over time. See the discussion in Section 4.2.

| 79 |

Impact analysis

Evaluation Question 10. Have there been barriers to the access to the improved water source? If so, which
proportion of households in the sample communities do not have access and why?
In 2010 58% of the sample households were still using unimproved water sources. Access to improved
water is mainly determined by availability of improved water sources in the community and, within
communities, by distance to the source. An increase of one kilometre in the distance to the improved source
reduces the probability that a household uses it by 16 percentage points. User charges do not seem to act as
a barrier against using improved water sources. There is no indication that other barriers exist to using safe
drinking water, for example by excluding female headed households or poorer households.
In the sample, there is no indication that female headed households or households in the
lower wealth quartiles were in a disadvantageous position in terms of using improved water
sources. Other factors which may determine whether a household actually uses an available
improved source are user cost and the distance to the source. These are considered in turn.

User Cost

| 80 |

Both the household and the water point surveys have information on user costs. Table 19
summarises survey findings on user charges for locations with improved water sources.
According to the Table, if user costs are charged at all, a monthly fee is the most common
arrangement. In 2008 88% of the households in the sample reported that they did not pay at
all for water. In 2010 this percentage was still as high as 63%. One reason for not paying may
be that collection and payment systems are not universally present and/or efficient in all
communities with improved supplies. As Table 19 documents, charging for improved water
has become more common as the number of improved water points has increased.
Table 19 Payment mode for user charges for improved water sources
2008

2010

No payment

19

17

Per month

16

55

Per bucket

2

4

Per breakdown

3

5

Other

2

5

42
(in 29 locations)

86
(in 54 locations)

Total number of improved water points
Source: Water point surveys 2008, 2010

For water points with user charges the mean and median monthly payment are given in
Table 20. These numbers are in line with user charges reported in the household survey, as
evidenced in Table 21.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Table 20 Monthly payment according to water committee
Amount of monthly payment, (MZN prices 2010)

2008

2010

Mean payment

7.6

8.8

Median payment

5.7

10.0

Number of water points

17

55

Source: Water Point Questionnaire
In 2010 100 MZN = EUR 2.29 according to the exchange rate. Accounting for purchasing power differences the
conversion is approximately 100 MZN = EUR 10

Table 21 User charges
Mean payment per month (calculated, MZN prices 2010)

2008

2010

All HHs using any source*

0.7

3.7

Repeated HHs using improved source in 2010

1.6

10.4

Locations with any water point intervention

1.1

7.8

Locations with no water point intervention*

0.4

1.2

* payment per bucket excluded
Source: Household survey

From the water point questionnaire it is not clear how refusals to pay are dealt with: this
question was answered at only a few water points. Those that did answer indicated that
people can still get water even if they do not pay, irrespective of whether they are unable or
unwilling to pay. Most paying households when asked about their opinion of water cost
find user charges reasonable or cheap (70% in 2008, 81% in 2010).
The possibility that user charges are too high for some households, cannot be excluded, but
it looks very unlikely. For example in a ‘cross-section’ regression using survey data from 2010
there is no evidence that locations with higher user charges have a lower percentage of
households using water from the improved source. These results suggest that the introduction of user charges together with new improved water sources has not created major
barriers to using them. This finding is further confirmed below.

Distance
Distance appears to be a more important barrier to using improved water sources than user
charges. This is illustrated in the regression reported in Table 22, linking the use of safe
drinking water to distance from a safe drinking water source.18 The regression uses only data
from the second survey round, when the data included a reasonable number of locations

18

Distance is measured here as the distance “as the crow flies” between the household and the location
of the nearest improved source, using the GPS measurements. Households were asked about the
“distance to the water point[s]” they use, not the distance to the nearest improved water point.
Self-reported distance could therefore not be used in the regression of Table 21.

| 81 |

Impact analysis

with improved water sources.19 Judging by the high p-values, wealth and household size do
not play a role in the decision to use safe drinking water sources. Education clearly does play
a positive role: households with educated adults (i.e. above 15 year old and having had some
schooling) are 6.7 percentage points more likely to use drinking water from improved
sources. Note that this is not the effect of such households living in more favourable
locations, since these and similar effects are captured by the location fixed effects. Distance
clearly has a very strong negative impact on using safe drinking water: living 1 km further
from a safe source reduces the probability of using it by 18.3 percentage points.
Table 22 Determinants of using improved sources of drinking water
Mean value dependent variable: 0.56
Estimate

| 82 |

Standard
Errors

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

(Intercept)

0.384

0.094

4.061

0.000

Wealth indicator

-0.001

0.018

-0.083

0.934

Educated adult in household = 1

0.067

0.026

2.592

0.010

Distance to nearest improved water
point (km)

-0.183

0.023

-7.821

0.000

-0.000

0.004

-0.041

0.967

Household size
Location fixed effects

(not reported; jointly significant)

Source: Data from household survey and programme data on interventions, 2010 round. Cases with impossible
values for distance and user cost have been omitted. The dependent variable is equal to 1 if a household uses
drinking water from an improved source, 0 otherwise.
Number of households 1105
Adjusted R-squared: 0.59 (0.56 explained by location fixed effects)

Evaluation Question 11. Is the improved water point the only water source for domestic use? If not which
other (improved and non-improved) sources are used, when and by how much are these used and for what
purposes?
The vast majority of households use the same source of water for all domestic purposes. When households
resort to a different source of water it is normally for washing and bathing.
Despite the programme’s success reported in the discussion of evaluation question 9 above,
33% of the households continued to use unimproved sources in villages where an improved
water source was introduced (see Table 17). Water from improved sources is not only used
for drinking: 95% of households reported that they use it for cooking, 91% for washing
hands, 89% for washing kitchen utensils, 84% for bathing, 66% for laundry. There is also
some use of improved water sources for non-domestic use: 30% of households report using
the water also for small animals, 4% for large animals, 0.3% for irrigation and 5% for
19

Since double differencing is not possible for a regression using only data from one survey round the
regression in Table 22 uses a less powerful technique, ‘location fixed effects’, to minimise confounding
by omitted variables.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

construction. Hence, the vast majority of households use water from improved sources only
for domestic purposes.
5% of all sample households and 11% of the households using an improved primary water
source resort to secondary water sources. These are almost exclusively traditional. 10% of
these households use the unsafe secondary water source for drinking. Most of the households use the water for bathing (96%), washing hands (35%) and washing kitchen utensils
(79%) and laundry (37%). 17% of the households report that they use this water for irrigation, 13% for animals.
Evaluation Question 12. What has been the effect on the microbiological and chemical quality of drinking
water (at source and point of use)?
A disturbing finding is that improved water sources are not always safe: in 2010 19% of the samples from
improved sources were contaminated by coliform bacteria. Less surprisingly, of the unprotected sources
90% were unsafe in 2010. Households are not good at judging the quality of water at the source. Since
there is evidence that the decision of a household to switch to an improved source depends on the
household’s assessment of its quality there is a strong case for disseminating reliable information on water
quality.
| 83 |

A positive finding is that when households switch to an uncontaminated water source this substantially
increases the probability (by 48 percentage points) that the water is also clean at the point of use. However,
water quality at the point of use is much lower than at the source. This is a common finding in evaluations
of water interventions.
Water quality was tested both at source and at the point of use, in the house. The aim was to
take a number of water samples from two households in every location, each set consisting
of samples from the point of use and from the actual source used by the household.
However, this aim could not be fully achieved, especially not in the first survey round. In
2008 samples were taken from 37 households in 20 locations of the PEC sub-sample, and
from 42 households in 22 locations in the INE sub-sample. For 2010 the original aim was
almost met: 74 households from 38 locations in the PEC sub-sample and 73 households
from 38 locations in the INE sub-sample. For 47 households there are water samples in both
survey rounds, 16 from 12 clusters in the PEC sub-sample, and 31 from 18 clusters in the INE
sub-sample.

Water quality at the source
In the locations without interventions microbiological water quality at the source often
deteriorated: faecal coliforms were found in 2010 where none were found in 2008. In 85% of
those locations water was found to be contaminated in 2010 (Table 23). Of the locations for
which water quality was measured both in 2008 and in 2010, 65% had contaminated water
in 2010 but not in 2008. The reason for this serious deterioration is not clear. It might reflect
breakdown of maintenance or a change in the way contamination was measured.

Impact analysis

Table 23 Changes in Water Quality at Source
(% of locations with or without water interventions)
2008

2010

locations without water
intervention
(% and number)

clean

clean

11.5% (3)

57.1 (12)

clean

contaminated

65.4% (17)

14.3 (3)

contaminated

clean

3.8% (1)

9.5 (2)

contaminated

contaminated

19.2% (5)

19.0 (4)

100.0
(n = 26)

100.0
(n = 21)

total

locations with water
intervention
(% and number)

Source: Water point survey and programme data on interventions

| 84 |

In locations with water interventions about two thirds of the samples were uncontaminated
in 2010. (These samples were taken at the source actually used by the sampled households;
they are not necessarily the improved water sources in existence in the location.) This does
not necessarily mean that only about two thirds of the improved water sources are “clean”
but rather that households do not always switch to the improved water source. Nevertheless
and unfortunately, not all improved water sources are clean. As shown in Table 24 about
19% of those sources were contaminated. This clearly is a very worrying finding.20
Table 24 CFU Count at Source (2010)
CFU count

Water source
Overall
(%)

Unimproved
(%)

Improved
(%)

0

36.9

3.5

81.3

1-10

6.0

5.9

6.3

10+

57.0

90.6

12.5

Number of samples

149

85

64

Source: Water point survey 2010

In addition to these objective measurements on water quality based on biological tests the
survey collected subjective data on the households’ own assessment of water quality. It
turns out that this assessment is not very accurate. According to Table 25 households are
particularly bad at detecting unsafe water.

20

The water point questionnaire includes a 15 point check list of possible technical and environmental
conditions that could explain water contamination (water point survey, section D). However, for
improved water sources the correlation between these conditions and contamination is at best
extremely weak: they cannot explain the finding that 20% of improved water sources are
contaminated.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Table 25 Water quality: subjective and objective 2010
Water sample CFU
count = 0

Water sample CFU
count > 0

Water is ‘good’ or ‘very good’ according to household

52

45

Water is ‘reasonable’ or worse according to household

3

49

Source: Household and water point surveys, 2010

This finding is important because households are less likely to switch to improved water
sources if they judge the quality of their current source to be good or very good. The
evidence for this is the regression in Table 26. According to the Table a household is 25.1
percentage points less likely to switch to an improved source if the original water quality in
2008 (before a possible intervention) is perceived as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.
The discussion of evaluation question 13 below will also show that perceived water quality is
an important determinant of the quantities of water consumed. Together with Table 25 and
Table 26 this suggests that it is important to provide accurate information on water quality.
Obviously, a household is not going to switch unless an improved source has become
available, but Table 23 and Table 26 show that this is not enough. In addition, the household must become convinced that water quality from the new source is better.
Unfortunately, this is not as trivial as it sounds: as was found above, newly created improved
sources may well be contaminated. This implies that the new source in itself is not a clear
signal for the households’ switching decision.
Table 26 Perceived water quality determines switch to improved sources
Mean value dependent variable: 0.36
Estimate

Clustered Standard Errors

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

(Intercept)

0.360

0.102

3.52

0.000

Household considered water
quality as (very) good in
2008 = 1

-0.251

0.056

-4.45

0.000

Water intervention = 1

0.228

0.102

2.23

0.026

CATS interventions = 1

0.153

0.095

1.61

0.108

Wealth indicator 2010

-0.040

0.034

-1.18

0.236

Educated adult in household in
2010 = 1

-0.027

0.046

-0.60

0.549

Household size in 2010

0.012

0.008

1.15

0.146

Distance to improved source in
2010 (km)

-0.096

0.035

-2.73

0.006

Source: Data from household survey and programme data on interventions. Cases with impossible values for
distance have been omitted. The dependent variable equal to -1,0,1 if a household switches from safe to unsafe type,
does not change type, or switches from unsafe to safe drinking water, respectively.
Number of observations is 1129. Adjusted R-squared is 0.20

| 85 |

Impact analysis

Water quality at the point of use
Many studies find that fetching water from a safe source does not guarantee that the water
is still safe when and where it is used. This is also the case in Mozambique. In 2008, 80 test
samples were taken from household points of use, of which 40 appeared to be microbiologically contaminated. Of the 40 contaminated samples, 11 had been fetched from
improved sources, or 28%. In 2010 148 samples were taken at the point of use for which 128
were contaminated and 20 clean. Of the 128 contaminated samples, 36 had been fetched
from improved sources, again 28%. Comparing microbiological contamination at source
and point of use across all samples, it is found that in 2008 36.7% of the source samples
were contaminated against 49.4% of the point of use samples. In 2010 63.3% of the source
samples were contaminated, while 86.4% of the point of use samples was unsafe. There is
thus widespread contamination between source and point of use.

| 86 |

In this context the evidence reported in the regression analysis of Table 27 is encouraging. It
shows that when households switch to uncontaminated water source this reduces the
probability that the water is contaminated at the point of use very substantially: by 54.8
percentage points. This is an important finding because many studies have pointed to
contamination between source and point of use to explain why health effects of access to
improved sources is less than expected. For instance, the World Bank’s Independent
Evaluation Group (IEG, 2008) stresses the importance of (amongst others) treatment at
point of use rather than the source. Yet, Table 27 shows the importance of water safety at
the source for safety at the point of use, at least in the context of the One Million Initiative.
The Table also contains a disturbing finding on cleaning containers: the effect of using soap
for cleaning the containers seems to have a strong (29.7 points) and significant negative
effect on water quality at the point of use. This surprising finding warrants further research.
Table 27 Water safety at point of use
Dependent variable: change in water safety at point of use = -1 (deterioration), 0, or 1
(improvement). Mean of dependent variable is -0.42.
Estimate

Clustered
Standard Errors

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

(Intercept)

-0.265

0.107

-2.466

0.018

CATS intervention in community = 1

-0.167

0.134

-1.242

0.221

Change in water quality at source (+1 is
achieving coliform-free status, -1 losing
coliform-free status, 0 otherwise)

0.477

0.115

4.155

0.000

Started to use same container for fetching
and storing water = 1, started to use different
containers = -1, otherwise 0

0.213

0.098

2.168

0.036

Started to use soap to wash containers = 1, etc.

-0.277

0.079

-3.501

0.001

Started to treat water = 1, etc.

-0.091

0.172

-0.530

0.599

Source: Household and water point surveys, and programme data on interventions. N = 47 (households who’s water
has been tested in both survey rounds). Adjusted R-squared is 0.847

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Sanitary inspection of improved water points
Table 23 indicates that about 19% of the improved water sources are in fact contaminated.
This could reflect the condition of the water point and its surroundings. According to the
sanitary inspection component of the water point questionnaire 32% of the boreholes have
a source of contamination at less than 30 meters (8% latrines, 26% other) and around
two-third of them have rubbish spread up to 30 meters from the water point (49%) and/or
there are signs of animals approaching up to 10 meters from the water point (53%).
Considering the condition of the boreholes, 30% of them have stagnant water at less than 2
meters from the water point due to deficient drainage, There are cracks in the cement floor
or the drainage in 24% of the boreholes, 50% of them have a too small base (less than 2
meters), and 32% of them are considered unhygienic due to the presence of faeces, kitchen
rubbish or stagnant water. These findings apply to all improved sources, including those of
the One Million Initiative. Clearly the Initiative should therefore in future pay more
attention to ensure that communities take better care of their boreholes.
Evaluation Question 13. What has been the effect on the amount of water used per day per person for
domestic purposes (total and from an improved water source)?
Overall, the consumption of domestic water is low and has declined between 2008 and 2010 from 12.6 to
10.2 litres/person/day. However, households tend to increase water consumption when they perceive an
improvement of the water quality.

| 87 |

The survey indicates a mean domestic water use of 10.2 litres per day per person, which is a
decrease of 2.4 litres per day in the consumption of domestic water per capita both in
intervention and non-intervention locations. Table 28 summarises the data by intervention
types.
Table 28 Trends in water consumption
Mean consumption of
litres per day per person

All

No interven- Water
tion
intervention
only

CATS
intervention
only

Both water
and CATS
interventions

2008

12.6

12.3

12.8

13.0

12.9

2010

10.2

9.6

10.0

11.0

11.0

Change

-2.4

-2.7

-2.8

-2.0

-1.9

Locations affected

80

36

15

7

22

Source: Household survey and intervention history from UNICEF

In 2010, the households used only about half of the recommended 20 litres per person per
day for the use of domestic purposes.21 Only 14% of the households in the sample consume
more than 20 l/p/d. This number is similar across users of improved or unimproved water
21

The recommended 20 litres per person per day include 5 l/p/d drinking water and 15 l/p/d for reducing
water washed diseases and practicing good sanitation and hygiene. See Howard and Bartram (2003).

Impact analysis

sources and the different intervention categories. This still leaves two possibilities. First, it
may be that while households take home only about 10 l/p/d they actually use more, the
difference being water used at the water point, e.g. for washing and cleaning purposes. The
second possibility is that households’ water use is in fact too low. Unfortunately it is not
possible to distinguish these two cases with the survey data. (While the question on water
use is standard in water research it would be advisable to refine the instrument so that the
distinction between use in situ and use at home can be made.) The household questionnaire
asks about the source of drinking water. However, as indicated under evaluation question 11
above, the water is not only used for drinking.22 It is also not possible to say whether
households voluntarily fetch relatively little water or whether their use is rationed, e.g.
because of the high number of users and the capacity of the well.

| 88 |

The quantity of water taken home has therefore not increased but has fallen between 2008
and 2010. The only encouraging sign here is that where (self-reported) quality has improved
this has led to an increase (Table 29). This effect is strong and significant: an improvement
of one step on a 5 point scale of perceived quality increases daily consumption of water by
0.7 litre per person. Other likely factors such as the switch to an improved (or other) source
or the distance to improved water sources are not significant. As mentioned before, this
further underlines the potential importance of providing accurate information on water
quality.
Table 29 Water consumption and perceived water quality
Dependent variable: changes in drinking water consumption (litres per person per day)
Estimate

Clustered
Standard
Errors

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

Change in perceived quality (5 point scale)

0.671

0.235

2.854

0.004

Change in improved / unimproved status of
drinking water source (+1 = favourable, etc.)

0.332

0.784

0.424

0.672

Change in distance to improved source (km)

0.001

0.001

0.939

0.348

Switch to other source = 1

-0.719

0.968

-0.743

0.458

Source: Household survey, repeated households, excluding top and bottom percentile of sample. N = 1227.
Regression controls for location fixed effects (not reported here).
Adjusted R-squared: 0.24

Evaluation Question 17. What has been the effect on time use for collection of water, and for which household
members?
The sample data suggest a massive decrease in water collection time in all categories that cannot be
explained. These data do not seem to be sufficiently reliable to answer this question.

