A proposal for

Project Fatsaka (Phase 2): Increasing long-term access to clean drinking water though community-led water source management in Mahatalaky

Prepared for

The Merstham Aid Project

May 2017

SEED MadagascarSuite 7, 1a Beethoven St, London, W10 4LG, United Kingdom

Villa Rabemanda, Ambinanikely, B.P. 318, Tolagnaro, MadagascarTel: +44 (0)208 960 6629

Email: projects@seedmadagascar.orgWeb: madagascar.co.uk

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1. Project Summary

Aim: To increase access to clean drinking water by working alongside 28 rural communities to develop sustainable community management structures and build local community and regional official capacity to manage and maintain protected water sources

Location: Mahatalaky Rural Commune, southeast Madagascar

Duration: 18 months Project start: 01 April 2017

Total Budget: £40,555 of which £32,317 has been secured

Executive Summary: Ranked as the fourth worst country in the world for water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH], almost half of Madagascar’s population does not have access to clean drinking water (UNICEF, 2015). Over 10,000 children die each year from diarrhoeal disease, with 90% of these deaths attributed to unsafe water and a lack of sanitation and hygiene (Word Bank, 2011). Facing extreme water insecurity due to frequent droughts (UNICEF, 2015), the south of the country bears the heaviest burden. In chronically impoverished and isolated communities, such as those of the Mahatalaky Rural Commune, installing wells is a necessary but insufficient step in securing long-term access to clean drinking water. Whilst historically numerous communities have been provided with wells by both SEED Madagascar and other non-governmental organisations, a lack of knowledge, skills and resources has resulted in many wells falling into a state of disrepair. Crucially, infrastructure provision is only one piece of the puzzle.

In response, Project Fatsaka is piloting a refined approach to well management. The first phase of the pilot supported 15 communities to identify and implement their own well management and maintenance action plans, strengthened by the delivery of technical training sessions. Through the innovative application of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), communities were `triggered’ to recognise the link between poor sanitation and negative health outcomes. With these activities resulting in 13 highly motivated communities, SEED built the capacity of community representatives to carry out essential repairs and supported communities to establish effective management and maintenance systems. By the end of the initial pilot phase, all 13 communities had a supply of clean water. Moreover, the communities had the skills and structures in place to aid sustainable access to clean drinking water long into the future.

Prior to a larger scale-up, SEED will implement a second phase of the pilot encompassing revised project activities alongside a more rigorous approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL), and partnership building. Continuing to work with the original 13 communities, SEED will monitor long-term progress, refine methods and incorporate project learning to work with an additional 15 communities. Supplementing this extension will be the implementation of new project activities, providing an opportunity to test and refine the model for sustainable well use, management and maintenance, developed during the initial pilot. These include well mapping, engaging with Commune-level authorities, and working with schools to ensure that young people act as positive agents of change. Finally, utilising well-established partnerships and networks within SEED’s wider WASH portfolio, the upcoming phase seeks to actively engage with local, regional and national stakeholders to share learning and best practices, whilst building capacity to implement a scalable and replicable model of well management across a wider area.

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2. Organisational Background

SEED Madagascar (previously Azafady UK) is a British-registered charity (1079121) established in 1994 and registered in England & Wales in 1999. The acronym SEED (sustainable environment, education and development) reflects the organisation’s holistic approach to projects; all of which are built around the most pressing and directly expressed needs of disadvantaged communities. Cross-departmental collaboration between SEED’s four programmes – Community Health, Sustainable Livelihoods, Environmental Conservation and Education – maximises progress towards SEED’s central mission: to build community and institutional capacity to lead and support effective conservation and sustainable development initiatives.

SEED works on the ground to design, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate projects - either independently with its local staff or alongside partner organisations such as ONG Azafady. Collaboration between international and Malagasy teams provides projects and programmes with the vital expertise and regional knowledge necessary to achieve conservation and development goals. SEED’s specialist international staff and volunteers build professional and organisational capacity amongst local staff members and partners, optimising the sustainability of interventions.

SEED retains responsibility and accountability for financial management of all SEED funded operations. With 92% of income spent in direct pursuit of SEED’s charitable aims, administration costs are minimal. SEED has benefited an estimated 125,000 over the last fifteen years; building a healthier and more educated and skilled region whose socioeconomic progress complements rather than harms the uniquely rich natural environment.

3. Project Logic

4. Project Activities

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Mapping and Commune engagement: To support Commune engagement, initial stages will include baseline mapping of the location, condition, use and management systems of wells commune-wide. Findings will be presented to the Commune and Mayor, ensuring authorities have a thorough, detailed understanding of the state of the wells, whilst sensitively reinforcing the Commune’s water provision responsibilities.

