UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND THE ENVIRONMENT

BREAKING BARRIERS: DELIVERING WATER

AND SANITATION TO RURAL PEOPLE IN LORETO (PERU)

Javier Cejudo

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of

MSc in Engineering for Development

by instructional course

December 2006
Summary
The aims of this research are to explore (i) the situation of rural water supply and
sanitation in Loreto (Peru), and (ii) approaches in the design of projects and
programmes, with the view of assisting development organisations in the preparation
of new projects and programmes in the region.

The outlook for rural water and sanitation in Loreto is quite bleak. Although there
has been several changes in the institutional arrangements, the strategy and the role
of numerous implementing agencies over the past four decades, the available
evidence suggests that there are 'barriers' that are hindering sustainable progress.

i
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the following people for their supportive help during the preparation
of this dissertation:

My grateful thanks to Alan Cairns of the Vine Trust, Martin Bone and Vannesa
Lovera of Scripture Union Peru for their support to carry out the field work, Arif
Anwar and Ben Fawcett of the University of Southampton for their supervision,
encouragement and advice, and my wife Maria Teresa Leiva for her understanding
and enthusiasm.

The Vine Trust and Scripture Union Peru enabled this research project by creating
the placement but the views and opinions expressed are those of the author alone.

The writing of this dissertation has been possible only because of the help and
support of a large number of people.

Thanks are due to the participants from the communities of San Joaquin de Indiana
and Santa Clara de Nanay, and all those villagers who kindly spent time with me.

The Royal Academy of Engineering, Engineers Without Borders, the University of

Southampton and the Vine Trust provided funds for this study as part of their
objectives but the views and opinions expressed are those of the author alone.

ii
Dedication
To my wife Maria Teresa Leiva, for her love, support, encouragement and sympathy.

To my children Ana and Marcos, for their smiles and tenderness.

To all those who kindly shared their time and experiences enabling this research
project, for their opinions and ideas.

iii
Table of Contents
Summary...............................................................................................
..........................i
Acknowledgements...............................................................................................
.........ii
Dedication...................................................................................................
..................iii
Table of Contents.........................................................................................
.................iv
List of Figures.......................................................................................
.........................v
List of Tables..............................................................................................................
...vi
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms..........................................................................
.vii
1Introduction...............................................................................................
...................1
1.1About the Research Project................................................................................
...1
1.2Structure of the Dissertation.................................................................................3
2About the Project Location......................................................................
....................4
2.1About Peru...............................................................................
.............................4
2.2The Amazon Basin........................................................................................
........6
2.3About Loreto.......................................................................................
..................7
2.4Institutional Framework for Water and Sanitation...............................................8
2.5General View on Water and Sanitation..............................................................12
3A Retrospective View............................................................................
....................14
3.1Evolving Ideas in Rural Water and Sanitation...................................................14
3.2Alternative Views....................................................................
...........................21
4Relevant Aspects of the Research ........................................................................
.....24
4.1Objectives......................................................................................................
......24
4.2Themes...........................................................................................
.....................24
4.3Methodology...................................................................................
....................25
5An Interpretation of the Reality................................................................
.................30
5.1Institutional Capacity..........................................................................
................30
5.2Community Involvement.................................................................
...................41
5.3The Challenge of Diversity........................................................................
.........44
6Conclusions and Recommendations..........................................................................47
6.1Conclusions...........................................................................................
..............47
6.2Recommendations....................................................................................
...........49
References...............................................................................................
.....................50

iv
List of Figures

Illustration 1: Geographical Map of Peru......................................................................5

Illustration 2: Political Map of Loreto...........................................................................8

v
List of Tables

Table 1: Roles in the WSS Sector ...........................................................................

......9
Table 2: Access to water and sanitation in Peru..........................................................12
Table 3: Areas of responsibility in the 1990s..............................................................17
Table 4: Institutional model proposed in the 1990s....................................................18

vi
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

Spanish English

AECI Agencia Espanola de Spanish International

Cooperation Internacional Cooperation Agency
AIDESEP Asociación Interétnica de
Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana
APCI Agencia Peruana de Peruvian International
Cooperación Internacional Cooperation Agency
APRISABAC Proyecto de Atencion Primaria
en Salud Basica de Cajamarca
ATDR Administracion Tecnica del Technical Office of the
Distrito de Riego Irrigation Board
CONAM Consejo Nacional del National Council for the
Ambiente Environment
CIDA Agencia Canadiense para el Canadian International
Desarrollo International Development Agency
(ACDI)
CTAR Consejo Transitorio de Transitory Regional
Administracion Regional Administration Authority
DESA Direccion Ejecutiva de Salud Executive Directorate of
Ambiental Environmental Health
DIGESA Dirección General de Salud Directorate-General of
Ambiental Environmental Health
DIRESA Direccion Regional de Salud Regional Directorate of Health
DNS Dirección Nacional de
Saneamiento
DRA Demand-responsive approach
DRVCS Dirección Regional de Regional Directorate of
Vivienda, Construcción y Housing, Construction and
Saneamiento Sanitation
EPS Empresa prestadora de Service provider enterprise
servicios
FONAM Fondo Nacional del Ambiente
FONCODES Fondo de Cooperacion para el Social Development
Desarrollo Social Cooperation Fund
FONCOMUN Fondo de Compensacion
Municipal
GEF Fondo para el Medio Ambiente Global Environment Facility
Mundial (FMAM)
GOREL Gobierno Regional de Loreto Regional Government of
Loreto
GTZ German Agency for Technical
Cooperation (Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit)

vii
GWP Asociacion Mundial para el Global Water Partnership
Agua
IADB Banco Interamericano de Inter-American Development
Desarrollo (BID) Bank
IIAP Instituto de Investigaciones de Peruvian Amazon Research
la Amazonia Peruana Institute
INADE Instituto Nacional de Development National Institute
Desarrollo
INEI Instituto Nacional de National Statistics Institute
Estadística e Informática
INRENA Instituto Nacional de Recursos
Naturales
IWRM Gestion Integrada de los Integrated Water Resources
Recursos Hídricos (GIRH) Management
JA Junta Administradora Administration Board
JAAP Junta Administradora de Agua
Potable
JASS Junta Administradora de
Servicios de Saneamiento
JBIC Japanese Bank for International
Cooperation
JICA Japanese International
Cooperation Agency
KfW German Bank for Development
(Kreditanstalt für
Wiederaufbau)
MCLCP Mesa de Concertacion para la
Lucha Contra la Pobreza
MEF Ministerio de Economía y Ministry of Economy and
Finanzas Finances
MIMDES Ministerio de la Mujer y Ministry of Women and Social
Desarrollo Social Development
MINDE Ministerio de Educación Ministry of Education
MINSA Ministerio de Salud Ministry of Health
MVCS Ministerio de Vivienda, Ministry of Housing,
Construcción y Saneamiento Construction and Sanitation
NGO Organización no Non Governmental
Gubernamental (ONG) Organisation
PAHO Organización Panamericana de Pan American Health
la Salud (OPS) Organisation
PRONASAR Programa Nacional de Agua y National Rural Water and
Saneamiento Rural Sanitation Programme
RWSS Rural water supply and
sanitation
SANBASUR Proyecto de Saneamiento
Basico de la Sierra Sur
SNV Servicio Holandes de Netherlands Development
Cooperacion al Desarrollo Organisation

viii
SCD Agencia Suiza para el
Cooperacion al Desarrollo
(COSUDE)
STPP Proyecto Piloto de Pequeñas
Localidades (PPPL) del PAS
Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation
WSP Small Towns Pilot
Project

SUNASS Superintendencia Nacional de National Superintendence of

Servicios de Saneamiento Sanitation Services
TCA Tratado de Cooperación Amazon Cooperation Treaty
Amazónica
USAID US Agency for International
Development
VMCS Viceministerio de Viceministry of Construction
Construccion y Saneamiento and Sanitation
WSS Water supply and sanitation
WSP Programa Agua y Saneamiento World Bank Water and
(PAS) del Banco Mundial Sanitation Program
WUSC Servicio Universitation World University Service of
Mundial del Canada (SUM Canada
Canada)
WWC Consejo Mundial del Agua World Water Council
(CMA)

ix
1 Introduction
The School of Civil Engineering and the Environment at the University of
Southampton offer an MSc programme in Engineering for Development. The taught
modules are followed by a research placement in a developing country which aims to
achieve the following objectives:

✔ To improve the relevance of the MSc training by placing students in developing

countries for short periods, to carry out field investigations and to collect research
data.

✔ To demonstrate to students the application of the taught parts of the course.

✔ To give valuable experience that will be of benefit to the students in gaining

appropriate employment.

✔ To provide organisations working in international development with short-term

inputs by well-trained postgraduate students who can make a useful contribution
to their work.

This dissertation is the output of the research placement carried out by Javier Cejudo
in Peru between July and September 2006 with Scripture Union of Peru1 and the Vine
Trust of Scotland as Host Organisations. It is submitted in December 2006 to the
School of Civil Engineering and the Environment in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the above-mentioned degree.

1.1 About the Research Project

A recent report published by the World Health Organisation (Pruss-Ustun et al. 2006)
has contributed to better define the links between environment and health. According
to this report, more than 13 million deaths annually are due to preventable
environmental causes. Nearly one third of death and disease in the least developed
regions is due to environmental causes. Over 40% of deaths from malaria and 94% of
deaths from diarrhoeal diseases, two of the world's biggest childhood killers, could be
prevented through better environmental management. It concluded that the four main
diseases influenced by poor environments are diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections,
various forms of unintentional injuries, and malaria. It argued several measures which

1 In Spanish, Union Biblica del Peru

1
could be taken to reduce this environmental disease burden, including (i) the
promotion of safe household water storage and better hygienic measures, and (ii)
better water resource management.

An estimated five in ten live in a state of poverty in Peru, of whom five out of ten live
in the country's rural area, despite representing only one third of the total population.
Rural people face problems of lack of access to services and opportunities,
compounded by discrimination. Rural people are disproportionately numerous among
the poor. Inadequate diet, precarious living conditions, reduced access to health care,
poor hygiene and lack of education all contribute to higher levels of poverty. Despite
these facts, they are ignored by the government and development programmes.

