Problem/resource identification

Article derived from "Supporting community management of rural water supplies": Technical problems are usually easily identified; a tap leaks, water pressure is too low or water doesn’t flow at all. However, underlying managerial problems are less easy to pinpoint. Still, these are equally important to identify and solve, otherwise the technical problems will pop up again and again. Resources required to solve problems include time, money and labour.

Experience has shown that when people are taken through a process of problem identification and when they are allowed to discover linkages between problems they start feeling ‘owners’ of the problem and responsible for getting it solved. Looking for underlying problems also helps people to break down what seem to be large, insurmountable problems that they cannot solve into smaller problems they themselves can solve. Moreover, discussing and identifying community resources usually leads to communities starting to realise their potential to solve problems.