Informal water vendors and the urban poor: evidence from a Nairobi slum

ABSTRACT

In Kenya, informal urban water markets serve the poor in areas where public utilities have failed to deliver. They often charge high prices, sell low-quality water and perform water transactions in a way that is unfair to the buyers. They still remain one of the most popular alternatives for water provision, as they can offer flexibility of supply arrangements and payment systems which are beyond the scope of large-scale water providers. In the major restructuring of Kenya’s urban water delivery system towards commercialization and privatization, these private vendors are being regularized for better service delivery in terms of regulation of prices and quality of water.