By improving rural people's access to and use of safe domestic water and sanitation,
interventions can reduce the burden of disease on family members and communities.
It would release valuable time and reduce health costs, enabling rural people to apply
more effort to improving their lives.

The aims of this research are to explore (i) the situation of rural water supply and
sanitation (RWSS) in Loreto, and (ii) approaches in the design of projects and
programmes, with the view of assisting development organisations in the preparation
of new projects and programmes in the region. It is justified because there is little,
good-quality information that focuses specifically on Loreto. It is known that past
attempts to address this issue in the region have involved mistakes being made. Some
knowledge gaps have also been identified in the literature.

Although the rural population in Loreto is relatively small, around half a million
people, the conclusions and recommendations of this study might have some validity
in other parts of the Amazon Basin, the home of roughly 26 million people in total.

The scope of the research is limited in order to keep the project manageable. The
research is concerned with certain factors that have been shown to impact the
sustainability of the projects: (i) the institutional arrangements, (ii) the role of
communities, and (iii) the impact of discriminatory attitudes againstrural people.

2
1.2 Structure of the Dissertation
The dissertation is organised as follows. Chapter two includes relevant background
information about Peru and Loreto. Chapter three examines the literature on water and
sanitation in Peru in general and in the rural areas of the country in particular. Chapter
four focuses on the research objectives and methodology. A critique of the research
approach concludes the chapter. Chapter five presents the research findings. Chapter
six concludes this analysis and proposes some recommendations.

3
2 About the Project Location
The research project is located in a region called Loreto in the Peruvian Amazon
Basin. This chapter introduces some relevant information that will be useful in the
subsequent chapters.

2.1 About Peru

The Republic of Peru is a country in western South America. It is a country with a
long history and many cultural and natural attractions. Peru is home to a wide variety
of indigenous groups that is only rivalled by its biodiversity. Ancient Peru was the
home of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose
empire was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peruvian independence
was declared in 1821.

After 12 years of military rule, Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980.

Alberto Fujimori2 led the country since his election in 1990 until his ouster in 2000.
After a transitional government, Alejandro Toledo became President (2001-2006),
narrowly defeating Alan García. The presidential election of 2006 saw the return of
Alan Garcia, who was president between 1985 and 1990.

In the latest Human Development Report (UNDP 2006), Peru was ranked number 82
in the world with an index of 0.767, which is labelled as medium human development.
To put this in context, the UK and Spain were ranked, respectively, numbers 18 (HDI
0.940) and 19 (HDI 0.938), while Norway was top of the list with a human
development index of 0.965

2.1.1 Basic Geography

Peru covers 1,285,215.60 km2 and has a border with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil,
Bolivia and Chile (Illustration 1). It is the third largest country in South America, after
Brazil and Argentina. Its size is comparable to the combined areas of Spain, the
United Kingdom and France.

2 Former President Fujimori (currently in Chile) is awaiting extradition proceedings against

him by the Peruvian government.

4
The country is divided into three natural regions: ‘Costa’ or coastal plain, land
adjacent to the Pacific Ocean; ‘Sierra’ or high and rugged Andes Mountains in the
centre; and ‘Selva’ or rainforest of the Amazon Basin, the part of the country located
to the east of the Andes. The ‘Selva’ has two distinctive regions: ‘Selva Alta’ or
highland rainforest; and ‘Selva Baja’ or lowland rainforest, the immense flat region
where the Amazon River and its tributaries run. These regions can be identified in
Illustration 1 by the coloured areas marking the altitude above sea level.

Illustration 1: Geographical Map of Peru

The weather varies significantly, from tropical in the east to dry desert in the west.
With its unique geography, Peru has 28 of the 32 possible world climates.

2.1.2 Some information about the People

The population of Peru is 27.2 million inhabitants of whom 52% live beneath the
poverty line, as defined by the National Household Survey, ENAHO in its Spanish
acronym (INEI 2006). Extreme poverty affects one out of five people in the country.
Approximately, 65% of the population live in the urban area and 35% live in the rural
area (9.5 million people or 1.9 million households). Whereas poverty affects 73% of
the population in the rural area, 40% are affected in the urban area. Geographically,
the population is distributed over the Costa (14%), Sierra (67%) and Selva (19%).

5
There are different estimations about the rural population. For the MVCS Ministerio
de Vivienda, Construccion y Saneamiento, the rural population represents 30% of the
total. The main reason is that there are several criteria. The Instituto Nacional de
Estadistica (National Statistics Institute – INEI, acronym in Spanish) considers that
rural locality are those villages with less than 100 adjoining houses that are not capital
of a district, or those villages with more than 100 houses that are dispersed and do not
form blocks or urban hubs. However, the MVCS defines rural locality as those places
with up to 2,000 inhabitants. In addition to the categories of 'rural' and 'urban', a third
category has been created: 'small towns' which refer to urban centres with a population
between 2,001 and 30,000 inhabitants.

In the rural area of the three natural regions, different types of communal
organisations can be found. The comunidad campesina (peasant community) is typical
of the Andean centre and south. In the costa, settlements and small towns are
predominant. In the selva region there are two types of communities: comunidades
nativas (indigenous peoples communities) and organizaciones de colonos y mestizos
(organisations of settlers and mestizos).

The country is politically divided into 26 departments, 194 provinces and 1821
districts. Approximately 50% of the districts are considered rural. According to the
1993 census, Peru had 84,046 localities of which 75,199 or 89% were rural. It was
estimated that 70% of the rural population lived in communities with less than 500
inhabitants.

Most Peruvians are either indigenous (45%) or mestizos (37%). Other ethnic groups
are: white 15%; black, Japanese, Chinese and other 3% (CIA 2006). Spanish is the
official language nationwide. Quechua, Aymara and other languages are official
regionally.

2.2 The Amazon Basin

Approximately three quarters of the Peruvian territory, including the entire
Region of Loreto, is in the Amazon Basin. The Amazon Basin or Amazonia
encompasses 7 million km2 and covers some 40% of the South American
continent. It is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. The Amazon Rainforest
occupies some 5.5 million km2 in total, representing over half of the planet's
remaining rainforests.

6
Contrary to popular belief, the Amazon Rainforest is not only in Brazil. Actually, it is
located within eight nations: Brazil (with 68% of the basin), Colombia, Peru (956,751
km2 representing 13% of the basin area and 74% of the Peruvian territory), Venezuela,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana and Suriname, as well as French Guiana.

2.3 About Loreto

Loreto is Peru's northernmost region. It is the nation's largest region and one of the
most sparsely populated ones, due to its remote location in the Amazon Rainforest. Its
capital is located in the City of Iquitos, which is politically shared among four districts
(Punchana, San Juan Bautista, Belen and Iquitos)

2.3.1 Basic Geography

Loreto3 occupies an area of 368,851km2, covering 28% of Peru's territory. It is as large
as the UK, Ireland and Denmark combined. It comprises parts of the High and Low
Rainforest. Many rivers cross Loreto's territory, all of which are part of the
Hydrographical Amazonian System. Most of them are navigable. The main river
crossing the region is the Amazon. Other important rivers are Ucayali, Marañon,
Huallaga, Napo, Putumayo, Morona and Pastaza. This territory has wide river flood
beds, which are covered with rainwater and usually are swamped in summer. In these
flood areas there are elevated sectors called restingas, which always stand out on the
Amazonian plain. There are numerous lagoons known as cochas and tipishcas,
surrounded by marshy areas with abundant grass vegetation.

2.3.2 Some Information about the People

Illustration 2 shows the political map of the Loreto Region. The region is divided into
7 provinces and 48 districts. The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are
shown in the same illustration.

3 Its official name is Department of Loreto

7
 Provinces in Loreto4
1 Alto Amazonas (Yurimaguas) and
Datem del Marañon (San Lorenzo)
2 Loreto (Nauta)
3 Maynas (Iquitos)
4 Mariscal Ramon Castilla
(Caballococha)
Illustration 2: Political Map of Loreto 5 Requena (Requena)
6 Ucayali (Contamana)

This vast and diverse region has 884,144 inhabitants, a mere 3% of the country's total
population. Almost half of the population live in Metropolitan Iquitos. Loreto has
approximately a total of 3,000 communities, although the official figure from the
latest census is 2,065. It is estimated that 90% of the communities have less than 500
inhabitants, but they account for only 30% of the population in the region.

2.4 Institutional Framework for Water and Sanitation

Table 1 shows the different public and private institutions with roles in the water and
sanitation sector according to MVCS (2006).

4 The newly created Datem del Marañon Province, which is located in the north western
corner of the region, is missing

8
 Table 1: Roles in the WSS Sector

Role Urban Area Rural Area

Policy MVCS-VMCS-DNS
development
MVCS
Prioritising of Ministry of Economy and Finances (MEF)5
investments Regional Directorate of Housing, Construction and Sanitation
(DRVCS)
Resources VMCS: DNS – DSU VMCS: DNS – DSR
assignment MEF
Regulation National Superintendence of Sanitation Services (SUNASS)6
EPS shareholders Communal organisations
Price-setting
Local governments
MVCS-VMCS: DNS
Technical norms
MINSA: DIGESA
Regional governments Regional governments
Local governments FONCODES
Support Program for the MINSA-DIGESA
Planning, Sanitation Sector Reform
development and NGOs
(PARSSA)7
construction DIES
INADE International cooperation
DIES agencies
EPS8
EPS (private, state-owned or Communal organisations
Service providers mixed)
Local governments

2.4.1 National Level

The current government policy is driven by the Ministry of Housing, Construction and
Sanitation (MVCS)9, through the Viceministry of Construction and Sanitation
(VMCS)10 and the National Directorate of Sanitation (DNS)11

5 MEF: Ministerio de Economia y Finanzas

6 SUNASS: Superintendencia Nacional de Servicios de Saneamiento
7 PARSSA: Programa de Apoyo a la Reforma del Sector Saneamiento
8 EPS: Empresa Prestadora de Servicios / Service Provider Enterprise
9 MVCS: Ministerio de Vivienda, Construccion y Saneamiento
10 VMCS: Viceministerio de Construccion y Saneamiento
11 DNS: Direccion Nacional de Saneamiento

9
The most important effort in rural water and sanitation is the PRONASAR Programa
Nacional de Agua y Saneamiento (National Rural Water and Sanitation Programme)

The Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health – MINSA, acronym in Spanish), through

the Direccion General de Salud Ambiental (Directorate-General of Environmental
Health – DIGESA), is responsible of the development of policies and norms about
water quality, environmental protection and monitoring of diseases related to water
and sanitation. However, in practice, they are also involved in design, implementation,
supervision and evaluation of rural water and sanitation plans. MINSA has direct links
with the communities through its network of health posts and promoters. It is one of
the main counterparts for bilateral aid for projects in RWSS. For instance, the Swiss
Development Cooperation (SDC) supports the projects SANBASUR in Cusco and
APRISABAC in Cajamarca, the later also with the participation of the Netherlands
Development Organisation (SNV)

The Ministry of Economy and Finances (MEF) has among its responsibilities the
assignment of public funds to the RWSS and the policy planning in internal and
external debt.