22

The 64 households that report that they only use the water source for drinking consume 8 l/p/d. This
suggests that household fetch enough water for drinking.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

According to Table 30 the time spent fetching water has fallen considerably. For example,
the median time spent fetching water in villages with no intervention fell dramatically, from
90 to 30 minutes per day. These changes are not credible since there is no clear reason why
water collection time should have decreased so strongly.
Table 30 Water collection time
Median number of minutes spent on
fetching water per day

Overall

No Water
Intervention

2008 round

90

Water Intervention
90

80

2010 round

30

30

30

Change

-60

-60

-50

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions

Evaluation Question 18. In what way have time savings been used (for domestic work, field work, income
earning, schooling, etc.)? Who are the primary beneficiaries?
As indicated in the answer to the previous question, the time savings reported by households are not credible.
From the community questionnaire there is some evidence that the new water points have led to more time
for ‘other economic activities’ and that more children go to school.
In the community survey representatives from 18 out of 77 communities indicated that the
new water points have led to ‘other economic activities’ (not further specified), while 11
mentioned that more children go to school. However, below (evaluation question 25) it is
argued that the increase in enrolment is mostly an autonomous trend, unrelated to the
water interventions.
Evaluation Question 19. Is the water from the improved water source used for other purposes, besides
domestic purposes? If so, for which purposes and by whom?
Almost all households use the same source of water for drinking and other purposes. About 30% of the
households use water from improved sources for non-domestic purposes, mostly for small animals and
construction. In this respect there is not much difference between households using or not using safe sources
of drinking water.
The non-domestic uses include irrigation, water for animals and construction. The demand
for water for non-drinking purposes could put considerable strain on available water sources,
including the newly created improved water facilities. This issue cannot be addressed on the
basis of available survey information and should therefore be included in the third and final
round of data collection. See also the discussion of Evaluation Question 11.

| 89 |

Impact analysis

4.4

Sanitation and hygiene - related interventions
of the One Million Initiative

Evaluation Question 14. What has been the effect on the access and use of improved sanitary facilities (for
men, women and children)?
There has been a large increase in the ownership and use of latrines over this period and
most of this can be attributed to the CATS intervention. This positive finding is remarkable
in view of the generally disappointing findings in other countries on the effectiveness of
sanitation and hygiene awareness promotion programmes. However, most of the latrines
still do not satisfy the conditions for improved sanitation.

Latrine ownership
Table 31 Latrine Ownership and CATS intervention
Latrine ownership in
locations without CATS
intervention (%)
| 90 |

Latrine ownership in
locations with CATS
intervention (%)

Latrine ownership in all
locations (%)

2008

45.4

41.2

43.9

2010

50.7

62.2

54.9

Change

5.3

21.0

11.0

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions

Recall from Chapter 3 that the programme included two sanitation awareness and training
activities: PHAST and the CATS programme which was added later.23 PHAST is a relatively
standard form of training using participatory techniques but CATS (pioneered in
Bangladesh) is innovative in using confrontational methods to convince households of the
importance of behavioural changes. As Table 31 shows latrine ownership increased
substantially in the sample between 2008 and 2010, from 44% to 55%. The Table also shows
that the increase was much larger for locations where households received CATS
intervention.
Access to latrines can also be achieved by sharing them between households. This is
relatively uncommon in Mozambique: in 2008 only 10% of households reported that they
were sharing latrines with other families; in 2010 shared latrines were used by 11% of
households. Increased access to latrines is therefore mainly achieved by an increase in the
number of privately owned latrines.

23

It is not possible to evaluate the PHAST programme using the household survey as it was already
running at the time of the baseline survey.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The CATS intervention is specifically aimed at reducing the practice of open defecation. In
Table 32 the survey evidence on open defecation is presented. Again, there was an overall
decline (except for the category of “other children”) but the effect was much more pronounced for households in the communities with CATS intervention. As a result, in 2010
36% of the sample population was still practicing open defecation (50% in case of other
children). In the CATS intervention communities this number was somewhat lower at 31%
(45% for other children).
Table 32 Open Defecation Practice and CATS intervention (changes 2008-2010. % points)
Open defecation in
locations without CATS
intervention (%)

Open defecation in
locations with CATS
intervention (%)

Open defecation in all
locations (%)

Men

-7.5

-20.9

-12.3

Women

-7.7

-21.4

-12.7

school children

-5.4

-27.1

-13.2

other children

+8.2

-3.9

+3.8

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions

It is tempting to interpret these results as causal effects of CATS, but, of course, they might
simply reflect the non-random allocation of the CATS intervention over locations. Indeed,
the results of Table 32 suggest that the CATS intervention was targeted, quite sensibly, at
communities where open defecation was more prevalent prior to the intervention. To
overcome the problem of non-random allocation, in Table 33 the data are used in a double
difference regression to investigate the impact of CATS intervention on latrine ownership.
The analysis confirms that the effect is large: training raises the probability that a household
has access to a private latrine by 13.6 percentage points. As discussed in Section 4.2 the
method of double differencing eliminates most of the effect of observed and unobserved
differences between households. This makes a causal interpretation of the estimate much
more credible.

| 91 |

Hoofdstuktitel

Latrine with handwashing facility

| 92 |

Latrine ownership also increased substantially in locations not reached by the CATS
intervention. This is reflected in the trend term which suggests an autonomous increase of
6.9 percentage points. Similarly, the probability increases as households become less
poor.24 This effect too is quite large and highly significant. Note that households whose
wealth increased between 2008 and 2010 were also more likely to acquire a latrine,
suggesting that the cost of building a latrine plays a role as well.
Table 33 Effect of CATS intervention on latrine ownership
Dependent variable: change in having a latrine at the house or on the compound
Mean dependent variable

0.105
Estimate

Clustered
Standard
errors

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

Trend

0.069

0.020

3.531

0.000

Received CATS intervention in 2008 or 2009

0.136

0.052

2.591

0.010

Increase in household size

0.008

0.005

1.815

0.070

change in wealth

0.105

0.024

4.338

0.000

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions. N = 1310 (households included in both rounds)
Adjusted R-squared: 0.0394

24

Households that lost their latrine saw a significant decline in their wealth, as well. Note that association
is descriptive, not causal. However, it hints at the importance of resources for sustaining the ownership
of latrine.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Latrine use
Not surprisingly, but crucially, owning a latrine results in using it as well as shown in Table
34. The results indicate that almost all adults use the latrine if the household owns one
(93-98%) but children, especially if not enrolled in school, are lagging behind. Regression
results (not reported) show that owning a latrine increases the probability of using it by 75.1
percentage points. Given ownership the additional effect of the CATS intervention is
minimal. The CATS intervention therefore is effective almost entirely through the promotion of latrine ownership: once a household owns a latrine the additional effect of the CATS
intervention is minimal.
Table 34 Latrine use and ownership (% of sample using a latrine)
Household owns
latrine in 2008

Household owns
latrine in 2010

Household does
not own latrine
in 2008

Household does
not own latrine
in 2010

Men

95.6

93.6

6.0

9.6

Women

97.2

98.1

6.2

10.7

School children

65.8

69.2

3.9

6.0

Other children

65.5

45.0

4.2

4.3

Source: Household survey

The result on the CATS effect on approach to latrine ownership and use is remarkable for
two reasons. First, a typical finding in similar evaluations studies (including earlier IOB
evaluations in Tanzania, Yemen, and Egypt) is that hygiene and sanitation training do not
have much effect, if any. The One Million Initiative seems a favourable outlier in this
respect. It would seem likely that the difference is due to the confrontational nature of the
CATS approach which is quite different from the traditional PHAST training programme
promoted by the WHO.25 However, this could be a short-term effect. Whether the increased
ownership and use of latrines is sustainable over a longer period remains to be seen.

Improved sanitary facilities
The above results document the advances in latrine ownership and use in the sample
communities. However, it is equally relevant whether these latrines satisfy the conditions
required to effectively break the disease transmission of the 6 Fs.26 In Mozambique,
traditional improved latrines have been included in the national sanitation strategy to
acknowledge the use of local materials to build latrines that fulfill the effective and safe
separation of feces from human contact. However, this category has been difficult in terms
of compatibility with national surveys (both for self-response and for observations). To
achieve sustainable benefits to sanitation, Mozambique opted in 2010 for the use of safe
sanitation concept. The concept of safe sanitation comprises of a durable slab (can be any local
25
26

For a discussion of the PHAST approach see WHO (2011).
The 6 Fs are faeces, flies, fluids (water), fields, food and fingers.

| 93 |

Impact analysis

material), lid that properly closes the hole, superstructure that provides privacy, and the
presence of a handwashing facility with soap or ash.
In the household survey enumerators inspected the latrines used by households to check
whether they satisfy the conditions of safe sanitation. Table 35 summarises the findings of
the inspection. Communities with CATS intervention have a higher proportion of households with latrines (62 rather than 55%). In addition, the households at these locations are
more likely to have a handwashing facility and a latrine with a lid. However, households in
CATS communities have a lower share of with a “safe-hole”. Moreover, few latrines satisfy all
the conditions of adequate sanitation (2.9 and 3.9%), and even fewer qualify for safe
sanitation.27 In 2010 there were only 18 households using an improved latrine with a cement
slab.
Table 35 Improved latrines and safe sanitation

| 94 |

Number
households

Percentage of
households

Number of
households
in locations
with CATS
intervention

Percentage
of households in
locations
with CATS
intervention

Household owns a latrine

878

54.9

361

62.2

Components of improved
sanitation

Number of
latrines

Number of
latrines in
locations
with CATS
intervention

Percentage
of latrines in
locations
with CATS
intervention

Latrine has a cement slab

16

3

0.8

Percentage
of latrines

1.8

Latrine has a safe hole

456

52.4

160

44.9

Latrine has a roof

284

32.6

119

33.4

Latrine has a lid

248

28.6

117

32.9

Latrine has safe hole + roof

153

17.6

56

15.7

Latrine has safe hole + roof + lid

29

3.3

16

4.5

Components of safe sanitation
Privacy

572

65.7

219

61.5

Handwashing facility at household

325

37.0

154

42.7

Handwashing facility has soap/ash

157

17.9

75

20.8

Handwashing facility close to
latrine

162

18.5

90

24.9

Latrine has safe hole + roof +
handwashing facility with soap/ash

16

1.8

8

2.2

27

There does not appear to be a difference with respect to adequate and safe sanitation among the
households owning a latrine already in 2008 and the ones acquiring a latrine since the baseline survey.
In that respect the CATS intervention does not appear to have an impact.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Components of safe sanitation
Latrine safe hole + roof + proper lid
+ handwashing facility

7

0.8

5

1.4

Latrine safe hole + roof + proper lid
+ handwashing facility with soap/
ash

6

0.7

5

1.4

Source: Household survey (observations of enumerators) and programme data on interventions

Table 36 reports on the sustainability of the latrines with respect to the material of the wall
and the condition of the latrine building in 2010. Only 6% of the latrines have cement or
burnt block walls, but 44% have clay blocks. Most of them are in good or reasonable
condition and only 5% of them are in a bad state. The UNICEF Mozambique commissioned
sustainability check in 2009 indicated that many latrines have been rebuilt after the rainy
season. Unfortunately, using the household survey it is not possible to verify this finding.28
However, data from the household survey indicate that 50% of the households with a latrine
in 2010 changed the location or emptied the latrine at least once in the last 2 years, and 11%
of them did so more than once. These figures are the same for households who had a latrine
already in 2008.
| 95 |

Table 36 Material and condition of the latrine’s walls in 2010 (percentage of latrines)
Material of latrine’s walls

Condition
is good

Cement or burnt blocks

3.8

Condition is
reasonable

Condition is
bad

2.1

0.1

Total
6.0

Clay blocks

26.4

16.3

0.9

43.7

Cane

6.1

16.9

1.6

24.6

Other (grass, sticks, plastic...)

11.7

11.6

2.4

25.7

Total

48.0

46.9

5.1

100.0

Source: Household survey (observations of enumerators)

Open defecation free communities
As part of the CATS intervention, communities could apply to be awarded open defecation
free (ODF) status (recall Section 3.2). In the sample, 7 out of the 80 clusters became ODF
communities.29

28

29

In the final survey, a question on rebuilding latrines after the rainy season could be added to the
household questionnaire to address this issue.
The 7 ODF communities are located in only 3 districts: 3 in Angónia (Tete), 2 in Guro (Manica), 2 in
Mwanza (Sofala).

Impact analysis

The household and community surveys do not suggest clear factors that could predict a
community’s acquired ODF status. Households and community leaders were asked about
the advantages and disadvantages of latrines, but there are no significant differences
between the answers from ODF and non-ODF communities. One might expect that smaller
communities more easily achieve ODF status, but there is no evidence that the CATS
intervention works better in smaller communities in terms of ODF status and ownership of
latrines. However, there is some indication that the share of households owning latrines
was already somewhat higher in ODF communities compared to the district sample average
at the time of the baseline survey, i.e. prior to the interventions of the One Million
Initiative.30 The survey also shows that the conditions for achieving ODF are not always
applied very strictly: even in ODF communities some households report open defecation
practices (7%), and interviewers observe latrines without lids (43%), and absence of
handwashing facilities (58%).31
Evaluation Question 15. What has been the change in relevant hygiene awareness and practices (i.e.
cleanliness of latrine; handwashing with soap or substitute at critical times; safe water storage; use of rack
for cooking utensils; safe handling of baby excreta)?
Cleanliness of latrines has improved, especially in locations that received the CATS awareness intervention.
Latrines are generally clean: in 2010 more than 94% were clean irrespective of whether or not there had
been a programme intervention. Handwashing using soap or ash has become more common and there
has been a general increase in the use of lids on containers for fetching and storing water. This increase is
unrelated to programme interventions. About half of the households use racks for drying cooking utensils,
especially in locations with water interventions. Around 85% of households dispose safely of baby excreta.
This number has not changed between survey rounds. It is important to note that only very few households
satisfy all conditions for reducing water borne diseases.

| 96 |

Cleanliness of the latrine
Enumerators were asked to assess the cleanliness of the latrines. In the questionnaire,
“clean” is defined in terms of the presence of faeces or urine. Table 37 reports the findings
for households owning a latrine in 2008. The results for 2010 are quite similar if also the
new latrine owners are included. The Table suggests a general increase in cleanliness, which
could of course reflect different standards applied by interviewers as much as a positive
trend. Across the different intervention groups it appears that cleanliness has improved
especially in locations with only the CATS intervention with a decline of 18.6 percentage
points (from 20.8 to 2.2%) in the ‘dirty’ category. This underlines once again the effectiveness of the CATS awareness programme.

30

31

The share of latrines (in the sample) in districts with sampled ODF communities varies widely between
districts: Angónia 75%, Guro 29% and Mwanza 12%.
These percentages refer to communities that achieved ODF status in 2008 and 2009.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Table 37 Cleanliness of latrines
Percentage of households with a latrine on their compound
Condition of latrine inside
2008

Interventions
Overall

None

Water only

CATS only

Water and CATS

Very clean (%)

23.6

25.5

26.3

22.1

18.3

Clean (%)

66.8

66.6

65.3

54.4

73.4

Dirty (%)

8.6

6.7

8.5

22.1

7.1

Very dirty (%)

1.0

1.2

0.0

1.5

1.2

Number of latrines

702

345

118

69

170

Very clean (%)

35.4

31.0

37.4

39.3

41.2

Clean (%)

59.5

63.3

57.9

55.7

54.9

Dirty (%)

3.3

3.1

2.8

3.3

3.9

Very dirty (%)

1.8

2.7

1.9

1.6

0.0

Number of latrines

878

380

137

92

269

Very clean

11.9

5.4

11.1

17.3

22.8

Clean

-7.3

-3.3

-7.3

1.3

-18.5

Dirty

-5.4

-3.7

-5.7

-18.8

-3.2

Very dirty

0.8

1.5

1.9

0.2

-1.2

Overall change in
cleanliness

4.6

2.1

3.8

18.6

4.4

2010

Change

Source: Household survey, including only households who owned a latrine in 2008

Handwashing at critical times
Table 38 summarises handwashing practices in 2010. The percentage of persons not
washing their hands at critical times has not changed much between the two survey rounds.
The very high values in the Table suggest over-reporting of handwashing, but the point here
is that there is no difference between the two survey years.32 There has been an increase in
the use of soap or ash instead of water only for handwashing as shown in Table 39. These
changes have been most prominent in locations with CATS interventions.33 For instance,
7.3% more women use soap and ash with water to wash their hands before eating, but this
is 12.5% for the women in locations that received CATS intervention. The change in using
soap or ash is most prominent in the case of handwashing after defecation, more than 40%
of the adults and 32% of the school children reported doing so in 2010.
32

33

That handwashing is over-reported is also suggested by the fact that only 26% of the households had a
handwashing facility at the household in 2010, according to the observations of the enumerators. See
also Table 35.
At the baseline, the percentage of households washing hands using soap or ash in the communities
with CATS intervention was similar to the other communities.

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Impact analysis

Table 38 Handwashing practice in 2010 (percentage of persons responding)
Men

Women

School children

Other children

Before eating

100

100

100

98

After defecation

97

95

84

73

After disposing babies’ faeces

-

90

72

56

Source: Household survey, 2010 round
Table 39 Handwashing with soap or ash (percentage of persons responding)
2008

Men

Women

School children

Other children

Before eating

12.7

11.9

9.4

8.3

After defecation

20.1

18.8

14.1

11.2

--

18.6

11.7

6.7

Before eating

20.9

19.2

15.9

14.2

After defecation

43.6

40.3

32.2

23.2

--

34.1

24.3

16.9

Before eating

8.2

7.3

6.5

5.9

After defecation

23.5

21.5

18.1

12.0

--

15.5

12.6

10.2

Before eating

14.5

12.5

12.6

11.0

After defecation

29.3

25.6

24.3

16.7

--

19.7

18.1

18.6

After disposing of babies’ faeces
2010

After disposing of babies’ faeces
| 98 |

Change

After disposing of babies’ faeces
Change in CATS communities

After disposing of babies’ faeces
Source: Household survey

Asked about reasons not to wash hands, most respondents mentioned lack of information
(61%) and lack of habit (67%). These percentages do not differ much between the intervention groups.

Handwashing facility near latrine

| 99 |

Water handling
Households were asked whether they usually treat drinking water before drinking in
general, and, in particular during the cholera season. The vast majority of households do
not treat water, 86% in both survey years. The data suggest however that CATS intervention
prompts more households to treat water: in 2010 20% of households in locations that only
received CATS intervention treated their water, against only 2% in 2008.34
Table 40 reports on the use of lids on containers, both for fetching and storing water.
The Table shows that for both purposes lids have become more common regardless of
interventions.

34

Households who do report treating water before drinking mostly use bleach/chlorine (77% in 2010) or
boil water (21%). The ‘treatment’ “Allow to rest and settle” was fairly common in 2008 (practiced by
18% of households treating water), but was only used by 7.5% of such households in 2010.

Impact analysis

Table 40 Water handling (percentage of household reporting)
Containers for fetching
water always have a lid

Interventions

Overall

No intervention Water only

CATS only

Water and CATS

2008

66.4

63.3

64.1

60.3

74.9

2010

77.5

74.3

79.7

71.0

83.1

Change

11.0

11.0

15.7

10.7

8.2

Containers for water
storage have a lid
2008

83.5

80.3

81.4

79.1

91.5

2010

91.8

87.5

94.7

90.0

97.3

Change

8.2

7.2

13.3

10.9

5.8

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions

Using racks for utensils

| 100 |

During the household survey enumerators noted which households use racks for drying
cooking utensils. The use of racks for drying cooking utensils among survey households
increased from 35.1% of households in 2008 to 40.5% in 2010. Racks are most common and
the increased use is most prominent in locations with water interventions, in particular
when in combination with CATS intervention: in 2010 54.4% of households in locations
with water and CATS interventions owned a rack for cooking utensils.

