Enreca Health > Research Projects > SUSLA - Ghana

Sustainable Latrine Services for the Urban Poor in Ghana (SUSLAS-Ghana)

Institutions in charge of project: University of Copenhagen, Department of International Health

Project description:
The University of Copenhagen in partnership with the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Dodowa Health Research Centre has been awarded funding from the Danish Ministry of Foreign (FFU) affairs to conduct a large sanitation research project in the Dangme West District of Ghana, with a focus on rapidly developing townships. Close to 50% of Ghana's 23 million residents currently live in urban or peri-urban environments, however, only 27% of such residents have access to improved sanitation and only 13% are connected to sewerage facilities. The traditional approach to building sanitation facilities has not resulted in significant and sustained sanitation coverage, in particular for the peri-urban poor. Latrine uptake is low because existing technologies are poorly designed, in poor condition, unsafe and cost prohibitive. Poor sanitation is the primary cause of diarrheal disease, which accounts for 9% of all deaths in Ghana and 3.1% of DALYs.

The Dangme West District in Ghana has been chosen as the study site for this research because over the last 10 years the proportion of urban residents in the District has risen from 20% to 40%, which has outpaced the capacity of local government to handle the accompanying sanitation challenges. The toilet facilities often do not meet the standards of improved latrines and waste disposal methods are not environmentally safe or hygienic. A large proportion of households (43%) has no toilet facility and uses the bush, beach or field. Approximately 21% of households use unimproved pit latrines. Researchers from the universities along with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, NGOs and private have identified the following five research objectives have been established for the SUSA Project in Dangme West:

1. To understand sanitation preferences and practices among users and sanitation service providers across the sanitation lifecycle
2. To evaluate infrastructure and technical barriers to improved sanitation usage and safe waste management
3. To assess and propose means of reducing health risks among workers managing excreta
4. To explore the strengths/weaknesses of local sanitation business models and propose means to increase latrine uptake and improve waste removal
5. To test how mobile phone technology can improve monitoring of private contractors in the sanitation sector

Because the project has a strong focus on local capacity building, much of the funding will be used to support 4 Ghanaian PhD fellows and two Ghanaian post-doctoral candidates, each of whom will benefit from the input of international sanitation experts advising the SUSA project. Project planning will start at the end of 2010 and will officially launch in January of 2011.

Partner institutions:
University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Dodowa Health Research Centre

Project team:
Name: Professor Flemming Konradsen
Title: Director, Copenhagen School of Global Health
Academic qualifications: PhD
Institute: Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology
Institution: University of Copenhagen
Country: Denmark

Name: Professor Kodjo Senah
Title: Head of Department
Academic qualifications: PhD
Institute: Department of Sociology
Institution: University of Ghana, Accra
Country: Ghana

Name: Mawuli Dzodzomenyo
Title: Head of Department
Academic qualifications: Ph.D.
Institute: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health
Institution: University of Ghana
Country: Ghana

Name: Robert Abaidoo
Title: Professor
Academic qualifications: PhD
Institute: Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology
Institution: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Country: Ghana
Input: Environmental Engineering

Name: Henrik Bregnhøj
Title: Associate Professor
Academic qualifications: MSc
Institute: DTU-Environment, Dept. of Environmental Engineering.
Institution: Danish Technical University
Country: Denmark
Input: Environmental Engineering

Name: Jakob Knudsen
Title: Assistant Professor
Academic qualifications: Master of Fine Arts
Institute: School of Architecture
Institution: Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
Country: Denmark
Input: Urban Infrastructure, Latrine Design and Community Planning

Name: Margaret Gyapong
Title: Director
Academic qualifications: PhD
Institute:
Institution: Dodowa Health Research Center
Country: Ghana
Input: Research Design, Research Support, Community Access

Project start and end: January 2011 - December 2014

Budget:
10.4 million DKK

Contact person: Michael Calopietro - mjc@sund.ku.dk