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The Menace of Open Defecation in Ghanaian Communities: The Case of Gambaga and Nalerigu Communities in North East Region

Received: 19 February 2021     Accepted: 9 March 2021     Published: 30 March 2021
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Abstract

The study sought to investigate the open defecation menace in Ghanaian communities with emphasis on Gambaga and Nalerigu Townships in the North East Region of Ghana. A sample of 70 respondents comprising household heads and Environmental and Sanitation Officers was considered for the study. Purposive and non-probability sampling techniques were used to select the respondents for the study. As a qualitative study, questionnaire, structured interview guide, and personal observation were instruments for data collection. The study revealed among others that the inability of some households to provide toilets in their homes accounted for the state of open defecation in the two townships. Again, some residents in Gambaga and Nalerigu Townships practice open defecation because of the bad odour that emanates from the public toilets leaving bad smell on their entire bodies once they visit the toilets. It was recommended that government, Non-Governmental Organizations, and other philanthropists should assist residents of Gambaga and Nalerigu by assisting them with some credit facilities to empower them to improve on their economic activities especially agriculture to earn enough income for the construction of their household latrines. It is also, recommended that the Municipal Assembly should replace the old public toilets with WC toilets to reduce the amount of odour that emanates from such old pit latrines.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11
Page(s) 16-26
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Communitiess, Township, Defecation, Sanitation

References
[1] Republic of Ghana (2010). Environmental Sanitation Policy, Accra: Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
[2] Sharp, A. M., Register, C. A., & Grimes P. W. (2002). Economics of social issues (15th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
[3] Connor, R. (2015). The United Nations world water development report: water for a sustainable world (Vol. 1). UNESCO Publishing.
[4] Water Aid (2012). Water and Sanitation Sector Overview. Accra: Water and Sanitation Sector Monitoring Platform.
[5] UNICEF/CDD and CSPS (2020). Ghana District League Table II Report. www.unicef.org/ghana/www.cddgh.org.
[6] Annex, B. (2014). Review of literature and anecdotal accounts DRAFT.
[7] UNICEF (2018). Game plan to end open defecation. Programme Division/WASH 3 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017 USA.
[8] Ghana Statistical Service (2014). 2010 Population and Housing Census District Analysis Report, East Mamprusi District. Accra: Ghana Statistical Service.
[9] World Bank, World Development Report (2015). Mind, Society, and Behavior, Washington, DC, USA.
[10] Osumanu, I. K., & Kosoe, E. A. (2018). Where do I answer nature’s call? An assessment of accessibility and utilization of toilet facilities in Wa, Ghana. Ghana Journal of Geography, 5 (1), 17-31.
[11] Boschi-Pinto C., Lanata, C. F. & Black, R. E. (2009). Maternal and Child Health. United States: Springer.
[12] Jones, H., Fisher, J. & Reed, R. (2012). Water and sanitation for all in low-income countries. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineer-Municipal Engineer, 165: 167–74.
[13] WHO/UNICEF (2013). Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water.
[14] Reilly, O. & Kathleen (2016). “From toilet insecurity to toilet security: creating safe sanitation for women and girls”. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water. 3 (1): 19-24. Doi: 10.1002/wat2.112.
[15] Ghana Statistical Service (2013). 2010 Population and Housing Census: Summary Report of Results. Accra: Ghana Statistical service.
[16] Pruss-Ustun, A., Bos, R., Gore, F. & Bartram, J. (2008). Safer water, better health: costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health: World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/quantifying_impacts/publications/saferwater/en/.
[17] WHO & UNICEF (2017). Progress on drinking water and sanitation, WHO press: https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/ launch-version-report-jmp-water-sanitation-hygiene.pdf.
[18] Emerson, P. M., Bailey, R. L., Walraven, GEL & Lindsay, S. W. (2001). Human and other faeces as breeding media of the trachoma vector Musca sorbens. Med Vet Entomol: 2001; 15: 314–20.
[19] Colley, D. G., Bustinduy, A. L., Secor, W. E. & King, C. H. (2014). Human schistosomiasis. Lancet; 383: 2253–64.
[20] Ziegelbauer, K., Speich, B., Mäusezahl, D. Bos, R. & Keiser, J. (2012). Effect of sanitation on soil-transmitted helminth infection: systematic review and Meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001162.
[21] United Nations (2009). Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development: Report of the independent expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque: http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/alldocs.aspx?doc_id=15861.
[22] Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage.
[23] Feris, L. (2015). The Human Right to Sanitation: A critique on the Absence of Environmental Considerations. Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 24 (1), 16-26.
[24] Bartram, J., & Cairncross, S. (2010). Hygiene, Sanitation, and Water: forgotten foundations of health. PLoS Med, 7 (11), e1000367.
[25] Korem, A. (1985). Bush Fire and Agricultural Development in Ghana. Accra: Ghana Publishing Corporation, 122-158.
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  • APA Style

