News from Ghana
News items from Ghana on the WASH sector.
Ghana: Observations from data collection in a village
Michele Adjei-Fah reports her observations from the data collection in the field in one of the selected research villages of the WASHCost programme in Ghana, near Dedesua town in Bosomtwe District, from 20th-25 February 2010. “I had time to interact and ask questions from villagers I could not have asked in a meeting”. She interviewed a 33 year-old lady, who lives there with her husband and two children and is expecting another. In all 15 persons live in this compound , sharing bathroom, kitchen, household cleaning, food and water.
Rapid assessment of the water, sanitation and hygiene services sector in Ghana, 2008
This report has been compiled for the WASHCost project in Ghana with the involvement of many government institutions in order to ensure ownership of the output from the WASHCost Project by these organisations.
Accra water situation worsens - Experts look for foreign help
Ghana is seeking international assistance to rectify a major engineering defect which has severely affected water supply at the Weija Water Works and reduced daily production from 55 million gallons to 11 million. The damage has virtually crippled the water supply situation in the national capital, with the western part of Accra being the most affected. The need to seek foreign expertise has arisen because engineers of Aqua Vitens Rand, operators of the urban water systems in the country and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has not been able to find solutions to the damage. Experts from the two institutions say the crisis has arisen because of damage to the electrical control panels that supply power to the pumps that draw raw water from the Densu River at the Weija Water Works for processing, reports Charles Benoni Okine.
Accessible potable water, is it a realistic Millenium Development Goal? Story from historic Lake Bosomtwe and Abono Communities
In a typical rural community like Abono in the Ashanti region, majority of the population are into food crop farming and fishing. Undoubtedly, women (female folk) constitute two-thirds of the population structure. Their produce includes plantain, cassava, cocoyam, and vegetables such as tomatoes, garden eggs, etc. Fishing from the Lake only yields small-sized tilapia, locally known as “Apatre”. The minority (10%) are into cash crop/export farming like cocoa and oil palm. The people of Abono are under-resourced with respect to potable clean water supply as there is only a borehole with a handpump serving a population of about 2000, unlike Petrensa with four (4). The population of Abono fluctuates on factors such as tourists and other site seers to the Lake.
Hand pumps - Which one do you prefer: Afridev or Nira? Story at Petrensa
Petrensa, a community in the Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwomah (BAK) in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, harbours about 100 inhabitants. Predominantly a farming community with mainly food crop cultivation some individuals have also taken to cocoa farming, and are hopeful of a better livelihood should their first harvest be lean. With more than half their population being women, it is not so surprising that the fetching of water for daily household activities is mostly carried out by them. On the average, a typical Petrensa woman fetches about a 100 litres of water from any of the community’s four (4) water point sources, mainly handpumps, for such activities as bathing, washing of clothes, and cooking daily.
Out of the four (4) water point sources at Petrensa, three (3) are Afridev handpumps and the other is Nira handpump. Reasons for using any of these four water points ranged from proximity of the source to the individual’s house, to the taste of the water the water point dispenses. However, the most endearing reason has to do with the ease of operation of handpumps servicing these boreholes. Two of the water points (1 Afridev, 1 Nira) are centrally located in the community whereas the other two are located close to its northern and southern boundaries respectively.
RCN Ghana WASH Newsletter - September 2009
03 Nov 09
Newsletter highlights include: Mwacafe plants rescue 250 boreholes by removing iron and manganese; Ghana's MDG for drinking water achievable; CWSA to meet the challenges of the decentralisation process; Expansion of coverage of water and sanitation facilities critical.
310809RCN Newsletter - 09-3.pdf (1.53 MB)
WASHCost Ghana influencing other projects
The WASHCost project has in recent months been influencing quite a number of other programmes and projects in Ghana.
Video interview: Is harmonization around water and sanitation possible in Ghana?
Thoughts from the consultant, Mawuena Dotse of Maple Consult, who prepared a sector evaluation commissioned by WaterAID Ghana. Interview by Nick Dickinson, IRC and Michele Adjei-Fah, WASHCost using a Flip Ultra video camera at the Errata Hotel, Accra, 17 June 2009.
Oyibi water: Just one pesewa more
... when the price of an 18 litre bucket of water rose by one pesewa – from 2 to 3 pesewas - in the Oyibi area of Ghana (about 50 kilometres from Accra) at the start of this year it had an impact.