Handling baby excreta
Households were asked how excreta from children under 3 years of age were handled the
last time. The results are summarised below in Table 41. Generally it is considered safe to
dispose of baby excreta in a latrine or to bury them. The percentages of safe disposal are
generally high and have not changed much between the two survey rounds, nor do there
seem to be major differences between intervention groups.
Table 41 Handling of baby excreta (percentage of households reporting)
Overall

Interventions
No Intervention

Water only

CATS only

Water and CATS

Safe disposal 2008

85.4

84.3

83.8

73.6

91.2

Safe disposal 2010

84.9

83.1

84.3

73.2

91.3

Change 2008 – 2010

-0.5

-1.2

0.5

-0.4

0.1

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions

Rack for utensils

Conditions for reducing water related diseases
| 101 |

Table 42 summarises the percentage of households that meet certain conditions to reduce water
related diseases. These include sufficient water use for hygiene (domestic water use of at least 20
l/p/d), good practice sanitation and hygiene (ownership of latrines, household members
abandoning open defecation and households with babies safely disposing of their faeces), and
the presence of a handwashing facility with water and soap or ash. The Table shows that only a
tiny minority of households satisfy all the conditions to reduce water related diseases.
Table 42 Households satisfying the conditions to reduce water related diseases in 2010
Number of
households

Percentage

Water use of 20 l/p/d or more

219

13.7

Own a latrine

722

54.9

Nobody is practicing open defecation (ODF)

765

47.8

Safe disposal of baby’s feces

594

81.7

Handwashing facility

414

25.9

Water present at household

355

85.5

Soap/ash present at household

188

45.3

Sufficient water use + ODF

103

6.4

ODF + handwashing facility

282

17.6

ODF + handwashing facility + water + soap

114

7.1

Water + ODF + handwashing + water +soap

16

1.0

Source: Household survey

Impact analysis

4.5

Health impact of the One Million Initiative

Evaluation Question 16. What has been the effect of the interventions on the health of the target population
(in terms of DALYs reduction35)?
There has been a general decline in the prevalence of water related diseases in the sample, from 30% to
14% by the measure used in this section, based on a six month recall indicator. The analysis demonstrates
that a significant part (18%) of this decline is due to the sanitation interventions. These are responsible for
a 3 percentage point decline in the sample. This estimate is statistically significant and constitutes clear
evidence of the effectiveness of the programme. The analysis finds no significant health effect of the water
interventions at the household level. However, the data suggest a significant and favourable health effect
of the water interventions for children under five years of age.
The indicator used is likely to severely underestimate the prevalence water related diseases. The data
therefore do not allow a credible translation of the decline in disease burden in terms of DALYs.

| 102 |

This is perhaps the most important evaluation question since the main objective of the
interventions was to improve health and in particular the prevalence of diarrhoea among
children under 5 years of age. The survey collected information on the prevalence of water
related diseases for each of the household members in the sample. This is a recall question
asking for the prevalence of water related diseases in the household during the six months
preceding the interview. This question is an adapted MICS indicator36 and has been asked in
both survey rounds. Unfortunately, it is very imprecise; leaving the interpretation of what
exactly is a water related disease to the respondent. For this reason the original MICS
question was added to the 2010 survey round, asking for the prevalence of ‘diarrhoea’
among under five year old children in the household during the last two weeks.
The information on the first question (on water related diseases) is summarised in Table 43.
To reduce recall error the MICS indicator has been further modified.37 Household members
were counted as 1 if they reported any member to have been affected by water related
diseases during the last 6 months, and counted as 0 otherwise. The Table shows that there
was a very large decrease in disease prevalence thus measured between the two survey years,
from 30.5% to 14.2%. However, the decrease is smaller for locations where no interventions
took place. In locations with a water or CATS intervention the decrease was much larger.
The numbers in the Table raise questions about what exactly is being measured by the MICS
indicator. For instance, according to the final report on the 2003 DHS survey (GOM, 2005)
prevalence of diarrhoea (2 week recall) among children under 6 years of age was 14%. As
mentioned in footnote 37, estimating prevalence of water related diseases without
modification on the basis of survey data leads to a much lower percentage, suggesting that
35
36

37

Disease burden is often measured in terms of ‘DALYs’, or Disability-Adjusted Life Years.
MICS stands for Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. These surveys have been developed by UNICEF to
produce internationally comparable indicators on a range of indicators in the areas of education and
health.
If prevalence is calculated using the original survey question, by dividing the total number of patient
days reported over six months by the total number of person days the prevalence rate is 0.003 in 2008.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

many (child) diarrhoea episodes may have been missed by the question. It is therefore
important that this issue is addressed in the third round of the survey. The numbers in Table
43 are therefore only approximations of actual disease prevalence.
Unfortunately, responses to the second question (on two-week recall prevalence of
diarrhoea among under-five year olds) are not informative either. They suggest a prevalence
of 3.8% in the sample, which is again far below the 14% mentioned above for the year 2003.
Moreover the numbers of diarrhoea cases reported for other household members are so low
that they are not suitable for further statistical analysis. They will therefore be ignored in
this report.
Table 43	Prevalence (6 months recall) of water related diseases (percentage of households
with any case of illness in last six months)
Mean water related
disease prevalence
(%)
2008

Interventions
Overall

No intervention

Water only

CATS only

Water and CATS

30.5

28.8

27.1

44.6

31.1

2010

14.2

17.7

9.4

15.0

11.4

Change

-16.3

-11.1

-17.7

-29.6

-19.7

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions

Whether the changes in Table 43 can be attributed to the interventions is investigated in the
regression analysis reported in Table 44. The main result in the Table is a major impact of
CATS sanitation training interventions on the prevalence of water related diseases:
households living in locations where such training was given interventions took place are
8.1 percentage points less likely to report water related diseases, controlling for household
size and time-invariant location effects.38 This effect is sizeable: given that 36.5% of
households live in locations that have received the CATS intervention, the effect can be
estimated as 0.365 x 0.081, or about 3 percentage points. This amounts to 18% of the decline
of prevalence in the sample. Note that this is a fairly robust result since the technique of
double differencing neutralises the effects of all confounding variables that do not change
(much) over time.39 The regression in Table 44 also indicates that the water interventions
have no significant effect on disease prevalence.40 This is in line with the literature which
stresses the importance of sanitation and point-of-use water treatment compared to

38
39

40

The significance level of 0.053 is slightly above the level of 0.05 usual in impact studies.
In fact, a ‘level’ regression relating disease prevalence in 2010 to the interventions would lead to the
opposite result, namely that the water intervention is effective and sanitation training is not. This
reflects the ‘selective’ placement of the sanitation training: these were targeted on relatively poor
locations which had a relatively high water related disease prevalence in 2008.
To corroborate the findings on the impact of CATS intervention and water interventions the data have
been analysed in several other ways: conditional logit analysis, regression at the cluster rather than the
household level, cluster fixed effects instead of household fixed effects. All methods give the CATS
interventions have a favourable health impact matter and the water interventions do not. Also, the size
of the effect changes very little between different methods.

| 103 |

Impact analysis

ensuring that water quality is high at the source. See also the discussion on contamination
of water between source and point of use on page 57 above.41
Note that the regression is a ‘black box’ regression in the sense that it establishes that there
is an effect, but not through which channels. However, recall from the discussion of Table
33 and Table 34 that CATS intervention has a favourable impact on the ownership and use of
latrines. Quite plausibly this is the channel linking the intervention to the health impact.
Table 44 Health effect of interventions
Dependent variable: change in prevalence of water related diseases (6 months). No disease
2008, disease 2010 = 1, disease 2008, no disease 2010 = -1, otherwise 0.
Mean dependent variable:

-0.163
Estimate

| 104 |

Clustered t-value
Standard
Errors

Pr(>|t|)

(Trend)

-0.116

0.029

-3.95

0.000

Household location had water intervention

-0.007

0.039

-0.19

0.853

Household location received CATS intervention

-0.081

0.042

-1.93

0.053

Change in household size

0.033

0.007

4.68

0.000

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions. N = 1280 (households interviewed in both rounds).
Adjusted R-squared: 0.023

The regression in Table 44 is at the household level, therefore it is not able to assess
whether the interventions have a different impact on the young children and the rest of the
family. Results of a regression using health information of all household members in both
rounds42 show that, indeed, the interventions have a different impact on the children under
5 years of age and the older household members: children under 5 are 5.9 percentage points
less likely to have a water related disease in the communities with a water point intervention. For the older household members the water interventions do not show a significant
impact. Regarding the CATS intervention, the impact is stronger for the older household
members (4.2 vs. 2.9 percentage point reduction). The regression results also confirm that
children under 5 are the most vulnerable to water related diseases, they are 6.5 percentage
point more likely to contract a water related disease.

41

42

It may objected that the regression (regrettably) uses a transformation of an imprecise measure of
disease prevalence. The imprecision does not lead to biased estimates, although it makes them less
precise. Technically the reason is that it constitutes measurement error ‘on the left hand side’. While
there is no bias it should be noted that regression coefficients measure the change in the transformed
prevalence. However, since this is systematically related to the measured prevalence, it is legitimate to
draw conclusions on health impact.
The pooled regression controls for household, cluster and year fixed effects to circumvent selectivity
bias. Additional regressors are age of the household member and household size and wealth.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The regression can be interpreted as a clear sign of programme impact on health. The
question about the health impact in terms of what this implies for the disease burden
(measured in DALYs cannot be answered) is impossible to say in view of the problems noted
above with the indicator used.

4.6

The One Million Initiative and Education43

Evaluation Question 20. What has been the effect on the number and percentage of schools with a
functioning improved water source in the school yard or within 200 meters from the school yard?
The survey found that 38 of the 80 schools (48%) had a functioning improved water source within 200
meters from the school yard. Most of the new water points were installed in 2008 prior to the baseline.
This makes it difficult to assess the effect of the interventions.
Table 45 reports the number of improved water points at the surveyed schools. In 2010 59
out of 80 (74%) of the schools had an improved water point; in 38 schools these water
points were functioning and within 200 meters from the school yard. The increase in
improved water points at schools is almost exclusively attributable to the programme. It is
more difficult to assess the effect of the interventions in 2008 because most of them were
already completed before the baseline survey. From the 20 schools with water point
intervention in 2008 15 schools have an improved water point within 200 meters.
Table 45 Water point interventions at schools
Drinking water source in 2008

Overall

No intervention

Water point
intervention
in 2008

Water point
intervention
in 2009

Improved

41

26

13

2

Improved & functioning

36

21

13

2

Improved & within 200 m

23

15

8

0

Improved, functioning & within 200 m

21

13

8

0

Improved

59

29

18

12

Improved & functioning

51

22

18

11

Improved & within 200 m

45

20

15

10

Improved, functioning & within 200 m

38

13

15

10

18

3

5

10

Drinking water source in 2010

Change in drinking water source
Improved

43

Most of the analysis in this section uses data from the school survey and the water point and CATS
interventions that were implemented in the framework of the CFS initiative (see Chapter 3, section 3.2).
The results are therefore representative of the Child Friendly schools and no conclusions can be drawn
for schools in general.

| 105 |

Impact analysis

Change in drinking water source
Improved & functioning

15

1

5

9

Improved & within 200 m

22

5

7

10

Improved, functioning & within 200 m

17

0

7

10

Total schools

80

48

20

12

Source: School survey and programme data on interventions

Evaluation Question 21. What has been the effect on the change in the number and percentage of schools with
latrines (separated for girls, boys and school personnel)?
The number of schools with latrines increased from 65 to 74. In 2010 71 out of 80 schools had separate
latrines for boys and girls. There are no longer any schools where latrines are used by everybody (staff and
students) or used by both boy and girl students.

| 106 |

A well-known issue in Mozambique is the lack of sanitary facilities in schools. The school
survey evidence documents this: in 2008 there were only 2.8 latrines per school serving an
average of almost 500 children. This number increased to 3.6 by 2010. As Table 46 shows,
both the total number of latrines and the number of gender specific latrines went up
considerably between 2008 and 2010.
Table 46 Number of schools with latrines and use by specific groups
Number of schools where latrines are used by…

2008

2010

Everybody

10

0

Male teachers and students only

5

0

Female teachers and students only

2

0

Male and female students only

7

0

Boys only (students)

47

71

Girls only (students)

46

70

Male and female teachers only

16

51

Male teachers only

27

21

Female teachers only

14

11

Total number of latrines

225

287

Source: School survey

Evaluation Question 22. Do these schools have an operation and maintenance system in place?
The number of schools with an operation and maintenance system in place increased from 32 (40% of the
sample schools) to 56 (70%).
Cleaning of the latrines is typically done by the schools’ students.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Evaluation Question 23. What has been the effect on the use of latrines for girls, boys, school personnel?
Students increasingly use latrines, reflecting the improved availability of facilities.
At each of the survey schools ten students were randomly selected and asked about their use
of latrines. The results are shown in Table 47. They clearly reflect the increased number of
latrines available at the schools: in the vast majority of schools (66 out of 70) all boys and
girls used latrines by 2010. No data are available on latrine usage by school personnel.
Table 47 Latrine use by students
2008

2010

Number of schools
Boys
Nobody uses latrines

16

3

Everybody use latrines

51

66

Latrines are being used but not by everybody

3

1

Total responses

70

70

Nobody uses latrines

16

3

Everybody uses latrines

48

66

Latrines are being used but not by everybody

6

1

Total responses

70

70

Girls

| 107 |

Source: School survey, only including schools with data for both survey rounds

Evaluation Question 24. What has been the effect on handwashing practices for girls, boys, school personnel
(before meals and after going to the toilet)?
The practice of handwashing after defecation has become much more common: in 2010 there were only 12
schools (out of 68) in which none of the girls and boys wash their hands. In 2008 the number was much
higher: 57 for boys and 58 for girls. No data are available on handwashing by school personnel. Also no
information is available on handwashing before meals.
In the 2010 round of the school survey enumerators were asked to check the presence of
handwashing facilities. Fifty out of 80 schools have such facilities. Students were asked
about their handwashing practices after defecation. Table 48 shows that handwashing was
remarkably more common in 2010 than in 2008, presumably reflecting increased hygiene
awareness promoted in the Child Friendly School programme, although this cannot be
verified from the school survey data. As with latrine usage, no data are available on
handwashing practice by school personnel.

Impact analysis

Table 48 Handwashing practice of students
2008

2010

Number of schools
Boys
Nobody washes hands

57

12

Everybody washes their hands

6

42

Most boys wash their hands

3

12

Almost nobody washes hands

2

2

Total responses

68

68

Nobody washes hands

58

12

Everybody washes their hands

8

44

Most girls was their hands

1

11

Almost nobody washes hands

1

1

Total responses

68

68

Girls

Source: School survey, only including schools with data for both survey rounds
| 108 |

Evaluation Question 25. What has been the effect of programme interventions on school enrolment and
outcomes (for girls and boys)?
Enrolment in the sample schools hardly changed between 2008 and 2010 and is not related to interventions at the school. Also, there is no notable effect on passing rates. At the household level there is a modest
increase in enrolment, which also is not related to the interventions.
The One Million Initiative can affect school enrolment and educational outcomes both
through its school component interventions at the CFS districts (new water points, latrines
and CATS intervention) and through the community interventions (new or rehabilitated
water points and CATS intervention). Using data from the school survey, we first analyse the
impact of the school level interventions. Unfortunately, there is no information in the
surveys on the community level interventions around the schools. In the analysis it is
therefore assumed that the school and community level interventions are independent.
Data from the household survey were used to analyse the impact of the community
interventions on school enrolment.
The enrolment data for the 80 survey schools are summarised in Table 49. These schools
showed a slight decline of 10.3 pupils per school in enrolment between the two years. Girls’
enrolment seems to catch up with that of boys. There does not seem to be a relationship
with water or latrine interventions. Regression of the school enrolment on interventions
(not reported) confirms this conclusion.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Table 49	Enrolment and interventions in survey schools (average number of pupils per school)
Enrolment at school
2008
Boys

Interventions
Overall

None

281.6

341.3

Water only

Latrine only

216.9

253.6

Both
244.5

Girls

226.3

269.0

153.1

228.7

199.6

Total

508.0

610.3

370.0

482.4

444.1

2010
Boys

269.8

318.8

216.6

231.9

247.3

Girls

227.8

259.0

175.8

206.0

220.0

Total

497.7

577.8

392.3

437.9

467.3

-11.8

-22.5

-0.3

-21.7

2.8

Change
Boys
Girls

1.5

-10.0

22.7

-22.7

20.4

Total

-10.3

-32.5

22.3

-44.5

23.2

69

28

9

11

21

Total number of schools

Source: School survey and programme data on interventions, omitting 5 schools without enrolment information in
2010

Apart from enrolment one might expect a positive effect of water interventions on
attendance, and hence on passing rates. However, a notable effect is not present in the data.
This does not come as a surprise, given the complexity of the educational process.
The previous discussion has looked at enrolment and other schooling outcomes from the
perspective of the 80 survey schools. These schools are located in different districts than the
households in the household survey. The household survey also includes enrolment
information on children in the household. According to the household survey enrolment
increased between 2008 and 2010, especially for girls (Table 50): a total increase of 9.1%
against 4.5% for boys. In 2010 enrolment of girls has almost caught up with enrolment of
boys. However, this increase does not appear to be systematically related to water and
sanitation interventions.

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Impact analysis

Table 50 Percentage of school age children enrolled in school
Age
Girls

2008
72.5

50.3

-22.3

7

77.1

72.5

-4.6

8

45.8

84.4

38.6

9

62.8

71.9

9.0

10

54.5

85.1

30.5

11

88.5

89.0

0.5

12

59.0

86.8

27.8

13

61.6

73.4

11.8

14

57.2

77.0

19.7

15

53.1

68.6

15.5

16

| 110 |

Total
Source: Household survey

Change

6

Total
Boys

2010

6

57.0

52.8

-4.2

65.0

74.0

9.1

92.3

50.6

-41.7

7

65.1

69.3

4.2

8

71.1

75.4

4.3

9

74.4

77.3

2.9

10

62.0

88.6

26.6

11

60.2

86.6

26.4

12

64.8

89.0

24.2

13

54.0

82.9

28.9

14

59.3

80.5

21.2

15

76.8

73.9

-2.9

16

62.6

68.9

6.3

72.1

76.6

4.5

The regression in Table 51 confirms that for girls the changes in enrolment are mostly driven
by other factors. The regression relates the change in the percentage of school age girls in
each location to water and CATS interventions, controlling for changes in age. None of the
interventions are significant in the regression. The same regression for boys gives similar
results and is not reported here.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Table 51 Girls’ enrolment and programme interventions
Dependent variable: change in the share of school age girls enrolled in school: location average
Mean dependent variable

0.071
Estimate

Standard Error

t-value

Pr(>|t|)

trend

0.069

0.036

1.903

0.061

Water intervention

-0.016

0.057

-0.284

0.777

CATS intervention

-0.014

0.059

-0.236

0.814

Change in average age

-0.086

0.036

-2.381

0.020

Source: Household survey and programme data on interventions. Number of observations (locations) = 80.
Adjusted R-squared 0.035

This suggests that the water interventions at the community level do not increase enrolment. This is somewhat surprising since the interventions reduce the burden of fetching
water – typically a task for women and girls. Recall however, that there is a strong effect of
water facilities at the schools.

