Is MUS a MUST? Focus on water services provision for rural livelihoods!

The first day of the MUS Symposium turned around the objective of getting to a common understanding of what multiple-use services (MUS) means. IRC’s Patrick Moriarty kicked off the discussion by presenting his paper. In this provocative speech he calls for a paradigm shift in rural water services provision. This new paradigm focuses on water services provision for rural livelihoods. His presentation, as well as the background paper by a number of members from the MUS Group, also calls for a focus on multiple use services, rather than systems.

The MUS people argue that multiple-use doesn’t only require systems, or technology, but also software to manage this hardware for multiple-use. A service delivery approach which set targets and then ways of achieving those is crucial to that.

Heated debate

These two presentations triggered a heated debate, with various arguments being posed to support or criticize the background presentations. Particularly the concept of MUS as a service was debated. Some participants felt that a “service-delivery” approach has a connotation of outsiders providing a service, whereas one of the drivers of multiple-use has been self-supply, or the development of water supply by communities and households themselves. Inés Restrepo (Cinara) argued that a “service delivery” focus, might exclude such self supply approaches. Ian Thorpe (PumpAid) recognises the importance of services, but also highlighted the importance of technology. He suggested renaming MUS into MUST (Multiple-Use Services and Technologies).

Whether a system or a service, most participants agreed that MUS is now at a stage where it no longer needs to prove itself as a concept. Rather, it should develop itself into a full alternative approach to water supply, with its specific objectives, indicators, types of service provision arrangements, etc. This is not a simple task. But, it will be a main point of the agenda for the next coming days, and probably even the years to come.

Stef Smits from Ethiopia