Over
the course of terms I have assessed a number of different solutions to the
sanitation crisis in Africa. It is evident that there are a number of
market-based approaches paving the way for sanitation development. Previous
blogs have looked at Sanergy, Uber
for Poo and micro finance solutions to sanitation in Africa.
It
has become clear, that the key to successful sanitation lies within the value
chain. By attaching value to all parts of the sanitation chain, both Sanergy
and Uber for Poo provided further value to faecal sludge, whilst providing
clean and safe sanitation. Market based solutions will be the future of
sanitation in Africa.
Diener
et al (2014) identified a range of different uses for faecal sludge,
attaching value to sanitation. They found not only can faecal sludge be used as
fertiliser, but there are many other great uses such as biogas and the use of
sludge in building materials.
Previous studies have looked
at the value of faecal sludge when repurposed as fertiliser, however, figure 1 illustrates
how faecal sludge can be repurposed in a number of different ways, all with
varying economic value in different cities across Africa. On average, the use
of faecal sludge as soil conditioner (fertiliser) had the lowest value
attached.
Figure 1: Value attached to products from
faecal sludge across Africa.
Current innovative sanitation
projects have overlooked these other potential uses of faecal sludge.
Despite a cry for universal
sanitation by many, it is important that sanitation solutions are not set up
universally. It is evident that different cities across Africa hold different
value to certain products produced from faecal sludge; therefore context is
central to success.
The findings of Diener
et al (2014) are very interesting and evidence the potential for sanitation
projects to be developed across Africa if faecal sludge is repurposed in the
most valued manor. Local government, policy makers and private sector firms should
use these findings to increase the potential of sanitation projects, and to
scale up operations from a regional scale, to a national scale.
As mentioned in previous
blogs, scaling up sanitation projects presents the biggest challenge. However
if it can be overcome, the future of sanitation in Africa will be bright.