The Fondo de Cooperacion para el Desarrollo Social (Social Development

Cooperation Fund – FONCODES) is part of the Ministerio de la Mujer y Desarrollo
Social – MIMDES (Ministry of Women and Social Development) and works
nationally on a wide range of social projects. It is the main funding body for RWSS,
channelling the funds directly to the communities through a communal organisation
set up for each project called Nucleo Ejecutor, or Executing Core. The Nucleo
Ejecutor is elected in general assembly, represents the community and is responsible
of the project management.

The Peruvian government has embarked on the decentralisation of power to regional

and local governments. This process transfers functions, funds, programmes, projects
and assets from Lima to sub-national units, and it is implemented in a progressive way
in several stages. Each sub-national government has different levels of decentralised
responsibilities, depending on whether it has fulfilled certain requirements before the
functions can be transferred.

10
2.4.2 Regional Level
The GOREL, Gobierno Regional de Loreto (Regional Government of Loreto) is a
devolved institution with technical, budgeting and administrative autonomy. The
second GOREL was elected in November 2006 and the first GOREL in 2001 after a
period of regional affairs run by the Consejo Transitorio de Administracion Regional
(Regional Transitional Authority – CTAR)

The DIRESA, Direccion Regional de Salud de Loreto (Regional Directorate of

Health), is a devolved institution of the MINSA. Equally, the DIGESA has
decentralised some of its duties to the DESA, Direccion Ejecutiva de Salud Ambiental
(Executive Directorate of Environmental Health)

The Direccion Regional de Vivienda, Construccion y Saneamiento (Regional

Directorate of Housing, Construction and Sanitation – DRVCS, acronym in Spanish)
is a devolved institution of the MVCS Ministerio de Vivienda.

2.4.3 Local Level

At local level there are two forms of government: provincial and district governments
(in Peru they are known as municipios provinciales y distritales)

District governments are the state institution closer to the communities. They
participate in the funding of rural water and sanitation, principally by providing
technical assistance to the communities, and assist in the planning of local investment
in coordination with the regional government.

2.4.4 Civil Society and the Private Sector

The main role that NGOs and international cooperation agencies play in RWSS is
training, health education, technical assistance and funding. The following NGOs are
working in the sector with a presence nationwide: CARE, Asociacion Servicios
Educativos Rurales (SER), Agencia Adventista para el Desarrollo y Recursos
Asistenciales (ADRA), World University Service of Canada (WUSC), Caritas,
Asociacion Benefica Prisma, DIACONIA Asociacion Evangelica Luterana de Ayuda
para el Desarrollo Comunal and CENCA Instituto de Desarrollo Humano, among
others. The presence of NGOs and other development organisations in Loreto working
in water and sanitation projects is very limited in comparisons with other departments
in the Costa and the Sierra.

11
Some training and research organisations are working in the sector, such as Oficina de
Asesoria y Consultoria Ambiental (OACA), DESCO Centro de Estudios y
Promociones del Desarrollo, Centro Ecumenico de Promocion y Accion Social
(CEDEPAS) and Alternativa Centro de Investigacion Social y Education Popular.

2.5 General View on Water and Sanitation

2.5.1 Some Statistics
According to the government figures for 2004 (MVCS 2006), in the rural areas 3
million people (38%) have no access to potable water and 5.6 million (70%) lack
adequate disposal of excreta and residual waters. In sharp contrast, in the urban areas,
19% and 32% are not served with potable water and sanitation (sewer or latrines),
respectively.

Table 2 contains the goals for coverage in 2015 set by the government in order to
meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Table 2: Access to water and sanitation in Peru

Population served with Population served with

potable water sanitation (sewer or
latrines)

2004 2015 2004 2015

Urban 81% 87% 68% 84%

Rural 62% 70% 30% 60%

Total 76% 82% 57% 77%

The government (MVCS 2006) estimated that in 2004 only 22% of the effluents from
urban sewers received treatment. In the rural areas treatment does not exist. This poses
a serious problem of environmental contamination. To achieve the MDGs, the
government's target is to achieve 100% treatment for all the urban population with
sewage.

In the 2004 ENAHO12 - National Household Survey (INEI 2006), it was found that
60% of households had a tap inside their dwellings connected to the water potable
network, whereas for 19% the water supply was a river, stream or similar. For poor

12 ENAHO: Encuesta Nacional de Hogares

12
households, these rates worsen to 45% and 29% respectively. The findings for excreta
disposal also showed differences between poor and non poor. In 27% of poor
households there was a connection to sewage (62% for non poor), 22% used a latrine
(11% for non poor) and one in three did not have any sanitation service (one in ten for
non poor households). Data in the ENAHO was not disaggregated for urban versus
rural area, neither for each department.

2.5.2 Investment in the Sector

The government (MVCS 2006) calculated that in the period between 2000-2005, it
invested a total of US$833 million in the water and sanitation sector in Peru. The rural
areas (0-2000 inhabitants) and small towns (2001-30000 inhabitants) received
US$123 million through the regional governments (US$60 million), FONCODES
(US$55 m) and PRONASAR (US$8 m). In the period 1990-99, the figures were
US$2,444 million in the country as a whole and US$425 million in rural settings. The
cholera epidemic of 1991 caused this relatively high level of investment in the 1990s.

PRONASAR began in 2004 and will continue until the end of 2008. The total cost is
US$80 million, of which US$50 million are a loan from the World Bank, US$25
million are ordinary resources from the state treasury and US$5 million are a donation
from the Government of Canada.

According to a recent study (Rivas-Llosa 2006), in 2004 Peru received circa US$390
million in development aid, from both governmental (multilateral 15% and bilateral
57%) and non governmental sources (the remaining 28%). This represented almost
one fourth of the total public investment in the country. In terms of implementing
agencies, more than half of the foreign aid was channelled through NGOs, while the
Peruvian state managed 46% of the total aid assistance. Peru is one of the three
countries in South America with the highest level of foreign aid. South America
received US$2,800 million, far less than areas of the world with greater priority:
Africa US$26,000 million and Asia US$21,000 million.

13
3 A Retrospective View
Water supply and sanitation is a matter of concern to human kind worldwide for many
reasons. It is beyond the aspirations of this study to justify the need for safe water and
adequate sanitation. Other authors have successfully done so and the reader is referred
to the wealth of literature covering the experiences and lessons learnt over the last
four decades.

What this piece of research is concerned with is the situation regarding rural water and
sanitation in Loreto. This Chapter presents what has been found in the literature,
paying particular attention to (i) the institutional arrangements, (ii) the role of
communities, and (iii) the impact of discriminatory attitudes againstrural people.

This Chapter reviews the literature under two distinct lines of thought. On the one
hand, the views held by what could be called the 'establishment' in the Peruvian water
and sanitation sector, this is to refer to those who have shaped the mainstream
thinking, and been able to influence the government policy-makers. On the other
hand, there are those 'outsiders', who do not belong to the establishment. This piece of
research is interested in the opinions of 'outsiders' who discuss rural development
projects from an anthropological perspective and pay attention to the wider picture.
The two parts of Chapter 3 are dedicated respectively to each group.

3.1 Evolving Ideas in Rural Water and Sanitation

The implications of lack of access to a water source and sanitation, how to tackle the
problems that arise, the solutions, the role of governments and international
cooperation and the conceptual framework in general surrounding the terms “water
and sanitation” have evolved over the past four decades. This has happened at varying
paces outside and within Peru.

This section explores some of the ideas and how the past has shaped the present. For
the benefit of clarity, the ideas are divided into three phases, chosen on the basis of the
year in which major institutional and legal reforms in the Peruvian water and
sanitation sector took place. However, the reader will notice that a number of ideas
overlap.

14
3.1.1 Period 1960-1994
From the mid 1960s until the mid 1990s, under the Ley General de Saneamiento
Basico Rural 1962 (Rural Basic Sanitation Act), rural water and sanitation was
attended to by the Directorate of Basic Rural Sanitation (DISABAR)13 in the Ministry
of Health (MINSA)14

FONCODES15, originally the abbreviation for Fondo Nacional de Compensacion y

Desarrollo Social, then renamed Fondo de Cooperacion para el Desarrollo Social,
was created in 1991 with funds gained through debt-swap. It was conceived as a
mechanism for resource-mobilization for poverty reduction. It has been a major player
in rural water and sanitation (RWSS) ever since its inception, receiving an even
balance of both praise and criticism.

Two important international events in the water and sanitation agenda took place
during this period: the 1990 New Delhi Consultation, following the International
Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, and the 1992 Dublin Conference on
Water and the Environment, in preparation for the Earth Summit.

In a retrospective review on the Water and Sanitation Program experience marking its
twentieth year of activity, Black (1998) recounted that a new vision regarding the role
of government was agreed at the New Delhi Consultation. The recommendation was
that governments should shift from financing and building to ensuring that services
could be supplied by other institutions, both public and private. National sector policy
development, creation of implementing bodies, regulation and price-setting, provision
of technology options, planning, training, and monitoring sector performance should
be the main roles of governments.

