Water Supply or ‘Beautiful Latrines’? Microcredit for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Main author: Reis, Nadine
Other authors: Mollinga, Peter
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-17094
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description Around half of the Mekong Delta’s rural population lacks year-round access to clean water. In combination with inadequate hygiene and poor sanitation this creates a high risk of diseases. Microcredit schemes are a popular element in addressing such problems on the global policy level. The present paper analyses the contradictory results of such a microcredit programme for rural water supply and sanitation in the context of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, through a qualitative study primarily based on semi-structured interviews in rural communes of Can Tho City. We come to the conclusion that the programme has a positive effect regarding the safer disposal of human excreta as well as surface water quality, but a marginal impact on poverty reduction as it only reaches better-off households already having access to clean water. The paper shows how the outcome of rural water supply and sanitation policies are strongly infl uenced by the local ecological, technological, and social settings, in particular by stakeholders’ interests. The authors challenge the assumption that water supply and sanitation should be integrated into the same policy in all circumstances.
format Journal Article
author Reis, Nadine
author_facet Reis, Nadine
Mollinga, Peter
authorStr Reis, Nadine
author_letter Reis, Nadine
author2 Mollinga, Peter
author2Str Mollinga, Peter
title Water Supply or ‘Beautiful Latrines’? Microcredit for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
publisher Society for South-East Asian Studies (SEAS)
publishDate 2012
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17094/