The role of urban authorities and utilities in promoting sanitation as a business

Content - Summary

The following presentation given by Charles Niwagaba, the director of the NGO Sustainable Sanitation and Water Renewal Systems (SSWARS) provides a good overview about the tools Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and Sanitation Marketing and their application in Kampala, Uganda.

Additionally to a comprehensive introduction into the topic, it shows "on the ground" experiences from a PPP between the Kawempe Division of the city of Kampala, Uganda, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany, SSWARS, Uganda, Crestanks and Polyfibre two local plastic manufacturing companies producing sanitation components and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Finally the presentation informs about current research activities of SSWARS and partners.

The results are:
- The concept of sanitation as business was found promising.
- It could be shown, that a toilet owner can recover his investment within 2.5 years.
- One important reason for the reluctance of investing in toilets was the lack of financial funds to do so.
- Neither banks, nor microfinance institutions showed interest to support those investments due to a lack of collateral by the applicants.
- There is a need for innovative financing to increase sanitation acquisition, e.g. by installment purchase.
- The marketing applied in this presentation is replicable (road drive shows, house-to-house marketing, innovative financing and the use of information, education and communication (IEC) materials.
- Enforcement of laws/byelaws on sanitation and a legislation of valorisation of excreta is important to follow up on.

Bibliographic information

Niwagaba, C. (2011). The role of urban authorities and utilities in promoting sanitation as a business. Sustainable Sanitation & Water Renewal Systems (SSWARS), Kampala, Uganda

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English Presentations Sub-Saharan Africa Urban (entire city)

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