4.7

Summary

Between 2008 and 2010 the number of households using improved water points increased
massively, but the number of points is still far below the target of 1 per 500 people. This
improved access is visible in official statistics, programme documentation and survey
outcomes. Rough estimates of the water user population indicate that the average number
of persons per water point has fallen, especially in the targeted poorer section of the
population, where it declined from around 3,750 in 2008 to 1,250 in 2010.
The water and sanitation interventions (notably the CATS intervention) have induced a large
number of households to switch to improved water sources. This has led to a substantial
increase in water quality at the source and also at the point of use. Unfortunately, 18% of the
improved water sources are contaminated. Moreover, water that was uncontaminated at the
source is often contaminated at the point of use.
About one third of households in communities with a water point intervention did not
switch to an improved source. Use of improved water sources is mainly determined by
distance to the improved source. There is a strong case for disseminating reliable information on water quality at the source: households base their decision to switch to an improved
source on their assessment of its quality and that judgment is quite inaccurate. Where
households perceive water quality to have improved they have also started using more
water. In general, however, the quantity of water used has fallen in the 2008-2010 period, a
worrying finding.

| 111 |

Impact analysis

The vast majority of households use the same water source for all domestic purposes. The
quantity of water consumed from improved water sources is low and even fell between 2008
and 2010.
The CATS intervention is very effective in reducing the practice of open defecation and in
inducing people to build and use latrines. This is remarkable in view of the disappointing
results of other hygiene awareness interventions, in Mozambique and elsewhere. However
most of the latrines do not satisfy the criteria for adequate and safe sanitation.
Cleanliness of latrines has improved and handwashing with soap or ash has increased. Also
the practice of water treatment has become more common. These changes are most
prominent in locations with CATS interventions. No evidence of impact on other hygiene
practices was found and only very few households satisfy all conditions for reducing water
borne diseases.
To assess the health impact of the One Million Initiative this chapter has used an indicator
based on an established MICS indicator for water related diseases. There can be some severe
doubts about the relevance of this indicator since it appears to miss most of diarrhoea
cases.
| 112 |

While there are problems in the way health outcomes have been recorded, there is strong
evidence of a substantial reduction in the prevalence of water related diseases as a result of
the CATS interventions. This is the most important finding of the evaluation. It is also clear
through what channel this result was achieved: the CATS intervention has induced people to
build and use latrines; this explains the observed health impact. The intervention explains
about one sixth of the observed decline in prevalence.
Enrolment in schools increased modestly, particularly for girls, but this is not related to the
interventions under the One Million Initiative, neither at the schools or at the community
level. The number and use of latrines in schools increased, in particular of single sex
latrines. The practice of handwashing after defecation has become much more common in
schools.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

| 113 |

5
Sustainability assessment

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

5.1

Introduction

The value of any development intervention must ultimately be assessed in terms of the
sustainability of its impact. The overarching question for this evaluation is therefore
whether the benefits being achieved by the One Million Initiative are sustainable. Definitive
conclusions about sustainability can only be reached in the long term, on the basis of
empirical observations about whether the intended beneficial impacts continue to be
enjoyed. The One Million Initiative is only a little over half way through its implementation
period. It may therefore seem premature to be assessing its sustainability. But experience
suggests that a number of factors commonly influence the sustainability of rural water and
sanitation interventions, and that it is useful to start identifying their presence or absence at
an early stage, when the programme itself can sometimes still influence them. This chapter
of the mid-term study therefore offers preliminary observations on trends towards
sustainability, with particular reference to the evaluation questions 26 – 30 that were posed
by the terms of reference (Annex 1). These observations are directed towards the study’s
broad purpose of learning and sharing lessons with regard to the impact and sustainability
of interventions like the One Million Initiative – and not as part of a performance evaluation of the project, for which the Netherlands and Mozambique governments have other
arrangements. As is usually the case, the project has clearly defined goals with regard to
physical outputs, but sustainability targets are less thoroughly specified and will be a matter
for on-going consultation between the two governments and UNICEF. This study hopes to
contribute to the evolving discussion about what sustainability means and how it can be
promoted in the rural water and sanitation sector.
The TOR summarise the types of factors that affect sustainability.
First, environmental factors play various fundamental roles in determining sustainability (for example
influencing availability of groundwater). Secondly, a set of technical factors affect sustainability, such as
durability of water supply infrastructure. The third set of factors are behavioural factors explaining uptake
of water, sanitation and hygiene messages, such as the degree to which people perceive the messages to be
true, observe benefits and perceive higher costs or labour to be a good trade-off for the benefits. The fourth
set of factors are economic: what resources is society able and willing to invest in the installation,
operation and maintenance of water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion arrangements and how
are costs and benefits of these investments distributed across society and over time? Finally and linked in
various ways to the other sets of factors, the structure, quality and performance of institutions are major
determinants of the sustainability of rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion programmes.
These institutional factors, linked as they are to the fundamental quality of society’s governance and
politics, are often the most influential and complex determinants of water, sanitation and hygiene
standards. The assessment therefore gives them special attention.
The next two sections of this chapter pay special attention to the institutional factors just
mentioned. Section 5.2 answers Evaluation Question 26 about whether an appropriate
national policy framework and institutions are in place. Section 5.3 addresses Evaluation
Questions 27 and 28: whether government, NGOs and the private sector have the capacity to
sustain the required services (27); and whether sustainable management by beneficiary
communities and schools is assured (28). These issues are linked in Section 5.4 to the key

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economic question of affordability. Section 5.4 answers Evaluation Question 29, as to what
other issues affect the sustainability of the benefits. It reviews some of the environmental,
technical and behavioural factors that affect sustainability and are mentioned in the TOR.
Institutional issues are also prominent in the quality of the monitoring that must underpin
the operation of rural water and sanitation. These issues are addressed in Section 5.5, which
answers Evaluation Question 30: whether the government monitoring system for community-based safe water and sanitation results and sustainability is focused and whether
information is used to keep track of community-based services and address bottlenecks in a
structural way.

5.2

Policy and institutional arrangements

Evaluation question 26. Are an appropriate national policy framework and institutions in place?

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The answer is largely positive. Two decades of wide-ranging reform have established a broadly appropriate national policy framework and institutions for rural water and sanitation in Mozambique. This
framework has been conducive to good progress by the One Million Initiative, although programme
experience also reveals weaknesses and ambiguities in current policy and institutional arrangements.
Some of the detailed approaches and institutional experience of this programme are expected to feed back
into national practice through PRONASAR.
The One Million Initiative has worked within the national Mozambican policy framework,
without attempting major changes to it. Key strengths of the approach in Mozambique and
the One Million Initiative include the emphasis on user responsibility for the management
of rural water supplies, and the decentralised arrangements for a strong local government
role in the implementation of water and sanitation services and their longer-term support.
However, a number of weaknesses and ambiguities qualify the contribution that policy and
institutions can currently make to sustainability. These are questions of national policy as it
is applied at local level.
One obvious issue is that so much of the institutional framework is still so new.
Arrangements to give a stronger role to district administrations, with provincial
Departments of Public Works and Housing in a technical support and oversight role, are
new. Many of the procedures are still being developed; there is little experience with the
new dispensation. Many of the district planning and infrastructure offices (SDPIs) are still at
an early stage of their development and potential contribution to the sub sector. The One
Million Initiative has been making major contributions in this regard, funding many of the
district technicians posted to SDPIs in the three programme provinces. Government is
responding by gradually taking programme-funded personnel onto its own establishment
and payroll, as administrative procedures and budgets permit.
The principal ambiguity in current arrangements concerns the economics of user responsibility. Experience under the One Million Initiative, elsewhere in Mozambique and beyond
confirms that the operation and sustainability of rural water supply are enhanced if the

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

infrastructure is treated as a community asset, with users required to contribute to its
installation and meet the costs of its upkeep. But there is also widespread consensus – confirmed by observations and discussions in the programme area – that rural communities
will not be able to meet the full maintenance and depreciation costs of this infrastructure in
the short to medium term. With appropriate institutional arrangements – successfully
promoted by the One Million programme – they should be able to meet minor routine
maintenance costs (although with mostly new infrastructure there has been relatively little
need for this so far). Major repairs and the ultimate replacement of worn out pumps are not
affordable at current or foreseeable levels of community contribution and user fees. The
2010 survey shows that a majority of users interviewed consider the water charges that they
pay to be reasonable or cheap. Nevertheless, raising these charges to cover the full longterm costs of the service would certainly exceed users’ ability to pay – and elicit a very
different response.
This problem is widely recognised at central and local government levels in Mozambique.
Many in SDPIs in the three programme provinces, for example, assert that local government
will do all its resources permit to assist communities with the cost of major repairs or pump
replacement. But full clarity, and a guarantee to users of government support for sustainability with regard to this basic human need, are lacking in current policy. An element of
subsidy will be required for the foreseeable future.
A second major ambiguity concerns institutional maintenance and the role of NGOs. The
sustainability of rural water and sanitation depends at least as much on institutional
maintenance as it does on technical maintenance. Community-level institutions require
long-term advisory support and facilitation if they are to remain effective in their essential
roles – or survive at all. Under the One Million Initiative, the PEC Zonal approach to
community social mobilisation and local institutional support is proving effective. But this
approach is delivered by NGOs that are paid by the programme. There is no clarity about
how such support will be provided after 2013. What is clear is that the support will be
needed for many years longer. Again, SDPIs aim to give all the help they can, possibly in
collaboration with the health and education units of district governments. This is unlikely
to be adequate. Another option is that long-term institutional maintenance services are
established as a standard function to be funded through PRONASAR in the One Million
Initiative provinces after 2013, and everywhere else in Mozambique where the appropriate
user institutions have been established. This would imply clear and effective arrangements
to ensure that PRONASAR funds reach district level, and that PRONASAR operates as a
programme for recurrent support as well as capital development.
The private sector plays a much less prominent role in Mozambique’s rural water supply and
sanitation sub sector than it does in the country’s urban services. Nevertheless, that role is
vital. Policy assumes that the private sector will respond to demand for its technical services
as programmes like the One Million Initiative stimulate that demand – most specifically
through borehole drilling contracts, the manufacture and sale of latrine slabs, the sale of
spare parts and on-going maintenance of hand pumps and boreholes. However, much of
the demand is scattered and intermittent. Drilling companies have responded to the

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demand for new wells, with mostly (but not wholly) satisfactory results in the case of the
One Million Initiative. Demand for latrine slabs has so far proved too weak to be attractive
to entrepreneurs on a more than occasional basis. Similarly, parts sales and borehole and
pump repair services are only a viable business proposition in areas where substantial
amounts of such infrastructure are installed; where the infrastructure is no longer new and
more frequently needs repair; and where user groups and/or local government have the
funds and institutional ability to employ technical service providers. In the One Million
Initiative districts, most of the infrastructure does not yet need much repair; demand is low;
and there is little private sector development. In the longer term, and in areas where there
is currently a stronger need for repair services, market forces are unlikely to be sufficient to
ensure that technical supply meets maintenance demand. A facilitation input will be
needed to ensure that community clients know where technical services can be sourced,
and maintenance entrepreneurs know how to link to their scattered and sometimes poorly
organised market. Again, current policy and institutional arrangements are insufficiently
clear on these points. One option would be to clarify technical and institutional maintenance policy and procedures in an integrated manner, specifying the roles of user groups,
local government and non-governmental service providers (i.e. NGOs and entrepreneurs).

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5.3

Institutional capacity

Evaluation question 27. Does the government at provincial and district level, NGOs and private sector
involved have the capacity to provide the required services and for sustaining services in the long term?
The answer is broadly positive. Good progress has been made with building capacity in all three sectors.
Government commitment and action with regard to absorption of programme-funded posts into its
establishment are encouraging. NGO capacity is never likely to be stable; future provision for using it is
uncertain. Private sector capacity will respond to market conditions, which are not wholly favourable.
Evaluation question 28. Is sustainable management of the facilities by beneficiary communities and schools
ensured?
Sustainable management by beneficiary communities is not yet assured, despite promising progress to
date. While it is relatively easy to be confident about sustainable management of water and sanitation
infrastructure at schools, the required management capacity in communities will take years of committed
effort to consolidate.

State institutions
The institutional model adopted by the Government of Mozambique and the One Million
Initiative places much of the responsibility for sustaining rural water and sanitation on
users and their community institutions. Numerically and fiscally speaking, the capacity that
state institutions need to maintain in order to fulfil their roles in the sub sector is relatively
modest. As noted in section 3.3, the programme has recruited 12 staff to join the provincial
Departments of Public Works and Housing, and a further 18 technicians to work within

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

SDPIs at district level. It has provided a series of training inputs that have significantly
strengthened the capacity of programme staff and their existing government colleagues. A
growing proportion of the 30 individuals recruited by the programme have been transferred
to the GOM establishment and payroll, and – unless unforeseen fiscal constraints intervene
– it is likely that all these posts will be transferred by the end of the programme in 2013. This
significantly increases the prospects for sustainable institutional capacity within provincial
and district governments. However, that sustainability is of course not assured: it will always
depend on the adequacy and allocation of government’s budgetary resources, and on the
knowledge, skills and experience of the staff in post (which may be jeopardised by frequent
staff rotation). Furthermore, as emphasised above, this is capacity for the model that
Mozambique has adopted, which relies also on appropriate capacity being in place in the
non-governmental and private sectors as well as in user communities themselves.
The One Million Initiative and its government colleagues view transport and office
infrastructure as an important part of institutional capacity. Vehicles, computers etc. are
certainly vital for the effective performance of government’s roles in the sub sector, and
their on-going availability is an important part of the sustainability challenge. Programme
reports often refer to the provision of such infrastructure as a contribution to institutional
sustainability. It is not. Only government (with possible further donor support through
PRONASAR) can assure that this dimension of sustainable capacity is achieved through
future recurrent budgetary provision. Whether it will be able to do this cannot be
guaranteed.
The government and programme staff working on rural water and sanitation in the One
Million Initiative provincial and district teams appear competent and committed. With
guidance from DNA and UNICEF, they are making an increasingly effective contribution in
often difficult circumstances. One reason why government and UNICEF have been able to
develop this capacity is that there are relatively few other opportunities for qualified
personnel in these provinces and districts. Properly managed, the civil service in poor areas
with low levels of economic activity can ‘benefit’ from the fact that there are few competing
opportunities to tempt its personnel. This is starting to change, notably because of the
expansion of mining activity in Tete province. As the economy develops, government is
starting to lose skilled people. It is obviously to be hoped that the economy will become
stronger and that employment opportunities for Mozambicans will expand. But this may
threaten the government staff capacity that the One Million Initiative has helped to build,
and create a longer-term capacity building challenge. Mozambique will increasingly have to
deal with a common problem in expanding low- to middle-income economies: maintaining the quality of the civil service in the face of budgetary constraints and booming demand
for skilled people in the private sector.

Non-governmental organisations
NGOs are a more essential part of the institutional model for rural water and sanitation in
the One Million Initiative (and, by implication, PRONASAR) than is commonly recognised.
As was noted in section 2.5, it is not always useful to distinguish them from the rest of the
private, or non-governmental sector. Both NGOs and private companies are engaged in PEC

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contracts for the One Million programme. The key question is whether there is long-term
capacity for the animation, facilitation and institutional maintenance services that NGOs
have been providing through the One Million Initiative. The current level of capacity, and
quality of service, is uneven, as is the character of the providers: some international NGOs
and some local ones. Like any client, government will in future have to impose quality
controls to ensure appropriate levels of performance, just as the One Million programme is
doing now. Fundamentally, however, the longer-term assurance of this kind of capacity
depends on whether the strategy of using non-governmental service providers is institutionalised in and funded by PRONASAR. This depends, in turn, on whether government and
PRONASAR recognise and resource the levels of on-going institutional maintenance that
rural water and sanitation services will require, as argued above. Although inadequate,
there is an established level of NGO capacity for this kind of work. If the demand is
institutionalised, the capacity is likely to grow to meet it.

The private sector

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The same argument applies to what is more usually called the private sector. For the reasons
outlined in section 5.2 above, the private sector does not currently offer the kind of capacity
that sustainability of rural water and sanitation services in the One Million initiative
districts will require. In other market conditions, entrepreneurs would develop it. Those
conditions do not currently prevail. The One Million Initiative has attempted to nurture
private sector capacity through the formation of artisans’ associations, facilitating the
signature of agreements between community water committees and artisans or associations
that would provide maintenance services, and encouraging traders and other entrepreneurs
to keep stocks of spare parts for water supply infrastructure. Like many attempts to
influence market behaviour in developing economies, these efforts have had indifferent
results. There is consensus that the artisans’ association model does not work. Most of the
associations that were established have effectively disbanded. Individual traders and
mechanics are only weakly networked with what is typically a weak market in the One
Million Initiative districts, although water committees usually are aware of who their local
service providers are. Understandably, these entrepreneurs so far show only limited interest
in building and maintaining the sort of technical capacity that the sector will need in the
longer term. Facilitating the emergence of this interest will be one dimension of the
institutional facilitation and maintenance services that will continue to be needed long
after the One Million programme ends.

Users and community institutions
As was noted at the start of this section, sustainable management of the water and
sanitation facilities introduced by the One Million Initiative depends heavily on users and
their community institutions. Especially in the context of sustaining appropriate sanitation
practices – rebuilding latrines, for example, or maintaining ODF status – the question of
capacity blends into that of motivation at this local level. Rural people and their institutions
must have the technical capacity to operate and maintain their local utilities and practices.
They must also be motivated to find this worth the significant effort and opportunity cost.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

The One Million Programme has instituted a hierarchy of training processes and events
aimed at building community capacity. This largely appropriate approach is likely to be
replicated across increasing areas of the country as procedures are enhanced and harmonised through PRONASAR. It starts with training of trainers, who go on to train the staff of
the NGOs contracted to undertake PEC activities. These staff, and especially their local-level
animators, are then responsible for the PEC Zonal campaigns and more intensive work in
target communities that raise individuals’ awareness and commitment with regard to water,
hygiene and sanitation, as well as the series of training events delivered to community
activists, community leaders and water committees.
The rising number of ODF communities, of latrines and other household hygiene and
sanitation initiatives and of functioning water committees are all testimony to the
effectiveness of these community capacity building efforts. The strongest achievement is
the ownership that communities now feel and express with regard to local water infrastructure that they previously considered to be the property and the responsibility of government. However, the 2010 survey still found that less than a third of the water points visited
reported having a committee (section 3.3). So community institution-building has a long
way to go; and the youth and inexperience of most committees that do exist (two thirds
established in 2008 or later) are one reason why the sustainability of this capacity is still far
from assured. There are two key issues.
First, meetings with community structures, such as those undertaken for this review, quickly
reveal that understanding, skills and procedures are not yet deeply rooted. Commitment
and enthusiasm often appear high. But the approaches and especially the administrative
procedures introduced by the programme are often inconsistently or incompletely
implemented. Institutional accountability mechanisms are not yet strong. There is no direct
reason to suspect corrupt practice, but committees’ financial record keeping is often
incomplete or internally contradictory. Easier access to banking services would help build
user trust in the custody of public funds, promote transparency and enhance record keeping
– although it would not be a complete solution to any of these problems. For the time
being, much of the financial detail still has to be taken on trust. External audit procedures
exist, but are not comprehensively applied. None of this is surprising. The introduction of
the new structures and procedures is still very recent and is a significant innovation for
communities with limited literacy and little experience of formal, paper-based administration. More fundamentally, it must be recognised that institutional maintenance and
support are a permanent requirement. The One Million Initiative cannot ‘build capacity’
over a couple of years and consider the job done. Refresher training (partly, but not only for
newly elected officials) and advisory support will be needed into the indefinite future. Only
after a decade of such support can there be more confidence that community capacity will
be sustained.
The second issue links to the first. Activists are key to building capacity at this level. Drawn
from within the community and currently provided with a bicycle and paid MT 600 – 745 per
month by the One Million Initiative through the PEC NGOs, they play a vital role in building
and maintaining people’s commitment to hygiene and sanitation and in daily support to

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water and sanitation committees. Very few would be likely to continue this active role if
they are no longer paid after the end of the programme. This would significantly jeopardise
the sustainability of the capacity that they have helped to build. But longer-term arrangements to pay them, for example with PRONASAR funds through PEC NGOs that are
maintained in some support role in association with district SDPIs, would have to be
reconciled with current government pay scales for community leaders. Despite their status
and responsibilities, these leaders only receive MT 500 per month at the highest grade, with
the second grade receiving MT 300 per month. Whatever solution is adopted, it is unlikely
that community capacity can be assured without effective measures to keep activists active.

