Project Objective:
Create a behaviour change communication campaign designed to encourage and foster improved maintenance, operation, and management behaviours that ensure the safe capture, handling, storage, and use of rainwater for drinking purposes.
Project Components:
- A desktop review was completed to inform the development of a formative research and a behaviour change communication campaign (BCC) focusing on rainwater harvesting and encompassing the whole service delivery chain – from catchment to use.
- In October 2023, rapid formative research was conducted in three communities in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, focusing on Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) systems. The research included a Service Delivery Chain (SDC) assessment and an analysis using the Opportunity, Ability, and Motivation (OAM) behaviour change framework. The primary objective was to evaluate current operation, maintenance, and management behaviours associated with RWH systems.
- The findings of the desktop review and formative research informed the development of a behvaiour change concept note focusing on the ‘safe management of rainwater for drinking’. The concept note proposes actionable behaviour change (BC) activities to improve and promote practices that safeguard the quality, quantity, and safety of harvested rainwater for household use.
- An implementation guide to promote behaviour change for safe and secure rainwater for drinking in Rural Vanuatu was created for facilitators to implement a behaviour change intervention (BCI) to support the safe and secure management of rainwater systems (RWS) for drinking purposes in rural communities in Vanuatu, from “roof to mouth”.
- The campaign was piloted in Santo communities, with monitoring further socialisation of materials completed throughout 2023 and 2024.
Background
Decentralised water supply and management regimes are predominant in regions where access to centralised water infrastructure is limited or non-existent. Approximately 2 million people in the Pacific Islands region rely on rainwater harvesting as their primary source of drinking water (Foster et al., 2021).
Pacific Island countries (PICS) are prone to water scarcity and natural disasters. Assessing exposure to hazards and societal vulnerability, PICs are regularly ranked the highest risk region of the world, with Vanuatu ranked 1st, Solomon Islands 2nd and Fiji 14th, of 181 countries (e.g., World Risk Report, Hilft, 2021). This vulnerability poses a significant challenge for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure and service delivery and underscores the need for more resilient and sustainable water service delivery options across the region.
Many rural communities in PICs rely on multiple water sources, from wells, springs, surface water, rainwater and other collection, storage, and distribution methods (Foster & Willetts, 2018; Love et al., 2022a; Love, Kotra, et al., 2021). Rainwater collection is a growing self-supply strategy used by households across the region.
Rainwater harvesting, (RWH), refers to the collection, storage and use of rainwater runoff (Lebek & Krueger, 2023). RWH is one of the most common water source options found in island contexts (Han & Ki, 2010), especially when other sources such as groundwater and surface water are non-existent (Kirs et al., 2017) or contaminated (Igbinosa & Aighewi, 2017).
RWH stretches back at least 4000 years, serving as both a traditional water conservation method and an evolving, dynamic water supply system (Foster et al., 2021; Neibaur & Anderson, 2016). RWH is highly dependent on climatic conditions, particularly rainfall patterns (Elliott et al., 2017; Kelly et al., 2018). As such, its operation and maintenance depend on several factors, including the catchment area and type (roof and surface materials), the collection and distribution system (gutters and filters), storage type and capacity (tanks or containers) (Han & Ki, 2010), and water treatment options before drinking (Rand et al., 2021).