Browsing by Author "Morinville, Cynthia"

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'Chasing for Water': Everyday Practices of Water Access in Peri-Urban Ashaiman, Ghana
(2007) Peloso, Megan; Morinville, Cynthia
"Despite recent reports suggesting that access to improved sources of drinking water is rising in Ghana, water access remains a daily concern for many of those living in the capital region. Throughout the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), the urban poor manage uncertainty and establish themselves in the city by leveraging a patchwork system of basic services that draws importantly from informal systems and supplies. This paper takes a case study approach, using evidence gathered from two-months of fieldwork in a peri-urban informal settlement on the fringe of Accra, to explore everyday practices involved in procuring water for daily needs that routinely lead residents outside of the official water supply system. Findings from this case study demonstrate that respondents make use of informal water services to supplement or 'patch up' gaps left by the sporadic water flow of the official service provider, currently Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL). Basic water access is thus constructed through an assemblage of coping strategies and infrastructures. This analysis contributes to understandings of heterogeneity in water access by attending to the everyday practices by which informality is operationalised to meet the needs of the urban poor, in ways that may have previously been overshadowed. This research suggests, for example, that although water priced outside of the official service provider is generally higher per unit, greater security may be obtained from smaller repetitive transactions as well as having the flexibility to pursue multiple sources of water on a day-to-day basis."
Improving Participatory Water Governance in Accra, Ghana
(2013) Harris, Leila; Morinville, Cynthia
"The research informing this brief assessed participatory water governance in several informal settlements in Accra with a focus on LWBs, the first of which were established in 2007. In addition to responsibilities related to water distribution and payment collection, LWBs could be described as citizens associations to promote community engagement; indeed, the research found that the boards do enable a certain level of citizen engagement. Nonetheless, this brief also provides recommendations on how the boards and participatory water governance more generally could be enhanced. The study methodology involved interviews in Accra in 2011, follow-up community feedback sessions in 2012 and a comparative survey of communities in Accra and Cape Town, South Africa in early 2012. This brief focusses on the lessons from Accra, where 243 residents were surveyed across two communities: Teshie and Ashaiman. The research also draws on key informant and resident interviews conducted in Ayidiki-New Town, Nima, Sukura and Teshie."
Participation, Politics, and Panaceas: Exploring the Possibilities and Limits of Participatory Urban Water Governance in Accra, Ghana
(2014) Morinville, Cynthia; Harris, Leila M.
"Water governance debates have increasingly recognized the importance of adaptive governance for short- and long-term sustainability, especially with respect to increasing climate unpredictability and growing urbanization. A parallel focus on enhancing community participation pervades international development recommendations and policy literature. Indeed, there are often implicit and explicit connections made between the participatory character of water governance institutions and their adaptive capacity. The social-ecological systems literature, however, has also urged caution with respect to embracing panaceas, with increasing calls to be attentive to the limitations of proposed “solutions.” We discuss the parallels between the adaptive governance, comanagement, and participatory resource governance literatures and analyze efforts to encourage such participation in urban water governance through Local Water Boards in Accra, Ghana. Drawing on interview data, participant observations, and a survey of 243 individuals, we explored what participatory spaces have been opened or foreclosed as well as the possibilities for adaptive urban water governance in Accra. Applying insights from recent debates about panaceas, we argue that discerning the potential and limits for sustainable resource governance and associated development goals requires that participatory mechanisms be subjected to systematic and contextual analysis."