Schools

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Sustainable management of water and sanitation infrastructure at schools is easier to
assure. School management structures are already in place and, with a modicum of training
and support, should be able to extend their management functions to the effective
maintenance of the new facilities. As noted in section 4.7, the proportion of survey sample
schools with an operation and maintenance system in place increased from 40% to 70%
between 2008 and 2010. Contributions by school children to the cleaning and minor
maintenance of water points and latrines can logically be linked to their education on
hygiene and sanitation. Most schools have existing links with parents and communities that
can also mobilise support for maintenance work. Needless to say, the introduction of a safe
water supply to a community which has a school but previously had no such facility can
have multiple, mutually reinforcing benefits whose beneficial impact on sustainability is
greater than the sum of their parts. Not only are pupils’ hygiene and health likely to
improve, but water supplies make it possible to launch school feeding programmes that
could not previously be attempted – enhancing enrolment and educational performance.
Taken together, these factors are likely to reinforce community commitment to maintenance of public and school facilities.

The focus of institutional capacity
Overall, the development of institutional capacity for rural water and sanitation through
the One Million Initiative mirrors experience in many other countries. The strongest
capacity so far is focused on the technical aspects of rural water supply. Although much
remains to be learned and improved, skills and procedures for groundwater extraction,
water point development and related contract management have been well developed.
Understandably, there is less assured capacity for institutional maintenance and for the
social and behavioural skills and systems needed in promoting and maintaining appropriate sanitation and hygiene. National policy and the emerging PRONASAR give strong
emphasis to user interests, attitudes and roles and to the importance of liaison between
community leadership and local government structures in this sector. But it is too soon to
be confident of sustained institutional capacity for these purposes among state, NGO and
private service providers.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

5.4

Other factors affecting sustainability

Evaluation question 29. Are there issues that affect sustainability of benefits, not captured under question 27
and 28? Have these been addressed and with what result?
Environmental factors are poorly understood, especially the potential impact of climate change.
Although the geohydrology is broadly favourable, there are areas where groundwater extraction is
expensive, difficult or so far unsuccessful. Increased attention to alternative technologies is planned, with
some studies already under way.
Technical factors: the technical quality of the infrastructure installed is one key determinant of the
sustainability of benefits from improved water supply. Another important technical factor affecting
sustainability is the number of users per water point. The sustainability of services and the impact of
benefits will be enhanced when the average number of users per water point is reduced. There has been a
lack of clarity about how Mozambique defines sustainable benefits with regard to sanitation. In any event,
the sustainability of the initial strategy for promoting latrines with concrete slabs through demonstration
centres and artisans’ associations has lost momentum.
Behavioural factors: understandably, communities where the One Million Initiative has recently delivered
improved water supplies and enhanced sanitation arrangements are currently enthusiastic about the new
infrastructure and express strong commitment to sustaining it. At this early stage, there can be no
guarantee that they will. Internationally, there is little conclusive evidence about the sustainability of
practices introduced through community-led total sanitation.

Environmental factors
The programme’s technical strategy, as in most of rural Mozambique, is to draw water from
underground aquifers. Geohydrological conditions vary across the programme area, but are
broadly favourable, with average extraction levels of 40-60 meters. Groundwater levels may
rise and fall with the seasons. Wells and boreholes sometimes go dry during or after periods
of low rainfall. At present, there is little prospect of groundwater extraction rates becoming
unsustainable. With hand pump technology, the amounts of water used are comparatively
small. However, the rates of and spatial variation in aquifer recharge are poorly understood
in most areas. The climate change scenario for central Mozambique is not promising. More
intense cyclones, floods and droughts are anticipated, along with a steady rise in temperature. What this means for the region’s geohydrology is unknown. Predictions of future total
rainfall are uncertain (McSweeney et al., nd: 3-4). Climate change is a potential long-term
influence on the sustainability of rural water supplies that depend on groundwater. More
research in the short to medium term on its significance would be prudent.
Despite the extensive distribution of suitable groundwater, there are locations and areas
where it cannot be found at suitable depths, or at all. One of the One Million programme’s
responses (in Machaze district) has been to vary the standard Afridev pump technology with
an alternative, more expensive Afripump that can extract water from greater depths. This
has inevitable consequences in terms of different training routines, spare part supply chains

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etc. Other alternatives, notably spring protection, mini piped systems centred on one deep
borehole and diesel pump, shallow wells and rainwater harvesting, are already in use and
will be investigated for suitability in such areas in more detail with DNA over the remainder
of the programme. Meanwhile, contractors drilling for the programme must now accept
responsibility for blank boreholes. Despite this incentive to make more careful geohydrological investigations beforehand, negative borehole rates remain high in some areas –
probably reflecting the lack of reliable information in many parts of Mozambique. Overall,
30% of boreholes drilled for the programme in 2009 were blank or saline. This means that
the programme, and its clients, must confront the apparent impossibility of achieving a
safe water supply for some communities with that technology. This is not a matter of
sustainable impact; it is a matter of achieving no impact at all. Alternative approaches must
therefore be developed – a challenge that the programme is currently tackling (section 3.4).

Technical factors

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The technical quality of the infrastructure installed is one key determinant of the sustainability of benefits from improved water supply. In a few cases, apparently viable boreholes
are put into service with the support of the programme, but their yields prove to be low (or
sometimes fail completely) and the benefits correspondingly limited. Resolution of this
kind of problem does seem feasible, provided that drilling contracts are adequately
supervised, retention clauses enforced, and, if all else fails, the programme returns to make
alternative arrangements that do achieve the intended sustainable benefits.
Especially in 2008, the One Million Initiative had significant problems with contractors
using sub-standard materials for boreholes and pumps. With the use of stricter quality
control and contracting procedures, it has largely (but not entirely) overcome these
challenges. A recent Netherlands supervision mission criticised the quality of rehabilitation
and construction work on some of the mini piped systems (GON, 2010: 13). Continuing
vigilance will be necessary, and the tighter procurement and contracting systems will need
to be standardised nationally through PRONASAR.
Overall, as shown in section 4.3, the proportion of improved water points that are functioning
in the target areas that the programme expected to cover has increased substantially, from
54% in 2008 to 82% in 2010. However as will be shown below, the number of people using
each water point is still so high as to jeopardise the sustainability of the new infrastructure.
Water points and piped systems pose differing maintenance challenges. The technical
sustainability of pumps and boreholes depends on one array of capacity factors and a
relatively large number of people – village operators, local mechanics, and effective local
management structures. The technical sustainability of piped systems in larger settlements
depends on different capacity factors, involving a smaller number of more highly trained
individuals - and may be easier to assure if the utilities employing those staff themselves
operate sustainably. Careful criteria and systematic decision making are clearly needed to
guide the choice between separate water points and a reticulated system, based not only on
current user distribution and installation cost but also on long-term maintenance
considerations.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Another important technical factor affecting sustainability is the number of users per water
point. Quite apart from the debates about whether coverage statistics are based on the
standard 500 (or 300) people or the actual enumerated number of users per water point,
there is a significant issue at this mid-term stage of the One Million Initiative with water
points that are serving much larger numbers of people than either of these benchmarks.
Data on positive boreholes drilled and equipped and actual numbers of users in the
programme’s progress report for 2009 indicate an average 913 users per water point. Figures
for 2008 - 2010 (to 30 November) show an average of 989 (Section 3.4). There are two
consequences. First, many users are not able to get the recommended 20 litres each per day
from the water point, diminishing the beneficial impact achieved. A ‘user’ reported by the
programme is not necessarily using the recommended daily amount of safe water. Indeed,
the 2010 impact survey data show drinking water use of only 11.7 l/day from improved
sources in communities where the One Million Initiative has only worked on the water
supply, and less in communities where it has worked on only sanitation or on both water
and sanitation. Secondly, more intensive use of hand pumps is likely to reduce their service
life and exacerbate maintenance problems, potentially threatening the sustainability of the
benefits. The programme is aware of this challenge and aims to address it. It certainly has
been under pressure to extend coverage to as many places as possible, even if only with one
borehole and pump where the population warrants more. There are plans now to infill
extra facilities in areas where the project has already installed a first water point. In 2011,
one criterion in selecting communities for the drilling programme will be population over
1,000 even where one water point has already been installed.
There has been a lack of clarity about how Mozambique defines sustainable benefits with
regard to sanitation. The rapid expansion in the number of households using traditional
latrines is undoubtedly beneficial, although such latrines may not be counted in formal
enumeration of coverage for the purposes of MDG targets. The quality of traditional latrines
varies, with some probably achieving similar sanitary performance to ‘improved’ ones.
Should sustainable benefits with regard to latrine use be defined in terms of use of
improved latrines with concrete slabs, or is this unrealistic or unnecessary? The incremental
health benefits of such improved latrines are arguably marginal. Furthermore, sustainability is easier to achieve with traditional latrines that are more easily repaired or replaced, for
example if they suffer structural damage or the pit becomes full. There is increasing policy
attention in Mozambique to these questions. The PRONASAR meeting of November 2010
referred to in section 2.5 recommended “to adopt the safe sanitation concept [i.e. hygienic
separation of faeces from human contact] for the definition of both rural and urban/
peri-urban sanitation coverage”, arguing that “it is probable that most of the traditional
household latrines in the country (promoted through CLTS or other sanitation approaches)
can be classified into the safe sanitation category” (PRONASAR, 2010: 2). Mozambique is
presumably therefore ready to diverge from MDG definitions in this regard. The international debate on these issues is likely to continue. Some observers would support the
PRONASAR decision, others might question it. However, whatever the latrine and floor/slab
construction material, the provision of an effective lid remains essential for a latrine to
achieve ‘safe sanitation’. The November 2010 PRONASAR meeting agreed that DNA, with
support from sector partners, should “develop a sanitation catalogue to define safe

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sanitation and to be used in collecting data for the PRONASAR baseline in 2011” (PRONASAR,
2010: 2).
The outcome may make a significant difference to sanitation reporting on the country. In
any event, the sustainability of the initial strategy for promoting latrines with concrete slabs
through demonstration centres and artisans’ associations has lost momentum. The public
show limited interest, and artisans have lost motivation for this activity. No clear strategy
has been put in place for the long-term management of the centres.

Behavioural factors
Understandably, communities where the One Million Initiative has recently delivered
improved water supplies and enhanced sanitation arrangements are currently enthusiastic
about the new infrastructure and express strong commitment to sustaining it. At this early
stage, there can be no guarantee that they will. It was emphasised above that long-term
institutional maintenance is a precondition for such sustainability. ODF communities are
particularly enthusiastic about what they have achieved and vow never to slip back to old
ways. A preliminary check in 2009 found that 12 of 13 sampled communities that were
declared ODF in 2008 were still ODF a year later.
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There is little conclusive evidence about the sustainability of practices introduced through
CLTS, although reversion to previous practices has certainly been observed in Bangladesh:
“…even though there is a shift in attitudes and a drive to change habits initially, the
enthusiasm may eventually peter out once the facilitators have withdrawn, and the
community’s members over time fall back into their old routines.” Overall, however,
“monitoring and evaluation of ODF status is very weak in CLTS” (Movik and Mehta, 2010:
14). The 2010 Netherlands government supervision mission to the One Million programme
stated that “the major challenge is the upgrading and consolidation of the community
sanitation level. No proven approach is available yet”. Current observation of ODF communities supported by the One Million Initiative suggests that pride in their status and peer
pressure among individuals and households will help to make the enhanced sanitation
practices sustainable. One of the tasks for long-term institutional maintenance in such
communities will be to maintain current levels of awareness and commitment. In particular, as noted in Chapter 3, it is important to discourage the notion that achievement of ODF
status is the end of a community’s sanitation effort. Use of latrines is not enough to contain
the risk of faecal contamination; they must be kept clean and closed by appropriate lids.
Monitoring and support must be maintained at household level for the long term if
sustainable sanitation benefits are to be achieved.
Impact at scale requires a clear, effective, simple, standardised approach that thousands of
field staff and community leaders can all understand in the same way. In any large-scale
endeavour, only a very small minority of those involved will spontaneously take the
initiative to deviate from the guidelines and adapt implementation to specific circumstances. Most will simply do what the guidelines say, even if that is not entirely appropriate in
local conditions. The One Million Initiative has achieved this strong, standardised approach

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

and is therefore able to deliver at scale, in ways that PRONASAR is likely to adopt for broader
and longer-term implementation across the country. Inevitably, there are cases where the
standard procedures need to be adjusted. For example, intensively used pumps require
maintenance more often than the standard three months. The record books issued to water
committees were only recently introduced, but it is already clear that they will not suit all of
them – for example because they do not provide enough space for all the necessary details
to be recorded, allowing registration of only 30 households. Part of the capacity building
challenge for the One Million programme and the rest of the rural water and sanitation sub
sector in Mozambique is to help field staff and user groups to take their management skills
a stage beyond responsible implementation of the standard approaches into appropriate
discretionary adjustments to specific local circumstances. Nevertheless, such adjustments
should always be recorded, along with their rationale. On the other hand, where local NGOs
follow non-standard procedures, as appears to be the case in Gondola district, confusion
may arise and sustainability may be jeopardised.

5.5

Monitoring

Evaluation question 30. Is the Government monitoring system for community based safe water and
sanitation results (including quality of services) and sustainability focused and is information used to keep
track of community based services and address bottlenecks in a structural way?
The government’s monitoring system for community-based safe water and sanitation results and
sustainability is not yet sufficiently focused. The programme’s laudable focus on monitoring has helped to
develop approaches that the National Information System for Water and Sanitation (SINAS) may be able
to adopt in support of PRONASAR. Much still needs to be done to build an efficient system that can keep
track of the quality of water and sanitation results and the performance of community-based services in a
structured way.
As was shown in section 3.2, the One Million Initiative has taken monitoring very seriously.
First, it has instituted a series of annual ‘sustainability checks’ that assess a comprehensive
series of institutional, social, technical and financial indicators across a series of sampled
communities. Secondly, it has worked with community water and sanitation committees
and with SDPI offices at district level to introduce record keeping and monitoring systems
and procedures explicitly linked to the goal of sustainability. The latter arrangements are
supported by other elements in the government hierarchy, including the administrative
posts and the DPOPH. The current programme’s sustainability checks are a laudable,
rigorous and informative component of the One Million Initiative’s overall effort to achieve
effective, detailed monitoring of this complex and ambitious programme.
However, Evaluation Question 30 concerns the government’s monitoring system: whether it
is focused and whether it is used in a structured way. The long-term concern is whether rural
water, sanitation and hygiene services and programmes will continue to be monitored
effectively after the One Million programme has ended. The study finds that the government’s monitoring system for community-based safe water and sanitation results and

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Sustainability assessment

sustainability is not yet sufficiently focused. The programme’s laudable focus on monitoring
has helped to develop approaches that the National Information System for Water and
Sanitation (SINAS) may be able to adopt in support of PRONASAR. Much still needs to be
done to build an efficient system that can keep track of the quality of water and sanitation
results and the performance of community-based services in a structured way.
Monitoring should link to management at all levels in Mozambique’s rural water and
sanitation services. At community level, foundations have been laid for this with the
registers that have been issued to water and sanitation committees. These are to be used for
recording the names and financial contributions of users, as well as the technical details of
pump operation and maintenance. As was noted above, this system is still in an early stage
of development. It will itself have to be monitored and amended over the remainder of the
One Million programme in order to optimise its format and flexibility. Furthermore, part of
the long-term institutional maintenance challenge will be on-going rounds of training and
advice to water and sanitation committees so that they (and their successors) become fully
confident and competent in using the system.

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At district level, the programme has instituted a modest but significant advance with the
manual databases that now adorn many office walls in the areas where it works. The development of these databases has certainly encouraged field, district and provincial staff to think
more systematically about the collection and reporting of data, and about structured action in
response to what such data show. However, it focuses, understandably, on the quantitative
aspects of water supply, sanitation and hygiene. It cannot capture the qualitative aspects of the
multiple social, institutional and behavioural processes that determine whether the innovations will be sustainable. Local leaders and officials with the necessary skill, insight and
commitment can, and to some extent do, monitor these issues. Tools and systems do exist
internationally for the structured and systematic monitoring of institutional health and
individuals’ attitudes and behaviour with regard to hygiene and sanitation. They have not
been introduced in the Mozambique rural water and sanitation sub sector.
It is uncertain at this stage whether the database system will be maintained during and
beyond the life of the One Million Initiative. Its physical format does not facilitate regular
updates. Having the chart on the wall for all to see is likely to raise staff awareness and
stimulate more management action, but quarterly updates (based on regular data collection
and submission by the PEC NGO) require complete and laborious rewriting of the chart on
new sheets of paper.
Observation of monitoring arrangements developed at local levels by the One Million
programme suggests that, despite promising progress, these are not yet an adequate
foundation or model for a broader, longer-term monitoring system. First, as noted,
community institutions are not yet sufficiently competent in financial and other record
keeping. There are too many errors, gaps and discrepancies in the data that they currently
record. Secondly, community monitoring is not itself adequately monitored by PEC NGOs
and local government structures. The authorities are not yet sufficiently aware of or
responsive to the shortcomings in community level monitoring.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Meanwhile, another kind of monitoring is widespread and valuable. In fulfilment of their
various leadership and management roles, community leaders and local government staff
(for example at administrative post and locality levels) often become aware of institutional
or technical issues and report them for action. However, this occurs in an ad hoc manner
rather than through a structured and focused system. Finally, an optimal monitoring system
feeds information in both directions. It should not just extract the required data from
community structures; it should regularly report back to them with information from the
broader management system and database. This dimension of local monitoring is not yet
strongly developed.
Another key dimension of local monitoring concerns water quality. There is currently no
functioning system to monitor it after water points have started operation. Water quality is
the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, and although test kits for basic physiochemical
and microbiological tests are placed in each district, no regular surveillance is being carried
out. To institute such a system across the vast rural areas and thousands of water points in
Mozambique is a major challenge. DNA is aware of the issue. With the support of the One
Million Initiative it is working with the Ministry of Health to develop an approach to rural
water quality monitoring, in the broader context of its emerging strategy and systems for
integrated water resource management (section 2.5).
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The One Million Initiative’s sustainability checks provide valuable ideas and experience for
SINAS, but for cost reasons cannot be maintained as they stand. As noted in section 3.2,
SINAS has made slow progress so far. Monitoring through SINAS was one of the fields in the
water and sanitation sector judged by GOM and its development partners in their joint 2009
aide memoire to be suffering a ‘serious shortage of qualified staff’ (GOM and Programme
Aid Partners, 2009: 33). In a related development inspired by the One Million Initiative’s
thorough approach to monitoring and evaluation, a national baseline survey for PRONASAR
will be undertaken in 2011. This will be a vital foundation for enhanced and structured
monitoring of the sector.
The ultimate challenge for SINAS and PRONASAR will be to achieve an effective link between
monitoring and action. However thoroughly progress and issues are reported, the monitoring process only adds value when action is taken to address the issues that it identifies. Once
again, the One Million Initiative shows examples of this linkage, notably in the actions
taken in response to its first sustainability check. The challenge to PRONASAR, the DNA and
local government will be make such responses routine as monitoring reports are delivered
to the relevant agencies.

