• Community water infrastructure and the One Village One Dam Project: A case study of the Gia dam in the Kassena Nankana East Municipal District

    Author(s): Imhotep Paul Alagidede, Joan Akande, and Charles Kwowe Nyaaba
    alagidede@gmail.com
    2024-07-14 09:00:13

    138 Downloads 158 Views

    Abstract

    Water storage has a vital role to play in improving food security and reducing poverty, particularly in the geographical context of northern Ghana that is characterized by short unimodal rainfall patterns. A wide range of storage structures are available with the most common being dams. While the positive effects of large dams have not been thoroughly utilized, the special appeal of small water infrastructure makes them more preferred. Despite the focus on construction of smaller dams in some parts of northern Ghana, not all of them remain functional. While some are defective and silted, others are not well engineered, particularly, the Giadam in the Kassena Nankana East Municipal District in the Upper East Region. Consequently, they are not able to serve their intended purposes. This paper is a case study of the Giadam constructed under the One Village One Dam[1V1D] initiative and provides empirical evidence to inform current and future dam construction. The study examines the shortcoming of the execution of community dams and argues that the planners need to consider re-engineering and correct defects in the already constructed reservoirs. Community-driven and better-managed dams with private sector-led financing of rural water infrastructure projects would facilitate adequate water for all-year-round farming and other domestic activities. Alternative construction models are proposed for implementation.

    Keywords
    Reservoirs; Agriculture; Small Scale Dams; One Village One Dam; Gia; Ghana

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