Political ecology of water resource governance in Ghana : towards sustainable pathway for decentralization and participatory water supply in rural communities of the Savannah Region

Abstract: This rural-driven study utilized the liberal political framework to examine the political ecology of water resource governance as a sustainable pathway for decentralization and participatory water supply in rural communities of the Savannah Region. Methods utilized were quantitative, while the ontology and epistemology adopted the post-positivist approaches. Cross-sectional and probability approaches were used to draw a sample of 450 respondents. Self-designed questionnaires were administered while correlation and descriptive statistics were used for analysing the data. With 95% confidence interval and error margin (e) = 0.05, the decision rule for hypotheses test was stated as ‘accept null hypothesis (Ho) if p-value is greater than (˃) the alpha level (α)= 0.05 and do not accept the null hypothesis if the significant level (p-values) are less than or equal to (≤) the critical value (i.e. alpha level, α = 0.05)”. Results showed rural water systems continue to experience incessant cycle of failure, necessitating rehabilitation with resources which should have been used to provide water systems to first time beneficiaries. Training and logistical support, appropriate technologies, human resources, policy enforcement and financial capacities for engendering participatory governance have either been erratic or completely unavailable. Meanwhile, time limitation, family/occupational commitments, finance, social inequalities, knowledge levels and walking distance to decision centres, significantly influenced household’s participation in decision making on water in the communities. Since the “p-values” of the listed variables were generally less than (˂) the alpha level (α = 0.05), the null hypothesis (HO) was ruled out. Decentralized and participatory initiatives are required to transform the Community Water and Sanitation Agency into a professional, non-profit seeking and community-based public utility service-oriented organization. An effective approach for sustaining water delivery is by promoting participatory self-governance and co-management of water systems. This require a shift from the current ineffective Community Management Model (CMM) into a liberal political ecological governance model, with emphasis on synergizing international, national, local government, civil societies and community management efforts and exploration of their comparative advantages. This model should enable the decentralization of financial, human resources, administrative capacities and empowerment of the local communities to participate effectively in public water services delivery