Improving environmental sanitation in the catchment area of Benya Lagoon, Ghana: the non-household stakeholder role and participation dimension

Poor sanitation practices pollute the environment and exact undue toll on health, productivity and human life, hence the increasing global call for the maintenance of acceptable sanitation standards in all communities. Although maintaining proper sanitation standards in any community is a function of several factors, the stakeholder participation dimension is one of the most critical. However, unlike the household stakeholders, the non-household stakeholder dimension has not received adequate attention in terms of studies regarding its role and participation in environmental sanitation management. Employing the qualitative design, this study examined the role and participation of key non-household stakeholders in sanitation management in the catchment area of Benya Lagoon, Ghana. Data were gathered from identifiable key non-household sanitation actors who were purposively selected from relevant government agencies, private sector organisations, communitybased organisations and opinion leaders and analysed thematically guided by the most significant stories technique. It became evident from the study that the non-household stakeholders were playing useful roles in sanitation management, but their participation and the level of interaction in the enterprise were too limited to enable them to make a substantial impact on improving sanitation in the area. Key non-household sanitation actors, spearheaded by the central government through the sector ministry and municipal authority, need to increase their participation in sanitation management and collaborate more intensively through higher order interactions to ensure the maintenance of acceptable sanitation standards for sustainable local level development and, by extension, national development. doi: 10.2166/washdev.2019.024 s://iwaponline.com/washdev/article-pdf/doi/10.2166/washdev.2019.024/605975/washdev2019024.pdf Justice Mensah Directorate of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana E-mail: justice44mensah@gmail.com