Mozambique overview

Following the resettlement of civil conflict refugees and relative political stability, Mozambique saw consistently high economic growth rates, but these were from a very low base and extreme poverty is widespread, reflected in a GDP per capita of US$934 (IMF, 2010). The country has an estimated population of 23 million, of which 63% live in rural areas. The decentralisation process started through legislation from 1997 onwards, but has proceeded very slowly, and transfers of capacity, financing and real decision-making power is very limited. In the water sector there is still a very high de facto level of centralisation and power held by the ministry at central level, with some limited deconcentration to provincial level – for example, provinces now have more of a role in monitoring.

Administrative set up

There are 10 provinces comprising 128 districts.

Main sector institutions

  • The Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MPWH) is the most important government institution for rural water at national level.
  • The Direcção Nacional de Águas (DNA) (National Directorate for Water) sits within the MPWH, and is responsible for policy, strategy, norms and channelling financing to lower levels. The Departa­mento de Água Rural (DAR) (Department of Rural Water) is in turn housed within the DNA.
  • At provincial level the Provincial Department of Public Works and Housing (DPOPH) has a role in supporting and compiling plans from districts and supporting and monitoring work of districts, but there is no presence of the DAR and therefore there is an institutional gap.
  • At district level the District Water and Sanitation (DAS) is responsible for local planning, implementation and oversight of contracting.
  • At village level water committees are responsible for ongoing operation and small-scale maintenance and minor works.

Service Delivery Models

Sector policy is based on VLOM and the demand-responsive approach (DRA), with some more minor modifications in provinces to do more to support O&M. But essentially there is only one formally recognised SDM which is CBM with water point committees; no other formally recognised models for rural areas exist, and there are very few piped systems in defined rural areas. There is no formal system or institutional mandate for post-construction support. In theory, water provision is demand driven, but there is very limited capacity for follow-up either at district or provincial level, and no funds are made available for direct support. Post-construction support, especially in the northern half of the country, is complicated by huge distances, very low population densities, and very limited commercial capacity. As a result, there is a general divide between the north and south where in the south CBM/Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM) is able to function (with some problems), and in the north it is extremely challenging.

To date self-supply has not been recognised as an acceptable solution for rural water. The legal status of water committees is not clear, but there are doubts as to whether they would be recognised as a legal entities.

Key issues

The rural sector in Mozambique can be characterised as being very much focused on implementation of new systems as a natural drive to increase coverage from a very low base, a process which in the past has been driven by often uncoordinated donor funded pro­grammes. A rural SWAp is now under preparation which will establish a coordinating secretariate to set up platforms at national and provincial level. Most donors already communicate with each other through a well-established roundtable and troika leadership model. This initiative for the rural sector is part of a broader effort by the Mozambican government and its partners, which signed a Code of Conduct agreement in 2008.