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Case Studies of Three Localities in the Accra-Tema City-Region, Ghana

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Case Studies of Three Localities in the Accra-Tema City-Region, Ghana ABSTRACT GEOGRAPHY OF URBAN WATER SECURITY AND VULNERABILITY: CASE STUDIES OF THREE LOCALITIES IN THE ACCRA-TEMA CITY-REGION, GHANA by Isaac Asante-Wusu Sub-Saharan Africa has been in the news for its water insecurity in the past few decades. The debates of water insecurity and vulnerability in sub-Saharan Africa center on water as an economic good vis. a human right, urbanization, urban water politics, water supply systems, water governance, and climate change. Yet, existing literature has been at best limited within the context of these issues to identify and take cognizance of the specific geographical contexts and locally-based attributes that drive water insecurity and vulnerabilities in the sub-region. This thesis interrogates the geography of urban water security and vulnerabilities in the Accra- Tema City-Region (ATCR) of Ghana through case studies of three localities. Field interviews with 16 institutional respondents and informants, and 36 heads of households, surveys, and mapping of surveyed houses are used. Based on realist epistemology and a content analysis the paper addresses three research questions. First, what is the state of water (in)security and vulnerability within localities with different class status and geographies? Second, why do specific water (in)securities and vulnerabilities present in these geographies with different socio-economic class status? Third, how can water be secured in these different geographies? The thesis produces two significant findings. First, both geography and socio-economic class of households influence household water insecurity and vulnerabilities. Second, centralized and disjointed nature of urban water provision, governance and management make the attainment of water security a difficult development goal. The thesis argues that geography matters in achieving household water security in the city-region, hence, devolving functions in urban water provision is essential for solving water provision problems over local geographic space. GEOGRAPHY OF URBAN WATER SECURITY AND VULNERABILITY: CASE STUDIES OF THREE LOCALITIES IN THE ACCRA-TEMA CITY-REGION, GHANA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Isaac Asante-Wusu Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2017 Advisor: Professor Ian E.A Yeboah Reader: Professor David L. Prytherch Reader: Dr. John Maingi ©2017 Isaac Asante-Wusu This Thesis titled GEOGRAPHY OF URBAN WATER SECURITY AND VULNERABILITY: CASE STUDIES OF THREE LOCALITIES IN THE ACCRA-TEMA CITY-REGION, GHANA by Isaac Asante-Wusu has been approved for publication by The College of Arts and Science and Department of Geography ____________________________________________________ Ian Yeboah ______________________________________________________ David Prytherch _______________________________________________________ John Maingi Table of Contents Contents CHAPTER ONE .............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Brief historical contexts to the morphology and water provision in ATCR ....................... 2 1.2.1 Context to the emergence of the ATCR ....................................................................... 2 2.2.2 Context to water provision in ATCR ........................................................................... 4 1.3 Research methodology and epistemological underpinning ........................................................ 6 1.3.2 Philosophical/epistemological underpinning for the thesis ................................................ 6 1.3.3 Research subjects ......................................................................................................... 7 1.3.3.1 Institutional respondents and informants ................................................................ 7 1.3.3.2 Household respondents .............................................................................................. 8 1.3.4 Data collection instruments ........................................................................................ 9 1.3.5 Types of data collected .............................................................................................. 10 1.3.6 Methods of data analysis ........................................................................................... 10 1.4 Study Area: Case study localities ..................................................................................................... 11 1.5 Relevance of the thesis ........................................................................................................................ 12 1. 6 Organization of the thesis .................................................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................... 13 CONCEPTUALIZATION OF WATER SECURITY AND VULNERABILITY .............................. 13 2.1 Defining water security and vulnerability ................................................................................... 13 2.2 Conceptualizing water security and vulnerability: debates in existing literature ........................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Water as human right vis-à-vis water as an economic good .................................. 14 2.2.2 Urban and population growth ................................................................................... 15 iii 2.2.3 Water supply and distribution systems ................................................................... 16 2.2.4 Water politics as a driver of water (in)security and vulnerability ........................ 17 2.2.5 Water governance as a driver of water security and vulnerabilities .................... 18 2.2.5 Water governance as a driver of water security and vulnerabilities .................... 18 2.2.6 Climate change and water security and vulnerabilities .......................................... 19 2.3 Urban water security and vulnerability: developing a conceptual framework ............ 20 2.4 Missing links in existing literature .................................................................................................. 21 2.5 Research questions for the thesis .................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER THREE ....................................................................................................................... 23 SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES OF WATER USERS IN CASE STUDY LOCALITIES IN THE ACCRA-TEMA CITY REGION ......................................... 23 3.1 Mean monthly incomes: determinations of classes of water users/households .......... 23 3.2 Average household size ....................................................................................................................... 25 3.3 Heads of households: Gender distribution .................................................................................. 26 3.4 Educational attainments of heads of households ...................................................................... 26 3.5 Occupation of heads of households ................................................................................................ 27 3.6 Housing ownership/ Tenure to housing by households ........................................................ 28 CHAPTER FOUR .......................................................................................................................... 31 STATE OF WATER (IN) SECURITY AND VULNERABILITIES: GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXTS OF CASE STUDY LOCALITIES ............................................................................... 31 4.1 Water supply systems and infrastructure provision: governance, geography and class connectivity ................................................................................................................................. 31 4.2 Primary water sources: geography of water supply systems .............................................. 34 4.3 Water unreliability and water storing strategies: subaltern response to governance failure and inefficient water supply systems ........................................................................................... 37 4.4 Quality of primary water sources: water supply systems, geography and class ......... 40 iv 4.5. Sources and quality of drinking water: subaltern water politics ....................................... 41 4.5.1 Primary sources of drinking water: subaltern water strategy and urban water politics ....................................................................................................................... 41 4. 5.2 Drinking water: governance inefficiency and institutionalization of subaltern water politics ...................................................................................................... 43 4.5.3 Drinking water quality: geography of location and competition ........................... 45 4.6 Water cost: geography and economic accessibility to water
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