COVID-19 and water access in Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana’s free water directive may not benefit water insecure households

Abstract

COVID-19 has brought global attention to the critical role of water in managing infectious outbreaks. Although Sub-Saharan Africa could become a COVID-19 hotspot, some are optimistic that given the right strategies and interventions the region can contain the pandemic. One such interventions is Ghana's directive to provide free water to domestic users for six months to ensure that water insecure households do not compromise appropriate hygiene and sanitation during COVID-19. We highlight in this commentary how the complex geographies of water provision in the region could undermine the overall benefits of such initiatives, especially to poor and water insecure households.

Household water insecurity will complicate the ongoing COVID-19 response: Evidence from 29 sites in 23 low- and middle-income countries

“…In the short term, the COVID-19 crisis should trigger increased investments and attention to WASH issues by LMICs and the development community as seen after the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa ( Cooper, 2020a ). Eleven African nations announced different forms of free water for the urban poor and other groups, for example paying users bills in some areas in Ghana ( Amankwaa and Ampratwum, 2020 ; Smiley et al, 2020 ), providing water for vulnerable communities and informal settlements in Kenya, and the World Bank supporting 20 new water points for poor communities in Democratic Republic of the Congo supplied by utility-owned water tankers ( Cooper, 2020b ). Government stimulus programs may also need to directly address public-private partnerships (PPP) that have historically played a crucial role in WASH service provision.…”

Policy Responses to fight COVID-19; the case of Ghana

“…Many Ghanaians went on social media to praise the government's efforts for this initiative. Some scholars have also praised the government's plan to absorb the cost of water (Smiley, Agbemor, Adams & Tutu, 2020). They described the intervention as a good example of an intervention meant to ease the burden of water access on poor households who may compromise proper hygiene in the time of COVID-19 because of water insecurity (Smiley et al, 2020, p. 2).…”

“…The big question however remains; how many people will indeed have access to this free water by the government? According to Smiley et al (2020), a sizable proportion of household are not linked to the national pipeline and have no metered supply and therefore depend on resold water from vendors who sell water door to door using pushcarts, water tankers, and sometimes private wells (Stoler et al, 2020). Unlike the public services, informal water supply systems and their workforce are not obligated to operate these regulated supply chains under emergency conditions (Stoler et al, 2020, p. 2).…”

COVID-19 ‘free water’ initiatives in the Global South: what does the Ghanaian case mean for equitable and sustainable water services?

“…Reports indicate that due to the (operational) cost involved in sourcing and distributing water, and the uncertainty of the timeline when reimbursement from the government was to be paid, most private sector actors such as mechanized boreholes, standpipe owners as well as tanker vendors refused to provide their customers with free water in some communities (Smiley et al, 2020). This is because without a clear plan for immediate cash payments, private sector actors could not keep their business models operational.…”