Pilot follow-up: Continued support of the initial 13 wells of the pilot phase will contribute to long-term community access to improved water sources. Follow-up visits will be conducted by Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) to monitor motivation and arising challenges, supporting continued access to clean water and informing the approach to well management in the additional 15 wells of Phase 2.

Community identification and initial meetings: An additional 15 wells requiring repair and management will be identified through collaboration with regional authorities. An initial meeting will be facilitated with each village’s community leader as well as with influential community members and elders, to establish causes of well disrepair, alongside gathering momentum and advice for the project.

Community triggering and planning: CLTS-inspired triggering techniques will structure village meetings, where communities will be encouraged to consider their sanitation behaviours. Through triggering, CLOs will guide communities to draw connections between open defecation, water sources and diarrhoeal illnesses. Participants will map the area and conduct transect walks between water sources, open defecation sites and wells, highlighting the movement of faecal matter and the dubious quality of unprotected water. CLOs will facilitate the creation of an ‘action plan’, which will include cleaning in and around the well site, creating dina (local rules and procedures for well use) and establishing financial systems for any required repairs.

Well assessment and repairs: SEED’s construction team will work with community members to carry out essential well repairs. This will serve the dual purpose of providing clean water and key practical experience to community members as they develop their well maintenance and repair skills.

Well committee establishment, training and support: Additional facilitation visits will be held after the first triggering events to refine/facilitate the development of management structures through well committees, and to clarify their roles in well maintenance. CLOs will suggest suitable committee roles and encourage the participation of women, such as in the form of a women’s monitoring subcommittee. Following triggerings, CLOs and technical agents will conduct monthly monitoring visits to support/advise committees on how to overcome challenges as they implement their action plans. A technical agent trained by SEED staff will provide financial, management and maintenance training to communities. While responsibility for well management and maintenance will remain

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Left: A CLO facilitates a ‘triggering’ session on the spread of disease via unclean water sources Right: Community members are actively encouraged to map water sources

with the committee and at the community level, the Commune authorities and Chef Fokontany will be encouraged to receive regular reports from committees on wells.

WASH lessons within schools: CLOs will deliver classes at schools of participating communities, providing information on adequate sanitation and hygiene practices, and highlighting links to disease reduction and achievement of good health. Teachers will be actively involved in lesson planning and delivery, building their capacity to ultimately run classes without CLO supervision.

Information Education and Communication [IEC] materials distributed and cross-community learning : To ensure that the impact of triggering and training is sustained after project completion, SEED will distribute IEC materials as visual learning tools and points of reference. Cross-community learning visits will be carried out after the well management structures and committees have been set-up and trialled. As communities face individual challenges, SEED will match communities best suited for cross-learning partnerships and showcase communities who have responded with especially effective or innovative strategies for well management.

5. Sustainability & Partnership Building

This additional testing phase has been designed to ensure Fatsaka provides a sustainable solution to addressing the management and maintenance issues currently hampering communities’ long-term access to clean drinking water.

SEED wishes to highlight the following features, which seek to improve the use and availability of clean water sources within the 28 target communities, whilst concurrently providing a robust framework for informing future project scale-up and/or external replication:

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Left: A CLO demonstrates the successful results of well maintenance in one community

Right: Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of

- Ongoing support and monitoring of the original 13 pilot phase communities, applying findings to adapt methodologies and approaches within an additional 15 communities. Rigorous MEL in all target communities will subsequently provide the evidence base for refining SEED’s model for community-based water management.

- Emphasis on a participatory approach, ensuring communities take responsibility for developing action plans, and establishing maintenance and financial structures from project start. Technical training sessions and cross-site visits will enhance community capacity to independently repair, manage and maintain wells.

- Active engagement of Commune authorities, facilitating their collaboration with and ability to regulate well management structures into the future.

- Significant attention to sharing project learning and best practices with external partners and networks. SEED’s extensive WASH portfolio has facilitated strong working relationships with local NGOs, Ministries of Health, Water and Education, as well as memberships within national networks including Diarano WASH and Madagascar’s PHE Network. The second pilot phase intends to strengthen SEED’s partnerships and presence within the larger WASH sector through knowledge sharing, research papers and resource dissemination.

6. Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning

Utilising learning from the initial pilot phase, SEED has developed a rigorous MEL framework that will ensure the project remains responsive to emerging challenges and community needs. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to assess project indicators including: discussions with community members and Commune authorities, water source mapping, on-going water quality testing, observational monitoring, and baseline/endline surveys. Evaluating the project against an extensive range of output and outcome indicators will assist in providing a strong evidence base for future project development within SEED’s wider WASH portfolio, whilst also informing the dissemination of project learnings to external partners and networks.

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Left: To maximise project impact, entire communities are involved in project activitiesRight: A community which will continue to benefit from training during Phase 2

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