Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana

Providing safe drinking water in rural areas is a major challenge because it is not easy to establish institutional arrangements that will ensure that drinking water facilities are provided, maintained, and managed in an efficient, equitable, and sustainable way. Like many other countries, Ghana has...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sun, Yan, Asante, Felix A., Birner, Regina
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154734
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author Sun, Yan
Asante, Felix A.
Birner, Regina
author_browse Asante, Felix A.
Birner, Regina
Sun, Yan
author_facet Sun, Yan
Asante, Felix A.
Birner, Regina
author_sort Sun, Yan
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Providing safe drinking water in rural areas is a major challenge because it is not easy to establish institutional arrangements that will ensure that drinking water facilities are provided, maintained, and managed in an efficient, equitable, and sustainable way. Like many other countries, Ghana has adopted a community-based approach to meet this challenge. Community-based water and sanitation committees (WATSANs) are in charge of managing drinking water facilities at the local level. They are supported by water and sanitation teams of each district administration and by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, an independent agency that has been created to facilitate the community-based approach. This paper is based on the analysis of two survey datasets of WATSANs and households in rural Ghana. The paper confirms some findings of the earlier literature on this topic. For example, communities that have a higher level of existing community groups are more likely to have functioning WATSANs, while ethnically diverse communities are less likely to have these organizations. The paper also indicates that WATSANs have a positive effect on the mobilization of payment for water services. Using empirical data on local leaders, the paper shows that leadership also matters for the provision of safe drinking water. In particular, the paper suggests that female leaders seem to be effective in this respect.
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spelling CGSpace1547342025-11-06T07:23:44Z Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana Sun, Yan Asante, Felix A. Birner, Regina decentralization drinking water participation sustainable development goals water use Providing safe drinking water in rural areas is a major challenge because it is not easy to establish institutional arrangements that will ensure that drinking water facilities are provided, maintained, and managed in an efficient, equitable, and sustainable way. Like many other countries, Ghana has adopted a community-based approach to meet this challenge. Community-based water and sanitation committees (WATSANs) are in charge of managing drinking water facilities at the local level. They are supported by water and sanitation teams of each district administration and by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, an independent agency that has been created to facilitate the community-based approach. This paper is based on the analysis of two survey datasets of WATSANs and households in rural Ghana. The paper confirms some findings of the earlier literature on this topic. For example, communities that have a higher level of existing community groups are more likely to have functioning WATSANs, while ethnically diverse communities are less likely to have these organizations. The paper also indicates that WATSANs have a positive effect on the mobilization of payment for water services. Using empirical data on local leaders, the paper shows that leadership also matters for the provision of safe drinking water. In particular, the paper suggests that female leaders seem to be effective in this respect. 2010 2024-10-01T14:03:28Z 2024-10-01T14:03:28Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154734 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Sun, Yan; Asante, Felix A.; Birner, Regina. 2010. Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1026. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154734
spellingShingle decentralization
drinking water
participation
sustainable development goals
water use
Sun, Yan
Asante, Felix A.
Birner, Regina
Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana
title Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana
title_full Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana
title_fullStr Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana
title_short Opportunities and challenges of community-based rural drinking water supplies: An analysis of water and sanitation committees in Ghana
title_sort opportunities and challenges of community based rural drinking water supplies an analysis of water and sanitation committees in ghana
topic decentralization
drinking water
participation
sustainable development goals
water use
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154734
work_keys_str_mv AT sunyan opportunitiesandchallengesofcommunitybasedruraldrinkingwatersuppliesananalysisofwaterandsanitationcommitteesinghana
AT asantefelixa opportunitiesandchallengesofcommunitybasedruraldrinkingwatersuppliesananalysisofwaterandsanitationcommitteesinghana
AT birnerregina opportunitiesandchallengesofcommunitybasedruraldrinkingwatersuppliesananalysisofwaterandsanitationcommitteesinghana