Assessing the functionality of water supply handpumps in a Sub-Saharan Africa rural environment: a practical application in eight councils in the Mvila Division, Southern Cameroon

Abstract

This paper presents updated water handpump functionality estimates for eight councils in the Mvila Division, southern region of Cameroon. The methodological approach was based on a technical inspection of 647 water points (181 boreholes and 466 wells) and semi-structured interviews with 500 stakeholders, including 103 water point committee members, 389 water users, and 8 water experts. According to the findings, one out of every three hand pumps is inoperable. Based on this rate, approximately 1.3 billion CFA francs (approximately 2 million US dollars) invested by the government, communities, and development partners are immobilized and do not generate any benefit for affected rural communities. This high level of handpump non-functionality is due to the low economic viability of water point management, the poor functionality of water point committees, and the poorly structured handpump maintenance chain. The pooling of water point management at the scale of the Mvila Division appears to be an avenue to be explored to improve the functionality of the handpump.