Going Small When the City Grows Big
Abstract Actual development of water and wastewater systems in towns is an outcome of several interrelated factors such as physical, economic, and social environments. Demography is also an important factor to consider in the formulation of development strategies. Too often in policy papers, population increase only serves as an argument for urgent action, but rarely as a factor in its own right that affects chances of improving a grave situation. A model is developed to generate water management options in urban areas related to population growth. A hypothesis is that management should go small in periods when the city expands rapidly. A study is presented of the development of water and sanitation in the town of Kisumu in Kenya on the shore of Lake Victoria during last century. The aim is to describe and analyze actual development in the water sector and to foresee what prospective developments could be identified in light of continued rapid population growth. The slow growth of the town in the colonial period allowed towns to adequately meet the needs of all residents for water. The extremely rapid population growth after Independence in 1963 interacted with other factors to cause a successive deterioration of residents access to water and sewage disposal.
The Role of Households in Solid Waste Management in East Africa Capital Cities
Solid Management is a concern in East African capital cities. The absence of managing solid waste is a serious problem. An ever bigger concern is the growing quantities of waste that are generatedat households level in informal settlements. In most cases proper safeguard measures are largely ineffective or not in place at all. Moreover, unsafe disposal of waste in the region is coupled with poor hygiene. There is no doubt that East African capital cities need to formulate effective ways to manage their waste. This book is a result of PhD research within the framework of the PROVIDE project funded by INREF and carried out in East African capital cities (Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala). The work was carried out at the Environmental Policy (ENP) group with professor Gert Spaargaren and Dr. Peter Oosterveer as promotor and co-promotor. The focus of the research was to highlight the role of households in the production and management of domestic solid wastes.
Achievements and contradictions of the Peruvian agrarian reform
Different paths of transition to capitalist agriculture, as well as different types of agrarian reform, can be distinguished. The Peruvian agrarian reform is analysed within this context and evaluated in terms of its contribution to rural development. The Peruvian case underlines the importance of understanding the rationality of the pre‐existent agrarian system for a successful restructuring of the agrarian economy and society. The contradictions which arose between the State's model and the peasants’ model of agrarian reform, as well as those between different types of peasants, are discussed. Peru's experience is also a reminder that a land reform is not a sufficient condition for rural development unless accompanied by proper price, marketing, credit and investment policies.