FundiFix: exploring a new model for maintenance of rural water supplies

A critical building block of sustainable rural water services is financial sustainability, with flows of finance from users, governments and development partners. A model for maintenance service provision (the FundiFix model) is described, based on prepaid user contributions, performance-based contracts and remote monitoring, providing a professional and rapid maintenance service for community water supplies. Results from the initial six months show 30% sign-up and 89% collection efficiency of monthly tariffs, suggesting that rural communities can and will pay for a quality service. Institutional coordination and scaling up the business model in terms of service area and type of infrastructure are future steps.