Advancing U.S. Efforts on Water and Sanitation in

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001181

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR HTREGER
MCC FOR SGAULL
USAID FOR AA/AFR AND AFR/SA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID MZ
SUBJECT: Advancing U.S. Efforts on Water and Sanitation in
Mozambique

Reference: State 128229

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1. (U) The information contained in this response was
provided to Post by USAID Maputo.

Overview
--------------


2. (U) As of 2002, Mozambique's overall access to water
supply was 39% (40% in urban areas and 36% in rural),while
access to sanitation was 33% (33% for both urban and
rural). With a mean annual rainfall of about 800 to 1000 mm
in the coast and about 1000 to 2000 mm in the north, and
upstream rivers generating for about 54% of water sources in
the country, about 75% (14 million) of the total population
rely on ground water.

Mozambique's Need and Commitment to Water and Sanitation
Issues
-------------- --------------


3. (U) The institutional and legal framework is coherent and
largely consistent with most middle to high income
countries. Water resources management is being
decentralized with the creation of regional water
administrations (ARAs). In the area of water supply and
sanitation, the 1995 water policy was approved and started
to implement a framework for delegated management,
attracting the private sector for utility management. Under
this framework, two new institutions were created; the water
regulatory council (CRA) which is responsible for economic
and other regulation of water sector systems that are under
the delegated management; and the investment and asset fund
for water supply (FIPAG),which has been set up as the body
that owns the assets in urban areas that are either managed
or leased by the private operators.


4. (U) Public expenditure in the sector is still very low
(about USD19 million = 0.3% of GDP in 2004).
Floods and droughts have a direct impact in poverty and
quality of life of the population. (Example: during floods
of 2000, about 11% of the cultivated land in four provinces
was flooded and about 490,000 people were either displaced
or trapped in flood isolated areas). However, as a sign of
the government's commitment to the sector, about 50% of the
current draft concept paper for the Millennium Challenge
Corporation is in the water sector (mostly infrastructure
development for improved access).

Opportunities to Strengthen U.S. Engagement
--------------


5. (U) Given the rate of urban population growth and the
existing level of urban water coverage, it is unlikely that
the Millennium Development Goal of 90% coverage would be
reached within the next two decades if policy were to focus
exclusively on providing household connections. Even if
standpipes are an interim and not entirely satisfactory
solution, nonetheless they provide a route to ensuring that
almost all of the urban population has access to some form
of piped water supply within a few years. In the rural
areas, the government has pursued the demand-driven
approach, which requires communities to make a specific
request for the installation of a water source, pay a fee,
and take responsibility for its maintenance. Even with this
effort, about 30% of water sources are non-functional due to
various reasons (mainly lack of spare parts, poor
supervision of construction, or weak community management).
Additionally, the per capita cost of a rural water point is
about US$50, much more costly than in neighboring countries.
This is mainly due to low population density and high
operational cost of the machinery used.

The Main Issues Involved in Developing the Water Sector in
Mozambique
-------------- --------------


6. (U) Main issues for developing the water sector in
Mozambique as identified in the country status overview are:

-- Implementation Capacity at all levels and amongst
different actors to transition to the new institutional
arrangements, particularly in the rural areas.

-- High dependency on off budget donor funding limits
effectiveness of national strategies. While dependency will
remain high in the medium term, the sector needs to address

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the number of one-off projects, and increase coordination
and collaboration amongst all actors involved in the sector.

-- Developmental asymmetries or more attention given to the
urban areas at the expense of the rural areas. Flows to
rural areas should increase, while disbursements in the
urban areas should be made in a timely manner.

-- Reliable M&E systems need to be developed and maintained
in order to provide accurate and timely information to
support planning and tracking of implementation.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, Water and Sanitation
-------------- --------------


7. (U) Under the Mozambican government's Millennium
Challenge Account (MCA) concept paper, one of the components
is water and sanitation with an estimated budget of
USD$150,000,000 over a period of 5-years. Activities will
be focused mainly in the northern provinces of Zambezia,
Nampula, Niassa and Cabo Delgado. This component is
subdivided into to the following 4 objectives: (1) Improve
and increase availability of fresh water (5 projects,
including the rehabilitation of the reservoir of an urban
dam); (2) Increase access to potable water and water for
productive uses (23 projects which include the
rehabilitation and upgrading of water systems serving
municipalities and rural towns in districts and construction
of water points in rural areas); (3) Provide adequate
sanitation and drainage services (7 projects where sewerage
and drainage networks will be rehabilitated and expanded in
the target provinces, autonomous sanitation services under
restructured management, according to commercial principles,
will be also established); (4) Institutional development and
capacity building for better project implementation and
management of water sector services (activities have been
considered both at project and at a more global level).

Opportunities Where Programs Could Be Integrated Into,
Leverage Off Of and/or Support Mission Programs and Efforts
-------------- --------------


8. (U) Several USAID programs are contributing to
improvements of the water and sanitation sector in
Mozambique, and there are also opportunities for increased
contribution subject to availability of additional
funding. Food security activities have enhanced sustainable
water use for agriculture through improved irrigation
infrastructure, use of treadle pumps and adoption of drought
tolerant crops. In order to mitigate against natural
disaster, USAID has also provided equipment and technical
assistance to the GoM to monitor the water levels of key
rivers and institute an early warning system to broadcast
information in the event of a flood. Additionally, OFDA has
worked with communities in drought prone areas to build
small reservoirs to ensure adequate water for drinking,
agriculture and household needs. Through its integrated food
security program, USAID's NGO partners have also built
latrines to improve sanitation practices. There is anecdotal
evidence that malnutrition rates have decreased only
marginally despite strong economic growth, in part due to
the impact of water-born and other diseases. Throughout
USAID's Health and HIV programs, the sale of water treatment
kits contributes to the reduction of water-borne diseases in
children under-five and people living with HIV/AIDS.
USAID's municipal governance project, which works in 5
municipalities (Chimoio, Vilankulo, Gurue, Nacala and
Monapo),contains an infrastructure investment component
that funds minor infrastructure projects based on community
priorities. Since water has been identified as a top
priority in all five target municipalities, the project is
conducting and will conduct water-related activities, such
as opening of boreholes and installation of water pumps. It
also supports studies to identify the most effective ways to
manage water distribution systems in the five
municipalities.


9. (U) USAID is currently in the process of developing a
Global Development Alliance (GDA) in partnership with Coca-
Cola through the Community Watersheds Partnership
Initiative. The project would provide access to water to
neighborhoods and communities in the city of Chimoio that
have never had running water before, and it complements an
existing project being implemented by the Dutch to increase
the water supply to the city and its surrounding
communities. The activity is a prime example of USAID's
efforts to leverage additional resources to invest in this

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area. Funding for the GDA project would come from two
different technical programs in the USAID Mission, the local
Coca-Cola Company in Mozambique, and the GDA Secretariat in
USAID/Washington.


10. (U) With additional funding USAID would expand existing
interventions to a wider area and would introduce more
complex activities, such as support for water reticulation
systems - new or rehabilitation of existing ones -- or
identification of additional sources of water where current
sources are insufficient. Additional investments could also
be made in improving sanitation infrastructure and systems
and expanding the existing water treatment kits activity to
reach more people.


Raspolic