ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Three quarters of the DRC's population lack access to clean drinking water. Alongside disease, the burden of collecting water from distant government-run taps often falls to children and women. When these taps fail in the city of Goma, households can be forced to turn to expensive ‘water-truck mafias’, untreated collected rain water or to leverage nearby Lake Kivu.

In early 2018, Mercy Corps DRC representatives approached ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ CPAID researcher Dr Pat Stys to conduct research on an ongoing WASH programme which has built new water taps in Goma. With a team of international and local researchers, Pat uses a mixture of social network research and financial diaries to study whether the taps have changed the lives of people living in 28 households in some of the city’s lower socio-economic neighbourhoods.

The project has trained five Congolese researchers to use an innovative mixture of social network research and financial diaries to understand how households manage their resources. They visit the households once every two weeks over 11 months to collect in-depth data to reveal the water taps’ effects, by comparing the experiences of those with access to those without.

The project aims to discover whether households with access to taps are better able to plan financially due to the steady supply and lower costs of water, and whether they are better able to use their resources and networks to cope with unexpected shocks, such as ill-health or other great expenses. Our findings will inform Mercy Corps' intended scale-up of their programme to Bukavu, DRC and investment in schemes such as independent savings co-operatives. 

Policy briefs

• Understanding household coping strategies in Goma, DRC. Tom Kirk, Patrycja Stys, Samuel Muhindo, Bauma Balume, Papy Mazuri, Ishara Tchumisi, Sandrine N’simire & Duncan Green (2021).

Journal papers

• Kirk, T., Green, D., Stys, P., Mosquera, T. (2023). . Development Policy Review. 

• Stys, P., Muhindoa, S., N’simirea, S., Tchumisia, I., Muzuria, P., Balume, B. & Koskinen, J. (2021). . Social Networks, 68.

Working papers

• An experimental methodology for studying household financial governance and coping mechanisms in Goma, DRC. Stys, P., Kirk, T., Muhindo, S., Balume, B., Mazuri, P., Tchumisi, I., N’simire, S. & Green, D. Working paper, 1/21 (2021).

Blogs

• . Global Policy Opinion, March 2023.

• ',' Africa at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ blog, September 2019.

• ',' Africa at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ blog, September 2019. 

• ',' Africa at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ blog, September 2019. 

• ',' Africa at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ blog, September 2019. 

• ',' Africa at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ blog, September 2019.

• ',' Africa at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ blog, August 2019.

• ',' Africa at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ blog, December 2018.

The project is jointly funded by Mercy Corps and the Centre for Public Authority and International Development. The former provides funding for the Congolese researchers and expenses in the DRC, and the latter the salaries of Pat Stys, Tom Kirk and Duncan Green.