Abstract:
Worldwide, rural populations are far less likely to have access to clean drinking water
than are urban ones. In many developing countries like Ethiopia, the current approach
to rural water supply used of supply-driven, instead of demand. The main objective of
this study is to identify main factors that contributed to problems of effectiveness and
sustainability of donor assisted rural water supply projects in Awi zone Amhara
region. The study was carriedout in two sample woredas; Ankesha and Banja woredas
of the study area. 17sample rural water supply .projects were taken for the study. The
three types of water supply technologies studied in the thesis were hand dug wells,
developed springs, and shallow wells. The field investigation on site, interview,
questionnaire and discussion with officials, water committees and beneficiaries
weremethods of primary data collection. The data from questionnaire was analyzed by
SPSS 20. From detail field investigation technical existing situations, problems,
remedial solutions were examined. Among the numerous factors that contributed to
the poor performance of the schemes, the two key reasons are technical and
management (social) factors. Poor facilities design, poor construction, and lack of
provision for system management, operation and maintenance, limited policy
implementation, lack of capacity to keep the system running after project completion,
poor cooperation between the water agent and users, lack of involvement of the
community in the planning and construction process had also compounded the
problems. The recommendation focuses on need for proper construction quality, and
routine O&M program, importance of cooperation between water resource, donors,
water committees and beneficiaries. Community involvement in maintenance ensures
project sustainability.
