Empty Buckets and Overflowing Pits

This insightful book, Empty Buckets and Overflowing Pits, explores urban water and sanitation challenges in Africa, emphasizing necessary reforms and realistic solutions for the urban poor.

This book offers a comprehensive and multi-dimensional perspective on urban water and sanitation development by examining sector reforms across Africa. With pressing issues such as water shortages in Cape Town, widespread cholera outbreaks in Haiti, and mass migration from low-income countries, Empty Buckets and Overflowing Pits addresses a critical topic that directly impacts the precarious living conditions of the urban poor in developing nations. The findings and recommendations provided in the book are vital for improving the circumstances of potential refugees in their home countries, presenting a realistic vision for the development of essential life-supporting services.

Numerous attempts to reverse the adverse trends in water and sanitation development have fallen short, often with little accountability for decision-makers at various levels. The consequences have been dire, leading to the loss of many young lives, perpetuating poverty for billions, and exacerbating gender discrimination. The confusion and knowledge gap in the sector are starkly illustrated when a national leader declares a state of emergency in urban water and sanitation, while global monitoring reports over 90% access to urban water in the same country. It is crucial to shift this narrative through an effective sector development concept for partner countries and foster a more realistic global discourse.

Empty Buckets and Overflowing Pits advocates for a fundamental rethinking of the sector, combining extensive local knowledge, historical lessons from developed nations, and rigorous research on reforms in both Francophone and Anglophone developing countries. The author, with nearly 30 years of experience as an integrated long-term advisor in Sub-Saharan countries, provides readers with a deep understanding of how sector institutions operate in low-income nations. The book highlights the reasons behind both successes and failures in reforms, addressing overlooked issues that significantly influence urban water and sanitation development. This unique approach sets it apart from other literature in the field.