Community-level mechanisms and strategies for managing sustainable water supply systems: lessons from Bongo district of northern Ghana

Emmanuel Atiisipae Akolgo () and Desmond Tutu Ayentimi ()
Additional contact information
Emmanuel Atiisipae Akolgo: Centre for Rural Water Development and Sanitation
Desmond Tutu Ayentimi: University of Tasmania

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2020, vol. 22, issue 4, No 46, 3739-3756

Abstract: Abstract The study examined the nature of community-level mechanisms and strategies for the management of sustainable water supply systems in the Bongo district through the lens of the structural functional theory perspective. The study employed a multiple-method approach with a total of 167 respondents through face-to-face interviews and household survey. The evidence suggests that community-level participation in water resource systems management is seen in decision-making, rule formulation and general day-to-day management via regular community meetings and consultation with community members, elders and opinion leaders. Beneficiaries of water systems were solely in charge of the operations and maintenance of water systems in the community with very limited government support and involvement. The evidence also points to women playing a major role in local-level management of water resource systems. Interestingly, traditional cultural practices (e.g. taboos) as well as social norms previously used in the management of water resource systems have gradually become obsolete and ineffective with the advent of formal education and Christianity in the local communities.

Keywords: Community-level mechanisms; Water supply systems; Local management; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-019-00324-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:endesu:v:22:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10668-019-00324-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-019-00324-5

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().