KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING KUMASI, GHANA MSc DISSERTATION ON: IMPACTS OF RURAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS IN FARMING COMMUNITIES A CASE STUDY OF THE SABOBA-CHEREPONI DISTRICT BY ANDREW MANOBA LIMANTOL SUPERVISORS: 1. PROF. N. KYEI-BAFFOUR 2. DR. E. OFORI September, 2009 i IMPACTS OF RURAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS IN FARMING COMMUNITIES A CASE STUDY OF THE SABOBA-CHEREPONI DISTRICT By Andrew Manoba Limantol, Bsc. (Hons.) Physics A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SOIL AND WATER ENGINEERING Faculty of Mechanical and Agricultural Engineering College of Engineering SUPERVISORS: 1. PROF. N. KYEI-BAFFOUR 2. DR. E. OFORI September, 2009 ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the MSc and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of a University, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. ANDREW MANOBA LIMANTOL ...…………………………….. ........................ Student (ID. No. PG1425207) Signature Date Certified by DR. E. OFORI …………………….....…….. ........................ Supervisor Signature Date Certified by PROF. N. KYEI-BAFFOUR ……………………………... ........................ Supervisor and Head of Department Signature Date iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Glory to God Almighty for my life and His immense protection especially during this research. It was through His protection that I was safe from the many trips to the villages on motorbike through terrible roads and long distances. I am absolutely sure I could do nothing without Him. By His abundant grace, I was able to put this work together. I am highly indebted to my supervisors, PROF. N. KYEI-BAFFOUR and DR. E. OFORI for their encouragement, time and expert guidance during the course of this research. My sincere and singular gratitude to Mafando Caesar for his immense support and being there from start to finish. I am also sincerely grateful to Francis Wassah, Aliatu, Taaga, Mawanbi, Nicholas Jawol, Jato, Joseph Lampon, Silas, Patience, Jeremiah and Martha Azumah for their immense support during the questionnaires administration. My gratitude goes to Douglas Kwabena of Saboba District Assembly for his assistance in providing the necessary information. To Sukpen Daniel, Joseph Yeboah, Linda Dari and staff of the Saboba Technical institute, I am very much grateful for your assistance in various ways during the course of this research. To my dad and my brothers for the love and support I am most grateful. To my late mum and sister, may the Lord God find a peaceful rest for you in His heavenly Kingdom. And to Evelyn Kotin, I am indebted to you for your tireless support and prayers for the success of this research. To all my friends not mentioned here you are not forgotten for you contributed in diverse ways towards the success of this research, may the good Lord bless you all. Amen. iv ABSTRACT Several issues may affect the impact of rural water supply systems in the beneficiary communities, including engineering and socio-cultural factors, geological limitations, poverty, ignorance, poor management and lack of sustainability. These, coupled with poor sanitation and hygiene practices may impede the intended socio-economic benefits. The study aimed at examining how these factors manifest in the beneficiary communities in the study area as well as determine the potential of these water systems for small scale irrigation as a means of income generation especially for repairs and maintenance cost. To achieve this, questionnaires and interviews, meteorological data, information on available yields of the water supply systems, crop data and infiltration data were collected. Besides, a case-control method was used where the same questionnaires were administered to equal number of both communities with interventions and those without. Results of the study revealed that the operational sustainability of the rural water systems in the District was a serious problem. This was due to many factors including inconvenient siting of water-points, poor design and construction of water systems, geological limitations, lack of spare parts, and lack of support to communities and monitoring role from the service providers, District Assembly and other stakeholders. Others included inactive Water and Sanitation Committees at community level, failure to account transparently for funds generated, lack of preventive maintenance, and the community’s lack of sense of ownership and apathy, inability to generate sufficient income, lack of community cohesion and lack of capacity. The prevalence of water related diseases except guinea worm were still high in the beneficiary communities due to poor sanitation and hygiene practices and these were: malaria (81.6%), diarrhoea (68.3%), typhoid fever (66.7%), skin diseases (23.3%), intestinal worms (6.7%), and bilharziasis (5.1%). Education on guinea worm eradication has been successful in eradicating the disease in the District. Socio-economically, potable water supply has attracted teachers to the beneficiary communities and encouraged many women to engage in different economic activities including small scale irrigation. The water systems have a high potential for small scale irrigation as a means of income generation. Training of community management committees has also enabled some of them to be self employed. Although there is not a simple formula to solve the problems enumerated above, in this study some alternatives are envisaged. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ v TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... xi ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................ xii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................ 3 1.3 Research questions ...................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Objectives of the research ........................................................................................... 6 1.5 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 10 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 10 2.2 The definition, nature and importance of water ........................................................ 10 2.3 Water resources of Ghana ......................................................................................... 11 2.4 Sources of water supply ............................................................................................ 12 2.4.1 Urban Sources ........................................................................................................... 12 2.4.2 Rural sources ............................................................................................................. 12 2.5 Ghana water history and recent developments ......................................................... 13 2.5.1 History....................................................................................................................... 13 2.5.2 The progress of the sector in recent times ................................................................ 15 2.5.2.1 National water policy and programs ......................................................................... 15 2.5.2.2 Rural water policy ..................................................................................................... 15 2.6 Rural Water Sector Service Provision ...................................................................... 16 2.6.1 Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) ................................................ 16 2.6.2 National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) ......................... 16 2.6.3 Policy of the NCWSP ..............................................................................................