Overview
The Water and Development Alliance (WADA) is a collaboration between the Coca-Cola system (including corporate, foundations, and bottling partners) and USAID to improve water resource management and expand access to improved drinking water and sanitation services for poor and marginalized people in developing countries.
Through engagement with the Water and Development Alliance (WADA), the Coca-Cola Company (TCC) TCCC also promotes long-term changes in water stewardship within the production facilities of Coca-Cola, as local bottlers are increasingly engaged and demonstrate their commitment to corporate principles by making their own investments to improve water use and management. Building on this, Coca-Cola foundations are able to enhance the positive benefits of their charitable contributions by aligning their community development efforts with WADA projects.
In Chimoio, Mozambique, WADA combined the resources of local and international public and private entities to address the city’s urgent water needs through the rehabilitation of the dilapidated TextAfrica water treatment facility and an expansion of the city’s piped water network benefiting over 25,000 residents.
In West Java, Indonesia, WADA supported sustainable management of watersheds, outreach and education on water issues, water and sanitation service provision and household water treatment promotion. Over 1 million people received messages of hygiene promotion.
In Kano State, Nigeria, WADA worked with a small, locally-based non-profit, the Women Farmer’s Advancement Network (WOFAN), to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene services and support income generation and livelihoods benefiting over 65,000 people.
Around the city of Tarija, Bolivia, WADA supported the local water stakeholder forum PROAGUA to promote improved watershed and water resources management in a basin serving over 150,000 people.
In 2009, the existing Water and Development Alliance (WADA), was approached about supporting efforts to improve access to water and sanitation in rural Senegal. For each WADA country program, USAID and Coca-Cola together identify specific water sector goals, and develop and implement programs to address the challenges identified. In Senegal, a local partnership relationship between Coca-Cola and USAID needed to be nurtured to identify comparative strengths and priorities of each organization and agree on key areas of alignment that best addressed the needs of the people of Senegal. This involved finding a way to effectively marry Coca-Cola’s long commitment to increasing access to drinking water with USAID/Senegal’s commitment support the Government of Senegal’s objective to increase sanitation coverage.
USAID provided funding, management, and responsibility for key outcomes through the WADA alliance with Coca-Cola and local NGOs in Senegal. The partners jointly develop a holistic approach to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) drawings on emerging best practices in the sector, and capitalizing on the involvement of a leading private sector actor.
Through the WADA partnership activity in Senegal, USAID leverages its development expertise, Coca-Cola uses its network and name recognition, and Senegalese NGOs leverage their on-the-ground experience to integrate WASH initiatives through community engagement. The project selects the communities it works in based on the Government of Senegal’s recommendations, targeting communities with a pre-existing USAID presence, which decreases logistical obstacles.
WADA carried out activities in Senegal with a focus on improving water and sanitation infrastructure and services in targeted rural, small-town, and peri urban areas while implementing hygiene education programs and promoting local governance of water and sanitation.
Country(ies) where the intervention is taking place
22 countries worldwide including 16 countries in Africa.
Lead Organization
The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Who is involved?
The Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF).
KEY PARTNERS Mozambique projects (TEXTAFRICA AND BAIRRO 4):
Coca-Cola Sabco (Mozambique) Sarl – local Coca-Cola bottler
USAID/Mozambique
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Development Cooperation
FIPAG – The Government of Mozambique Urban Water Investment Program
Vitens – Dutch water company
KEY PARTNERS Indonesia:
Coca-Cola Indonesia
Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia
Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia
USAID/Indonesia
Development Alternatives, Inc. – Environmental Services Program “ESP”
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health – Center for Communication Programs
KEY PARTNERS Nigeria:
Coca-Cola Nigeria
USAID/Nigeria
Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN)
Local government
KEY PARTNERS Bolivia:
EMBOL – local Coca-Cola bottler
USAID/Bolivia
PROMETA – local NGO
CPTS – local NGO
KEY PARTNERS Senegal:
Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF); RTI International; Senegalese NGOs.
Objectives
WADA supports a broad diversity of water-related projects in support of three objectives:
Establishing participatory, sustainable water and watershed resources management to benefit people and ecosystems
Increasing access to community water supply and sanitation services
Fostering improved behaviors in sanitation and hygiene for positive health impacts Promoting efficient and sustainable productive use of water to protect the environment and provide economic benefits to communities
The alliance aims to increase access to improved potable water and strengthen the capacity of local governments and communities to plan and manage sustainable water supply development in Ziguinchor, Kolda and Tambacounda regions of Senegal.
Scope of intervention
Communities; Targeted rural, small-town, and peri urban areas; Schools.
Which elements of WASH are covered?
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; Hygiene Education.
Which elements of the Framework for Business Action on WASH are covered?
Collective action, Engage with stakeholders.
Methodology and tools that have been developed or are planned
Methodology adopted in Senegal:
Behavior change methods like community-led total sanitation (CLTS)
WADA interventions include the promotion of CLTS, an approach to improving rural sanitation that works without subsidies to eliminate unhygienic sanitation practices that are within community members’ manageable interest. A water pump is awarded as an incentive to villages that become open defecation-free in order to foster feelings of ownership over water and sanitation services. Local NGOs selected based on each village’s unique needs work with rural governing committees to oversee CLTS activities. In Ziguinchor, USAID selected the women-run NGO called Kabonketoor to better target women.
