Johannes Wagner

Research project on Rural Water Finance in Africa, with fieldwork in rural Mali and in cooperation with UDUMA

Johannes Wagner's research examines the payment behaviours of rural consumers and facilities in sub-Saharan Africa to attract non-traditional funding. His field-based study focuses on policy and governance issues informing how rural consumers pay for water across service delivery models, payment methods, and political spaces using both qualitative and quantitative methods. He is adopting an interdisciplinary approach to analyse the interplay of professional rural water services, consumer behaviour and sustainable financing. His work will contribute to global knowledge on performance-based models for reliable rural water services. Johannes' research is part of the NEWAVE project, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network, led by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Prior to joining his PhD program, Johannes worked for four years as a policy advisor on behalf of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) for the sustainable development of the water and sanitation sector in Mali. His work focused mainly on sector steering, pro-poor regulation and performance monitoring mechanisms as well as drinking water quality by ensuring capacity development of public, private sector and civil society actors. He holds a MA and BA in Empirical Political and Social Sciences from the University of Stuttgart and Sciences Po Bordeaux.

• Wagner, J., Merner, S., Innocenti, S., Geling, A. and Hope, R. (2025) Can solar water kiosks generate sustainable revenue streams for rural water services? World Development, 185: 106787.
• Wagner, J., Koehler, J., Dupuis, M. and Hope, R. (2024) Is volumetric pricing for drinking water an effective revenue strategy in rural Mali? npj Clean Water, 7: 57.