USAID Expanding Water and Sanitation Project Market Assessment Report
Summary
According to the Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (2018) 72 percent of households—92 percent urban and 58 percent rural—obtain their drinking water from an improved source. In terms of sanitation, 54 percent—78 percent urban and 37 percent rural—have access to improved sanitation facilities. In both instances, the need for improved water and sanitation is higher in rural than urban areas. Predominantly, provision of WASH services in rural areas and rural growth centers has been the responsibility of local authorities, i.e., district, municipal and city councils. In 2020, however, the National WASH regulator National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) expanded the commercial utilities’ mandate to include provision of services to all areas, including urban, peri-urban, rural, and rural growth centers.
In practice, this means that commercial utilities (CUs) need to increase their capacity and resource base in order to respond adequately to this expanded mandate. More importantly, CUs need to explore partnership models that will allow them to reach all the areas under their jurisdiction. The USAID-funded Expanding Water and Sanitation Project (USAID Expanding WASH) aims to professionalize WASH services in Zambia, to promote accountability for reliable and high-quality WASH services, and to enhance the enabling environment for private sector engagement (PSE) in service delivery. This objective will require the concerted efforts of the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation (MWDS), local authorities (LAs), GRZ partners, NWASCO, CUs, and the private sector.