5.6

Summary

As explained in section 5.1 above, it is too soon to say definitively whether the benefits
being achieved by the One Million Initiative are sustainable. Overall, good progress is being
made towards sustainable results. But a number of weaknesses and ambiguities will have to
be resolved, and major outstanding challenges overcome, if true long-term sustainable

Sustainability assessment

benefits are to be realised. The achievements and challenges are identified by the study’s
findings with regard to the evaluation questions posed for it (Annex 1).
An appropriate national policy framework and institutions are in place in Mozambique,
providing a good foundation for the sustainability of the One Million Initiative’s outcomes
(Evaluation Question 26). However, a number of weaknesses and ambiguities qualify the
contribution that policy and institutions can currently make to sustainability. These are
questions of national policy as it is applied at local level.
The first challenge is that many of the key institutional arrangements are new: there is little
depth of experience with them yet. But the principal ambiguity in current arrangements
concerns the economics of user responsibility. The policy expectation that communities will
be able to meet the full depreciation cost of their water infrastructure is not realistic in the
short to medium term.

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A second major ambiguity concerns institutional maintenance and the role of NGOs. The
sustainability of rural water and sanitation depends at least as much on institutional
maintenance as it does on technical maintenance. It is not clear how the institutional
maintenance will be sustained for the necessary decade or longer after the One Million
Initiative terminates.
The important role of the private sector is qualified by the unattractive market conditions.
Demand is scattered and intermittent. Clients are poorly resourced. On-going promotion
and facilitation will be needed to link supply with demand. Again, current policy and
institutional arrangements are insufficiently clear on these points.
Government, NGOs and the private sector do not yet have the capacity to provide and sustain
the required services in the long term (Evaluation Question 27). Good progress has been made
with building capacity in all three sectors. Government commitment and action with regard to
absorption of programme-funded posts into its establishment are encouraging. NGO capacity
is never likely to be stable; as noted above, future provision for using it is uncertain. Private
sector capacity will respond to market conditions, which, as noted, are not wholly favourable.
Sustainable management of the water and sanitation facilities introduced by the One Million
Initiative depends heavily on users and their community institutions. Sustainable management
by communities and schools is not yet assured, despite promising progress to date (Evaluation
Question 28). Especially in the context of sustaining appropriate sanitation practices – rebuilding
latrines, for example, or maintaining ODF status and the vitally important latrine cleanliness and
hygiene practice that should accompany it – the question of capacity blends into that of
motivation at this local level. Achieving ODF status is far from being the end of the story.
One key issue is that understanding, skills and procedures are not yet deeply rooted.
Commitment and enthusiasm often appear high. But the approaches and especially the
administrative procedures introduced by the programme are often inconsistently or
incompletely implemented. Institutional accountability mechanisms are not yet strong.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

A second key challenge concerns the future of the community-based activists currently
employed by the NGOs working for the One Million programme. They play a vital role, but it
is not clear whether they will continue to be paid after the end of the programme. It is
unlikely that they will work effectively, or at all, if they are not paid and provided with
technical support.
Sustainable management of water and sanitation infrastructure at schools is easier to
assure. School management structures are already in place and, with a modicum of training
and support, should be able to extend their management functions to the effective
maintenance of the new facilities.
Understandably, there is less assured capacity for institutional maintenance, and for the
social and behavioural skills needed in promoting and maintaining appropriate sanitation
and hygiene, than there is for technical operation and maintenance. National policy and
the emerging PRONASAR place strong emphasis on user interests, attitudes and roles and
on the importance of liaison between community leadership and local government
structures in this sector. But it is too soon to be confident of sustained institutional capacity
for these purposes among state, NGO and private service providers.
Several other issues affect the sustainability of the One Million Initiative’s outcomes
(Evaluation Question 29). Environmental factors are poorly understood, especially the
potential impact of climate change. Although the geohydrology is broadly favourable, there
are areas where groundwater extraction is expensive, difficult or so far unsuccessful.
Increased attention to alternative technologies is planned, with some studies already under
way.
The sustainability of services and the impact of benefits will be enhanced when the average
number of users per water point is reduced. Understandably, communities where the One
Million Initiative has recently delivered improved water supplies and enhanced sanitation
arrangements are currently enthusiastic about the new infrastructure and express strong
commitment to sustaining it. At this early stage, there can be no guarantee that they will.
Internationally, there is little conclusive evidence about the sustainability of practices
introduced through community-led total sanitation.
The government’s monitoring system for community-based safe water and sanitation
results and sustainability is not yet sufficiently focused (Evaluation Question 30). Indeed,
SINAS will not be able to claim national coverage of water supplies before 2012, or of
sanitation before 2013. Sustainable, cost-effective links between community monitoring
and district data management will be necessary. In partnership with communities, NGOs
and local government, the One Million Initiative has made good progress with its own
monitoring systems, developing models that SINAS may be able to adopt. The programme’s
systems are being used to keep track of community-based services and address bottlenecks
in a structural way. But continuation of these practices after the programme ends is not yet
assured. As government knows, a focused and effective monitoring system must also cover
water quality. Arrangements for this have not yet been developed.

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Sustainability assessment

These findings with regard to the likely sustainability of the One Million programme’s
benefits suggest a number of issues that will require further attention:
• formal clarification and restatement of policy with regard to the extent of rural water
users’ responsibility for the depreciation cost of their water infrastructure;
• adequate institutional maintenance for rural water and sanitation - one possibility under
discussion is that PRONASAR could fund an on-going role for the NGOs that currently
provide this vital service;
• linkage of private sector supply with water user demand for technical and institutional
services;
• the future status of community-based activists;
• the potential impact of climate change;
• the feasibility and contribution of alternative water supply technologies;
• continued strengthening of local and national monitoring arrangements.

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Over and above these points of specific attention, the unsurprising conclusion of this
mid-term evaluation is that, like any major process of behavioural and institutional change,
the benefits being introduced by the One Million Initiative will require years of sustained,
committed effort in order to become fully sustainable. This effort will have to be shared by
individuals, communities, government, NGOs, the private sector and international
development partners.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

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Annexes

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Annex 1

Terms of reference

Impact Evaluation of Government of Mozambique/ UNICEF Water Supply, Sanitation
and Hygiene programme – One Million Initiative – Mozambique 2006-2013
Terms of Reference
December 1, 2009

1.

Rationale, purpose and scope of the evaluation

Within the framework of the partnership between the Government of Netherlands, UNICEF
and the Government of Mozambique, which aims at accelerating the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) with respect to the access to drinking water and
adequate sanitation for families and school communities, the Water Supply, Sanitation and
Hygiene Programme– the One Million Initiative – is being implemented in 18 districts of the
provinces Manica (Gondola, Guro, Machaze, Manica, Mossurize and Sussundenga), Sofala
(Chemba, Dondo, Gorongosa, Marínguè, Muanza and Nhamatanda) and Tete (Angónia,
Changara, Chifunde, Tsangano, Marávia and Zumbo). The programme has the duration of
seven years (September 2006 – December 2013) and as a result of this partnership it is
expected that until the end of the programme
• One million people in the rural areas use safe drinking water, through the construction of
new sources of water supply;
• 200,000 people use safe drinking water, through the rehabilitation of their sources of
water supply;
• One million people use adequate sanitation facilities;
• 1.2 million people adopt appropriate hygienic practices;
• 400 primary schools (with a total of 140,000 pupils) use infrastructures of drinking water,
sanitation and hygiene;
• 18 districts and 3 provinces have strengthened technical and management capacities for
the planning, coordination and implementation of programmes for water supply,
sanitation and hygiene education.
The total budget for the programme is USD 42.41 million. The programme implementation
strategies are aligned with the national water policy and related strategies for rural water
supply and sanitation, including school sanitation, which places priority on meeting the
basic needs of the disadvantaged, on decentralised management and on the participation of
users. The programme approach is participatory and demand responsive, with user
community and schools expected to take leadership and responsibility for the maintenance
and management of their improved facilities and behavioural change, supported by
Government, NGOs and private sector. The main water supply technology applied is a
borehole fitted with a hand pump. An innovative component is the engagement of local
NGOs to carry out promotion activities in the targeted districts to build demand for
improved services, as well as capacity to sustain services and strengthen the supply side for
the construction of latrines and maintenance and repair of water points. The implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene activities in the target provinces will be complement-

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Annexes

ed by the development and strengthening of Government capacities at provincial and
district level in order to ensure long-term sustainability of the interventions.
The programme will be by far the largest in the provinces and is spearheading rural water
supply policy implementation. It is the largest programme under the UNICEF – Netherlands
partnership and for the Netherlands it is an important programme that is expected to
contribute to its pledge to provide safe access to drinking water and sanitation to 50 million
new users by 2015 as a contribution to the MDGs.
The Government of Mozambique, the Government of the Netherlands and UNICEF have
agreed that an impact assessment at mid-term and at the end of the programme will be
undertaken.

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The focus of the assessment will be on the impact of interventions on the welfare of the
target population. The ultimate purpose of the support provided to water supply, sanitation
and hygiene goes beyond coverage: the support is intended to improve health, reduce the
time used for collecting water – particularly for women and girls –, raise school enrolment,
retention and performance of children and enable communities to improve their livelihoods. There is consensus on the importance of such ultimate impacts on human welfare
but conventional evaluation studies do not usually quantify them. Quantification is a key
characteristic of the proposed impact study. With the use of quantitative statistical as well as
qualitative research methods the impact study will attempt to assess whether and to what
extent specific interventions work and if not why not. The type of interventions such as
improved water sources and hygiene education and promotion, make impact measurement
after two to three years at mid-term in principle feasible.
The overall purpose of the impact assessment is to analyse the impact of interventions as
well as, on the basis of the findings, derive issues and draw lessons that will be useful for
rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion policy and implementation. The
study will include an assessment of the extent to which the institutional strategy ensures
safe water schemes and improved sanitation and hygiene practices for a long period of
time. The impact evaluation is also expected to contribute to methodological knowledge
and capacity to undertake impact evaluation of water supply and sanitation activities.
The general impact assessment method is to compare outcome variables from programme
communities or schools (treatment group) to those from communities or schools not
involved in the programme (control group). A baseline survey has been designed in light of
the planned impact assessment and was undertaken in 2008. The impact study will be
designed as a panel study and will follow the sample based design and instruments for data
collection techniques developed for the baseline survey.
The Government of Mozambique, Directorate of Water, UNICEF and the Netherlands
Ministry of Foreign Affairs will jointly take responsibility for the impact assessments,
through their respective policy and evaluation department.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

2.

Background and context of the supported
programme

Mozambique is one of the most climatically vulnerable countries in Southern Africa. Over
the past years, the population of the southern and central (that includes the project targeted
provinces: Manica, Sofala and Tete) provinces of Mozambique has suffered the impact of
various natural disasters, ranging from floods and cyclones to drought. With over 50% of
Mozambique’s population living below the poverty line, such shocks have dramatic
consequences on the lives of the affected population. The programme area is also cyclically
affected by cholera outbreaks. According to the Ministry of Health’s data, more than 50% of
the registered cholera cases in the country over the past three years have occurred in
Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces.
Based on the assumption that a rural water point provides access to safe water for an
average of 500 people, routine data indicate that the national rural water supply coverage is
48.5% (source: Directorate of water 2007). For the target provinces the rates are as follows:
Manica 47.1%, Sofala 68.1 % and Tete 50.8 %. The coverage according to estimates of the
UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring project is substantially lower. A census held in 2007 will
provide reliable information on the actual coverage in the near future. The same applies for
the sanitation coverage that for the target provinces and based on routine data, stands at
46.6% for Manica, 68.1% for Sofala and 53.2% for Tete.
The 2008 sustainability check undertaken in the programme indicates that on average 28%
of the water supply facilities that have been constructed in recent years are non-operational
(source: project document). This breakdown of water points has been attributed to various
factors, including the lack of mechanisms to support users to undertake adequate preventative maintenance (such as spare parts networks close to the users); the poor quality of
services delivered; low level of community empowerment to take actions; and insufficient
time spent in creating demand for services (through strengthening community/family
knowledge and skills in regard to safe hygiene practices and their impact on health).
The project document indicates that where latrines have been constructed at schools, over
50% of them are not operating or are not being used, either due to faulty design or incorrect
construction. Feedbacks from schools and communities indicate that the lack of a childfriendly approach to school sanitation and hygiene design adversely impacts the enrolment,
retention and performance of children, and in particular that of girls, since they cannot
carry out their daily hygiene and sanitation practices with dignity and privacy.
This UNICEF programme is implemented in the above context and in poor and vulnerable
rural areas highly impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Programme theory
The limited access to adequate services of water supply and sanitation has a significant
impact on the well-being and people’s state of health. According to the 2003 Demographic

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Annexes

and Health Survey, the mortality rate of children under 5 years of age is 178 per 1000 live
births (rural-192, urban-143). Among the causes for this mortality rate the most important
are malnutrition (50%), malaria (18%), diarrhoea (13%), acute respiratory infections (ARI)
(8%), measles (8%) and tetanus at birth (3%). The prevalence of diarrhoea in the country is
14.1% (DHS, 2003), and 20% for children under 5 years of age.
International studies show that the improvement of water and sanitation do not improve
automatically people’s health: it is important to add a component of hygiene education in
order to guarantee the positive impact on people’s health, as indicated by the figure below.

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Reduction in diarrhea morbidity (%)

Figure 1. Reduction of diarrhoea as a result of improvement in water supply, sanitation and hygiene
(Fewtrell et al., 2005)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

(a) Sanitation

(b) Water
availability

Previous reviews

(c) Water quality (d) Hygiene
promotion

(e) Handwashing

Fewtrell et al. (2005)

According to Figure 1, washing hands correctly on critical moments is one of the most
effective hygienic interventions, with reductions of diarrhoea between 42% and 47%.
Increased use of safe drinking water helps to reduce the intake of dangerous pathogens
existing in the water and at the same time the expected increase of water quantities
facilitates the improvement of sanitation and hygienic practices. The adoption of hygienic
practices by all family members is very important – like handwashing, access to and use of
adequate sanitation facilities, and access to sufficient water of good quality. An important
question for people’s health relates to the removal and safe disposal of pathogenic human
faecal material, through the use of adequate infrastructures of sanitation (latrines and water
closets). The correct use of these infrastructures by the members of the family in particular,
and by the community in general contributes to the reduction of pathogenic micro-organisms in the environment. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the family practices related
to the use of sanitation facilities as well as the handling of children’s faeces.
The impact of the reduction of time and energy spent with water collection and taking care
of the affected population (in particular for those who prepare food and take care of
children), reinforce the positive effects of good health in the families. In addition time
savings contribute to time availability for activities, such as food provision and attending
school, that impact people’s well-being.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Programme approach and implementation
The actual implementation of the programme started in 2007. In the targeted provinces the
programme provides for most of the budget for the rural water supply, sanitation and
hygiene development. With the support of the programme each district has contracted an
NGO to facilitate starting up the programme implementation through undertaking a
situation assessment comparing the size of the population to existing water points and
their functionality and based on that information, identifying priority communities and
schools. The same NGO has been assigned to create demand for improved services and
strengthen the supply side. This is being done through training of community activists;
facilitation and training of water user committees and other local committees for management, operation and maintenance of their water points and for sanitation and hygiene
promotion; training of artisans/masons/technicians for construction of slabs and maintenance and repair services and provision of materials that are not locally available. The
sanitation and hygiene education and promotion component has a district wide focus.
UNICEF has embarked on a step by step approach to building capacity of the government at
provincial and district level as well as the NGOs involved. UNICEF has set up collaboration
with SNV for capacity building.
With programme support up to July 2009, a total of 184 water schemes have been rehabilitated and 333 new water points have been constructed. Selection criteria for these new
water points are low coverage, size of the population, demand from the communities,
willingness to contribute 2% of the cost of construction and cost of operation and maintenance. Priority setting has been discussed and agreed in a meeting of the district administration with community leaders.
Policy and institutional context
The programme is implemented under the framework of Water sector reforms guided by the
National Water policy (1995). At the national level the Directorate of Water of the Ministry of
Public Works and Housing is the central responsible body for the water policy and sector
reforms. The reforms aim at withdrawal of central government and its ministries and
institutions from operational service provision, focussing on policy making and priority
setting, coordination, guidance and monitoring of the sector and regulatory
Implementation Manual for rural water supply. This on-going national level reform process
of shifting roles and responsibilities, especially from implementation to facilitation, policy
and strategy development, has not yet been complemented with the necessary and
corresponding strengthening of capacities, particularly at the sub-national level (district
and provincial levels) and this has been impacting upon the sector’s capacity to absorb
allocated funds. Capacity building, particularly at sub-national level, is currently a
Government priority as the district is increasingly recognised to have the primary role in
planning sector-wide activities.

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Annexes

3.

Questions to be addressed

The impact study will investigate if and to what extent the expected effects of the programme materialise in practise, which interventions work best and explore which factors
explain the findings. The impact study will also investigate whether sustainability of
infrastructure and services is ensured.
The questions to be addressed by the impact study are:

Programme and context

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1. What have been key problems addressed by the UNICEF water supply, sanitation and
hygiene programme in Mozambique?
2. What has been the approach and specific interventions to address the problems?
3. What have been the achieved main outputs as compared to targets (nr. of new and
rehabilitated water points, nr. of latrines, infrastructure at primary schools, community
level water and other relevant committees, government, NGO and private sector
support services)?
4. What have been the costs for key cost units and cost trends?
5. How did the institutional strategy for providing and sustaining works and services
evolve?
6. Have roles and responsibilities been clearly defined? Are these adequately understood
and fulfilled by beneficiaries and other stakeholders?
7. How did this strategy affect programme outputs?

Effects
Supply, sanitation and hygiene component
8. What has been the average number of users per improved water point in the sample?
9. What has been the effect on the percentage of the population that use an improved
water source?
10. Have there been barriers to the access to the improved water source? If so, which
proportion of households in the sample communities do not have access and why?
11. Is the improved water point the only water source for domestic use? If not which other
(improved and non-improved) sources are used, when and by how much are these used
and for what purposes?
12. What has been the effect on the microbiological and chemical quality of drinking water
(at source and point of use)?
13. What has been the effect on the amount of water used per day per person for domestic
purposes (total, from improved water source)?
14. What has been effect on the access and use of improved sanitary facilities (for men,
women, and children)?
15. What has been the change in relevant hygiene awareness and practices (i.e. cleanliness
of latrine; handwashing with soap or substitute at critical times; safe water storage; use
of rack for cooking utensils; safe handling of baby excreta) ?

