Curbing Open Defecation in the Keea Municipality in the Central Region

Abstract

Unimproved sanitation such as open defecation practices has been a major sanitation problem in Ghana. The practice has been alarming due to the threat it poses to human health. Therefore, it has become an area of concern in the KEEA municipality since a lot of households do not have household toilet facilities. Addressing the unimproved sanitation practices to ensure a resilient community require comprehensive understanding of all underlying determinants of open defecation practices and factors that trigger the adoption of household toilet facilities. The study employed a mixed-method approach to explore means of curbing open defecation practices in the KEEA municipality. Specifically, the study investigated how the spatial distribution of public toilets influence the facility‘s usage, the socio-demographic predictors of open defecation, and the triggers for adopting a household toilet facility. A total of 373 respondents were used for the study; 320 household heads for the questionnaire survey, 42 focused group discussants, and 11 in-depth interviewees. The findings revealed that the most commonplace of attending nature‘s call is the public toilet. Spatial distribution of these public toilets do not influence the facility‘s usage irrespective of the unkempt status. The results also showed that females are more likely to open defecate as compared to males; those between 50-60 years are also likely to open defecate. Education and income status are also significant determinants of open defecation practices. Religion and ethnicity are, however, insignificant in predicting open defecation practices in the study area. Adoption of household toilet facility is also likely to be triggered by prestige, health and economic drivers. However, these drivers (excluding the economic driver), are influenced by marital status, education level and income status. Both short term and long term recommendations were suggested to curb open defecation practices. The study further calls for enactment of policy documents to safeguard tenets to invest in constructing their household toilet facility while sanitation.