FROM THE FIELD: Sourcing clean water in Ghana

Two women at a hand pump water station in Ghana. One woman is operating the pump to fill a bucket, while the other pours water into a basin. A third person is visible in the background.

UNDP Ghana In northern Ghana some 50% of people lack access to safe drinking water.

FROM THE FIELD: Sourcing clean water in Ghana

28 January 2020 SDGs

Communities in northern Ghana are benefiting from the rehabilitation of water sources which is expected to boost livelihoods and build resilience against climate change, thanks to a project supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

A group of men stand in a dry, dusty landscape in Ghana, near a dried-up water body, illustrating the effects of climate change and water scarcity. — **UNDP Ghana** | Communities in northern Ghana are benefiting from improvements made to water sources.

Around 50 per cent of the population in the north of the West African country does not have access to clean drinking water, leaving them vulnerable to illness and disease.

But now the rehabilitation and construction of new boreholes and dams as well as irrigation systems in 50 communities is helping meet domestic water needs and provide innovative opportunities for growing crops in a region affected by climate change.

One group of farmers has discovered a new crop which is boosting incomes.

Read more here about how fresh water is bringing fresh hope to some of the most vulnerable people in Ghana.

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News Tracker: Past Stories on This Issue

Two people stand among a field of small, circular, earthen structures in a dry, grassy landscape in Ghana.

FROM THE FIELD: Restoring life to Ghana’s land

2 September 2019

Climate and Environment

Subsistence farmers in Ghana are learning how to hold back the decline in the fertility of the smallholdings they cultivate while revitalizing their soils as desertification increasingly threatens their land and livelihoods.

A young person stands smiling in the shallow water of Lake Victoria, with a fishing boat visible in the distance.

Promoting gender equality a ‘crucial contribution’ in effort to restore, protect our planet’s oceans

8 June 2019

SDGs

Women are engaged in all aspects of interaction with our ocean, yet their voices are often missing at the decision-making level, the head of the United Nations cultural agency said on World Oceans Day, emphasizing that “we must ensure diversity and gender inclusiveness at all levels” to set a balanced course for humanity and foster innovative solutions for the ocean.