Effects of water hyacinth invasion on the health of the communities, and the education of children along River Tano and Abby-Tano Lagoon in Ghana

Abstract

Water hyacinth invasion has been highlighted to be a source of problem to riparian communities. They are known to reduce the velocity of water bodies, thereby serving as suitable breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Their obstruction to water transportation also means students who cross invaded water bodies to school will have their education negatively affected. Based on cross-sectional research with 305 respondents who were sampled using snowballing sampling procedure, this study assesses the effects of water hyacinth invasion on the health of the communities, and the education of children along River Tano and Abby-Tano Lagoon in Ghana. We found that water hyacinth invasion in the two water bodies was associated with malaria infestation. The blockade created also meant students delayed in their quest to access their schools. However, respondents mainly used insecticide-treated nets to cope with the spread of the mosquitoes that bred in the water hyacinth while parents made provision for their wards to stay outside the affected village across the River Tano in order to attend classes in the peak season of the invasion. We recommend that further studies should target only those people whose children cross River Tano to attend school in the Adusuazo community and increase their sample size. This will help gather detailed information on the effects of the invasion on the education of children. We also recommend that further studies should be conducted to provide more concrete data on the categories of respondents whose health are more affected by the invasion and their adaptive strategies.

Keywords

• water hyacinth
• health
• education
• coping strategies
• jomoro district
• ghana