Stakeholders push for inclusive, sustainable water financing for last-mile communities
Stakeholders in Ghana’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector have renewed calls for tailored financing mechanisms to extend safe and affordable water services to the country’s most remote and underserved communities.
This was the focus of the 106th National Level Learning Alliance Platform (NLLAP) held in Accra under the theme “Driving Access and Equity in Water: The Enabling Environment for Reaching Last-Mile Communities in Ghana.” The meeting was hosted by the Resource Centre Network in collaboration with Saha Global and the Ministry of Works, Housing, and Water Resources. The forum brought together government officials, development partners, private sector actors, and civil society organisations to discuss how to bridge the water access gap for “last-mile” communities, rural populations that remain geographically isolated and economically marginalised, often outside the reach of conventional infrastructure and services.
Madam Suzzy Abaidoo, a senior WASH officer at the Ministry of Works, Housing, and Water Resources, in her opening remarks, drew attention to the stark disparities experienced by these communities, recounting her visit to one such area where families live without electricity, proper roads, communication networks, or access to basic amenities. She warned that continuing with traditional approaches would only reinforce exclusion. “These people are not part of the system. No WhatsApp, no schools, no water. Therefore, business as usual will not work,” she said. “We must develop intentional, tailor-made strategies if we are serious about leaving no one behind.” She commended Saha Global’s women-led water service model in northern Ghana as an example of innovation grounded in community realities.
The model provides safe drinking water in areas where borehole drilling has proven unsuccessful and rainwater and dugouts remain the only sources. According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (2022), over two million Ghanaians in rural areas still lack access to safe drinking water. While recent reforms such as Ghana’s revised National Water Policy and the newly introduced Residential Compact have prioritised these communities, implementation remains constrained by financial and logistical challenges.
Mr. Theophilus Boateng, presenting on behalf of Saha Global, highlighted the true cost of delivering basic water services to last-mile communities. He said it takes an estimated GHS 132 per person per year to sustain the model, which includes hardware, personnel, water treatment, and transport costs. However, low-income users often pay just 10 pesewas for 20 litres of water, making cost recovery nearly impossible without subsidies. Mr. Boateng noted that revenue from water sales in a typical village of 500 people averages GHS 300 a month, barely enough to cover production costs, let alone salaries, water quality monitoring, or repairs. He warned that without continued financial support, the systems would fail, forcing communities to revert to unsafe water sources. He emphasised that subsidies were not only essential but transformative.
Data from Saha’s field operations showed that reducing chlorine costs through subsidies led to a significant rise in water consumption, while increased costs saw a marked decline. “Extreme affordability is not a luxury in these communities; it’s a necessity,” he stressed. Stakeholders at the meeting proposed a range of strategies to finance last-mile water access sustainably. These included establishing district-level funding partnerships, introducing revolving funds, securing policy-backed allocations from donor-funded projects, and leveraging private sector contributions through corporate social responsibility frameworks.
Cross-subsidisation from urban systems and results-based financing models were also discussed as potential options. Participants underscored the need for policy coherence to ensure that decentralised authorities, water utilities, and NGOs align their efforts in reaching the unreached. They also called for increased investments in infrastructure such as dugouts, water treatment units, and logistics support to sustain rural water systems. The forum concluded with a collective commitment to accelerate implementation of water sector reforms, ensuring that Ghana’s most vulnerable communities are not left out of the country’s development narrative.