"Now you have a new pump, you have to manage it." Household water management, water rights and institutional change in Northern Ghana

Present drinking water policy for rural Africa is based on the assumption that community-based management entails more local decision-making power, improved access and better sustainability in water supply. Ghana has realized this vision in its National Community Water and Sanitation Program (NCWSP). Ownership and management of hand pumps as well as of small town water systems were transfered from the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to local water users. Different to the general perception that community-based management was an innovation after centralized management approaches, local water users have always organized and managed their water supply and created a local system of rules and regulation. Thus, community-based water management is not only a policy innnovation but also a long-established practice which underwent historical change. Even though the same policy is applied for rural hand pumps and small town water systems, the first seems to have been more sucessfully implemented. Due to a lack of studies, which describe institutional change in local water management when shifting from hand pumps to piped systems, no explanation could be offered so far for this difference in policy implementation and outcome. The research presents empirical data on the formation and conceptualization of water user groups of improved and unimproved water sources. Especial focus was given to local institutions of household water management as well as their change under the NCWSP. Moreover, local interest and social dynamics in water development projects were investigated. The study shows how the resource water is interwoven with rural and peri-urban livelihood systems in Northern Ghana. It approached the subject household water management via legal anthropology, political economy, political ecology as well as history. The management of household water serves as an example for analysing the interplay between natural, and socio-political environment by stressing changes in local water rights and water allocation practice

The acquisition of water storage facilities in the Abay River Basin, Ethiopia

This paper provides a typology of water storage technologies in the Abay sub-basin of the Blue Nile River basin from the 1960s to the present-day. Based on a literature review and project document review, various ways of facility creation and acquisition are analysed with regard to their social dynamics, political interest and project outcome. As a result, specific research needs in the social-political domain are formulated and topics and indicators for a comparative social-political assessment of the facility acquisition processes developed

Faculty and Staff's Perceptions of First Generation College Students

A majority of the research focusing on the academic success and persistence of first generation students concentrates on students, and not the faculty, staff, and administrators who support, encourage, and guide them. Through qualitative research, this study sought to determine: how do faculty and staff support first generation students to motivate them to academic success and persistence/completion; what do faculty and staff identify as their most influential attitudes, behaviors, and/or contributions to helping first generation students succeed and persist; and what type of lens do faculty and staff use when motivating first generation students? The study involved the comprehensive examination of interview data from 10 faculty and staff participants at a small college, Brick University (pseudonym). Through an in-depth analysis, the study found that faculty and staff influenced academic success through validation and self-disclosure of experiences, as well as connection, communication, and support of this population to encourage academic success and persistence. Additionally, the research found that faculty and staff used generation neutral, asset-based, and combination asset-based and deficit lenses in their efforts to support first generation students. Furthermore, first generation faculty and staff described behaviors and actions to encourage greater academic success and persistence for first generation students than continuing generation students due to their ability to identify with the population

ICT Utilization As Correlates Of Academic Performance Among Students With Visual Impairment In Lagos State, Nigeria

Vision, an essential part of human existence plays vital roles in the life of an individual and any hindrance to vision resulting in total or partial loss of sight creates difficulties in understanding the world around such an individual. The problem associated with academic performance of students with visual impairment has a number of indicators which have not received adequate attention from researchers in special education. This study therefore, examined the relationship of information and communication technology (ICT) utilisation on academic performance of students with visual impairment in Lagos State. The objectives of the study were to identify ICT tools, level of ICT utilisation as well as their relationship to academic .performance among students with visual impairment. Using descriptive research design of correlational type, twenty eight students with visual impairment were selected using purposive sampling technique from two special schools located within Lagos state. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents and data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment correlation statistics. Two research questions were raised while one hypothesis was generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated that there was significant relationship between information and communication technology utilisation and academic performance of students with visual impairment in Lagos state (r = .536, P< .05). Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that schools should adopt appropriate ICT tools that will enhance academic performance of students with visual impairment and to include ICT training skills in the curriculum of special schools

Rebuilding livelihoods after dam-induced relocation in Koga, Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia

For the past years, Ethiopia has been moving toward making better use of the waters from the Blue Nile. The Koga project is the first new large]scale irrigation scheme in the river basin since the 1970s. The article analyzes the social]economic outcome of development]induced relocation of 500 relocated households, in particular the sub]set which moved to the nearby town. The delay in land re]allocation had left households without livelihood base for much longer than expected and compensation payments were not sufficient to bridge the critical period. Households tended to maintain their social network and memberships in supportive rural associations after relocation but poverty acted as constraint in some cases, especially when households did not find other income generating activities. Housing in town was made difficult due to the need to legalize land exchange arrangements. And it required a common interest (security) to initiate social relations between town dwellers and newcomers.Seit einigen Jahren ist Äthiopien bestrebt, seine Wasserressourcen des Blauen Nils besser nutzbar zu machen. Das Koga Bewässerungsprojekt ist das erste neue Großdammprojekt im Flussbecken seit den 1970er Jahren. Der Artikel analysiert die sozialen und ökonomischen Folgen für die 500 Haushalte, die wegen des Entwicklungsprojektes umsiedeln mussten, inbesondere der Gruppe, die in die nahe Stadt gezogen ist. Verzögerungen in der Landumverteilung entzog den Bauern für eine längere Periode als erwartet die Lebensgrundlage, was nicht ausreichend durch Kompensationszahlungen aufgefangen werden konnte. Die Haushalte tendierten dazu, ihre sozialen Netzwerke und Mitgliedschaften in ländlichen Unterstützungsvereinen nach der Umsiedlung beizubehalten. Allerdings war Armut ein Hindernis für einige Haushalte, die keine neuen Einkommensquellen erschlossen hatten. Die Wohnsituation in der Stadt wurde durch die vorgeschriebene Legalisierung von Landtauscharrangements erschwert. Und es brauchte ein gemeinsames Interesse (Sicherheit), um soziale Beziehungen zwischen Stadtbewohnern und Neuankömmlingen zu initiieren

