Collective action for sustainable groundwater governance: A case study of irrigation groundwater management in the fragile ecosystem of the Keta Strip, Ghana

The exponential growth of Ghana’s population over the past three decades has heightened reliance on groundwater resources for small-scale irrigation. The shallow groundwater in the unconfined aquifers of the Keta and Anloga districts in Ghana faces increasing threats from overexploitation and saline water intrusions, necessitating proactive management strategies. Groundwater games have emerged as innovative tools for promoting sustainable groundwater management practices in communities. This study explored these games as a social learning intervention to raise awareness on the effects of farmers’ decisions on groundwater quantity and quality. The groundwater games, accompanied by focus group discussions (FGDs), and in-depth interviews, were used to understand and reshape farmers’ mental models towards sustainable groundwater use for irrigation. The study found that uncoordinated individual decisions about the size of plots for crop cultivation threaten the sustainability and collective availability of common-pool groundwater resources. Sustainable groundwater levels were only achieved when farmers communicated and collectively adopted pragmatic farming practices, underscoring the importance of collective action for sustainable groundwater governance. The study further identifies the absence of functioning institutions to support collaboration among farmers as a major driver of groundwater depletion. To address this, a bottom-up approach is recommended, involving stakeholder engagements and policy reforms to strengthen groundwater governance for small-scale irrigation. This could commence by reviewing and enforcing the Drilling License and Groundwater Development Regulations (LI 1827) in Ghana at the community and national levels.