In rural Ghana water coverage rates have been rapidly increasing across the country yet there is a real concern about the sustainability of water supply systems. Ensuring a systematic approach to asset management is therefore becoming more important. However, it is unclear which asset management principles could be explored and applied to the rural water delivery context.
Published on: 07/04/2014
A common cause of breakdown of facilities has been identified to be the inability of service providers to ensure the timely maintenance and renewal of water supply assets across their service life. This has been linked to inadequate mechanisms of financial planning and budgeting that do not account for the life-cycle costs of maintaining a water service over time. Without improved asset maintenance and financial planning, it is likely that premature breakdowns will keep happening and the cycle of unsustainable rural services will continue.
A newly published report assesses the scope for asset management in the context of rural Ghana. The report covers:
The need for improved asset management of water supply facilities in rural and small town areas of Ghana
What "appropriate" asset management can be applied to the rural Ghana context
Recommendations on how these techniques can be integrated within the current policy and monitoring framework.
