The chiefs and people of Kayoro Saboro, a sorghum farming community in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region have been relieved of a prolonged water crisis following the construction of a solar powered mechanised water system in the area.
This is through the efforts of WaterAid Ghana, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) focused organisation under its WASH infrastructure in healthcare facilities project with funding support from Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited.
Kayoro is one of the major communities that Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited sourced large quantities and quality sorghum, one of its major raw materials for its production and the gesture formed part of the Company’s strategic plan to provide relief to its water stressed operational areas.
The gender-sensitive facility which currently produces 20,000 litres of water daily and has the capacity to produce more has two installed overhead tanks, water collection point with various taps for the residents to fetch as well as connected into the Kayoro Health Centre.
Through WaterAid Ghana, the facility has been extended to the basic school in the area.
The facility is expected to relieve residents of burden of trekking several kilometres in search of water, improve sanitation, education, and socioeconomic growth, reducing poverty and improve healthcare delivery at the healthcare facility.
Madam Felicite Nson, Managing Director, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, said the facility was under its sustainable ambition dubbed “Water for Life” which formed part of the Company’s 10-year global programme (Society 2030, Spirit of Progress) to help create a more inclusive and sustainable world.
She said the Company believed that sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation as well as WASH was the bedrock to building strong, resilient, and thriving communities across their operational areas and remained central to meeting global development goals on poverty, health, education, and economic growth.
“Having operated in Ghana for 63 years, we remain committed to building thriving communities in areas where we live, where we source, where we make, and where we sell our products,” Madam Nson stressed.
The Managing Director disclosed that the Company sourced its raw materials from 13 out of the 16 regions of Ghana and since 2020 when the Water for Life programme was launched, about 10 communities in Northern Ghana had so far benefitted from similar water systems.
“With the solar powered mechanised water system, we have given many women, children, and community members the opportunity to low stress life especially by reducing long distance travel and eliminate possible infections which come from contaminated water consumption.
“The project and the mode of delivery involved also aligned with goal six of the UN SDGs which specifies the need to achieve universal and equitable access to affordable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030,” she added.
Mr Sampson Tettey, Head of Programmes, WaterAid Ghana, said the facility was as result of collaboration and believed that it would contribute to advancing socioeconomic development in the area.
He urged the stakeholders of the community especially the traditional authorities and the water and sanitation management teams to work collaboratively to protect and maintain the facility to make maximum impact.
Pe Oscar Tiyiami Batabi II, Paramount Chief of Kayoro Traditional Area, commended WaterAid Ghana and Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited for the gesture and noted that it had relieved the community of old aged water crisis and would enhance improvement in the local economy, education, and healthcare delivery.
