Assessing urban-rural differences in achieving the millennium development goal for sanitation: the case of New Juabeng Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

In spite of many decades of development planning and assistance, Ghana still has low sanitation coverage. This study therefore assessed the urban-rural variation in sanitation service delivery in the New Juabeng Municipality. Descriptive study design was adopted, using a mixed method approach to select two communities (Koforidua and Akwadum) to represent urban and rural communities respectively. Systematic and purposive sampling methods were adopted to select respondents for the study. These included 377 household heads, staff from the Municipal Environment Health Unit and other opinion leaders. The results showed that though sanitation coverage was generally low within the Municipality, there was a huge sanitation gap between urban and rural communities. The sanitation coverage for the urban communities was 15.1 and 2.5 percent for the rural areas. It also came out that implementation of sanitation projects was driven by low budgetary allocation to the sector and inadequate data for planning and implementation. Consequently, most people in the municipality preferred to have their own improved pit latrines and were willing to pay for improved sanitation facilities or services. It is recommended that the Municipal Assembly should increase investment in sanitation and embark on enhanced social marketing for sanitation. Additionally, there should be general public education and sensitization on the importance of good hygiene including the use of improved sanitation facilities among rural households for improved health status.