WaterCredit: a case study of microfinance for household water and sanitation improvements in India and Kenya

WaterCredit is an approach that blends WASH and microfinance for WASH improvements at the household level. To-date Water.org has implemented WaterCredit programs in four countries. This paper focuses on experiences in India and Kenya including successes, challenges and lessons learned. Due to major differences in the WASH and microfinance sectors in India and Kenya the WaterCredit programs have very different outputs. Global WaterCredit successes consist of 545,617 people gaining access to improved water and sanitation through 100,338 loans disbursed by 25 microfinance partners. Challenges include monitoring of construction and use, building WASH capacity in MFIs, the ultra-poor, and sustainability. Lessons learned and best practices include a formal product development process, monitoring and evaluation, due diligence of partners, and flexibility in activities and approaches.