The MSEs sustainability indices were derived from scores obtained from the questionnaires on: continued delivery of services/benefits, maintenance of physical infrastructure, long-term institutional capacity and support from key stakeholders.
The codes used for scores were: 1 ¼ Very poor; 2 ¼ Poor, 3 ¼ Average; 4 ¼ Good; and 5 ¼ Very good. These scores were summed up and an index of sustainability obtained for each MSEs (Bamberger and Cheema, 1990).