Sustainability Assessment and Identification of Determinants in Community-Based Water Supply Projects using Partial Least Squares Path Model

In the current paper, the sustainability of community-based water supply projects in four different states in Sudan was assessed using a set of multidimensional indicators. A sustainability index was developed using a set of sustainability criteria including technical, reliability/risk, social, organisational, financial as well as sustainability. Basic sustainability criteria were selected based on literature review and stakeholders discussion. For each criterion a set of observable indicators was identified, in total 23 indicators were identified. Furthermore, a detailed statistical analysis and model development was carried out to identify main sustainability determinants for community-based water supply projects in Sudan. Partial least squares-path modelling was used to determine and quantify relationships between the sustainability criteria. The results showed that although all analyzed projects were relatively young projects (1 to 4 years), all projects showed low sustainability performance. This was mainly due to organizational as well as financial aspects, which also was confirmed by path modeling analysis, the sustainability of community-based water supply projects was directly related to organizational aspects, but indirectly related to financial issues. There is a need to give more attention to the communities' organizational and financial abilities and to leverage their ability through governmental and/or non-governmental organization support especially after project implementation phase.