Publications

SNV’s approach to development is principally to work in an advisory capacity with meso-level organizations. Taking on this advisory role has considerable implications for the way that SNV handles issues. In essence, it is the quality of the advisory service itself, rather than the specific knowledge to be shared or transferred, that makes managing such issues successful. Clearly SNV advisers must be able provide guidance and support to partners and their staff to do this. At the same time SNV seeks to learn from other organizations that may be emphasizing the advisory process.

East African SNV programmes have undertaken an initiative to build new models for advisory practice, what we call ‘Building Advisory Practice’ (BAP). The initiative has examined in detail what characteristics constitute a quality advisory practice, what others are doing that SNV would like to emulate, and the best way to share the knowledge gained with the wider public. Meeting these objectives means building new ways of learning and sharing within SNV and with external partners and knowledge systems. This publication on private sector development is a major product in that endeavour.

The publication, as with the whole BAP process, has involved the energy, commitment and patience of literally hundreds of persons, from partner organizations as well as SNV staff, many of whom are acknowledged at the back of the booklet.

This publication has been produced as part of a series under the Building Advisory Practice (BAP) initiative of the SNV East and Southern Africa, conceptualized and supported by a team of SNV staff and advisers, Rob Sinclair, BAP Lead Consultant. original text by Corina Dhaene (ACE Europe, Belgium, www.ace-europe.be), and developed by SNV edited by Helen van Houten, design and layout by Conrad Mudibo, Ecomedia Limited

This is the first of a series of practice briefs published by the East and Southern Africa regional office of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation.

It is based on the SNV Working Paper: Accountability at local level: Experiences from the partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Development Cooperation on Domestic Accountability.

This Practice Brief shares lessons from SNV’s practice to improve accountability in the delivery of public services at local level. It aims to offer empirical evidence of ‘what works or doesn’t’, based on a range of initiatives supported by the Domestic Accountability Partnership, a pilot collaborative programme of the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation and SNV.

This Practice Brief shares experiences from SNV’s practice in supporting small town water companies in several African countries. As part of sector-wide reforms being undertaken in these countries and elsewhere in Africa, dedicated agencies have been created to deliver water and sanitation services to local populations. Their emergence marks the transition from poorly-managed and inefficient water utilities to more commercially viable service providers that can expand and sustain access to affordable basic services. SNV has provided extensive capacity building support to enable the nascent utilities to improve their service delivery, with a focus on enhancing their planning and operational capacities. Linked to this, significant efforts have been made to strengthen relations between small town water companies, their customers and other stakeholders.

One of the arguments commonly advanced against commercialisation is that this will take place at the expense of the poor. While this risk is acknowledged, the experiences discussed in the Practice Brief confirm that poorer groups in small towns and peri-urban areas - who are disproportionately affected by inadequate services - can benefit from socially responsible commercialisation. However, targeted support needs to be combined with pro-poor policies if it is to deliver the desired results.

This case study is a follow up to the case prepared in 2008 entitled “A Terra de Boa Gente” – The case of the Inhambane Tourism Integrated Development Approach, Mozambique. In 2008, when the case was written, the program was in its first phase of implementation. It described the approach, links and synergies between various actors for greater impact. Using the Value Chain Analysis and Development (VCA&D) tool along with the Baseline study carried out in 2007, this particular case study has looked into the key nodes in the Tourism value chain: accommodation, food & beverage and shopping and tried to analyse the pro poor elements in each, thus contributing to the over all objective of Pro- Poor Tourism (PPT). This particular case focuses on economic issues. Tourism related basic services issues are described in other case studies.

The initiative to present a series of country documents on the state of Sustainable and Pro Poor Tourism in Africa was brought forward during an international workshop in Rwanda at the end of 2006. At this workshop SNV advisors, hotel and tour operators, government staff and representatives of NGOs and international donors exchanged their views on “How Governments can Boost Local Economic Development through Tourism”.

Presented at the II International Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Developing Countries 10th-11th August 2010 in Tanzania

Capability statement for WASH in Africa