Integrated wastewater and faecal sludge management for ghana draft guidelines

2019

English

Ghana, on the west coast of Africa, is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa. As per the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 2010, its population was 24,658,823, and estimated to be 29.6 million in 2018. An estimated 53 per cent of the population lived in towns and cities in 2014.1 Ghana has made significant progress in providing access to improved water sources to 80 per cent of the population and eliminating guinea worm disease from the country. However, despite these successes, about 4,000 Ghanaian children die each year from diarrhoea, even more die from pneumonia, and about 23 per cent of children suffer from stunting (chronic malnutrition linked to poor water and sanitation).2 According to the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, urban water-supply coverage in Ghana is estimated at 59 per cent, while in rural and small towns it is about 54 per cent. According to UNICEF's and WHO's Joint Monitoring Programme Report for Water Supply and Sanitation, the supply of piped water has drastically reduced from 41 per cent in urban areas in 1990 to 32 per cent in 2015. However, at the same time, there is a substantial increase in other improved source of piped water in urban areas from 43 per cent in 1990 to 61 per cent in 2015, possibly due to the government focusing more on communal water supply than individual household connections (see Table 1: Access to water in Ghana).3 Almost half of the country now lives in towns and cities; less than one fifth of this number has access to improved sanitation services. Nearly half of the population in Kumasi rely on public toilets, with only one toilet for every 1,000 people and nearly non-existent water supply services in low-income urban areas. This has massive consequences on the people’s health, dignity and economic growth.

Rohilla, S. K.; Agyenim, F. B.; Luthra, B.; Padhi, S. K.; Quashie, A. S.; Yadav, A.