Kwasilansa is a relatively small farming community in the Mfantseman District of the Central Region about twenty (20) kilometers away from the district capital Mankessim on the Mankessim - Assin Fosu road. The settlement is on an isolated hill about 250 m above sea level. The general landform is plateau-like and rugged. The soil chemistry of the project area shows that the soils are loamy. The levels of exchangeable actions are low in the subsoil, but moderately high in topsoil. Base saturation percentage of the subsoil is mainly less than 50%. The fertility status of the soils is low with the main deficiencies being phosphorus, trace elements, and nitrogen. Due to the rugged nature of the topography and coupled with surface erosion has created deep gullies and trenches in the town which continues to deepen as the rains fall posing serious threat to the already weakened houses.

Biological Environment
The community falls within the semi-deciduous vegetation and generally the natural vegetation has been degraded into a secondary forest and the most common species found on farms are Ceiba pentandra (Oyina), Aibizia zygia, Triplochiton scleroxylon (wawa) Celtis mildraedii (Celtis) and Pouteria aningeri (Asanfina) and Teak. However the distributions of the species were uneven and the tree densities are relatively high compared to similar areas in the region. During the survey some bird species found in the area were vulture and black kite (Milvus migrans), yellow-casqued hornbill.

Socio-economic Environment
From the 2004 population Census conducted by the Community Development Committee, the Kwasilansa has a population 1,335 people with an annual growth rate of 2.6%. The male/female ratio was about 48:52. An Odikro, his council of Elders and an Assemblyman administer the town.

About 98% of the people are engaged in farming as the main occupation whilst the rest are petty traders, hunters or herbalists. Agriculture remains the dominant land use in the project area. Generally, a form of shifting agriculture is practiced using a long fallow rotation. The principal crops include cassava, maize, yams, cocoyams, plantains, and tomatoes. Oil palm, and cocoa are the main cash crops commonly grown for the export market. Goats, and poultry are often kept, but animal husbandry does not appear to feature strongly in the local agro-economy.

DEFINITION OF PROBLEM

Kwasilansa was classified as one of the worst guinea worm infested communities in the Mfantseman District. The community lacked potable water source and the main sources of drinking water was a stream and a hand-dug well. Figure 1 shows the current sources of water
Clinical analysis of these water sources indicated that all the water sources are full of bacteria and has an odour and has traces of iron. The results indicate a poor water supply coverage in the community. Water Coverage (defined as the number of people having access to basic level of service) indicated that 1,500 people have access to a hand-dug well (as against national standard of 150 people per hand-dug well). The distance from the community to collection point is about 1 kilometer and the follow of the water was not consistent. At the peaks of dry season people have to keep vigil in order to get few buckets of water from the well whilst the streams dry up.

For sanitation, coverage at the time of survey was about 5% (as against 32% for rural/small towns). There is no public toilet and the disposal of waste leaves much to be desired.

Past attempts to sustain supply of potable water failed because of poor involvement of the local communities in water management system, poor technological transfer, and lack of maintenance.

Project Objective

The objective of the project to develop the capacities of people of Kwasilansa to adopt and utilize appropriate, low-cost, and affordable technology in the provision of potable water supply and to adopt sustainable water management systems.

Project Rationale

The project has been designed to ensure the critical role of local communities in the provision of potable water, natural resource management, and biodiversity conservation in the Kwasilansa. However, the success and long-term sustainability of conservation initiatives depend on support and acceptance of such interventions by the local communities. It is also clear that local people will only support conservation initiatives if they see concrete benefits and improvements to the quality of their lives.

The major weaknesses associated with the past supply of water can be attributed to internal lapses within the Ghana Water Company. Actions were either not taken when required or prescribed actions were at variance with planned objectives in many instances. Specific cases that can be mentioned are non-review of management plans even though a review was required at the end of every five years. Management did not also adhere to prescriptions made in the plan and therefore working circles meant for protection for instance were cut at some point. This is also an illustration of over-emphasis on timber at the neglect of other forest benefits. Another problem was the granting of too many short-term exploitation rights to timber contractors. This might have opened up the forest to illegal timber harvesting activities that still persist. Today the open-access nature of the forest undermines forest protection and even investments.

Ghana has adopted a Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), which represents comprehensive policies to support growth and poverty reduction in the county. Under the strategy, the government intends to create wealth by transforming the structure of the national economy to achieve growth, accelerated poverty reduction and the protection of the vulnerable and excluded within a decentralized, democratic environment. The GPRS focuses on providing the enabling environment that will empower all Ghanaians to participate in wealth creation and to partake in the wealth created.

This project aims at supporting the strategic initiatives to support the GPRS by:
? Improving governance in the public sector such as participation, transparency, and accountability in water management.
? Improving the community voice in the supply of potable water.

Global Environment Benefits

The proposed project would result in multiple global, national, and local environment benefits, within the context of sustainable development. These benefits would include: (a) conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity; (b) prevention and/or control of pollution of major river systems from illegal activities and domestic waste; (c) prevention and/or control of degradation of watersheds through unsustainable land use practices; (f) rise in community awareness levels in environmental management and conservation

PROJECT OUTPUTS/RESULTS

1. Capacity of community water and sanitation committee formed, trained, and empowered to manage water systems and conservation water bodies.

2. Four hand-dug wells fitted with pumps and locally made filters constructed to supply potable water all year round to serve 1,500 rural poor people.

3. 10 Seater Community eco-toilet constructed

4. 50 ha of riverine natural forest created to protect the spring/stream.

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES.

OUTPUT 1 Capacity of community water and sanitation committee formed, trained, and empowered to manage water systems and conservation water bodies

Planned Activities:

1.1 Organize series of community education and awareness on water, issues of health and hygiene, and environmental stewardship.
1.2 Form and train community water and Sanitation Committee
1.3 Organise special technical training for Community Water and Sanitation Committee in the operation and maintenance of water supply infrastructure, resource use, book-keeping and accounting, conflict identification, and management.
1.4 Facilitate health certification of water managers and provide them with basic working gears.
1.5 Train and empower the committees to collect, bank and manage water-user fees.
1.6 Train and assist farmers to compost household waste for vegetable farming.
1.7 Train the community members in water quality monitoring.

OUTPUT 2 Two hand-dug wells fitted with pumps and locally made filters and 10-seater eco-toilet constructed to supply potable water all year round to serve 1,500 rural poor people

Planned Activities

2.1 Mobilize local community members to construct two hand-dug wells
2.2 Mobilize community members to construct water pumping, treatment and storage house
2.3 Supply water storage and treatment facilities
2.4 Supply water pipes and other accessories.
2.5 Provide electrical accessories to pump water
2.6 Conduct clinical analysis of water before and after treatment

OUTPUT 3: 50 ha of riverine natural forest created to protect the spring/stream

The objectives for establishing the riverine forest is to:
i. Reforest degraded riverine forest for protection of the stream and biodiversity conservation,
ii. Conserve water to recharge the wells.