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The Impacts of Household Water Quality Testing and Information on Safe Water Behaviors: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Ghana

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  • Okyere, Charles Yaw
  • Pangaribowo, Evita Hanie
  • Asante, Felix Ankomah
  • von Braun, Joachim

Abstract

Households in developing countries face an enormous set of health risks from using contaminated water sources. In 2014, a group of 512 households relying on unimproved water, sanitation and hygiene practices in the Greater Accra region of Ghana were randomly selected to participate in the intervention on water quality self-testing and to receive water quality improvement messages (information). The treatment group was separated into two groups: (1) a school children intervention group and (2) an adult household members intervention group, to identify the role of intra-household decision making or resource allocation in the delivery of water quality information. The comparison group neither participated in the water quality self-testing nor received information. The impacts of the experiment are estimated using intention-to-treat (ITT), instrumental variable (IV) and differences-in-differences (DiD) estimators. Participation rate, which is used as a proxy for uptake, is higher among the school children intervention group in comparison to the adult intervention group. The results show that the household water quality testing and information experiment increase the choice of improved water sources and other safe water behaviors. The study implies that household water quality testing and information could be used as “social marketing” strategy in achieving safe water behaviors. The school children intervention group is more effective in the delivery of water quality information, thereby making a strong case of using school children as “agents of change” in improving safe water behaviors. The study also finds limited evidence of gender differentiated impacts based on the gender of the participants, especially in terms of improved water source choices. The findings have implications on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly on improvement in safe water behaviors and microbial analysis of water quality by providing practical experiences from resource poor settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Okyere, Charles Yaw & Pangaribowo, Evita Hanie & Asante, Felix Ankomah & von Braun, Joachim, 2017. "The Impacts of Household Water Quality Testing and Information on Safe Water Behaviors: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Ghana," Discussion Papers 256216, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ubzefd:256216
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.256216
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    Cited by:

    1. Charles Yaw Okyere & Evita Hanie Pangaribowo & Nicolas Gerber, 2019. "Household Water Quality Testing and Information: Identifying Impacts on Health Outcomes and Sanitation- and Hygiene-Related Risk-Mitigating Behaviors," Evaluation Review, , vol. 43(6), pages 370-395, December.
    2. Lindgren, Samantha, 2021. "Cookstove implementation and Education for Sustainable Development: A review of the field and proposed research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    3. Charles Yaw Okyere, 2020. "Environmental quality, gender and health outcomes in Southern Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 7865-7886, December.
    4. Cátia Batista & Marcel Fafchamps & Pedro C. Vicente, 2018. "Keep It Simple: A Field Experiment on Information Sharing in Social Networks," NBER Working Papers 24908, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Cátia Batista & Marcel Fafchamps & Pedro C Vicente, 2022. "Keep It Simple: A Field Experiment on Information Sharing among Strangers [Changing Saving and Investment Behavior: The Impact of Financial Literacy Training and Reminders on Micro-Businesses]," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(4), pages 857-888.
    6. Charles Yaw Okyere & Ama Asantewah Ahene-Codjoe, 2022. "Irrigated Agriculture and Welfare: Panel Data Evidence from Southern Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 583-610, April.

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    Keywords

    Health Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods;
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