ADDRESSING OPEN DEFECATION SANITATION PROBLEM: THE CASE OF DRY TOILET IMPLEMENTATION IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY, GHANA

SUMMARY

Although Ghana ranks 152 out of 182 on the Human Development Index, it has the 4th lowest rate of sanitation coverage worldwide (UNICEF/WHO 2010). The Wa municipality is no exception. Lack of toilet facilities in many homes in the municipality is something that cannot be ignored, and as a result, people form long queues early in the morning to have access to the few existing public toilets, whereby putting extreme pressure on these facilities. The worst part of the sanitation problem is that some people also prefer the water bodies, bushes, and uncompleted buildings as places of convenience.

Specifically, investigations on whether there are existing dry toilet facilities within the municipality, how beneficiaries are going to cope with and adapt to a new dry toilet facility, and the socio-cultural issues that can affect the sustainability of dry toilet facility were examined. Non Probability-accidental sampling technique was used to select respondents for the study. Simple descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were employed in the data analysis. The study revealed that the main cause of sanitation problem is the open defecation practices. Poverty, illiteracy and lack of public education are all factors leading to poor sanitation. It was recommended that Government through the municipal authority should construct more decent public toilet facilities in the municipality. The facility cost of usage should be subsidized and be made free for children and the aged.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1.3 Location & Size

1.3.1 Population

1.3.2 Climate/Weather

1.3.3 Environment and Sanitation

1.3.4 Legislation and Regulation

1.3.5 District Health Status

1.3.6 Agriculture and Trade

2. Research Objectives

2.1 General Research Objective

2.1.1 Specific Research Objectives

2.2 Research Questions

2.2.1 General Research Question

2.2.2 Specific Research Questions

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Definition of Concepts

3.3 Ecological Sanitation/ (EcoSan)

3.3.1 Advantages and Disadvantages with EcoSan

3.4 Global State of Sanitation and its Impacts

3.5 Sanitation in Ghana

3.6 Experience of Dry Toilet Elsewhere

3.7 Cost Benefit Analyses

3.8 Importance of Dry Toilet

3.8.1 Composting

3.8.2 Soil Composting

3.8.3 Urine as Fertilizer

3.8.4 Human Faeces as Fertilizer

4. METHODOLOGY

4.1 Research design

4.2 Sample and sampling techniques

4.2.1 Sources of data

4.2.2 Data collecting instruments

4.2.3 Data presentation and analysis

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

5.1 Discussion

6. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

6.1 Recommendation

6.2 Conclusion

7. References

1.  GENERAL INTRODUCTION

  

1.1    Background to the Study

The challenge of achieving global sanitation targets is that it requires application of both technology that is appropriate and a supporting organizational structure. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for proper disposal of human waste (urine and faeces). Open defecation on the other hand is the practice of removing waste from the body through the anus; outside in and around one’s local community or public as a result of no access to toilets, latrines or any kind of improved sanitation. The United Nations Conference on Water (UNCW, 1977), declared the decade of (1981-1990) as International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade with a target of water and sanitation for all (Black & Fawcett, 2008). Despite the aim to improve both water supply and sanitation, most of the attention was put on water supply and at the end of this decade there were 300 million more people without sanitation than at its beginning (Black & Fawcett, 2008).

Globally, there are approximately 2.6 to 3 billion people without proper sanitation. The worst situation is in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where the demand for sanitation is rising due to the growing population especially in the urban areas (WHO/UNICEF, 2012). Recently updated report; Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF, 2012) shows that there are 2.5 billion people in the world without access to improved sanitation. 1.1 billion People are practising open defecation and the rest are using shared or unimproved sanitation facilities. If such trends continue, the world will miss the sanitation target by 600 million people (United Nations, 2007). There is an increasing need for improved sanitation systems in many areas in the world, particularly in West Africa. West Africa specifically is struggling to meet the demands for sanitation. This region has witnessed relative stagnation in sanitation coverage since 1990, when total access to basic sanitation was 32% (WHO & UNICEF, 2006a). Improvements in sanitation coverage have been targeted by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) because of their strong links to issues of environmental and public health, economy, and human dignity. An estimated 1.6 billion people must be able to access improved sanitation services before 2015 in order to meet the MDGs target of halving the percentage of people without access to improved sanitation (United Nations, 2007). However, many countries in the world are not on track to meet these goals due to compounded problems of population growth, urbanization, and historically inefficient service provision. The inability of sanitation efforts to keep pace with population growth has resulted in an increase of over 110 million people in West Africa without access to sanitation. Over half of the Ghanaian population is sharing their sanitation facilities and only 14% is using improved facilities and 27% still practises open defecation (WHO/UNICEF 2012). Since 1995 8% of the population has gained access to improved sanitation and with current pace the MDG sanitation target will not be reached by 2015 (WHO/UNICEF 2012). The MDG report by National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) of the Government of Ghana and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) states that with the current trend of sanitation development, the proportion of the population with access to improved sanitation will reach 21.2% by 2015 instead of the target of 52%, which indicates that there must be approximately five times increase in coverage to be able to achieve the set target (NDPC/UNDP 2010). Although Ghana ranks 152 out of 182 on the Human Development Index, it has the 4th lowest rate of sanitation coverage worldwide (UNICEF/WHO 2010).

1.2  Statement of the Problem

A survey conducted in public schools across Ghana by WASH revealed that about 10,000 schools do not have toilet facilities. The number is half the estimated 20,000 public schools in Ghana, apart from the thousands of privately owned schools that may not have toilet facilities (WASH, 2014). The survey is evident in Wa municipality, for instance the Wa Senior High Technical School have only one eight-sitter toilet and one-urine pit serve both sexes in the school which has a population of 2,200 students. Ironically, though the school is located directly opposite the Regional offices of both the Ghana Water Company Limited and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, water supply to the school is erratic. Apart from that, the entire municipality have only 12 public toilet facility (KVIP) and just one (1) Water Closet against a population of 127, 284 (TTFPP, 2013). The pressure involved in accessing these limited facilities has forced many residents to end up defecating openly and indiscriminately. The cost involved in accessing the facility has also forced many vulnerable women and children to end up defecating around their houses and sometime in the bush because they cannot afford a cost of 50 pesewa in...

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