Ghana

Realising that water is a way of improving household incomes and reducing the their vulnerability to poverty, the Zawse / Banse communities agreed to advocate for the Bawku Municipal Assembly(BMA) to take up the cost of building a dam completely (or at least bear the greater portion of it). After this first step of influencing the BMA to publicly commit financially to the project, communities plan to follow-up and ensure they receive the needed financing for the dam to be constructed. To date, the Zawse / Bansi Area Council communities have gained the commitment of the Bawku Municipal Assembly (BMA) to include the project in its 2008 Annual Plan. They have also put in an application for support from the Community-Based Rural Development Project (CBRDP) being managed by the BMA on the advice of the BMA. The communities continue to consistently press home their demand from the BMA for a dam for off-season farming with the support of ActionAid in collaboration with Bawku East Development Association (BEWDA). As an indication of their commitment, the communities pledged to contribute 7% in cash/kind of the total cost of the dam project.