Slow uptake of household toilets in urban Ghana is due to several factors, including (but not limited to) cost which is a key focus of stakeholders. Collating data on the costs of constructing toilets in Kumasi, this Practice Note provides points of comparison for others seeking to build toilets in Ghana and beyond.

Ghana has endured a difficult macro-economic period, with rates of inflation rising to around 17.5% in 2016. Although rates have since reduced, the impact on costs of materials, labour and credit were a constraint on sales of Round Concrete Tanks (RCTs), pit latrines and SaTo Pans in Kumasi in 2018 and 2019.

Lead author: Aquaya Institute.

In Kisumu, Kenya, the majority of households rely on pit latrines, though the servicing of these latrines is largely unsafe. This Brief assesses the market potential to expand safe fecal waste emptying services to low-income areas in Kisumu.

Price is the largest barrier for this population to access safe emptying services, which are more than double the cost of existing practices.

Future interventions need to address the price barrier between formal (safe) and informal (unsafe) faecal sludge emptying. The Aquaya Institute are currently conducting a randomised, real-money demand trial in Kisumu to quantify the gap between existing prices and consumer willingness-to-pay for safe pit emptying services.

Ghana’s 254 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) are legally mandated to provide social services, including sanitation infrastructure and services, to their residents.

MMDAs have full discretion over how they spend internally generated funds. However, of Ghana’s total spending on sanitation, only 2% is raised through domestic public finance.

GWMA introduced a financial mechanism to increase its internal funds for sanitation, one of the few MMDAs to do so. The sanitation surcharge was approved in October 2016, came into effect in January 2017 and consists of a 10% surcharge applied to the property tax. Revenue raised through the surcharge is to be ring-fenced for sanitation improvement in Ga West. This research analysed the effectiveness of the surcharge in terms of amount collected, ring-fenced and disbursed to date, as well as its support among the taxpayers and policy-makers of GWMA.

Ghana’s 254 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) are legally mandated to provide social services, including sanitation infrastructure and services, to their residents.

MMDAs have full discretion over how they spend internally generated funds. However, of Ghana’s total spending on sanitation, only 2% is raised through domestic public finance.

ANMA is one of the few MMDAs to have introduced a mechanism specifically for the purpose of raising the municipality’s internal funds for sanitation. A flat rate of GHS 5 added to the property tax, this sanitation surcharge has been in effect since 2013. This project analysed the effectiveness of the surcharge in terms of amount collected and disbursed to date, as well as its level of support from the taxpayers and policy-makers of ANMA.

Supporting the development of the National Sanitation Authority in Ghana so it can co-ordinate the push to achieve pro-poor sanitation across the country

This Policy Brief provides recommendations based on research conducted to feed into the development of the Government of Ghana’s proposed National Sanitation Authority.

While the exact shape of the NSA is still being debated by the Cabinet of the GoG, this is an  opportunity to better align and streamline the sanitation activities currently performed by several governmental and non-governmental bodies.

We recommend that the GoG move forward in establishing the NSA, resourced appropriately at national, regional and district levels so that it can achieve pro-poor sanitation across the country.

This research was led by IMC Worldwide; an earlier review of international comparative models can be found here.

According to the Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009, City Corporations (CCs) are responsible for sanitation in large cities – a key public service, because millions of urban Bangladeshis of all income levels rely on on-site sanitation like septic tanks.

But are CCs able to deliver safe and affordable sanitation services such as faecal sludge management (FSM) to millions of urban citizens? And is there internal awareness of the issues, and a desire to overcome barriers blocking improvements to sanitation for all, including the very poorest?

This research looked at organisational practice and capacity for sanitation planning and investment in three CCs – Dhaka North (serving a population of just under 8 million in 2011), Chittagong (2.5 million, 2011) and Rangpur (120,000, 2017). This Policy Brief summarises recommendations about how CC staff can improve pro-poor sanitation.

According to the Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009, City Corporations (CCs) are responsible for sanitation in large cities – a key public service, because millions of urban Bangladeshis of all income levels rely on on-site sanitation like septic tanks. But are CCs able to deliver safe and affordable sanitation services such as faecal sludge management (FSM) to millions of urban citizens? And is there internal awareness of the issues, and a desire to overcome barriers blocking improvements to sanitation for all, including the very poorest?

Researchers examined organisational practice and capacity for sanitation planning and investment in three CCs – Dhaka North (serving a population of just under 8 million in 2011), Chittagong (2.5 million, 2011) and Rangpur (120,000, 2017).

This Policy Brief summarises the findings and provides recommendations about how CC staff can improve pro-poor sanitation.

The establishment of a strong institutional framework for Kenya’s sanitation sector can help secure better urban sanitation outcomes by coordinating action, ensuring cooperation and generating commitment among the responsible organisations at all levels. Kenya’s institutional framework is currently in transition and the enactment of the Environmental and Sanitation Bill will provide the much-needed enabling environment for coordinated and regulated interventions, especially for low-income areas and informal urban settlements.

This research-into-policy work was carried out in close collaboration with WASREB (the national water regulator) and the Ministry of Health, and aimed to identify lessons from decentralised countries that have faced similar challenges, to engage Kenyan stakeholders to assess the lessons’ adaptability, and to identify a way forward and engage in policy dialogue in the context of the ongoing institutional reforms.

The main institutional bottlenecks identified in Kenya were:

  1. Overlap and competition for sector
  2. Weak incentives at sub-national level to commit policy attention to urban sanitation
  3. Limited regulatory oversight for onsite sanitation

The establishment of a harmonised approach to sanitation could solve a number of critical institutional limitations, which include functional overlaps, competition around sector leadership, weak political incentives for governments to commit policy attention to sanitation, and a disjointed legislative and regulatory framework for onsite sanitation service provision.

Shared toilets are often dirty and poorly maintained: but for some slum-dwellers living in tiny dwellings, they’re the only option. So what are the requirements for high-quality shared sanitation?

This Policy Brief outlines a 3-country research project starting in October 2018 under the Urban Sanitation Research Initiative, aiming to identify trackable criteria for high-quality shared sanitation. This research will deliver detailed empirical assessment of the determinants of user experience, and analysis to identify criteria that enable definition of minimum standards for shared sanitation.

Lead author: IMC Worldwide.

The overall aim of the project is to respond to the Government of Ghana’s interest to establish a National Sanitation Authority (NSA) to prioritise sanitation service delivery and achieve Ghana’s commitment to SDG Goal 6. The Ministry of Sanitation & Water Resources (MSWR) has requested the Urban Sanitation Research Initiative in Ghana to undertake a policy research project to assist in decision-making around the setup of the proposed NSA. The specific objective of the assignment is to provide technical support to the MSWR and other key stakeholders to help decide upon the role/function and structure of the proposed NSA, and its relationship with other institutions.

The decision-making process about the roles and responsibilities of the NSA and the institutional structure is informed by an international review and assessment of the institutional arrangements for the sanitation sector in the following fifteen countries. The aim is to assess how effective these institutional models are and consider their viability and appropriateness within the context for the expectations from existing Ghanaian authorities, utilities, NGOs and civil society.

Africa: Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
South America and Asia: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam.

This report presents the findings from these assessments on the assumption that one, or a combination of these examples, is likely to provide the basis for the model to be adopted in Ghana.