The USAID Expanding Water and Sanitation Project works to improve access to sustainable and safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services in the Muchinga, Northern, Southern, and Western provinces of Zambia. Decades of underinvestment has translated into poor water delivery service to accommodate the nation’s population growth. Over 6 million Zambians lack access to safe water and 11 million are without basic sanitation. Where infrastructure exists, investments in maintenance are lacking. 

The Zambian government’s Revised National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (2016 - 2030) reports that up to 30 percent of water sources are non-functional. The purpose of this project is to professionalize and promote accountability for reliable and high-quality Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) service providers and to remove barriers to private sector participation in WASH services delivery. The Expanding Water and Sanitation Project works with the Government of the Republic of Zambia at the national, provincial, and local levels to ensure that systems, policies, and processes are in place, implemented, and enforced to ensure that Zambians receive high-quality WASH services.

  • Life of Project: January 2022 - January 2027
  • Geographic Focus: Northern, Muchinga, Southern, and Western Provinces
  • Implementing Partner: Research Triangle Institute International (RTII)
  • Interim COP: Ms. Alayne Potter 
  • Total USAID Funding: $19.6 million
  • USAID Zambia Contact: Mundia Matongo - mmatongo@usaid.gov

The USAID Expanding Water and Sanitation project works with the private sector to leverage reach, innovation, and long-term commercial interests to provide sustainable service delivery and has four overarching objectives:

  1. Promote market-based WASH service delivery and financially sustainable and inclusive management models.
  2. Enhance accountability of WASH service providers, policymakers, and civic leaders.
  3. Adopt and implement policy and regulatory reforms that create a favorable environment for market-based WASH services.
  4. Increase private sector participation in WASH services delivery.

Expected Results

The overall goal of this project is to professionalize the WASH sector to maintain and expand sustainable WASH services in Muchinga, Northern, Southern, and Western Provinces, focusing on peri-urban and rural areas.

  • Increase the proportion of people who have access to safe water by 15 percentage points in target districts.
  • Reduce the number and amount of time a water source remains inoperable by 25 percentage points between project beginning and end across target districts.
  • Improve the capacity and performance of at least 125 rural water service providers or community-based water committees.
  • Increase access to sanitation by 25 percentage points, including for the poorest of the poor, between the baseline and endline across target districts.
  • Increase private sector participation in WASH service delivery by 30 percentage points in target districts.