In 1991 a cholera epidemic in Peru caused a relatively high level of investment in the
1990s. However, Calderon (2004) said that the increase in the coverage of the water
and sanitation services was achieved with low sustainability.

13 DISABAR: Direccion de Saneamiento Basico Rural

14 MINSA: Ministerio de Salud
15 FONCODES: Fund for Social Development Cooperation

15
3.1.2 Period 1994-2001
The Ley General de Servicios de Saneamiento 1994 (Sanitation Services Act)
modified the institutional and legal arrangements of 1962. The urban area was to be
attended by service provider enterprises (EPS)16, which could be from either the public
or the private sector. In the rural areas, the service provision was passed to communal
organisations, with advice from the EPS. The Ministry of Presidency (PRES) 17 was
responsible for the formulation of policies regarding the development of the water and
sanitation sector.

According to Black (1998), the New Delhi Consultation concluded that “no longer
were water and sanitation services regarded as an unqualified social right, to be met
from the public purse without thought given to economic and environmental
constraints. The effective spread of services, including to the poor, required an
entirely different set of stakeholder and partnership relationships”. The Peruvian
government did not follow these ideas, as Calderon (2004) confirmed when he said
that in the 1990s FONCODES paid attention only to the construction of infrastructure,
without proper training for the operation and maintenance of the system and
consideration of hygiene promotion. Also its projects generated the perception among
the beneficiaries that water supply services should be provided by the state free of
charge, and gave FONCODES a paternalistic image (Calderon 2004)

In an assessment of the rural water and sanitation sector commissioned by the World
Bank for the Government of Peru (Bakalian et al 1999), it was concluded that the
sector faced two restrictions for its development: (i) low sustainability of the strategies
at implementation level, and (ii) the absence of a consolidated institutional
framework. The strategies that led to low sustainability of services included:

• Limited community participation in the design and implementation of services.

• Funding policy that is paternalistic and orientated to subsidy.

• Centralised decision-making process that does not consider the local governments.

• Absence of legal recognition of the communal management organisations.

16 EPS: Entidad Prestadora de Servicios

17 PRES: Ministerio de la Presidencia

16
• Unclear ownership of the systems developed with public funds. As a consequence,
in the case of FONCODES and MINSA all the systems were part of their assets.

• Construction of infrastructure separated from health and hygiene education.

• Limited inclusion of successful experiences in the design of new investments.

• Absence of a sanitation strategy.

• Weakness in the capacity of the communal organisations to manage, operate and

maintain the systems, due to poor training.

• Lack of incentives for the participation of service providers from the private sector.

The following issues characterised the institutional framework (ibid):

• Absence of a development plan for the rural water and sanitation sector.

• Superposition of duties and disorder in the institutional framework.

• Incomplete legal and institutional framework.

Table 3 shows that there was more than one public organisation for each area of
responsibility. It was highlighted that there were no coordination mechanisms
established at institutional level (Bakalian et al 1999).

Table 3: Areas of responsibility in the 1990s

Policy-making Regulation Planning

PRESS X X X

SUNASS X X

MINSA-DIGESA X X

District governments18 X X

CTAR X

FONCODES X X

18 'Municipios distritales' is the term used in Peru

17
On the international stage, a need for a shift from the traditional supply-driven
approach to a new demand-responsive approach had become clear by the 1990s
(Black 1998). In order to overcome the restrictions on the development of the water
and sanitation sector, Bakalian et al (1999) proposed the adoption of a new conceptual
framework based on the demand-responsive approach (DRA) and the reorganisation
of the institutional framework. Table 4 shows the institutional model that was
proposed.

Table 4: Institutional model proposed in the 1990s

Role Responsible

Responsible PRES

Executor PRONASAR

Promotion Local Government

Demand Community

Needs assessment NGO or Private

Preparation of Technical Proposal Local Government or Private

Approval FONCODES

Contracting Community

Construction NGO or Private

Supervision FONCODES and Local Government

Training in Operation and Maintenance NGO or Private

Health and Hygiene Education NGO or Private

Management, Operation and Maintenance Administration Board (JA)19

It was also argued (Bakalian et al 1999) that the following factors were necessary for
the services to be sustainable:

• The implementation of projects is demanded by an organised community, with their

participation throughout the entire project

• Communities contribute towards a percentage of the total costs in order to cover the
value of labour and/or local materials

19 JA: Junta Administradora

18
• Local governments cover at least 10% of the budget

• Communal organisations are responsible for the management, operation and

maintenance of the services

• The legal ownership of the systems is transferred to the communities

• Training and education in health and hygiene is included in the projects

• The national programme is funded by a public body that adopts the proposed
strategy.

• An organisation dedicated to the development of sustainable human resources is

created

3.1.3 Period 2001-2006

The government, in its Plan Nacional de Saneamiento 2006-2015 (National Sanitation
Plan), indicated that “lack of access to potable water is a sign of poverty and that
access to water services is a fundamental right and is essential for human
development” (MVCS 2006). It stated that the government is committed to the
fulfilment of the MDG drinking water and sanitation target. It also argued that
“improved water and sanitation services will contribute to overcome poverty, to
guarantee people's health, to reduce mortality and morbidity rates, and to promote
gender equality and environmental conservation.”

In the early years of the present century the government reluctantly accepted the
recommendations from the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international
cooperation agencies and adopted a demand-responsive approach instead of the
supply-driven approach, which “had led to unsustainable systems that were the result
of a top-down approach” (Calderon 2004). This new direction was assisted by the
devolution process that started in 2001 and the creation one year later of the Ministry
of Housing, Construction and Sanitation (MVCS)20

20 MVCS: Ministerio de Vivienda, Construccion y Saneamiento

19
The Peruvian government recognised (MVCS 2006) that until PRONASAR21
(National Rural Water and Sanitation Programme) was set up in 2002, the main
emphasis was placed on the construction of infrastructure, without giving
consideration to the sustainability of the systems built. In addition to the improvement
or extension of existing infrastructure and the construction of new systems,
PRONASAR, in the rural areas, comprises creation and training of community-based
service providers, building local capacities as well as promoting good hygiene
practices.

The National Sanitation Plan will undertake the following actions in the RWSS sector
during the period 2006-2015 (MVCS 2006):

• Promote demand for services

• Increase accessibility of potable water by connections and tap stands, the latter with
greater incidence in communities with a greater dispersal of the population

• Promote solutions with latrines for the safe disposal of human excreta.

• Direct the donations from international technical cooperation towards this.

• A contribution of at least 20% of the cost shared between the community and the
local authority is contemplated in order to fund the investments.

• Service charges paid by users must cover, as a minimum, the costs of operation and
maintenance.

• Encourage community participation on the decisions about the services.

• The creation of communal organisations will be encouraged, before any

construction work begins.

The RWSS sector faces several problems at an institutional level. Calderon (2004)
arrived five years later to conclusions similar to Bakalian et al (1999). There were
several national agencies working in the sector with little or no coordination, making
the duplication of efforts a sad reality. In addition, it was also found that national

21 PRONASAR: Programa Nacional de Agua y Saneamiento Rural

20
agencies disregarded local development plans and worked without coordination with
local governments. In general, Calderon (2004) continued, the various institutions,
public and private, implementing RWSS projects did not cooperate with each other.

In a recent international workshop on water and sanitation in the Amazon Basin,

Oblitas (2006) of the GWF22 Peru presented the following problems23 regarding the
governance of water:

• There is neither a national policy on water nor a real political will

• Information systems are non-existent or only available for sectorial institutions

• Insufficient levels of coordination and discussion between users and

authorities

• Traditional rights and ancestral customs are not respected

• Lack of ethics and transparency and excessive political interference

• Institutional weakness

• Insufficient levels of training and knowledge on water-related issues

• There is not an adequate payment system for the use of water

3.2 Alternative Views

What is it all about? Certainly, it is not just pumps and latrines; it is about people and
society too.

Criticisms to the model employed to design and implement rural development projects
in the Peruvian Amazon Basin over the last twenty years can be found in Gasche
(2004), who maintained that almost all the projects in the region are characterised by
the following:

1. Objectives were not met, or only partially met.

2. Projects had unforeseen effects that a posteriori had to be interpreted as

beneficial in order to justify the investment.

22 GWP: Global Water Partnership

23 Problems identified in regional workshops with stakeholders held in 2002. It was a GWP
initiative known as Dialogo “En busca de una gobernabilidad eficaz del agua”

21
 3. The limited positive outcomes that were achieved did not last and were lost as
soon as the external financial support stopped.

Gasche (2004) concluded that “the project objectives are based on preconceived ideals
that do not respond to the real motivations of the Amazon forest peoples”. Another
way to explain this idea is to say that development projects have failed in the Amazon
Basin because they “have not considered the fundamental alterity24 that characterises
the type of community being targeted”. 'Forest peoples', or bosquesinos as Gasche
calls them using the Spanish term, refer to the inhabitants of the rainforest, regardless
of whether they are considered by outsiders as indigenous peoples, mestizos, peasants
or rural people. The rainforest does not understand about people's background, the
rainforest just influences their lives in such a way that a number of similarities can be
found among its inhabitants.

Under the occidental paradigms of development, indigenous peoples have

traditionally been seen as part of a space and time considered 'traditional' and
'primitive'. Nobody can argue with the fact that the belief that 'development', in the
occidental sense, is going to provide indigenous peoples with access to the 'benefits of
modernity' and lift them out of 'poverty' is widely held in the 'developed' world and its
sphere of political and cultural influence.

Some authors in Latin America question the validity of the concept of 'development'
for indigenous peoples. Viteri (2006) maintained that, contrary to the occidental
cosmovision25, for indigenous peoples there is no such thing as 'development', “life is
not a linear process that establishes a prior and post state, of underdeveloped and
developed. Neither do the concepts of wealth and poverty, based on the accumulation
or scarcity of material goods, exist. However, Viteri acknowledged that the concept of
'development' has been assimilated by indigenous peoples to a greater or lesser extent.
He explained what is expected from indigenous peoples: (i) abandon your non-
profitable traditions, renounce your local subsistence strategies and forget your
capacities of autonomous management; and (ii) be part of the work force, allow free
access to the extraction of natural resources and depend on the state to resolve your

24 Definition: 'alterity' means the state of exchanging one's own perspective for that of the
other, being able to consider and take into account the other's point of view, conception of
the world, interests, ideology, and not assuming that one's own perspective is the only
possible view.
25 Definition: 'cosmovision' refers to the understanding of what the meaning of life is and
should be.

