Ghana - Second Community Water and Sanitation Project (CWSP2)

Report No. PID6085 Project name Ghana-Second Community Water and... Sanitation Project (CWSP2) Region Africa Sector Water and Sanitation Project ID GHPA50616 Borrower Republic of Ghana Implementing agency Community Water and Sanitation Division Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation Contact person: Mr Peter Sackey Private mail Bag, Kotoka International Airport Accra, Ghana Telephone: 775409/779102 Fax: 775409/779102 Date this PID prepared July 9, 1998 Projected Appraisal date April 15, 1999 Projected Board date August 31, 1999 Country and sector background Over two-thirds of Ghana's population of 17.5 million live in rural areas. These communities depend largely on agriculture or trading activities for subsistence. The infant mortality in these communities, at about 73 per hundred live births, is among the highest in Africa. Only 35t of these rural communities are adequately served with improved water systems, and much fewer have access to improved sanitation facilities. The low coverage of water and sanitation services has a negative impact on the health and productivity of the population in rural areas and small towns, and water related diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, skin diseases and intestinal worms are 4 of the top 5 illnesses reported at Ministry of Health facilities. Government has recently established a new policy and strategy for community water and sanitation (CWS) in Ghana and in 1994, the National Community Water and Sanitation Program (NCWSP) was launched. Key elements of the CWS policy include: demand-driven approach through which communities: decide if the want to participate and their preferred service level based on willingness to pay, contribute towards the capital cost (at least 5-10w cash contribution) and pay the normal operations, maintenance, and repair costs of their facilities; decentralization of planning and management of services by making: communities decision makers, owners and managers of the water supply and sanitation facilities and DAs more autonomous and better able to assist communities obtain improved services; private sector provision (including NGO) of all goods and services public sector playing a facilitating role, with GWSC contracted by GOG to manage the CWS Program and to provide technical assistance to DAs and the private sector.  The World Bank is currently supporting the NCWSP with an IDA credit (CR2604 of SDR 15.9 million, approved on April 1994 and scheduled for closing in December, 1999) titled the Community Water and Sanitation Project (CWSP1). The on-going project is having an important impact in the sector and is progressing very well. The main objective of the project is the full-scale demonstration of the national program in four regions. CWSP1 expects to exceed it physical targets by supporting the construction of about 1,450 water points, 20 small town water supplies, and 6,000 household latrines and converting an additional 2700 existing handpumps to community management. In addition, the mid-term review of the project found that: (a) the principal of community management in rural communities and small towns is now well established in Ghana, (b) the private sector is responding well to the opportunities generated, (c) the implementation agency, CWSD, has built itself into a substantive organization, and (d) District Assemblies (DAs) are increasingly integrating water and sanitation into their infrastructure efforts. Project objectives The Development Objective of the project is to increase the effective and sustained use of improved community water and sanitation (CWS) services in villages and small towns. The new project, CWSP2, will build upon the achievements of CWSP1 to support district water and sanitation programs within the broader context of on-going decentralization reforms and other rural development initiatives within the country. Specific objectives of CWSP2 include: implementation of demand-responsive and sustainable WS services, providing basic drinking water facilities to about 800,000 people in rural communities through the construction of 2400 waterpoints and the rehabilitation of an additional 2000 waterpoints, and improved sanitation to x people (all numbers are provisional); strengthening of community capacity to manage services, by assisting communities plan and administer services, forming and training water boards and CWS committees, and training community members in better hygiene practices; development of district-level capacity to deliver CWS services, including an active role of the private sector, and NGOs in the delivery of goods and services and of District Assemblies (DAs) in planning and providing support to communities; support to government as facilitator of the national community WS Program, and administrator of a possible CWS Fund. Project description The project will have three components: Community Sub-project Matching Grants: to finance community development activities and the design and construction of improved water and sanitation facilities. This component will make up at least 80t of project costs. Sector Strengthening and Capacity Building: this component would support the training of the private sector, district assemblies and NGOs to provide support to communities in planning, implementing and managing their facilities. It will also support specific sector work and stakeholder consultation to continuously refine sector policies and strategies. - 2 -  Project Management: a possible management option for the project would be to create a CWS Fund and remunerate CWSD on a fee-for-service basis. Project financing A rough estimate places the total project cost at $30 M of which IDA will finance $26M. Communities will be expected to pay at least 5-10t of the investment costs of their water and sanitation facilities and 100t of operating and maintenance costs and contributions will also be expected from national and district-level government. Co-financing with other external support agencies will be sought during project preparation. Project implementation CWSD be the implementing agency of CWSP2, however, its role will be much more one of a facilitator and a possible manager of a CWS Fund, rather than that of an implementor responsible for signing contracts. CWSD will coordinate the overall national program and implement the sector strengthening and capacity building components of the project. The sub-project matching grant component of the CWSP2 would be managed by CWSA (either as a CWS Fund or as part of the regular CWSD activities), as a facilitator of District Assembly (DA) and community implementation. CWSD, would appraise the funding requests and disburse funds