Can Mobile Phones Improve Clean Water Access in Slums?

Located in Kenya, Kibera is one of Africaʼs largest urban slums. Homes in Kibera typically lack running water. Water shortages occur frequently, and buyers need to find new water vendors. Shortages drive prices up. This project aims to improve the welfare of Kiberans by exploiting ubiquitous, low-cost mobile access to improve limited, high-cost water access. Mixing practical purpose with field-experimental social science, the project aims to enable buyers to use mobile phones to acquire low-cost information about water, location, price, and quality. By pooling water information from multiple sources, it provides information beyond what other search methods deliver.