Evidence Action Case Study: Dispensers for Safe Water, Uganda
Evidence Action had a successful randomized control trial and prior experience implementing its Dispensers for Safe Water program in Kenya. Our May 2017 case study looks at how this effort translated to a new location, Uganda. Find the full case study here.
Despite the RCT and success in Kenya, as Evidence Action tried to scale the program in Uganda, the number of dispensers grew but usage rates dropped significantly. Knowing that its goal was to scale its impact, not simply grow its geographic footprint, Evidence Action took a step back to assess what went wrong, refining its model and raising adoption rates to 60%, providing 1.8M Uganda with access to clean water.
Along the way, Evidence Action learned valuable lessons and shares advice about how to:
- “zig zag” on the often non-linear path to scale;
- right-size your data to better drive decision-making;
- adapt work to local contexts;
- invest in changing behaviors of key stakeholders; and,
- put in place the right leadership, processes, and infrastructure needed for scale.
This case study is relevant for any social enterprise wanting to effectively leverage evidence to reach audacious goals; to pursue financial sustainability through cost efficiency and earned revenue; and to drive behavior change.
Notable Quotable: “We are not just cost-cutting for cost-cutting sake. We are always looking at balancing costs with increasing adoption which will also lead to increased carbon credits.” Richard Kibuuka, Uganda lead
Find the full Evidence Action case study here. For other scaling snapshots and case studies, visit the Scaling Pathways Scale Stories page.
The Evidence Action Case Study was published in May 2017. Authors are Erin Worsham, Robyn Fehrman, and Cathy Clark.
