Scoping mission WP2 Uganda - August 2017

Project meeting and scoping mission to the case study area of Bushenyi, western Uganda.

Kampala and Bushenyi, 14-18 August 2017

In August 2017, the project partners working on WP2 in Uganda, NWSC, Makerere University, IHE and EAWAG, gathered to discuss about the progress made till date and travelled together to the Bushenyi district in Western Uganda for a scoping mission that paved the road for the next phase of the project.

During the meeting in Kampala, the Deliverable 2.1 “Drinking water quality monitoring practices in Uganda” was presented and the plans for the upcoming PhD (1) and MSc (6) research from IHE Delft and Makerere University were discussed. The team highlighted the importance of improving the water services management strategies applied in small towns, with the ultimate goal of achieving safely managed water supply.

The second leg of the visit was devoted to a scoping mission in the Bushenyi district, where the Ugandan partners, Prof. Frank Kansiime of Makerere University and Mr. Christopher Kanyesigye of NWSC, led Dr. Giuliana Ferrero of IHE Delft and Dr. Sara Marks of EAWAG through field visits and discussions with the local stakeholders. It emerged that Bushenyi district holds one of the success stories of financial sustainability after NWSC’s takeover of small towns. Nevertheless, some challenges still persist, such as the threats posed by climate change and anthropogenic activities to the water resources in the area, performing water quality monitoring with limited financial and human resources, and fluctuating water quality and copying strategies used by consumers in response to intermittent water supply.