Full metadata
Title
Small water enterprises, security, and sustainability: a case study in Accra, Ghana
Description
Many global development initiatives focus on improving access to safe and affordable water. Governments and infrastructure in rapidly urbanizing cities struggle to meet the increased demand for water, especially in peri-urban and informal settlements of sub-Saharan Africa. The private sector, in the form of small water enterprises (SWEs), plays an increasing role in satisfying demand for water, but their greater effects have seldom been investigated. This research explores how SWEs affect access to household water in a peri-urban settlement of Accra, Ghana and investigates their social, economic, and environmental impacts in the community. This research also examines how SWEs influence security and sustainability goals within the framing concepts of the US Army’s Stability doctrine and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The methods employed in this study were interviews, observation, and review of existing literature and case studies. Results of this qualitative analysis reveal that while SWEs increase and diversify local access to clean water, provide economic opportunities and jobs—especially to women—they also present environmental and health concerns when unregulated and unaddressed by educators, city officials, and community leaders. Further, in cases where municipal governments cannot provide safe and consistent access to clean water in the given location, results show that SWEs enterprises can work in cohesion with both the SDGs and the US Army stability goals. Moving forward, city officials, development programs, and US Army stability doctrine should consider supporting SWEs to increase water access and improve other developmental outcomes, while working to avoid potentially negative environmental and health outcomes.
Date Created
2019
Contributors
- Mallue, Natalie (Author)
- White, Dave D. (Thesis advisor)
- Allenby, Brad (Committee member)
- Richmond, Amy (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Extent
vi, 74 pages : illustrations (some color)
Language
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.53658
Statement of Responsibility
by Natalie Mallue
Description Source
Viewed on October 22, 2019
Level of coding
full
Note
Partial requirement for: M.S., Arizona State University, 2019
Note type
thesis
Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-69)
Note type
bibliography
Field of study: Sustainability
System Created
- 2019-05-15 12:28:59
System Modified
- 2021-08-26 09:47:01
- 2 years 8 months ago
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