Bridging the Water Access Gap: Lessons from a Targeted Subsidies Pilot in Adawso, Ghana

In Ghana, nearly all households in the wealthiest quintile have access to safe drinking water. Less than six out of ten in the poorest quintile do. Water subsidies seem like a solution, but do they actually work?

We tested it in Adawso

Aquaya partnered with Safe Water Network to find out. Working in Adawso, a small town in eastern Ghana, we tested a targeted subsidy program designed to reach the poorest households using a machine learning poverty screening tool. We offered three types of subsidies to 100 eligible households: vouchers for water from public standpipes, reduced rates for existing piped connections, and discounted connection fees for new connections.

What we found

• Subsidy uptake was low overall. Only 37% of eligible households fully took up the subsidies. Uptake varied by modality, with higher participation among households with existing connections and very low consistent use of standpipe vouchers.
• Program awareness was a major barrier. More than half of eligible households reported being unaware of the subsidy program, while others misunderstood its purpose or benefits.
• User satisfaction was high among participants. Among households aware of and using the subsidies, 69% reported being very satisfied, citing cost savings, convenience, and improved water access despite intermittent service issues.
• Targeting accuracy was affected by trust and transparency gaps. Endline re-screening showed inconsistencies in reported household assets, suggesting baseline underreporting linked to limited understanding of the survey’s purpose.
• Private connections showed greater promise than standpipes. Implementers observed declining reliance on standpipes and stronger demand for household connections, indicating where future subsidies may have the greatest impact.

Learn more

Our research brief walks through the full pilot design, detailed findings, and four key recommendations for improvement, from building community trust into the targeting process to properly training field staff.

This project is supported by funding from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.