Determinants of Open Defecation in the Wa Municipality of Ghana: Empirical Findings Highlighting Sociocultural and Economic Dynamics among Households.

Issaka Kanton Osumanu,Enoch Akwasi Kosoe,Frank Ategeeng

doi:10.1155/2019/3075840

Issaka Kanton Osumanu, Enoch Akwasi Kosoe + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3075840

Copy DOI

Abstract

This study examined sociocultural and economic factors determining open defecation in the Wa Municipality, Ghana. The study employed a mixed method approach involving questionnaire administration to 367 households systematically selected from 21 communities, observation, and eight key informant interviews. The mixed logit model was used to determine the factors that significantly influence open defecation. The findings revealed that 49.8% of households had no form of toilet facility at home and were either using communal/public toilets or practicing open defecation. Several sociocultural and economic reasons account for this. But for these households, having a toilet facility at home does not seem to be a priority. Six factors (education, household size, occupation, income, traditional norms, and beliefs and ownership of a toilet facility) were positively significant in determining open defecation. Fundamental to many of the significant factors is households' capacity to finance construction of home toilets. In addition to finding new and innovative approaches to public education, the principle of credit financing, that incorporates community-led initiatives, may be considered in assisting households to construct home toilets.

Highlights

Open defecation continues to be a critical health challenge globally, affecting almost 1 billion people worldwide and contributing significantly to an estimated 842,000 people who die yearly from sanitation-related diseases [1]
Open defecation rates have been reducing gradually since 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era ended without all countries in sub-Saharan Africa achieving target 7.C., which included reducing by half the proportion of the population without sustainable access to basic sanitation by 2015 [2]
All sustainable development goal (SDG) regions saw a drop in the number of people practicing open defecation, except for subSaharan Africa, where high population growth led to an increase in open defecation from 204 million to 220 million, and in Oceania, where the practice increased from 1 million to 1.3 million [4]. is information is supported by studies such as Osumanu and Kosoe [5], which shows that open defecation in Ghana has increased over the years resulting in several environmentally endemic health problems

Summary

Introduction

Open defecation continues to be a critical health challenge globally, affecting almost 1 billion people worldwide and contributing significantly to an estimated 842,000 people who die yearly from sanitation-related diseases [1]. Open defecation is a major environmental health problem facing many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Open defecation rates have been reducing gradually since 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era ended without all countries in sub-Saharan Africa achieving target 7.C., which included reducing by half the proportion of the population without sustainable access to basic sanitation by 2015 [2]. A recent study by Kosoe and Osumanu [7] has shown that 52% of households in the Wa Municipality do not have any toilet facility at home and resort to the use of available bushes, uncompleted buildings, and open spaces within their neighbourhoods. E major objective of this study is to examine the socioeconomic and cultural factors determining open defecation in the Wa Municipality. Unlike earlier studies [5, 6], this study provides a comprehensive quantitative examination of the determinants of open defecation based on identified sociocultural and economic factors. e main contribution of this paper is analysis of significant determinants of open defecation in the Wa Municipality. is will assist in targeting appropriate specific open defecation elimination strategies to ameliorate its health implications in the Municipality and Ghana at large. e paper is categorized into six subsections consisting of introduction, conceptual framework, description of the study area and methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion and policy implications

Determinants of Open Defecation

Results

Conclusion and Policy Implications