Estimating Willingness to pay for Rural Water Supply: The Case of Ada 'a-Lib en District, Central Ethiopia
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Date
1998-06
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A.A.U
Abstract
Currently only 26% of Ethiopian Population get safe drinking
water, which is the lowest access to safe water provision in the
world. The coverage of the rural areas is even lower at 19%,
while in the urban areas it is 77% .
These facts are indicator of the necessity of a major effort to
improve potable water in the country, particularly in the rural
areas. Provision and maintenance of safe water supply have to do
a lot with the capacity to pay for the services in addition to
setting up facilities . A major question is whether users could
pay or not . This thesis addresses this issue using contingent
valuation method in the absence of directly observable demand for
water.
A cross-section data was collected from eight peasant
associations and 228 farm households in the Ada'a-Liben district
to analyze factors that will determine rural households'
willingness to pay for improved rural water provision.
Households in this sample survey use different water sources.
Amcng them 63.6% use poor "water quality for drinking from
River ,lake and well while 36 . 4% use from improved sources(hand
pump, electric pump and water vendor}.
The results of this study show that income, distance from current
water source, quality of water type used and availability of
credit are the major determinants of willingness to pay for safe
water .
The policy implication of the study is that rural households are
willing to pay for improved rural water provision if it is
supplied at an affordable price.
Therefore, it may be pragmatic, both in terms of saving resources
and sustaining the service, to put a price on safe water .
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Keywords
Central Ethiopia, Willingness to pay for Rural Water