Consumers in informal settlements and their water source choice: Evidence from a two-season survey in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Waters, Brian Mahayie

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115437 Copy

Description

Title

Consumers in informal settlements and their water source choice: Evidence from a two-season survey in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Author(s)

Waters, Brian Mahayie

Issue Date

2022-04-27

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

McNamara, Paul

Committee Member(s)

• Ridley, William
• Doussard, Marc

Department of Study

Agr & Consumer Economics

Discipline

Agricultural & Applied Econ

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

Water, Willingness To Pay, Informal Settlements, Sierra Leone

Abstract

This thesis attempts to understand the behavior and choices of water consumers in Freetown Sierra Leone with a particular emphasis on seasonality. Most research done on this topic has been from a production model, the idea that providing more water will drastically improve lives and remove obstacles to growth. As any service provider would perform market research on their consumers to improve sales, that same research should be performed in the water sector, even if the consumers have very little capital. Therefore, the data-gathering portion of this project targeted two informal settlements in Freetown: Portee Rokupa and Dworzark. Portee Rokupa is a seaside community, far away from the city center. Dworzark is a mountainous community in the middle of the city. In the dry season, 300 households were surveyed in each community and then those same households were revisited in the rainy season and asked the same questions. The results of these surveys will help fill in knowledge gaps, providing information based on the experience of those who face water scarcity every day and who face the true consequences of water policy and projects. Combining the results of this project with the professional knowledge of policymakers and civil engineers will help to make more pragmatic and sustainable water investments in the future.

Graduation Semester

2022-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Brian Waters

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