At the community level, a governing committee is established in each village that receives CLTS training. These governing committees work in conjunction with the NGOs to craft action plans and ensure activities stay on track in the long-term. Members of each committee are chosen by community members and trained in CLTS and hygiene promotion. In line with water sector regulations set up by the Government of Senegal, at least one third of all slots on the committees are reserved for women. WADA also trains local masons and artisans to build, rehabilitate, and maintain latrines, boreholes, and hand-washing units. After being trained by project staff, these craftsmen teach CLTS committees about covering defecation holes and rehabilitating latrines.
Outcomes, successes and ongoing challenges
In the first phase of the WADA partnership (2005 to 2017), 35 projects were implemented in 30 countries in Africa, Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. At the end of 2015, the Alliance had reached over 600,000 people with improved water access, over 250,000 with improved sanitation, and improved the management of over 440,000 hectares.
Second phase of the WADA partnership (Between 2016 and 2021):
The WADA partnership announced a combined investment of up to $22 million in the next five-year phase of their sector-leading Water and Development Alliance (WADA), providing safe water access and sanitation services to communities in developing nations in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. New programming through WADA will continue to build on the partnership’s successes and support further development of drinking water and sanitation services in communities, schools, and health clinics. The partnership also seeks to leverage each partner’s expertise and networks that includes global and local supply chains and technical knowledge. New investments through WADA will support integrated approaches to improved WASH services in Africa.
In Mozambique
The TextAfrica project renovated a dilapidated former textile factory’s water treatment system located on the outskirts of Chimoio for use as a drinking water supply treatment facility, improved water delivery management and developed cost recovery policies to ensure system sustainability. Impacts of expanding the water supply include a consistent supply of clean, running water for 19,600 people, 12 schools, one provincial hospital, one secondary health facility, and local industrial and commercial users, including the local Coca-Cola Sabco bottler.
Through the Bairro 4 project, WADA supported the extension of a secondary water distribution network to Bairro 4 – a neighborhood identified through a consultative process involving communities and the Municipality to be most in need of an improved water supply. These efforts provided 7,200 people with access to safe, piped water for the first time.
In Indonesia
More than 1 million people exposed to project messages
3,223 persons benefited from access to improved water supply or sanitation services
1,500 hectares of degraded land reforested
In Nigeria
Over 66,000 rural residents benefited from improved water supply services
33,000 school children benefited from new sanitation facilities
40 households generated additional income
120 community members actively engaged in sustainable smallholder agricultural activities
In Bolivia
150,000 residents of the City of Tarija and local industries benefited from improved groundwater management and watershed protection
In Senegal
As of December 2012, WADA has installed 24 boreholes with hand pumps in schools, bringing safe water to 3,486 students. In CLTS villages, 21 boreholes have been installed, bringing safe water to 3,450 people and improving the health and livelihoods of community members.
In the sites that received subsidies for building latrines, 425 new latrines have been constructed as of December 2012, bringing improved access to sanitation to 4,250 people. As a result of CLTS activities, an additional 1,661 latrines have been built or rehabilitated by community members. All of these latrines have been fitted with tippy taps for handwashing.
As of December 2012, 752 hygiene focus group sessions have been held, reaching more than 5,000 people. Twenty-four villages were targeted for CLTS during its first year, and there are plans to scale up and work in 108 sites by the project’s end. As of December 2012, all of the targeted 78 villages employing CLTS have achieved open defecation-free status. Hygiene improvements have improved child health and increased school attendance rates.
CLTS is More Sustainable than Subsidies: While “WADA I” used subsidies to promote improved sanitation and hygiene, “WADA II” employs CLTS and uses water pumps as rewards. Both initiatives have succeeded in building hygiene knowledge and increasing access to sanitation, but there is greater enthusiasm for sanitation and hygiene in the villages that participated in CLTS. USAID is currently carrying out monitoring and evaluation studies to find out the extent of the difference.
Hygiene Habits Improved: As of December 2012, 752 hygiene focus group sessions have been held, reaching more than 5,000 people. Twenty-four villages were targeted for CLTS during its first year, and there are plans to scale up and work in 108 sites by the project’s end. As of December 2012, all of the targeted 78 villages employing CLTS have achieved open defecation-free status. Hygiene improvements have improved child health and increased school attendance rates.
Increased Local Capacity: As of January 2012, 112 local masons and 50 local artisans had been trained. Trained craftsmen are beginning to take initiative and research innovative new ways to safeguard their communities’ water and sanitation sources.
Links to learn more
https://www.crc.uri.edu/download/Fact_Sheets_GETF_Final_WADA_TZ_tagged.pdf
https://www.getf.org/our-projects-partnerships/wada/
https://getf.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Mozambique-B4-and-TA-5.2.11-clean.pdf
https://getf.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Indonesia-4-20-10.pdf
https://getf.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Nigeria-4.19.10-clean.pdf
https://getf.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Bolivia-4-20-10-clean.pdf
https://www.devex.com/impact/partnerships/water-and-development-alliance-wada-senegal-787