Drinking water policy, water rights and allocation practice in rural Northern Ghana

Rural drinking water policy in Ghana is based on the ´communal management´ approach. The formal membership in water user communities has been introduced in the end 1990s during the implementation of a new water policy, called National Community Water and Sanitation Program. Members of pump communities hold a monopoly on ownership, access and power over their water facility. But local water users also had to balance contradictions and conceptual differences between their previous water right regime and innovative institutions. Despite a new conceptual design, structural shifts in the pattern of water user groups and the local diversification of water rights and rules, the practice of household water allocation does not show major changes but continues to depend primarily on non- institutional factors

Small towns face big challenge: The management of piped systems after the water sector reform in Ghana

As the outcome of drinking water sector reforms in Ghana, three different management options are realized for small town water systems. Many piped systems remain centrally managed by the Ghana Water Company Limited even though a policy of community-based management is favoured. Alternatively, a management option of public private partnerships is fostered. The paper reviews and compares two of the realized options: public-private partnerships and community-based management. It asks what the outcomes of these two options are for the sustainability of small town water supply as well as whether one of the two options is preferable and should be pushed by policy. Further, the paper aims at showing some of the limits of participatory approaches in water development practice. It concludes that none of the management options offers a solution to the prevalent problem of failing water systems but both carry the potential to do so, if a system of continuous support and supervision for the managing communities would be established. Such tandem option between water administration and communities is still at its pilot stage

Coastal ecotourism in The Gambia: Effects of sustainability communication on environments and rural livelihoods

This paper is based on a field study carried out in 2015 in two coastal ecotourism areas in The Gambia - Kartong and Tanji. The study investigated sustainability communication by tourism service providers in the context of climate change and ecovillage design education (EDE). With an inclusive approach to investigate communication, which integrates words, writing, actions as well as individual and collective behavior, the methodology was based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews with tourism service providers, local population, as well as the examination of documents. It has attended to answer the following question: how do ecotourism providers communicate sustainability issues in key areas, including education, marketing and networks activities in Kartong Ecotourism Area and Tanji Bird Reserve within the context of climate change? The findings highlight that sustainability-related ecotourism communication may help to prevent environmental degradation through encouraging more sustainable practices as a result of training resident communities, especially the youth. Sustainability communication in the case studies was not geared toward eco-tourists despite the fact that a small number of more knowledgeable business owners have included climate change and sea level rises in their communication towards potential customers. Findings illustrate that these service providers in tourism had succeeded in engaging young people and wetland communities in environmental action and in the production as well as the promotion of energy-efficient cooking and building technologies. Local income generation activities, such as oyster farming have been supported by ecotourism

The experience and impact of urban floods and pollution in Ebo Town, Greater Banjul Area, in The Gambia

The unplanned settlement Ebo Town is flooded almost every year with polluted water from uphill Kanifing Municipality because of a lack of infrastructure for sanitation and drainage. When droughts occurred in the 1970s, destitute people started to move to the peripheral swamp of Tambi Wetland Complex first to cultivate rice and later to settle. Today, after wetland conversion, Ebo Town is blocking the runoff to the lagoon. Most inhabitants subsist on very low incomes. Based on interviews with teachers, school children and their families, the authors analyze how lives and family income change as a result of floods. Accessing school on safe ways may not be possible during the floods and the risk of becoming ill increases. The study also investigates what schools, authorities, parents and external agencies do to improve the situation. The key findings show that Ebo Town residents undertake minor modification on their houses, carry valuable property to safe places and restrict school attendance in order to protect their children from floods and illness. They pursue reactive and concurrent strategies on household level rather than mobilizing the Ebo Town community for more effective action. Many people thought they would not be able to change the situation anyway and waited for government support

INFLUENCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS ON WORK ETHICS OF LIBRARY PERSONNEL: THE CASE OF KENNETH DIKE LIBRARY

Work ethics in library settings appears to be deteriorating in recent times which were not unconnected with administrative styles. The study therefore examined the influence of administrative effectiveness on work ethics of library personnel in Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan. The study identifies levels of administrative effectiveness and rate of compliance with work ethics by library personnel as well as the relationship between them. The study adopted descriptive research design of correlational type using a structured questionnaire to elicit information from respondents. The population comprised 112 library personnel consisting 30 academic librarians, 54 Non-Teaching (senior) and 28 junior non-teaching library staff in KDL. Of the 112 copies of the questionnaire administered, 94 copies were returned and valid for analysis. The data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that the level of administrative effectiveness in KDL is moderate, rate of compliance with work ethics moderate, and that significant relationship existed between administrative effectiveness and work ethic. There was no significant difference between work ethics of professional and para-professional library personnel in KDL. Based on these, recommendations were made that effective administrative styles be adopted and code of ethics be established and distributed to all staff to enhance their work ethics