22
needs. He did not propose that indigenous societies should “keep their philosophy of
life under a glass bell”. On the contrary, he believed that an endogenous 'development'
is possible, that is to say the pursuit of happiness and well-being from within their
own paradigms and realities but with a degree of adaptation to the present and future
challenges.

Gasche (2004) identified that “the principles, motivations and purpose of the methods
used to design and implement projects are alien to both the rhythm of life and the
conception of well-being implicit in the sociocultural universe of Amazon forest
peoples”. He continued with a suggestion to solve the problem: “in order to be able to
develop methods and tools that will narrow the gap between the sociocultural universe
of Amazon forest peoples and the urbanites' one, the first step is to be able to
positively value the forest way of life”.

In order to consider the alterity in the planning and implementation of development

projects, an approach that has emerged and is gaining popularity is based on the
notion of 'intercultural equity', which refers to “a strategic and political concept that
looks for the learning, the mutual communication, the respect, the non-exclusion, the
empowerment between the different cultures and within a culture that ensures spaces
for interaction and development, for the mutual benefit, the well-being and the human
development” (Klarenbeek & Meza 2003)

The concept of 'participatory' methods to formulate rural development projects has

gained strength over the last decade or so. It is seen by many as the silver bullet that
will avoid the past failures to promote sustainable projects. Gasche (2004) is less
enthusiastic and criticised the validity of participatory methods in forest communities.

23
4 Relevant Aspects of the Research
The aims of this research are to explore (i) the situation of rural water supply and
sanitation (RWSS) in Loreto, and (ii) approaches in the design of projects and
programmes, with the view of assisting development organisations in the preparation
of new projects and programmes in the region. The research has been undertaken in
three phases:

Phase 1: (June – July 2006) An overview of the current situation through a

literature review

Phase 2: (July – September 2006) Information from key informants to gain field
experience from others; field visits to selected sites; analyse data collected.

Phase 3: (October – December 2006) Prepare dissertation; submission to the

University of Southampton and Host Organisations.

4.1 Objectives
The review of literature shows that despite decades of investment in RWSS and a
number of changes of strategy, the sector does not seem prepared as yet to deliver safe
water and adequate sanitation to the inhabitants of the rural area. The literature review
also identifies knowledge gaps, for instance on the understanding of the key factors
having an impact on the sustainability of the systems, and the degree to which the
dominant paradigms are valid in the rural parts of Loreto. In response, the objectives
of the research are set as follows:

• Enhance the understanding of the factors limiting the development of the rural
water and sanitation sector in Loreto.

• Make recommendations to development practitioners on the way to promote

sustainable solutions to water supply and sanitation services in Loreto.

4.2 Themes
A number of topics have been identified where it is believed that existing information
is insufficient and there is a need to generate new knowledge. The fact that a particular
topic has not been selected as a theme for this research does not mean that it is not

24
judged to be important, but a balance had to be struck between keeping the project
manageable and researching water and sanitation issues in Loreto. The themes worked
on are:

✔ Institutional Capacity

✔ Community Involvement

✔ The Challenge of Diversity

4.3 Methodology
The fieldwork took place between 3rd July and 14th September 2006. The following
research techniques were used: interviews, focus groups, documentary sources and
observation. The fieldwork was based in Iquitos and included trips to a number of
rural communities in the region. It mainly involved spending time talking to people
and observing. Information was collected from individuals and from groups. Iquitos
was chosen as the base because it offers the best opportunities for networking and
arranging trips.

The contact details of the interviewees were found using a publicly available
directory, namely the Directory of Development Organizations 2006 available at
www.devdir.org, and thanks to personal and institutional directories provided by
several interviewees.

It was made clear to people that they would not directly benefit from participating in
the research, nor would they suffer any adverse consequence by not participating. The
following information was given to each participant:

• Purpose of the research: To carry out a study on the water and sanitation sector in
Loreto for the sponsors, with the view of identifying opportunities for participation
and potential partners.

• Who the sponsors are: Vine Trust of Scotland and Scripture Union of Peru

• Possible benefits of the study: Improved design and implementation of projects and
programmes

• Researcher's contact details

25
It was appreciated that people’s time is very valuable and should not be wasted. Every
effort was taken to ensure that no-one had already gathered the information sought
before embarking on fieldwork.

The researcher has have been furnished with a range of advice and information which
has been of invaluable assistance in identifying both problems and opportunities. The
researcher also benefited from participating26 in the “International Workshop on the
Amazon Basin: Towards a Responsible Management of the Water and Sanitation
Services” held in Iquitos (22-24 August 2006)

4.3.1 Observation
Exploratory trips to twenty two villages in the region were part of the research. The
objective of the visits was to catch a glimpse of rural life in the Peruvian Amazon
Basin.

Particular attention was paid to the ethnic background of the villagers, their daily
activities and routine, communal organisation, infrastructure (health, education,
transport, water and sanitation, energy, telecommunications), means of transport and
the spatial distribution of population. Observations also provided some indication
about the interaction between outsiders and residents.

4.3.2 Interviews
Fifty one-to-one interviews27 were conducted to forty key informants and the
responses were recorded taking notes. It was more like a conversation, an
'unstructured' interview as it is called, with no standard questions but topic areas,
namely (i) background information about the organisation and its experiences in water
and sanitation, (ii) personal experiences and views, (iii) suggestions for further
reading and networking.

This type of interview was considered to be useful because it helps to explore the
issues in question and leaves open what is important to discuss. It also proved to be a
successful tool in locating relevant literature and obtaining contact details of key
informants.

26 The researcher's presentation and further information on the event is available at

http://www.wsp.org/Iquitos.asp
27 Excluding conversations with villagers during the visits to rural communities

26
People were contacted mainly by calling at their offices without prior arrangement. In
the majority of the cases it was not necessary to call back because interviewees were
willing to participate. No material recompense was offered as an incentive to
participate.

4.3.3 Focus Groups

Focus group was chosen as a research tool because the groups could provide
invaluable information on how people think and on people’s ideas. It was also thought
that it would be enjoyable for the participants.

On three occasions, groups of people were brought together for a discussion. Two of
them were held in rural villages, namely San Joaquin (Province of Maynas, District of
Indiana) and Santa Clara de Nanay (Province of Maynas, District of San Juan
Bautista). They were selected because examples of good practice in community
managed systems were thought to exist.

Another focus group was held in Iquitos with representatives from the national
government (FONCODES, DRVCS), regional government (Office for International
Cooperation) and civil society (MCLCP, Red Cross of Peru, Scripture Union). The
aim was to enhance the understanding of the approaches employed and the
coordination arrangements in place.

No material recompense was offered as an incentive to participate. However, it is

common practice in Peru to serve snacks and drinks halfway through or at the end of
meetings, which was greatly appreciated by participants.

4.3.4 Problems and Difficulties

The level of collaboration among the informants was high. No significant problems
were encountered during the fieldwork. However, it is worth noting several matters.

Due to the nature of the placement, it was not possible to finalise all the details of the
research project before leaving Southampton. This led to the need to reorientate the
research focus during the first few weeks in Peru.

The sponsors did not have relevant experience in research, nor resources allocated. As
a result, the fieldwork was organised and undertaken with little or no assistance, apart
from financial and moral support. The heavy workload of the sponsors' staff was also
another factor that explains their lack of involvement.

27
Raising expectations was an issue with almost every respondent. Although this
research work is embedded within a programme of practical work that is expected to
follow, it was explained to respondents that their situation may not be transformed by
this research. It was stressed that the sponsors had not participated in any project in
the water and sanitation sector and that there were no funds available from the
sponsors.

4.3.5 Critique of the Research Approach

With the wisdom of hindsight, the main limitations of the research can be presented as
follows:

• The researcher had a lack of experience in these matters. For instance, the
researcher acted as facilitator for the focus groups, which requires an experienced
one rather than a beginner.

• Although no material recompense was offered as an incentive to participate, it was

evident that respondents felt they could obtain some kind of benefit by participating
in the research. This might have affected the trueness of their contributions.

• The amount of time spent in rural villages was limited and probably insufficient. It
was certainly insufficient to learn about their way of life, concept of well-being and
expectations, as well as their experiences with implementing agencies. There was
no chance to meet with representative from indigenous peoples and communal
organisations.

Other techniques such as questionnaires were considered but not used because it was
thought that respondents would not be able to express themselves fully. People's
experiences and views in some depth could not be obtained using questionnaires.

Strictly speaking, observation should avoid interaction with people. However, it was
accepted that talking to people was part of the exercise. It is recognised that the value
of the information obtained has a limited value for the research, but it has a great
significance for the researcher and the way he sees life in the Amazon Basin. A
desktop study alone would have not provided a sympathetic insight into the reality.

28
The researcher hopes that this work will encourage others to challenge the dominant
models, paradigms, stereotypes, prejudices and myths. The researcher fully recognises
that his own prejudices are present and have influenced the entire undertaking. Any
constructive, critical review of this work is more than welcome. The researcher takes
the liberty of suggesting that the findings and conclusions of this research are taken as
hypothesis for further research. It is not the researcher's intention to carve any ideas in
stone.

29
5 An Interpretation of the Reality
The following research findings are based on field studies and the development of
personal ideas, and are organised and analysed in the themes presented in the previous
chapter: (i) institutional capacity, (ii) community involvement, and (iii) the challenge
of diversity. Many examples and testimonials have been carefully taken to illustrate
certain issues throughout the discussion that follows.

5.1 Institutional Capacity

Adequate institutional and organisational support is considered by the literature to be
important to ensure the proper use of investments in water supply and sanitation
systems. Strengthening of local capacities and institution building are areas of work
supported by various international development agencies and NGOs. Community
management has become a leading concept for implementing water and sanitation
systems in rural areas.