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

16. What has been the effect of the interventions on the health of the target population
(in terms of DALYs reduction44)
17. What has been the effect on time use for collection of water, and for which household
members?
18. In what way have time savings been used (for domestic work, field work, income
earning, schooling, etc.? Who are the primary beneficiaries?
19. Is the water from the improved water source used for other purposes, besides domestic
purposes? If so, for which purposes and by whom?
School component
20. What has been the effect on the number and percentage of schools with a functioning
safe water source in the school yard or within 200 meters from the school yard?
21. What has been the effect on the change in the number and percentage of schools with
latrines (separated for girls, boys and school personnel)?
22. Do these schools have an operation and maintenance system in place?
23. What has been the effect on the use of latrines for girls, boys, school personnel?
24. What has been the effect on handwashing practices for girls, boys, school personnel
(before meals and after going to the toilet)?
25. What has been the effect of programme Interventions on school enrolment and
outcomes (for girls and boys)?

Sustainability of benefits
26. Are an appropriate national policy framework and institutions in place?
27. Does the government at provincial and district level, NGOs and private sector involved
have the capacity to provide the required services and for sustaining services in the long
term?
28. Is sustainable management of the facilities by beneficiary communities and schools
ensured?
29. Are there issues that affect sustainability of benefits, not captured under question 27
and 28. Have these been addressed and with what result?
30. Is the Government monitoring system for community based safe water and sanitation
results (including quality of services) and sustainability focused and is information used
to keep track of community based services and address bottlenecks in a structural way?

44

DALYs stand for Disability-Adjusted Life Years and is mostly used in international research as measure
for disease burden. A DALY stands for one year of life that a person loses as a result of less good health.

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Annexes

4.

Methodology

Following the evaluation questions an evaluation matrix is provided in appendix A,
showing indicators at the different result levels, to guide data collection and analysis.

Programme and context description
Questions 1-7 will be answered largely on the basis of review of project documentation – in
particular, design documents and progress reports, the remaining variables will be assessed
from field data collection. These data will be collected in a field study described below.
Descriptions of activities, results and costs in the official documentation will be cross
checked with the descriptions given by residents of sample communities. Interviews with
key informants will provide supplementary information.

Impact assessment

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Interventions under the One Million initiative can broadly be divided into five areas:
(1) providing safe water points; (2) increasing the number of latrines; (3) promoting
improved hygiene awareness and practices; (4) providing safe water and latrines as well as
hygiene education in schools; (5) capacity building. Questions 8 up to 23 on outcome and
impact relate to the interventions 1 to 4. Questions 24 to 27 relate to the fifth intervention is
less suitable for statistical impact evaluation and is taken up in the section on sustainability
assessment.
The objective of the impact assessment is to estimate the impact of a large scale intervention on use of WASH services and changes in hygienic practices and subsequently on time
savings, health and socio-economic indicators. With respect to the impact on health and
socio economic indicators the focus will be on diarrhoea and cholera and the use of extra
time and/ or water and financial savings on school enrolment and outcomes and livelihoods (e.g. food provision, income generation).
The intervention is large scale in the sense that the individuals affected by the programme
are a big proportion of the population: as high as 50% over the course of the programme
(2008-2013). The actual ‘levels’ or ‘intensities’ of the four intervention areas mentioned
above will differ between sampled communities, making it possible to compare outcomes
for different combinations of interventions at different stages.
The main techniques for data collection will be a sample based questionnaire at community
and household level for the community level component and at school level for the school
component. In principle the same questionnaires will be used as the ones used for the
baseline survey. In addition available health and educational records and relevant data from
the recently held census on sample communities and schools will be used.
The mid-term impact study will cover the 80 villages and schools (40 control and 40
treatment villages and schools) assessed during the baseline survey. A full intervention

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

history for each of these sampling units will be made available to assist in the design of the
survey. Details on the design of the mid-term impact study are discussed in appendix B.

Sample of community-level interventions
Given the characteristics of the programme it could not be determined at the time of the
baseline exactly which communities will be selected in the programme. However, for the
provision of safe water facilities a list of communities that were very likely to get a safe water
facility in 2008 or 2009, was available. The sample of these communities therefore
predominantly consists of treatment communities. A sample of communities not in this list
consists of communities which will either not receive a safe water facility (control communities) or later on in the course of the programme. Within sampled communities a limited
number (20) of households was sampled to observe household-level outcome variables.
Communities not on the 2008-2009 list cannot simply be taken as valid controls for those that
are on the list, as most of these are ‘priority’ communities on the basis of existing safe water
facilities and population size. In order to obtain a proper counterfactual sample control
communities with similar characteristics have to be sampled. Further, by estimating impact
using differencing techniques the danger of selection bias is greatly reduced. Generalization of
results is helped by the fact that selection of communities receiving safe water facilities is also
influenced by exogenous political considerations at the district level, besides priority.
A similar stratification of treatment and control villages cannot be achieved for the other
intervention areas (increasing the density of latrines, and promoting better hygiene
practices). In programme districts building latrines is promoted (and subsidised) but
construction is ultimately a decision of individual households and cannot be determined
beforehand. Similarly, the hygiene education and promotion component of the programme
is targeted at all communities in programme districts, whether they receive safe water
facilities or not. Identifying the impact of latrine density and hygiene promotion is
therefore dependent on sufficient variation of these interventions in the sample, given the
level of safe water provision.

Definition of sampling units (clusters)
For sampling purposes a complication arises from the fact that communities have different
sizes. In big communities not all households are reached by a newly provided safe water
facility. Hence it will be necessary to further subdivide communities into ‘clusters’ of
approximately 100 households. The primary sampling units (PSU) will consist of such
clusters.45 Thus a bigger community could have several clusters in the treatment and the
control population.

45

In practice, sampled PSUs will differ in (population) size. A reasonable estimate of population sizes for
selected PSUs will be necessary to obtain the proper sampling weights for estimating population-level
statistics.

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Annexes

Sampled clusters and households will be visited at the beginning (baseline), halfway the
programme (2010) and at the end of the programme (2013). This panel structure will
increase the internal validity of the impact evaluation by allowing the use of techniques that
can greatly reduce design (grouping) effects. However, to the extent that ‘early treatment’
communities are not representative of all communities that will receive new safe water
facilities, external validity is reduced. Sampled communities not on the 2008-2009 list can
be used to judge the importance of this, since part of the communities selected as controls
will turn out to be ‘later treatment’ villages. These can be used not only to check external
validity but also to determine shorter- and longer-term impact.

Sample size

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Sample size must be chosen so that a change in outcome and impact variables can be
detected with an appropriate confidence level.46 An appropriate sample would consist of 40
Primary Sampling Units PSUs (village section) randomly selected from the ‘early treatment’
communities, and 40 PSUs from the other communities. Within PSUs 20 households are to
be selected randomly so that the total sample size is 800 for each of the (treatment and
control) populations considered. Depending on how effective the panel design is in reducing
the design effect this sample size allows detection of changes in a population fraction of 14%
points (no reduction of design effect, D=4), 10% points (design effect effectively reduced to
D=2), or 7% points (design effect eliminated: D=1). These numbers are for population
fractions close to 50% and a confidence level of 95%. They become more favourable if one is
willing to reduce confidence levels or if population fractions are closer to 0 or 1.

Cost considerations
Cost reductions can be achieved by sampling only from a few districts, by reducing the
number of households per cluster (increasing the level of imprecision e), or decreasing the
confidence level.
School-level interventions
The same methodology will be applied to school-level interventions.

46

A guideline can be the formula for required sample size for clustered samples given in Bennet et al. (1991):

n=

4 P (1 – P ) D
e2

Required sample size n is dependent on the precision aimed at (e), confidence levels (95%), true fraction
in the population (P, usually set to the worst-case value of 0.5), and is further proportional to the
so-called design effect (D). This is a measure for the degree to which households from the same PSU
are more similar than households from different PSUs.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Sustainability assessment
Questions 24-27 will be answered on the basis of:
• review of documentation, including UNICEF’s local level sustainability assessment
reports;
• interviews with key informants at national, provincial, district and community levels;
• questions included in the field surveys undertaken in communities.
The questions span the wider spectrum of governance. The study will focus on local institutions, as this is the level of governance most critical to the sustainability of rural water supply
and sanitation arrangements. However, it will also address the influence that changing
structures and roles at provincial and national level may have on the implementation of the
rural water supply and sanitation programme. Other topics to be covered will include:
• factors influencing variance in local water management institutions’ performance and
sustainability;
• the influence of multiple agencies’ involvement on the implementation and sustainability of rural water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services.

5.

Organisation and timing

The impact evaluation will be a joint effort of the Directorate of Water, Ministry of Public
Works and Housing, of the Government of Mozambique, UNICEF and the Policy and
Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To
this end a steering group for the impact evaluation will be established, composed of a
representative of the Directorate of Water, UNICEF Mozambique office and IOB. This
steering group will comment on the terms of reference, research instruments and draft
documents for the impact evaluation.
IOB and UNICEF will be responsible for undertaking the impact study. To this end IOB has
established collaboration with the Amsterdam Institute for International Development
(AIID) in view of its specific expertise in undertaking quantitative impact analysis. They will
work closely together with UNICEF Mozambique in the implementation of the impact
evaluation. The major activity of the study will be community- and household level data
collection. This requires sophisticated quantitative data collection techniques. A substantial
involvement of national researchers is envisaged, both in the data collection and in the
subsequent analysis. For the sustainability assessment an additional two weeks IOB/ UNICEF
(central Evaluation Office) mission at mid-term and at the end of the programme has been
planned. The evaluation reports will be based on both the quantitative impact study and the
sustainability assessment. Appendix B provides further information on reporting and
division of responsibilities.
The findings and issues and lessons derived of the mid-term and end of programme
evaluation will be discussed in a workshop with stakeholders.

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Annexes

The timing of the different parts of the study will be as follows:
For the mid-term assessment 2010 and end assessment 2013:
• UNICEF/IOB preparatory mission of mid-term assessment
• Community, household and school level data collection
• Data processing and analysis
• IOB/UNICEF two week sustainability assessment mission
• Report writing
• Workshop

| 146 |

• June 2009
• August–October 2010/2013
• October-November
• October/November
• December/January
• to be decided

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Appendix A: Evaluation matrix
Objective
-means

Indicators/ variables

Information sources

Input:

• Policy and institutional context
• Programme objectives and ’theory of change’
• Financial inputs
• Technical, social, institutional and financial
approaches:
-	Water supply, sanitation and hygiene interventions (type, number, standards);
-	Water user participation, gender issues,
involvement of the poorest;
-	Institutional approach (government, NGOs,
private sector, communities), contributions,
support to water and other community based
committees (legal, financial, organisational
development, operation and maintenance,
hygiene awareness and promotion etc.);
-	Programme planning, implementation, M&E;
-	Costs per key cost unit, funding, user contribution, water charges.

Policy and strategy
documents
Project design documents
Progress and completion
reports
Evaluation reports
Results of interviews with
key informants

Output:

Community component
• Number of (functioning) water supply as
compared to targets
• Number of latrines constructed as compared to
targets
• Number and size of communities that received
sanitation and hygiene education and promotion
activities
• Type and number of special provisions such as for
livestock, vegetable gardening, if any
• Number and type of community based committees
• Number of local committees/ persons that
received (type of) capacity building, e.g. for
operation and maintenance, administration,
bookkeeping etc. (m/f)
• Institutional arrangements and capacity building
for support to community based WASH services:
government, NGOs, private sector
School component
• Number of schools with water safe water source in
the school yard or within 200 meters from the
school yard
• Operation and maintenance system
• Number of schools with latrines (separated boys,
girls, school personnel)
• Number and type of committees
• Number of committees/ persons that received (per
type) capacity building

Project documentation
Results of village level data
collection
Results of interviews of key
informants

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Annexes

Outcome:

| 148 |

Community component
• Number and percentage of functioning water
schemes
• Average number of users/ beneficiaries of
improved water sources
• Use of improved water sources (only improved
sources used by all households, the whole year
through, other sources used and by how much)
• Social inclusion/exclusion of poorest households
• Use of improved water sources for other than
domestic purposes
• Quality of drinking water (at source and at point of
use)
• Quantity of water consumed for domestic
purposes (total, from improved source)
• Number and percentage of households in sample
communities with improved sanitation facility
• Use of sanitation facility (men, women, boys, girls)
• Improved hygiene practices (handwashing and
other relevant practices covered by hygiene
component)
• Functioning of water and other relevant local
committees:
-	Male/ female membership and active
participation
-	Frequency of meetings
-	Elections
-	Contributions of members
-	Operation and maintenance arrangements
-	Breakdowns, duration of break down and how
solved
-	Financial management: maintenance fund for
payment of recurrent costs and savings for
repair and replacement of infrastructure
-	Conflict management
• Functioning of institutional arrangements for
support and sustainability of community managed
schemes: capacities, coordination and cooperation, water resource management, result oriented
monitoring and (follow up) support
School component
• Functioning and use of improved water source
(boys, girls)
• Functioning of operation and maintenance system
• Use of latrine (boys, girls, school personnel)
• Hygiene practices:
-	Handwashing practices at critical times with
soap or substitute
-	Cleanliness of latrines

National and local statistical
data
Results of community level
data collection, focus group
discussions
and interviews of key
informants

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Impact:

• I ncidence of diarrhoea and cholera, in terms of
Disability Adjusted life Years (DALYs)
• Time savings (gender specific)
• Human capital: school enrolment and outcomes
(gender specific)
• Livelihood: use of extra time, water and financial
savings, e.g. for food provision, income generation

National and local statistical
data
Results of community and
school level data collection

Appendix B: Midline Data Collection: Design
The midline review has two components: survey data collection and analysis; and a
sustainability study.

Survey Data Collection and Analysis.
The 2008 baseline instruments are of very high quality and should be re-used. Some
amendments appear desirable. First, the long form of the questionnaire (used in 2008 for
10% of the sample) can be dropped. This will result in a substantial cost saving. Secondly,
the community questionnaire can be shortened drastically: where change is unlikely (e.g.
distance from the road) the question can be dropped. Thirdly, where households are asked
the same question in the baseline it may be efficient to ask for the change (since 2008)
rather than the level (in 2010). We suggest that a pilot is used to investigate which form
enumerators and respondents are most comfortable with. The final version of the questionnaire requires the approval of IOB, UNICEF and AIID.
A complication is that some of the sample households may have left the location and,
conversely, that new households may have arrived, possibly attracted by a newly established
water source. The extent of such migration will be established in the focus group discussions. The most likely scenario is that there is little migration so that data collection can be
restricted to the households present both in 2008 and in 2010. If, however, there turns out
to be significant in-migration or there is a major attrition of the panel then adjustments are
necessary.
When a household cannot be found the enumerator should find out from neighbours the
reason (death, emigration, intra-location move). If the household is still in the location but
not in the house it inhabited in 2008, the enumerator should retain the household in the
sample. In all other cases the household will be replaced by the supervisor. The supervisor
should assign one of the neighbours as replacement and give it a new household ID.
It is essential to revisit all 2008 household who have not left. In particular no clusters
should be dropped to ensure that the results remain representative at the province level.
Focus group discussion should lead to an estimate of population growth since 2008 as a
result of immigration.
As in 2008, locations should be visited by pairs of enumerators. It is essential that no

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Annexes

enumerator pairs up with the same enumerator more than once. For example, location A is
visited by enumerators 1 and 2, location B by 2 and 3 and so on. The 2008 supervision
procedures should be amended in one respect: supervisors should check on site whether
there are differences between enumerators which cannot be readily explained. One option
is to enter data in situ and to programme a Fischer exact test in the data entry programme so
as to be able to identify suspect results. The supervisor should either decide there is a
legitimate reason for a difference (and then record this) or send enumerators back to check
their results.
Additional data sources
Focus group discussions with community leaders and other informants should be held to
cover:
• reason for revisiting (this will require great care in the control clusters)
• population changes: who came or went (since 2008) and why
• reasons for not using safe water sources. (There are clusters with a safe source used by
none of the sample households: availability versus use.)
• more detail on use of water containers
• use of time savings (women), if any
• use of water: drinking, other uses
| 150 |

Aggregate health post data will be collected by UNICEF to investigate whether incidence (of
diarrhoea or cholera) falls more in high intervention areas. The baseline collected data on
enrolment. It is desirable to complement this with data on retention rates and exam results,
both for 2008 (these data can be collected now if that would be efficient) and 2010. These
data need not be collected in the field: they are available at the Ministry of Education. Again,
this will be done by UNICEF.

Sustainability study
A two-week mission will be conducted to assess the (institutional) sustainability of the
One Million Initiative. This study should revisit the sustainability issues at micro, meso and
macro levels, namely questions 24-27 of the initial Terms of Reference GoM/IOB (2008).
Question 24 can be answered using information from the community survey as well as the
“sustainability check” specifically designed for the programme. However, questions 25-27
are more far-reaching and require additional investigation. In addition the study should
focus on the peculiar form of conditionality embedded in the Initiative.
The One Million Initiative differs from sector budget support in the sense that the budget is
not controlled by the Ministry. On the other hand implementation is fully within existing
government structures. In this sense the Initiative is an interesting hybrid, avoiding the two
extremes in the debate on sector support. This fits well with recent debates on conditionality, suggesting a separation between financial accountability (and very strict conditionality
in that respect) and policy choices and implementation (to be left to the government). The
hybrid developed in Mozambique seems promising. Assessing this issue is a major task for
the sustainability study.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Reporting and Division of Responsibilities
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will contract AIID for the mid-term impact study. AIID will
contract the Maputo UNICEF office to conduct the fieldwork. In its turn the UNICEF office
will contract a consultant for the field work. UNICEF will consult AIID on the selection of
the consultant and the survey details. While these contractual arrangements suggest a
hierarchical arrangement the study will be conducted jointly by UNICEF and AIID.
AIID is responsible for a report to the Ministry. This will cover all questions in the original
Terms of Reference and will include both descriptive and statistical analysis. The description
of the Initiative will be done in close collaboration with UNICEF. The institutional assessment will be done jointly with IOB. The statistical analysis will be done by AIID, in collaboration with UNICEF and if possible with involvement of the Eduardo Mondlane University in
Maputo. If this collaboration involves a PhD post, as envisaged, then separate funding will
be sought for this.
Based on the quantitative impact analysis report of AIID and the sustainability assessment
IOB and UNICEF central Evaluation Office will prepare and take responsibility for the impact
evaluation report.

