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
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
Language
eng
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.
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