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This paper seeks to address the question of the funding of water access, still a major issue for the world's poor. About 29% of the world population lacks access to drinking water (WHO, 2017). The new economic models based on the Bottom of the Pyramid market approach applied to water access are supposed to ease the acquisition of products or the financing of water related infrastructure, through, for instance, the establishment of microcredit programmes. In the case of Colombia, where it is estimated that 90% of the water provision in rural areas is supplied by water community organizations (DNP, 2014), this alliance, utilizing solidary finance, has proven the existence of another approach for water access funding. Financed through membership fees, these associations are gradually turning to a specific system of funding through local financial cooperatives and even commercial banks. This funding is used to for maintenance and expansion of existing infrastructure (collective pipes, treatment plants, etc.). This paper will focus on the case of Antioquia where certain organizations operate with accounts in multiple financial institutions and repeatedly engage with credit (Cooperativa financiera Confiar, Cooperativa Financiera de Antioquia – CFA, etc.). The paper will show how even this form of financing represents the phenomenon of financialization through debt, characterized by the collective credit of smaller number of organizations concentrated in rural areas peripheral to the city of Medellín. This is an emerging phenomenon that has come about after these organizations were “financially included” in formal banking arrangements in the early 2000s. The diversity of stakeholders involved, grassroots organizations, NGOs, financial institutions and government entities brings several levels of understanding to the broader issues of community water management in Colombia. The latter is subject to strong political tensions, due in part to the pressure exerted by the public and private companies in a context of permanent struggle for the control of water resources. The hypothesis defended is that financial services are appropriate by the water community organizations as a means of resistance against the State and reduction of financial dependence. However, this process of financialization as a desire for autonomy is not without socio-economic consequences. This paper argues that this financialization results in social transformations within associations, in terms of social relations between members, but also externally between other organizations with which they are linked (IF, NGOs, government, etc.). The socio-economic analysis of these grassroots organizations and their increasing use of the bank credit models will help highlight processes of inclusion and exclusion in this type of community management intervention. It can contribute as well to thinking about innovative financing strategies for water access while furthering our understanding of the functioning of “inclusive markets” and the commodification of basic services.
