KONDO Kanako

Positions, degrees

Research Associate; JSPS Research Fellowship

Research Keywords

African area studies; Mozambique; Rural water supply; Water use

Email

kondo_kanako.19[at]aa.tufs.ac.jp

Focusing on Local Practices of Water Use and Management in rural Mozambique

I study how people use water and manage water sources in rural Mozambique. In many rural areas of Africa, the lack of continuous access to “safe drinking water” remains a significant challenge, and many water facilities, such as handpumps, have been introduced.
However, people’s preferences and use of water differ depending on local culture and environment, and it has been pointed out that water supply facilities and their management systems introduced based on the perspectives of donors do not always fit local contexts.
At the same time, local people do not rely only on introduced water facilities. They secure water by switching between different water sources depending on the situation and by using their social relationships. Through fieldwork, I focus on these local practices and aim to understand people’s knowledge and adaptability to water-related problems. Ultimately, I explore more appropriate approaches to water supply and water source management in local contexts.