    Ibrahim Abudulai, Tia Abdulai Robert Aziz, Benjamin Ofori, Godfred Atta Adjei. (2021). The Menace of Open Defecation in Ghanaian Communities: The Case of Gambaga and Nalerigu Communities in North East Region. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 9(2), 16-26. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11

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    ACS Style

    Ibrahim Abudulai; Tia Abdulai Robert Aziz; Benjamin Ofori; Godfred Atta Adjei. The Menace of Open Defecation in Ghanaian Communities: The Case of Gambaga and Nalerigu Communities in North East Region. Int. J. Environ. Prot. Policy 2021, 9(2), 16-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11

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    AMA Style

    Ibrahim Abudulai, Tia Abdulai Robert Aziz, Benjamin Ofori, Godfred Atta Adjei. The Menace of Open Defecation in Ghanaian Communities: The Case of Gambaga and Nalerigu Communities in North East Region. Int J Environ Prot Policy. 2021;9(2):16-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11,
      author = {Ibrahim Abudulai and Tia Abdulai Robert Aziz and Benjamin Ofori and Godfred Atta Adjei},
      title = {The Menace of Open Defecation in Ghanaian Communities: The Case of Gambaga and Nalerigu Communities in North East Region},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {16-26},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijepp.20210902.11},
      abstract = {The study sought to investigate the open defecation menace in Ghanaian communities with emphasis on Gambaga and Nalerigu Townships in the North East Region of Ghana. A sample of 70 respondents comprising household heads and Environmental and Sanitation Officers was considered for the study. Purposive and non-probability sampling techniques were used to select the respondents for the study. As a qualitative study, questionnaire, structured interview guide, and personal observation were instruments for data collection. The study revealed among others that the inability of some households to provide toilets in their homes accounted for the state of open defecation in the two townships. Again, some residents in Gambaga and Nalerigu Townships practice open defecation because of the bad odour that emanates from the public toilets leaving bad smell on their entire bodies once they visit the toilets. It was recommended that government, Non-Governmental Organizations, and other philanthropists should assist residents of Gambaga and Nalerigu by assisting them with some credit facilities to empower them to improve on their economic activities especially agriculture to earn enough income for the construction of their household latrines. It is also, recommended that the Municipal Assembly should replace the old public toilets with WC toilets to reduce the amount of odour that emanates from such old pit latrines.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - The Menace of Open Defecation in Ghanaian Communities: The Case of Gambaga and Nalerigu Communities in North East Region
    AU  - Ibrahim Abudulai
    AU  - Tia Abdulai Robert Aziz
    AU  - Benjamin Ofori
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    SP  - 16
    EP  - 26
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-7536
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20210902.11
    AB  - The study sought to investigate the open defecation menace in Ghanaian communities with emphasis on Gambaga and Nalerigu Townships in the North East Region of Ghana. A sample of 70 respondents comprising household heads and Environmental and Sanitation Officers was considered for the study. Purposive and non-probability sampling techniques were used to select the respondents for the study. As a qualitative study, questionnaire, structured interview guide, and personal observation were instruments for data collection. The study revealed among others that the inability of some households to provide toilets in their homes accounted for the state of open defecation in the two townships. Again, some residents in Gambaga and Nalerigu Townships practice open defecation because of the bad odour that emanates from the public toilets leaving bad smell on their entire bodies once they visit the toilets. It was recommended that government, Non-Governmental Organizations, and other philanthropists should assist residents of Gambaga and Nalerigu by assisting them with some credit facilities to empower them to improve on their economic activities especially agriculture to earn enough income for the construction of their household latrines. It is also, recommended that the Municipal Assembly should replace the old public toilets with WC toilets to reduce the amount of odour that emanates from such old pit latrines.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Social Sciences, Gambaga College of Education, Gambaga, Ghana

  • Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Accra, Ghana

  • Department of Social Sciences, Gambaga College of Education, Gambaga, Ghana

  • Department of Social Sciences, Barekese Senior High School, Barekese, Ghana

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