While the literature says that democratisation and decentralisation are creating
opportunities for local governments and citizens to have more control over their own
community services and development plans, this research finds that their capacities to
seize these opportunities are often lacking. Several attempts to reform the public
institutions have been made from Lima, but in a distant place like Loreto they seem to
be working on the traditional premises.

An important part of the political debate takes place around what is perceived as
excessive concentration of power in the capital Lima and the virtues of the
decentralisation process. In spite of several years of this long and painful process,
centralism from Lima is still a reality equally acknowledged and criticised.

The decentralisation process is taking more time than expected and the central
government and the Regional Government of Loreto28 (GOREL) accuse each other of
the delay. In Lima the argument is that Iquitos is not ready to take over, while Iquitos
argues that Lima does not want to move forward at a faster pace.

28 The official name is 'Regional Government of the Department of Loreto'

30
Testimonial:

The devolution process is slow because the civil servants in Lima are reluctant, some of
them will loose their jobs in favour of new positions in sub-national governments
V.Z. - Official in the GOREL

The understanding of the decentralisation system seems to be poor, even politicians

and officials seem not to be fully aware of who is responsible for what. The situation
is prone to be confusing when considering that responsibilities are being transferred
from central government departments (for example, MINSA Ministerio de Salud) to
territorial departments of the same government (DIRESA Direccion Regional de
Salud, following with this example). This territorial departments are supposed to
coordinate their work with departments of the regional government (in this case, the
Gerencia Regional de Desarrollo Social)

Testimonial

People in the streets are badly informed about the decentralisation and they do not have
commitment to the process.
H.R. - Ombudsman's Advisor

The sub-national governments eagerly await the functions to be transferred. They

argue that the additional funding that should accompany the decentralisation will be
invested in the communities more wisely and efficiently. Obviously, the
decentralisation will be a big fiasco if the regional and local institutions are not
strengthened.

Testimonial:

The problem is that the money stays in Lima and does not reach Iquitos
V.Z. - Official in the GOREL

Centralism can also be seen in how the foreign aid is spent. Rivas-Llosa (2006)
highlighted what he called 'aid focalisation': the regions with greater levels of extreme
poverty do not receive proportionally more aid; on the contrary, as an example in
round figures for 2004, Lima with 250000 people in extreme poverty received
approximately US$50 million, while Loreto with 400000 people in the same category

31
benefited from only US$8 million. The same 'focalisation' has been seen by this
research in the water and sanitation sector, making Loreto a region with relatively
fewer programmes and projects.

There is an attempt by the GOREL to manage the international cooperation in Loreto

through the Office for International Cooperation (OCI, acronym in Spanish). Its role is
to facilitate the implementation of programmes and projects, as well as the arrival of
funding and donations, from international development organisations.

At national level, there are different ministries with responsibilities in the water and
sanitation sector who wish to become a major player in the sector, or do not want to
lose the status of a key actor in the sector. As examples to illustrate this point, the
research points to the turbulent, competitive relationship between three ministries:
MIMDES-FONCODES, MVCS and MINSA-DIGESA.

Example: PRON AS A R.

National Water and Sanitation Programme, PRONASAR, was an initiative by the Ministry
of Housing, Construction and Sanitation - MVCS with a budget of US$80 million.
FONCODES, part of the Ministry of Women and Social Development - MIMDES,
participated in the design in 2002 and was responsible for the implementation of the
components in RWSS for communities with up to 2000 people (400 households) for a total
of US$68 million (US$52 million for rehabilitation and extension of existing systems,
US$16 million construction of new systems)
After the change of government in July 2006, 2006 FONCODES stop being an
implementing agency. In September of the same year FONCODES launched the
programme 'Agua para Todos Rural' (Water for All Rural), targeting communities with less
than 1000 people. Its aim is to contribute towards the government objections to eradicate
poverty and under 5s malnutrition. It was presented to the public as a complementary
programme to the PRONASAR run by the MVCS.
There is no project supported by PRONASAR in Loreto.

32
Example: Proyecto Amazonia, MINSA- DIGESA

DIGESA carried out the Amazon Basin Project in 1999 as an intervention to improve the
environmental health of communities in the Selva by introducing composting latrines and
household filters. It chose to select areas not prone to flooding, despite the fact that 80% of
the territory in the Amazon Basin is flooded during 5 month every year. The latrines and
water filters were donated to the communities.
In 2002, as part of an evaluation, Executive Directorate of Environmental Health (DESA)
visited a community in District of Mazan (Province of Maynas) and collected data using
questionnaires and taking samples of water and faeces. The report from DESA to DIGESA
said that the composting latrines had been abandoned after three or four months of use.
The community complained about unpleasant odours and flies. It was indicated to the
community that people were probably at fault because they had not followed the instruction
of use, such as adding ash after each use. In respect of the water filters, Proyecto Mi
Agua, it was recommended the supply of certain materials and the repair of some parts of
the filter. People were reported to be satisfied with the filters. The report highlighted that in
7 out of 8 samples the water was not suitable for drinking.

The state has been proven to be largely ineffective in rural areas. As a result, this
research found public institutions themselves adopt the approach of concentrating
efforts in and around Iquitos, whose peri-urban and urban population is said to be 40-
50% of Loreto. When an initiative is designed, it is very rarely appropriate for the
conditions in Loreto, not just because of the challenges posed by dispersed population
and transport difficulties, but also because the institutions in the region do not have
enough resources to implement the plans properly.

Example: Human resources in Loreto

Gerencia Regional de Recursos Naturales y del Medio Ambiente: 5 people
DESA: 14 people, 2 of them working exclusively in water and sanitation
DRVCS: 4 people
ATDR Iquitos: 6 people

There are instances where legislation is introduced in Lima that addresses an issue at
national level, but in reality its conception is based on the situation in the Costa or the
Sierra, making that legislation not relevant or applicable in the Selva. In the case of
the water and sanitation sector, Ley General de Aguas 1969 (Water Act) is often used
as an example.

33
Example: Water use licensing

Under the Water Act 1969, the Ministry of Agriculture, through the ATDR (Technical Office
of the Irrigation Board) in the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA), has the
duty to gather the information needed for the optimal management of the water resources
in the various catchments.
Scarce water resources in the Costa are under increasing pressure. In order to build a
sustainable future, water resources will have to be used efficiently, effectively and wisely.
In this context it makes sense to try to know how much water is used, by whom, and
where.
All water users have the statutory obligation to apply for a licence. Licensing comprises an
application with the following information: identification of the water user, description of the
system (water quality, intake, treatment, quantity), geographical location and type of use.
In Loreto people do not think that they need to apply for a licence and say that the Water
Act does not apply in the region. In any case, the licensing process has been proven to be
not practical for the region.

Current initiatives drawn in Lima often have a limited understanding of the conditions
under which public institutions in Loreto are working. This lack of understanding
results in initiatives that fail to meet their objectives.

Example: Regional needs assessment of water and sanitation

This study, developed and managed by MVCS, is part of the efforts to improve the national
information system on water and sanitation. It covers communities with a population above
200 inhabitants.
It started in July 2005 with a training workshop in Lima for all the directors of regional
offices, followed by training workshops in every province and district organised by the
respective Direccion Regional, DRVCS.
Data was collected by each DRVCS between October 2005 and April 2006, and then sent
to Lima for analysis by DNS. It comprised two parts: water and sanitation services survey
and infrastructure register.
The DNS in Lima set the target that at least 70% of the communities in each district should
be evaluated. In Loreto there are approximately 3,000 communities, of which 90% have
less than 500 people. The task of achieving the 70% target proved to be beyond the reach
of the resources allocated for the study and the capacity and willingness to cooperate
shown by the local authorities. In fact, only 300 communities were assessed.
It intended to be a participatory process, involving public and private institutions. The
MVCS identified institutions working in the WSS sector and planned to generate synergies
and strategic alliances, and benefit from their experience, knowledge and resources. None
of the NGOs identified have presence in Loreto. In Loreto the process involved local
governments, their civil servants responding to the questionnaires.

34
This work established that centralism does not impact only on the public institutions.
National and international NGOs tend to stay in the Costa or Sierra, near Lima and
the road network, and do not set up offices and programmes in Loreto. The poor
transport communication with Iquitos, which is accessed from Lima by air (1.5 hour
flight) or by intermodal boat-road transport which takes up to one week, does not play
in its favour, but is not the only reason for its isolation from the centre of power.

The high transport costs in Loreto are time and time again mentioned as a reason for
not working in this region. The argument used is that the transport costs in Loreto are
so high in comparison with the total budget that it is more cost effective and greater
impact in communities is achieved by implementing projects in more accessible parts
of the country.

In Loreto no such a thing as 'transport infrastructure' exists, apart from a 'white

elephant' called road Iquitos – Nauta that crosses 115 km through the rainforest. River
boats of different materials, capacity and power, public and private, are the only
means of transport. Most of the rivers are navigable. However, river transport is
impeded or made difficult in the dry season when the water level lowers significantly
in many rivers in the region.

The interviews discovered that staff in organisations related to water and sanitation
tend to associate 'Loreto' with 'failure' since the region is covered with unsuccessful
projects. Many projects in a wide range of sectors, including rural development, water
and sanitation, environment, health, education, and energy, have been unsustainable
after a few years from completion.

Interaction between rural people, civil society organisations and the state is difficult.
An important constrain is the poor access, understood as a combination of mobility
(transport infrastructure and means of transport) and the location, price and quality of
economic and social services. the presence of the state itself is very limited or simply
does not exist. In many cases only schools and health posts are available in some rural
communities. Several forms of formal authority can be found in rural communities,
namely the Teniente Gobernador on behalf of the Prefecto de Loreto (appointed by
the Ministry of Interior) and the Agente Municipal working for the Municipio
Distrital. Some communities have a Traditional Chief. Rural people trust and rely
primarily upon their own informal institutions and networks in order to survive.

35
There are no professional engineers for RWSS, just people with training and
qualifications in standard engineering practices developed for and validated in urban
settings. This is a clear weakness in the human resources available to any agency
intending to promote water and sanitation projects in Loreto.