References
| 151 |

UNICEF, 2009. A WASH Baseline Survey Under the NL-UNICEF Partnership for WASH: Final Report.
Maputo: UNICEF.
GoN/IOB, 2008. Impact evaluation of Government of Mozambique/ UNICEF Water Supply,
Sanitation and Hygiene programme – One Million Initiative – Mozambique 2006-2013:
Terms of Reference

Annexes

Annex 2	Estimating the number of newly
realised water points under the
One Million Initiative
The sample consists of two parts, (i) one representative of 9 out of 18 districts in the provinces
Sofala, Manica, and Tete, and (ii) the other part representative of the communities in the
same 9 districts, visited by PEC activists. See Section 4.2. The sample information includes
data on water points, both existing ones and water points created or rehabilitated under the
One Million Initiative, albeit at the community rather than the cluster level. The first part of
the sample can be used to obtain estimates for the 9 districts. Those districts were not
chosen for any particular reason, so a reasonable estimator for all three provinces would be
to double the estimate based on the first sample part.
Sampling weights have been calculated, based on the probability that a particular community was selected. The data are given in Table A2-1 below. For each of the communities in
part 1 of the sample the total number of water points created and the number of rehabilitated water points are listed. The village weight is given in the last column.

| 152 |

Table A2-1

Water Point Interventions 2008-2010, based on sample counts

Province

District

PA

Community

Total number
of programme
water points

Total number
of water
points
rehabilitated
under the
programme

Village
weight

Manica

Gondola

Amatongas

Zipinga

0

0

27.5

Manica

Gondola

Manica

Gondola

Cafumpe

Ganhira

1

1

11.0

Inchope

Metuchcira

1

0

13.8

Manica
Manica

Gondola

Macate

Mupuza

0

0

55.0

Gondola

Macate

Fernandes

0

0

27.5

Manica

Gondola

Matsinho

Quinta das
laranjeiras

1

1

55.0

Manica

Gondola

Zembe

Maguiraze 25 de Junho

0

0

27.5

Manica

Guro

Guro sede

Vila-sede

3

1

1.9

Manica

Guro

Mungari

Chigombe Nhatimbueni

1

1

55.0

Manica

Sussundenga

Dombe

Sanguene

2

0

18.3

Manica

Sussundenga

Dombe

Tussene

2

0

18.3

Manica

Sussundenga

Sussundenga

Unidade

2

1

55.0

Manica

Sussundenga

Sussundenga

Mphunde

0

0

27.5

Sofala

Gorongosa

Gorongosa

Nhataca

2

0

4.2

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Table A2-1

Water Point Interventions 2008-2010, based on sample counts

Province

District

PA

Community

Total number Total number
of programme of water
water points
points
rehabilitated
under the
programme

Village
weight

Sofala

Gorongosa

Nhamadzi

Nhambirira

1

0

4.2

Sofala

Gorongosa

Vanduzi

Nhatsapa

2

0

11.0

Sofala

Mwanza

Galinha

Nhansato

0

0

27.5

Sofala

Nhamatanda

Nhamatanda

Candiero

0

0

0.8

Sofala

Nhamatanda

Nhamatanda

Mbibir

1

0

2.9

Sofala

Nhamatanda

Tica

Nhantimbe

0

0

1.5

Sofala

Nhamatanda

Tica

nhansato

0

0

1.4

Tete

Angónia

Domue

Kunkanga

1

0

27.5

Tete

Angónia

Domue

Muenda

1

0

13.8

Tete

Angónia

Domue

Domue-Sede

1

1

13.8

Tete

Angónia

Domue

Mbewe

0

0

55.0

Tete

Angónia

Domue

Nan’kobwe

0

0

27.5

Tete

Angónia

Domue

Chirenga

0

0

18.3

Tete

Angónia

Ulongoe

Chipuiro

0

0

27.5

Tete

Angónia

Ulongoe

Mwalawabodza

0

0

18.3

Tete

Angónia

Ulongoe

M’Bemba

0

0

27.5

Tete

Angónia

Ulongoe

Mguadala

0

0

27.5

Tete

Angónia

Ulongoe

Lionde

0

0

18.3

Tete

Chifunde

Nsadzu

Nziwe

0

0

55.0

Tete

Chifunde

Mualadzi

Caputo

0

0

6.9

Tete

Tsangano

Ntengowambalane

Theti - Beni

0

0

27.5

Tete

Tsangano

Ntengowambalane

Mwalazonde

0

0

55.0

Tete

Tsangano

Ntengowambalane

Chicomasi

0

0

18.3

Tete

Tsangano

Ntengowambalane

Phonera Guera

0

0

18.3

Tete

Tsangano

Tsangano

Afutsa

0

0

18.3

Tete

Tsangano

Tsangano

Muanguete

0

0

27.5

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Annexes

Table A2-2 gives estimates of the total number of water points based on the data in Table
A2-1, where for comparison the results have been multiplied by 2 to obtain estimates for all
18 districts.
Table A2-2 Total number of water points
Water Points Created

Total

Standard error

95% confidence interval

All water points

833

257

313

1352

Rehabilitated

383

169

41

726

New water points

449

164

117

782

These numbers can be compared to those given in Table 7 of the main report, reproduced
below.
Table A2-3 New water points and beneficiaries
New water
points (target)

| 154 |

New water
points (actual)

% of target
achieved

No. of
beneficiaries
enumerated

2008

280

306

109

385,456

2009

470

302

64

327,765

2010 (performance
to 30 November)

406

386

95

254,523

1,156

994

86

967,744

Total

Source: Authors’ calculation based on programme information and sample analysis

According to Table A2-2 the number of newly created water points is estimated to be 449
and not exceed 782. This upper bound is much below the number of new water points
reported in Table 7, 994. However the latter number includes 250 boreholes created after
the data underlying the estimates in Table A2-2 had been collected (August 2010).
Subtracting those 250 from 994 gives 744, which lies within the 95% confidence interval in
Table A2-2. Note that the number of rehabilitated water points estimated in Table A2-2 (383)
compares very well with the number of 392 mentioned in the Mozambique report
(Section 3.4).

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Annex 3 Sampling design47
Introduction
The evaluation strategy for the One Million Initiative is based on a panel survey. In a
programme such as this panel surveys are specifically designed to compare household and
community conditions “before” and “after” interventions typically starting with a baseline
survey followed by subsequent surveys. This mid-term impact evaluation survey establishes
situation of water supply and quality, household sanitation and hygienic practices as well
some indication of affected households socio-economic and health conditions while the
programme is still going on. The evaluation strategy used is equal to the one used for the
baseline study in 2008. Households visited in 2008 were, as much as possible, visited again
in this mid-term impact evaluation. The general survey approach used in 2008, which is
described below, is the basis of household selection for this study.
General Survey Approach
This survey used a clustered sampling approach where sample households were grouped into
equal size population blocks. In a household survey a cluster may refer to a whole community, a whole village, or may be defined as equal size blocks into which a given community
has been divided for accessibility and other practical reasons. This commonly used
clustering method offers a practical approach for finding the balance between programme
costs, practical applicability of statistical tools and accuracy of sample estimates. It makes
the sampled units easier to access and reduces the cost of operation. Here cluster sampling
is preferred because it is the approach other major international data collection exercises
on water, sanitation and health such as the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICs), which
contribute to the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water and Sanitation.
The process used for determining the sample design, particularly determining the sample
size and the sample selection process, is to a large extent based on a combination of the
Rapid Assessment of Drinking Water Quality (RADWQ) approach (see the UNICEF and WHO
handbook,2003) and the related methodological principles and formula developed by
Bennett et al. (see for example the publication by Bennett et al. 1991). Both the RADWQ and
the Bennett methodologies have been applied successfully in several water quality and
household health studies in developing countries. UNICEF Mozambique has extensive
familiarity with both the development and use of these methodologies.
The Key Features of the Statistical Approach
The main feature that differentiates this statistical approach from a more basic simple
random sample selection process is its ability to take account of the design effect caused by
clustering. It is rigorous in addressing the issue of homogeneity, an issue that becomes
critical once the decision is made to cluster the sample. It also pays attention to making the
decisions about the desired reliability and precision of the estimates be part of determining
the sample size. Bennett et al. for example argue that this methodology gives survey
47

This is Annex III in WE Consult’s report on the second round of the household survey.

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Annexes

practitioners guidance on how to get a reasonable representative sample without any great
bias, and of a suitable size to give adequate precision without wasting resources. From the
baseline survey, it is possible to have more confidence in the quality of estimates for various
variables which means that subsequent surveys focusing on the same communities can
achieve the same level of confidence using smaller sample size and paying less to complete
the survey.

Application in Mozambique

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The details of how this was done and the values to use for this survey were determined in a
joined mission including staff of UNICEF, experts on the Bennett methodology and on
RADWQ and WE-consult. It is important to note that the RADWC methodology focuses
specifically on the quality of water supply with the unit of analysis being the water supply
itself while the Bennett formula and methodology is developed to treat the households as
the unit of analysis. This is a household survey covering water quality but also a wide range
of household variables including household sanitation and hygienic practices, family
health and socioeconomic conditions, education and training levels achieved and has male
and female disaggregated data. The survey inception mission deliberated on how to bring
the two methodologies together in the Mozambique baseline survey, and recommended an
outcome that was several times discussed and accepted by the Government of Mozambique.
The programme staff developed a set of indicators to be measured using a household
questionnaire as well as water sampling at the source and at the household level. In
addition, to improve the reliability and validity of the indicators the process included
triangulation using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. The aim of this
triangulation was to complement the main household questionnaire with several other
tools including: a community level enquiry identifying community conditions based on
open discussions and a questionnaire, water source questions based on a mixture of direct
observations and a questionnaire, a questionnaire administered in schools and an
additional detailed household water consumption and women’s labour profile questionnaire completed in some (10%) of the sampled households.
Evidently, the Mozambique baseline survey turned out to be quite comprehensive and the
practical application on the ground both challenging and exciting. The project inception
mission provided the methodological principles and guidelines and continued to provide
reviews and inputs into the implementation process. The Consultant, using these guidelines, planned the survey, identified and implemented the practical details taking account
of the required statistical rigor, programme budget and time constraints as well as limitations of rural Mozambique conditions on the ground. The rest of this paper highlights the
key steps followed including defining survey population, determining the sample size,
selecting the districts, defining and selecting the clusters and the final process used for
selecting sample households on the ground.
Survey Population Definition and Stratification
In this survey the population under study is the total number of households in the 18 districts
(Sofala, Manica and Tete) covered by the programme - approximately 4.9 million people in

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

around 1,000,000 households. Considering the nature of water collection and use, the
baseline survey has adopted the definition of a household as “all people having one household
head and living on the same compound.” The strategy for the programme impact evaluation
includes future comparison of households targeted by the programme and those not
targeted. For this purpose the households were stratified (or grouped by similar characteristics) into two groups – one, the target stratum including households in high density
communities with limited access to improved water source and two, the rest of the
households. Thus the survey includes a sample from the target stratum and a sample from the
general population to serve as the control stratum. It then disaggregates the results of some
key indicators by these two groups for the purpose of comparison during the base year
(2008) and subsequently during mid-term (2010) and final programme impact evaluations.
Because of the different conditions of the two groups the sample was drawn from two
sampling frames: one, the 1997 census data from INE (1997) used for the random selection
of sample clusters representative of the control group and two, a PEC developed list used for
the random selection of sample clusters representative of the target group.
Determining the Sample Size
The sample size was determined based on the following formula:

4 P (1 – P ) D
n=
e2
n= the sample size (number of households in the sample)
p= the proportion of households per cluster giving a particular response for one given
question (or survey item). For example, in this survey, what is proportion households
(cluster average) would answer positively to washing hands after a meal.
e = the standard error of the measurement p
D = the Design Effect where D=1+(b-1) *roh
roh – rate of homogeneity (a measure of intra-cluster correlation regarding a given item).
Roh value will be higher for items that are more likely to produce the same response for
two individuals in the same cluster than for two individuals in different clusters - i.e high
intra-cluster correlation relative to inter-cluster correlation.
b= average number of responses achieved to an item per cluster (where there is one
response per household, b is equal to the number of households interviewed in one
cluster, for example in this survey, 20)
Considering validity, precision of estimates that can be achieved given available resources,
the level of error that can be tolerated for this type of study, experiences from other
comparable surveys practice the following values were found appropriate for the
Mozambique situation:
D = 4 (the RADWQ uses a range of 2 – 10 and the inception mission and the Bennett
methodology experts agreed the value 4 is appropriate for this study given what is known
and can be expected in terms of homogeneity for household factors being studied. This
estimates roh = 0.2 which, according to Bennett et al. (1991), is reasonable).

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Annexes

P = 0.5 (the value of P says something about the bias of the estimator. As explained in the
RADWQ handbook for implementation (2003) the value p = 0.5 maximum sample size with
least bias and maximises the likelihood of obtaining a sample that is representative of the
true data distribution).
e (standard error) =+ or – 0.05 (the value e is a measure of the estimator precision). The
value e = 0.05 is typically used in RADWQ surveys based on the argument that lower
precision would give unreliable results while a higher precision would be too expensive as it
would require a very large survey. It is further argued that if it necessary for some reason, it
is better to change the value of e than to change the value of P as one does not want a
precisely biased estimate. The value e=0.05 gives a confidence interval of 95%.
The above values give estimates for a given item. The result is then multiplied by 4 to take
account of the four main programme intervention areas forming the focus of the survey.
This results in a sample size of 1600 households as follows.

n=

4 * 0.5(1 – 0.5) * 4
= 1600 households
(0.05) 2

Sample Stratification and Representativeness
| 158 |

The inception mission further decided that the 1600 households should be divided into
half, 800 sampled in the target group and 800 in the control group. Here it is important to
note that the target group is over-represented in the sample (not sampled proportional to
the size of the target stratum population) as in the population the programme does not
target as many as half the population of the 3 provinces. The focus of the programme is the
target group and in this survey the other households only serve as a control for the
programme. Since the target group households are purposefully selected for their more
limited access to water supply, the non-disaggregated average results for some specific
water access related indicators such as “distance travelled,” “quantity consumed” etc and
their effects on the household conditions may expectedly be worse in the target group than
in the control group which more resembles the overall population. Because of these facts
the non-disaggregated sample results do not quite represent the conditions of the entire
survey population – theoretically the results for the target group and overall sample
estimates exaggerate the problem while the control group results alone more accurately
capture the water access related conditions of the survey population. Thus, while the design
is appropriate and statistically valid for project evaluation purpose, not all sample estimate
results can be generalised to the overall survey population.

Defining clusters and Determining cluster size
The 800 households were contained in 40 clusters. The guidance given by Bennett et al. is
that the determination of the distribution of the households within clusters should be
made based on practical considerations such as access and time it would take to complete
one community. In this case each cluster has 20 households and therefore 800 households
organised in a total of 40 clusters. The practice in RADWQ surveys is to maintain the cluster

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

size between 200 and 1000 people. This survey used equal clusters of 500 people (100
households). On the ground this arrangement meant that each cluster was covered in a
period of 3 days.
District Selection: The 9 districts covered in the study were purposefully selected for their
convenience in the execution of the survey and amount to a good coverage of the total
programme area. The reasons for selecting them include the fact that programme work was
going on and so more was known about the communities. However to the best of existing
knowledge the household and water supply conditions of the households in the 9 districts
does not differ in any systematic way from the rest.
Sample Cluster Selection: Cluster selection was followed by systematic random cluster
sampling. This process required that first the total population of the communities (in INE
1977 census for control and PEC for target) in the 9 districts was divided by 500 to obtain the
number of clusters per district with each district having a different number of clusters
reflecting its population size. The following steps were followed to select clusters in each of
the groups as follows:

Cluster selection steps
STEPS

Target Cluster
result

Control cluster
result

1. Consistent with the PPS systematic random sampling
a cumulative list of clusters was created for each group

376 clusters

2200 clusters

2. The total number of clusters was divided by 40 to
obtain the sampling interval

sampling interval
=9

sampling interval
= 55

3. A first random number was chosen between 1 and the
sampling interval.

First random
number =6

First random
number = 49

4. after the first random number the sampling interval was
added to identify each subsequent sample cluster and
the total number of sample clusters per district
obtained.

total number of
sample clusters
per district
obtained

total number of
sample clusters
per district
obtained

RESULT

40 clusters

40 clusters

This first stage of sampling sampled clusters as the primary units following the Probability
Proportional to Size (PPS) approach and resulting in the number of sampled clusters being
more in higher population districts.
Selecting households in the field
Bottle spinning- start point: In each cluster the initial random effect was achieved by the spinning
of a bottle while standing at the middle of the cluster and taking the line of the bottle top as
the start. This gave every household in the cluster equal probability of being on this line. It
then used randomization procedures to select the first and subsequent households while
addressing different cluster patterns.

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Annexes

This final part summarises the steps followed and guidance given (to the field team leaders
and enumerators) for addressing different cluster shapes and house densities and for
avoiding likely bias of selecting more households in the middle of cluster or along the
village road or path.
Case I: Sampling Approach in a Dense and round or square shape cluster
Diagram 3: Example of Square High Density Cluster

4

2
4

1

2 1
4

3

3

2

1
3

4
3
2

1

4
1

2

4

2

3 1

3

| 160 |
4

2
4

1
3

2 1
4

3

2

1
3

4
1

3
2

4
1

2
3 1

4

2
3

Steps (see diagram 3):
1. Establish the approximate cluster boundaries and start at the centre (in target communities this was the identified location of water point)
2. From the centre spin a bottle, follow the line indicated by the bottle top and select the
first household using the given random number between 1and 4. The random number
for the start household given to each team leader was different in each cluster. Out of 20
households to be selected this became house number 1.
3. Along the same first random line, count the 4th house after house number 1 and call this
house number 2 and continue selecting and numbering every 4th house until the cluster
boundary.
4. Select subsequent houses by going back to the centre and continuing the selection of every
4th house along the same line in the opposite direction (180 degrees) until cluster boundary.

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

5. Return to the centre, take 90 degrees line from the first line and continue counting
every 4th house towards cluster boundary and then back to centre and continue same
procedure in the opposite direction.
6. Continue this until 20 households have been selected.
Case II: Sampling Approach in High Density Cluster Elongated Along Road
Diagram 4: Example of Elongated High Density Cluster

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The objective here was to minimise both the bias of being located along the road, in the
middle or near water point and to have best coverage in the cluster.
Steps (see diagram 4):
1. Establish the approximate cluster boundaries and start at the centre
2. From the centre spin a bottle and following the line indicated by the bottle top select
the first household using a random number between 1and 4. Out of the 20 households
that need to be selected this is house number 1.
3. Along the same line house number 2 should be the 4th house from the 1st one. Continue
selecting each 4th house until the cluster boundary.
4. At the cluster boundary turn 90 degrees and continue counting and numbering every 4th
house

Annexes

5. When you get to the end or to the road take 90 degrees again and select every and
number 4th house.
6. Return to the centre, take 90 degrees line from the first line and continue counting
every 4th house towards cluster boundary or road. At that point take another 90 degree
turn and continue counting and numbering.
7. Return to centre and take a line perpendicular to the first one and continue the same
pattern until 20 households have been selected.
Case III: Low Density Square/round or Elongated Clusters
Following the same line patters and procedures as in case I (high density square or round)
or case II (high density elongated) but in this case because of longer distance between
houses, count every house (not every 4th house) along each selected line.

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Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

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| 168 |

Published by:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
P.O. Box 20061 | 2500 eb The Hague | The Netherlands
www.minbuza.nl | www.rijksoverheid.nl
Photo Cover: Improved latrine
Photographs: Rita Tesselaar, Stephen Turner
Layout: vijfkeerblauw, Rijswijk
Print: OBT Opmeer
ISBN: 478-90-5328-414-8
© Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands | October 2011

Report | no. 360

Impact evaluation of drinking water
supply and sanitation interventions
in rural Mozambique
Since 2006, the UNICEF–Netherlands Partnership
Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation has
been supporting Water Supply and Sanitation
programmes in Mozambique. The largest
programme, the ‘One Million Initiative’ aims to
bring improved sanitation and clean water to
over one million people in rural Mozambique.
Half-way through the programme, a joint impact
evaluation was carried out by IOB and UNICEF’s

evaluation office. It found evidence of a large
increase in the use of improved water sources
and in the ownership and use of latrines. Much of
the increase can be attributed to an innovative
approach to sanitation. However, water from
improved sources and even more importantly,
stored water, are not always safe to drink. An
element of subsidy will continue to be needed to
sustain facilities and services.

More than Water

Published by:

11buz283729 | E

This project was a product of a cooperation between:

Impact evaluation of drinking water supply and sanitation interventions in rural Mozambique

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB)
P.O. box 20061 | 2500 eb The Hague | The Netherlands
www.minbuza.nl/iob
© Ministry of Foreign Affairs | October 2011| ISBN 978-90-5328-414-8