SecureWater: Building sustainable livelihoods for the poor into demand responsive approaches

This research programme aims to increase understanding among interveners in the water sector of water-livelihood linkages. It seeks to build this understanding into efforts to eliminate poverty through establishing demand-responsive approaches to water-supply interventions.

The project draws on the Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) framework and the Household Economy approach (HEA) - to understand the nature of water-livelihood changes at the household level, and best practices for the elimination of poverty through water supply interventions. SecureWater's key policy is the development of more demand-responsive approaches (DRA) to water supply development.

Of key concern is how livelihood outcomes are affected by changes in the nature of water supply at the household level, the extent to which these factors are currently addressed in existing policies, and how DRA design and implementation can be enhanced to facilitate sustainable financing at the household and community level.
Our key goal is to develop SL-based decision-support tools for use in water sector development plans in India and Sri Lanka by the end of 2004.