The Determinants Of Ownerships Of Toilet Facilities Among Households In Madina-Zongo In The La Nkwantang Municipality, Ghana.

ABSTRACT

Quite often sanitation issues have been relegated to the background, nevertheless development economists suggest that achieving high sanitation standards can save the economies of low and middle-income countries of almost 5% of their Gross Domestic Products (GDP) (Hutton, 2015; 2012). Indeed, the selected theme ‘Toilets and Jobs’ for the 2016 UN World Toilet Day (WTD) emphasized the vital role toilets play in creating strong economies, improving health and protecting people’s safety and dignity (UN Water, 2016). This underscores the importance of the present study in Madina-Zongo. The study was conducted to assess the level of access to improved toilet facilities and the factors that influence the ownership of toilets facilities among households in Madina-Zongo. The study used a mixed method strategy. 170 households were interviewed, and the data was summarized in frequencies tables, cross-tabulations and logistic regression. In addition, 5 in-depth and a key informant interviews were conducted to triangulate with the quantitative analysis. The study found that only 30% of the households own improved technologies exclusively reserved for their households. About 24% rely only on public toilets and another 44% depends on shared facilities, which includes 3.53% of facilities considered as unimproved. Compared to poor households, low income and high income households were more likely to own improved toilets, statistically significant at 5% and 1% respectively. Compared to heads of households who had no formal education background, educated households were more likely to own an improved toilet, statistically significant at 5% and 1% for head’s with basic/secondary education and higher education, respectively. The chances are that a household size that increases more than 4 in the study area will less likely owned an improved toilet, statistically significant at 5%.