Testimonial:

There are only three sanitary engineers in Loreto. They obtained their qualifications in
Lima in the only school of sanitary engineering in the country.
P.F. – Consulting engineer

According to the research findings, the environment is the most popular sector for
development organisations working in Loreto. This is justified because the region is
situated in the Amazon Rainforest, whose conservation is a matter of great concern in
the international agenda. Health, education and capacity development are other
popular areas of action for NGOs in Loreto.

• Environment: conservation of biological diversity, natural resources management,

promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity, income generating opportunities
through non-timber forest products, ecotourism, contamination

• Health: infrastructure, education to communities, human resources development

• Education: mainly bilingual education, intercultural or multicultural programmes

for indigenous peoples, and other education approaches for and by indigenous
peoples.

• Capacity development: democratisation, decentralisation, good governance,

transparency, institution building, strengthening of local capacities.

In general, water and sanitation are included in projects where the emphasis is on
other development sectors. Health projects usually include WSS because of concerns
with cholera and other serious diseases. Unsafe water and inadequate sanitation is
linked to considerable economic losses, due to health costs and loss of income, which
force people to increase the use of natural resources to generate income with the
subsequent negative impact on the environmental.

36
The importance of good governance is increasingly important for NGOs when
choosing projects to support. Local governments who are responsive and accountable
to citizens are more likely to attract attention from the public and private sectors.

Testimonial:

The international cooperation could support projects and programmes for sewage
treatment, to complement existing services in places with a good water supply system and
an environmental management system such as Nauta (Province of Loreto, District of
Nauta)
J.M. - Senior government official

Example: Los Delfines

Los Delfines is a 3,000 inhabitants community located in the road Iquitos-Nauta (9km from
Iquitos)
In 2004, an outbreak in Los Delfines resulted in the death of six children in one week. An
international NGO installed an emergency potabilisation plant as a temporary measured. A
permanent plant was later supplied from France, delivered and installed. The gravity water
supply also included plant house, tube wells, elevated tank for storage of potable water
and distribution to 624 household connections.
In this project, the NGO channelled the funds from donors and manage the project
finances, while the technical staff in the local government prepared the engineering and
construction-related documents, such as specifications and drawings, and supervise the
construction stage.

Example: Accountability
The Ombudsman's Office (known as Defensor del Pueblo in Peru) tries to increase political
participation of the civil society. It brings the service provider enterprises (EPS) to account.
Its ambit of action does not cover other types of service provision such as communal
organisations, which are supposed to be accountable to the community through the
communal assembly.

Corruption was noticed to be an important issue in Peru. It is usual to read in the daily
press news about imprisoment of holders of public office. Due to briberies, low cost
technologies tend be avoided. Good governance is seen as the answer to corruption.
Many agencies are promoting improved transparency and governance. Good
governance is seen as the answer to corruption.

37
Testimonial

Many mayors and councillors in rural areas behave as if they were the 'lords' in a feudal
society. They do not seem to differentiate between public and private ownership, they feel
they are entitled to transfer public funds and assets to their own capital. Another
characteristic of the political class in the rural communities is the lack of education, many
have not even completed primary education.
H.R. - Advisor to the Ombudsman's Office

Testimonial:

Do you see those people accompanying the candidate to the province government? If this
candidate win the mayor seat, they will get a job for as long as he remains in office. The
same will happen if any other candidate wins. Take the money and run! That's the
politicians' motto.
Person in the street observing a political procession

Testimonial

Low cost systems such as artisanal filters are not attractive to politicians.
M.M. - International development agency worker

NGOs are also considered to be corrupted. NGOs have sometimes been called 'for-
profit-organisations without an aim' (Spanish: organizaciones de lucro sin fin) instead
of not-for-profit organisations (organizaciones sin fin de lucro)

5.1.1 Platforms for Coordination and Discussion

Professionals from different organisations and background are involved in the
achievement of sustainable WSS services for the rural poor. Each needs to know not
only his/her own role and objectives, but also the experiences and approaches which
guide the others. This does not happen in Loreto. Furthermore, the available evidence
suggests that there are no specific studies for rural water and sanitation in Loreto. It
might be that information has not been consolidated into a form which could be most
useful to agencies and has not been made available to a wider audience.

There is no institutional, permanent coordination between civil society and state for
issues concerning water and sanitation in Loreto. Neither is there a platform on which
to coordinate actions among NGOs themselves. In other areas, such as poverty

38
reduction, the Coordination Group in the Fight Against Poverty (MCLCP)29 is a
reference point. In health, ForoSalud and Regional Council on Health (CRS-Loreto)30
are active groups. Environmental issues are addressed to the Regional Council on the
Environment (CAR-Loreto)31. The effectiveness, level of participation and willingness
of these groups to collaborate could be improved. Nonetheless, it is a good sign that
people from different institutions are sitting around a table to discuss a common
agenda.

Testimonial

Environmental NGOs work on their own, without considering the institutional policies and
plans. There is a need for greater coordination between the regional government and the
civil society.
N.B. - Official in the GOREL

The MCLCP is an organisation set up to promote civil society participation in poverty

eradication. It works on the premise that poverty eradication can only be achieved
through coordination forums involving all the stakeholders and through strengthening
the local capacities and institution building. The executive committee for the regional
office of Loreto is composed of representatives from the international cooperation,
central government, regional government and civil society organisations. A important
area of work is the strengthening of the capacities in the communities and local
governments in order to make the participatory budget process a democratic and
effective way to direct investment towards poverty eradication.

Testimonial:

The regional government is not interested in forming part of the MCLCP and has tried to
jeopardise any progress towards an agreed agenda for development and poverty
eradication in Loreto.
R.C. - Activist

The Regional Council for the Environment (CAR Loreto) is an advisory body to the
public institutions. It has representatives from public institutions, research centres,
NGOs and other civil society organisations. The CAR is convened by the National

29 Mesa de Concertacion para la Lucha Contra la Pobreza

30 Consejo Regional de Salud
31 Consejo del Ambiente Regional

39
Council for the Environment (CONAM), which is a central government body with
regional offices. Any organisation interested in environmental matters can apply to
become a member.

The Regional Council on Health (CRS Loreto) is an advisory body to the public
institutions. It has representatives from public institutions, research centres, NGOs and
other civil society organisations. The CAR is convened by Regional Directorate of
Health (DIRESA). There is one representative from the NGOs in the CRS. NGOs
meet before each meeting of the CRS to discuss the agenda.

The Foro de la Sociedad Civil en Salud, ForoSalud, is a civil society group with an
agenda on health. It promotes debate, assessment, knowledge sharing, preparation of
proposal and the collective construction of consensus around the health problems of
the country. It considers horizontal issues to health, such as human rights, social
development, poverty, gender and interculturality. There are regional groups of
ForoSalud, but not yet in Loreto. However, there is an active group in Iquitos trying to
set up ForoSalud. ForoSalud coordinates actions with thematic discussion groups, one
of them in 'Health and the Environment' known as Group on Health and the
Environment.32

The number of coordination forums on water and sanitation is limited at national

level. The Comite Sectorial de Agua y Saneamiento (Water and Sanitation Sector
Committee) brings together national and international, public and private institutions
working in the sector. It is convened by the World Bank Water and Sanitation
Program (WSP) and is integrated by CIDA, SDC-AGUASAN, WSP, CEPIS-PAHO,
PRONASAR, SUNASS, DIGESA, SANBASUR, ADRA, CARE-PROPILAS,
CENCA, WUSC, Plan Internacional, Intervida-Solaris, Prisma, Kallpa, SER and
Consorcio Casma.

The Peruvian International Cooperation Agency (APCI, acronym in Spanish),

convenes the Grupo Agua, or Water Group, in Lima in an attempt to coordinate
efforts among the bilateral and multilateral aid agencies. It is integrated by the World
Bank Water and Sanitation Program, Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), CEPIS-

32 Spanish: Mesa de Salud y Medio Ambiente

40
PAHO, GTZ-KfW German International Cooperation, Japanese Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC), Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and European Union (EU)

The Peru Water Partnership33 is a platform for discussion integrated by public, private
institutions and civil society organisations involved in water resources management. It
is making an effort to raise awareness of the need for the sustainable use of water and
to promote the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach. It is the
key partner in Peru of the Global Water Partnership (GWP). Members include:
CARE, CEDEPAS, CEPIS, CAR Loreto, CONAM, COSUDE-AGUASAN,
Defensoria del Pueblo, IIAP and World Bank-WSP

5.2 Community Involvement

There seems to be a consensus on the reasons for past failures and the recipes for
future success. Demand-responsive approach and community participation are seen as
good foundations for sustainability. The interviews revealed that it is widely accepted
that rural communities should participate more. In Loreto this participation takes place
in several forms:

• Needs assessment and planning of new services.

• Monitoring of existing services.

• Management of services, including operation and maintenance.

• Labour and supply of local materials for the construction project.

• Cash to cover a certain percentage of the construction budget.

• Assistance to training workshops in management skills, health education and

hygiene promotion.

In the rural ambit, the government also believes that the active participation of the
beneficiaries and the local authorities is key for sustainability of the systems. The
component of hygiene promotion, with the collaboration of women, is said to play a
central role in the strategy.

33 Spanish: Foro Peruano para el Agua

41
As far as the the research could see, the 'participation' of rural communities in the
decision-making process is low. In many cases it meant just a meeting with the local
assembly and casting a vote by hand. In the best of the cases, the project was still in
its early stages. More often than not, the project had already been designed and
funding allocated.

One way in which communities can influence the planning of new social services,
including basic water supply and sanitation, is through the 'participatory budgeting', or
presupuesto participativo in Peru.

During the planning phases, it has become quite usual in recent years to discuss with
the community whether people wanted a system managed by their own community,
set up a private operator as the service provider, or request the district government to
provide the service.

Community managed systems are accepted as the solution for rural areas, where the
private sector and the state are absent. In this type of arrangement, poor training of the
communal organisation responsible for the operation and maintenance, and poor
health education of the community seem to be the norm and are pointed out as a
reason for unsustainable projects. Unfortunately, a budget for training programmes is
frequently underestimated or omitted all together.

