This paper uses an applied rural case study of a safer water intervention in South Africa to illustrate how three levels of economic assessment can be used to understand the impact of the intervention on people's well-being. It is set in the context of Millennium Development Goal 7 which sets a target (7C) for safe drinking-water provision and the challenges of reaching people in remote rural areas with relatively small-scale schemes. The assessment moves from cost efficiency to cost effectiveness to a full social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) with an associated sensitivity test. In addition to demonstrating techniques of analysis, the paper brings out many of the challenges in understanding how safer drinking-water impacts on people's livelihoods. The SCBA shows the case study intervention is justified economically, though the sensitivity test suggests 'downside' vulnerability.

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doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.09.054, hdl.handle.net/1765/38483
ISS Staff Group 3: Human Resources and Local Development
Science of the Total Environment
International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University (ISS)

Cameron, J., Jagals, P., Hunter, P. R., Pedley, S., & Pomd, K. (2011). Economic assessments of small-scale drinking-water interventions in pursuit of MDG target 7C. Science of the Total Environment, 410-411, 8–15. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.09.054