Small Enterprises and Water Provision in Kibera, Nairobi

This report reviews the experience of a large water project in Kibera, Nairobi. At the time of writing, the project as a whole had failed, and this failure is used to illustrate the dangers of engaging in ostensibly participatory processes when the decision to stop the project can be made unilaterally with no consultation or transparency. Not all of the lessons are negative however. Following a brief introduction providing background on Kibera and the residents' views of private sector participation in water provision, the report describes the project and stakeholders' involvement, which ranged from residents' negotiating where the pipes should be laid, to proposals to establish a water sellers association. The report then examines some of the challenges facing public-private partnerships in Kibera, touching on issues that are widely debated internationally, such as land tenure, cost recovery, private sector participation, local participation. In almost every case, the most important local issues turn out to be quite different from those that are debated in the international arena.