Water and poverty: the realities : experiences from the field

The ten case studies from international experts presented in this paper are "best practice" papers, produced for the Water and Poverty initiative and present practical examples of improving the role of water in poverty reduction. They cover countries and regions in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Gender, access, integrated water resources management, irrigation, coastal issues, and watershed development are among the issues explored.
Many cases deal with improved access to quality water, or pro-poor economic growth and livelihood improvement. Other cases focus on the management of the environment, pro-poor water governance, and community capacity building and empowerment.
In schemes that do not specifically aim at reaching the poor, the relatively more prosperous sections of the community seem to reap most of the benefits from water resources. Several of the case studies indicate that government agencies can deliver expected outputs and are even able to reach the poor efficiently.
The single most obvious idea confirmed in most case study papers is that poverty reduction is possible only if the poor have secure access to safe and sufficient water for domestic and productive purposes. The overview presented here clearly demonstrates that there are many practical and cost-effective ways of making a difference. Improving different aspects of water management can and does have a direct and material impact on poverty. These innovative approaches to water problems around the world, mixing success with elements that has to be improved, all demonstrate that water management is a step in the right direction, but not enough.