Testimonial:

Training and follow-up for one year after completion of the construction is very important,
but there is no money for this phase.
E.A. - Government department worker

Testimonial:

Community managed systems work in villages with a significant level of institutional and
social organisation. In the Selva many communities lack the sense of belonging and social
cohesion, which is a problem.
E.A. - Government department worker

In the belief that the demand for water supply and sanitation projects for the rural
people of Loreto is so low that they would not pay for services, service delivery has
traditionally been, and still is in many cases, supply-driven in the name of 'public

42
health', 'development' and 'prosperity'. Target communities for pumps and latrines
were selected by officials on the basis of health and poverty indicators and the alleged
beneficiaries were expected to be grateful.

Testimonial:

Latrines are abandoned because people are not used to them and prefer open defecation
(commented with a pejorative connotation)
M.L. – MINSA worker

Complaints about the approach of implementing agencies, particularly FONCODES

and the local governments, whose presence is most noticeable in Loreto, can be heard
across rural villages in Loreto. Contrary to the analysis made by an outsider critic,
who would label the top-down model of intervention as paternalistic and patronising,
people complain not because they disapprove the outsider's approach but because the
intervention was a one-off event that did not continue after completion of the
construction work. This can be understood as an unintended, and probably
unexpected, consequence of the supply-driven model: people get used to and request
improved social services free of charge.

Example:

A sign of this 'popular demand' for free services is that politicians tap into it. For instance
using slogans such as “water and sewage for all” in the political campaign during the latest
regional and local elections in November 2006

The shift from supply-driven approach to demand-responsible approach in water and

sanitation was officially endorsed in 2001. During the fieldwork it has been
impossible to see this change in practice. Promoters and implementers of water and
sanitation projects still believe that they know how to improve the health of the rural
population and promote rural development, no matter what the beneficiaries want and
believe. Discrimination plays an important role on this as discussed later.

The public do not expect high standards from politicians, who are considered
incompetent and whose motivation is to divert public funds to their own pockets. In a
recent national survey on democracy in Peru (PNUD 2006), 70% said that the
democracy malfunctions, of which 90% thought that politicians are to blame for this
failure.

43
Testimonial

There is no strategic planning for the development of Loreto. Political myopia and short
term plans are a liability to the region.
M.G. - NGO worker

It is common to see projects where the community provides labour and locally
available construction materials, while the implementing agency supports with
training and funds for procurement, skilled labour and training.

5.3 The Challenge of Diversity

Project and programmes that aspire to be sustainable, equitable and effective are
expected to provide access for all regardless of their sociocultural background. Even
though Peru officially declares its multi-ethnic character, discriminatory attitudes
against rural people, who tend to be indigenous peoples or mestizos, are evident in
Peru and underpin, at least in part, some of the experiences presented in previous
sections of this document.

Rampant racism in Peru has caused poverty and neglect among indigenous peoples
and their traditional communities since the Spanish 'conquistadores' arrived, and has
continued for centuries from the centralist government of Lima.

Testimonial:

Loreto suffers from the colonial syndrome. Everything that comes from outside is better.
Even people think that there is no cultural heritage, when it is clear that we have a
millenarian culture of an incalculable richness.
J.G. - Activist

Since rural communities are supposed to contribute towards the costs of the water and
sanitation systems, it seems pertinent to learn about their livelihoods. However,
current development initiatives often have a limited understanding of the livelihoods
of rural people. This lack of understanding has resulted in (i) initiatives that fail; or (ii)
initiatives that exclude or negatively impact upon rural people in general.

44
Testimonial:

We do not like when we are told about ecology for example, about not touching the
environment, without proposing an alternative way of life in this area. It is said that logging
should not take place, that the environment should not be deteriorated, but it is not said
what should be done, how livelihoods will be supported, how to solve the rural
unemployment.
It is said that people should not log the forest, instead they should take care of the natural
resources, but a human alternative is not proposed, which should happen first.
In other words, firstly people should be orientated on how to change the way of life, the
economic system, because the rural inhabitants of the Amazon Basin have lived and
continue to live from the natural resources, from the forest, from hunting, from fishing.
Farmer in the Iquitos-Nauta corridor
(Translation from Spanish - original text in: Caballero & Quijandria1994)

The subsistence strategy for the rural communities in Loreto is basically small-scale
agriculture and horticulture relying on family and communal labour, combined with
hunting and gathering to a greater or lesser extent. For obvious reasons, this
subsistence economy does not integrate well with the predominant economic
paradigms. This worked established that urban people in Iquitos, in the government
and in NGOs, see hunting and gathering as a 'primitive' way of life that does not allow
the full participation in a capitalist economy. Rural people risk more vociferous
criticism when their practices are not seen by the urbanite as compatible with the
sustainable conservation of the biodiversity in the Amazon Rainforest. The myth of
'indigenous peoples, curb on development' is as present as when the report 'Amazon
Basin without Myths' (TCA 1992) was published in preparation to the Earth Summit.

The reader will have noticed that the terms 'rural people' and 'indigenous peoples' are
used as if they were synonyms. They are not, but the same view has been taken as a
particular line of thought that has in Gasche (2004) one example.

Local knowledge and traditional beliefs have been ignored when planning new water
and sanitation systems. The interviews revealed some examples.

45
Example: Cultural aspects

Some people do not like the colour and the taste of water treated with filtration and
chlorination.
Some people believe that water is 'alive' and therefore boiling will amount to kill it, so they
do not want to drink boiled water.
Some people will not use lime after going to the latrine because they think that faeces will
be killed when adding lime.

Example: Some bad designs

Many projects are a total fiasco due to poor understanding of local conditions:
Pumps that break down after a few months because there is not filtration and the sand
erodes the moving parts.t
Installation of latrines in areas with high risk of flooding
Chlorination as a disinfection method is used. But who can pay and even obtain it?
Petrol / electricity to power water pumps. Who can afford to pay for it and how reliable is it?
Use of concrete, which dramatically increase the transport costs and the need for imported
labour.

Testimonial:

People from Lima arrive in Iquitos thinking they can go straight on a boat as if they were
taking a 4WD car from Lima to somewhere else in the Costa or Sierra. Also they are
scared of the rainforest and its hazards, such as malaria.
G.C. - NGO worker

For somebody in the government in Lima, a place like the Selva with abundant water
is of secondary importance in comparison with the Costa which is starved of water.
Urbanites cannot imagine that some people in rural Amazon Basin struggle to get
water during the dry season, locally known as vaciante. In some cases, people were
reported to walk for long distances in a sandy river bed.

46
6 Conclusions and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusions
The outlook for rural water and sanitation in Loreto is quite bleak. Although there has
been several changes in the institutional arrangements, the strategy and the role of
numerous implementing agencies over the past four decades, the available evidence
suggests that there are 'barriers' that are hindering sustainable progress.

A first group of barriers is related to the lack of understanding between the promoters
and the community members. Even if they speak the same language, the
communication is difficult because key concepts under discussion have different
meanings to each party. The gulf between the cosmovisions of rural and urban people
is huge. Unfortunately, it tends to be underestimated.

The promoters of changes in the way water and sanitation services are delivered to the
rural people are predominantly urbanites, who have shown an inability to plan and
implement sustainable solutions. Promoters have not risen to the challenge of
diversity. Discrimination attitudes against rural people exist. The rural people's
conceptual framework regarding the meaning of life, how to pursuit happiness and the
interaction with mother nature is undervalued. Their perceptions about their health are
refuted. In this context, planning a successful project in a rural community becomes
almost impossible.

A second group of barrier relates to the institutional arrangements. The institutions, at

all levels, are not adequately prepared for the fulfilment of its commitments and duties
to the inhabitants of the rural area in Loreto. Considering the massive territory
covered by Loreto and its population scattered all over, in contrast with the limited
presence of institutions, it is hard to imagine how the institutions are ever going to
reach every corner of the land, particularly when they do not coordinate their activities
with each other.

The government policy to increase the provision of basic water supply and sanitation
is based on a functional state that reaches the nation. Unfortunately, this is not the case
in Loreto. There seems to be a lack of interest in the rural Loreto, apart from the
exploitation of its natural resources.

47
Finally, a third group of barriers is about community involvement throughout the
different stages of projects. They are told that improved access to safe water and
sanitation will alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions. They are told that
access to basic water and sanitation services is a fundamental right and is essential for
human development. But what does all that mean? It is questionable whether the
promoters really want to engage the community or just undertake a project that has a
budget allocated. The community should be the leading force in the entire
undertaking. Putting the last first.

6.2 Recommendations
It seems reasonable to recommend that any agency working in water and sanitation in
Peru, from any sector in society, should evaluate its intercultural policy. Until
substantial efforts are made to understand the 'beneficiaries' of a project, not just a
participatory session, there is no point in investing resources that will very likely end
up rotting in the middle of the Amazon Basin. Definitely, anthropologist and other
social scientist should be engaged in the project at the earliest opportunity.

Development organisations should be aware of the whole colonial syndrome, helping

with the process of disengaging from it. At the same time, an effort could be made to
learn about the history, tradition and customs of the targeted community and its
neighbours. Myths created by outsiders are still causing misunderstanding and errors.
If the Amazon Basin has been the home for generations of human beings over
thousands of years, there will be something to learn about how to manage the natural
resources, including water resource management.

It may sound obvious, but it is recommended that development workers be prepared to

spend many days out of the office, working with the community, observing, learning
and teaching. More than assemblies, meetings with the communal leaders, workshops,
participatory techniques is required throughout the project. Development agency
should not be centralist, they should not only established themselves in Lima and
surroundings.

Knowledge sharing and networking could not be omitted from this list of
recommendations. This process of managing the behind the scene, software aspects of
water and sanitation projects involves all actors in Loreto, from public to private
sector.

48
In terms of criteria for selecting targeted communities, a key recommendation is that it
is required to intervene only in those places where there is a clear demand for support
and an evident problem related to water and sanitation. This would mean that the
community's own ability to cope with the problem is put under question.

49
References
Bakalian, Alex; Oscar Castillo and Rafael Vera (1999) Saneamiento basico rural en
Peru: Analisis sectorial y estrategias. Banco Mundial, Lima, Peru.

Black, Maggie (1998) Learning what works: A 20 year retrospective view on

international water and sanitation cooperation. UNDP-World Bank Water and
Sanitation Program, Washington, USA

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