Catalog

Rural Water
ADB Review [ December 2006 - January 2007 ]

Water supply. Sanitation. Irrigation. Drainage.

MAXIMUM GAINS Easy and reliable access to water—from communal hand pumps to village standpipes—can dramatically improve the quality of rural life

Postcard snapshots of tranquil Asian rural scenes can be deceptive. Rural life is not all free smiles, golden harvests, stately mountains, and a patient pace of life. Reality is harsher than that. But it could be made a lot easier by way of water—more water for irrigating fields, better drainage to prevent floods, drinking water within reasonable reach of people's homes, and simple sanitation.

Governments and private-sector investors tend to give these kinds of improvements low priority, though, simply because the economic returns on their investments are not high enough. However, the return is huge for the individuals who are spared from dry fields, floods, hours of walking for water, and unsanitary environments around their home.

The challenge is to find and implement simple technologies. Easy access to communal hand pumps, village standpipes, and collected rainwater can dramatically improve the quality of rural life. There is a need for new flood management methods to be introduced and greater investments in irrigation. Marginalized farmers must come into sharper focus for irrigation investments to truly reduce poverty.

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