for approved sub-projects. Water and sanitation sub-projects will be demanded, planned, implemented and managed by communities. Gender-balanced Watsan committees and water boards will take charge of the facilities in representation of the community. Communities will receive assistance to prepare sub-project proposals and Facility Management Plans (FMPs) which will be submitted to the DA for approval. Communities will open bank accounts and deposit their required cash contribution as a condition of appraisal of the sub-project. Communities will then participate in selecting and contracting the goods and services that will be provided to the community and will sign off on all completed works and community development activities. Finally, communities will be responsible for sustaining their services. DAs will work through their District Water and Sanitation Teams (DWST) - or equivalent, to establish District Water and Sanitation Programs and promote the project in eligible communities. DAs will be responsible for vetting the construction grant Applications and FMPs, and will prepare packages of sub- projects to pass on to CWSD for approval on a periodic basis. The DA's will also work with the communities to contract and supervise the community development, training and investment activities. At the local level, the private sector and NGOs will compete for contracts to deliver goods and services to communities and DAS and their capacity will be strengthened, within a perspective of developing incentives for their long- term presence in the district. Procedures will be developed to ensure adequate competition and efficiency in the awarding of contracts. Project sustainability The sustainability of the water and sanitation facilities rests on two key elements: Community willingness and capacity to manage and sustain services: this will be achieved by requiring communities to demonstrate their commitment to service improvement upfront, including taking initiative, making a cash contribution and undertaking organizational responsibilities. Community -3 -  capacity will also be strengthened through the project in the areas of community organization, operations and maintenance, financial management, hygiene education, and effective water usage and disposal to help them manage their services in the long-term. Availability of goods and services in the local markets, accessible by the communities: this will be achieved by working through district and regional- based private and NGO organizations. The project will include intensive capacity building to help these agencies better respond to community demand, and will also look at the longer term incentives to keep these agencies functioning, especially in terms of selling spare parts and providing technical assistance to communities. The public sector will also have to play a supportive role, especially at the DA level. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector The Mid-term review of CWSP1 as well as contributions made during the global CWS conference held in Washington in May 1998, provide the following lessons:[Note: Lessons learned from completed and ongoing projects financed by the Bank and other development agencies.] The principle of community management is well established in Ghana and well accepted by the communities. In order to enhance the demand based approach, there is a need to follow a more programmatic approach to fund allocation, so that communities and [Note: Lessons learned from completed and ongoing projects financed by the Bank and other development agencies.]The fThe DAs can apply for funding once they have met the criteria for participation and collected the capital cost contribution. Community willingness to pay for services may be much higher that what is expected and this is often not reflected in financial policies that have high levels of subsidies. NGOs are effective in mobilizing communities and helping them in planing facilities and in deciding how to manage them. In order to strengthen their role, NGO contracts and work plans need to be based on annual agreements of targets and should support community needs. There also needs to be greater flexibility in implementing the project in each community, so as to adjust to the community pace, interests and capacity rather than adopting a common approach to all. The private sector has responded well, however, there is a need to enhance competition between suppliers, there may also be other ways of packaging software and hardware that will lead to a more efficient provision of services. Sustainability relies greatly on the capacity of the Watsan committee or water board to assume its functions. Their training needs to be reinforced to ensure sound management of their water supply, and needs to start very early in the project cycle. Women now have a bigger role in decision making and are better empowered to facilitate community action. However, concerted efforts are required to ensure that women continue to be actively involved at all levels. CWSD must continue to support the very active donor and inter-ministerial coordination that is now taking place to ensure that all sector actors abide by the national policy for the sector. NGOs and private actors have much more to contribute to the sector policy dialogue than just being contractors. Environmental aspects The project does not create major environmental issues as it will finance only very small water projects (mostly handpumps and public standposts) and on-site sanitation. Since the water consumption will be very low (less than 20-30 liters/capita/day), and will primarily replace on-going consumption from alternative sources, wastewater accumulation is not expected to be a problem. - 4 -  The amount of water that will mainly used for domestic consumption should not provoke any major drawdown risk on the aquifers, although in some very arid regions, ground water resources will have to be closely analyzed, especially where motorized pumps and piped systems are installed. The latrines would provide a benefit to the environment, and will be sited well away from water sources to avoid contamination. An environmental analysis will be conducted and will be available by project appraisal. Program Objective Categories This project is anticipated to increase access of the poor to sustainable water and sanitation services, thereby supporting the broader objective of improving the lives of all Ghanaians. Contact Point: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone No. (202)458 5454 Fax No. (202) 522 1500 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain activities and/or components may not be included in the final project. Processed by the InfoShop week ending September 4, 1998. - 5 -