An Overview Of Our Solution
This project established safe, professional and affordable sanitation services for residents of two low-income areas of Lusaka. Since 2014 the services, run by Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), have reached 67,929 customers in these two districts with pit-emptying services, reducing the amount of waste that is disposed of unsafely and decreasing water pollution in the city. Through extensive marketing campaigns the project was able to enact significant behaviour change in the communities as residents switched from unsafe waste disposal to professional pit-emptying services that helped to protect the environment. By running the day-to-day management of the services through local Water Trusts, the project ensured that the community reacted well to the services and had clear avenues for communication, complaints and queries.
- Population Impacted: 67,929
- Continent: Africa
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Analyse du contexte
In Lusaka, only 16% of the population are connected to sewers, with the remainder depending on various forms of on-site sanitation. The situation is particularly pronounced in the peri-urban areas (PUAs) of Lusaka, where 95% of inhabitants rely on pit latrines. Combined with the lack of affordable sanitation services, the very high prevalence of on-site sanitation poses a major source of water pollution and public health risks.
In many low-income areas of the city there are no formal sanitation services available to allow residents to dispose of waste safely. Traditional operators are unwilling to work in these areas and their prices are too high for many residents to afford. This means that when pit latrines become full, landlords typically choose to bury the waste nearby or employ illegal sanitation services, contributing to the contamination of open areas and water sources like shallow wells.
Décrivez la solution technique que vous voudriez voir le public cible adopter.
WSUP, together with the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC), established a professional service for emptying pit latrines in two low-income districts of Lusaka – Kanyama and Chazanga.
New labourers with experience in pit-emptying (marketed as the ‘Dream Team’ and ‘Miracle Team’) were hired to be responsible for service delivery, primary transport and transfer. Overall management of the service was led by local Water Trusts (WTs). WTs are legally established, local, community-based water and sanitation providers. They are physically located in the district and can therefore provide more reliable service to low-income areas.
Once collected from households, waste is safely transported to decentralised transfer stations where it is partially treated in anaerobic digesters. The remaining solids are transported to drying beds for further treatment where they can be sold on as fertiliser. This additional income helps subsidise the service and keep prices low for residents.
Décrivez votre intervention comportementale.
A series of marketing interventions were carried out in order to raise awareness of the service in the area and to promote the importance of safe, reliable pit-emptying services. Two marketing officers were recruited to work full time in the WTs offices where they focus on demand creation for the services in the communities.
Extensive marketing campaigns were also carried out at the launch of the service to stimulate initial demand. A door-to-door campaign to inform residents about the benefit of the pit-emptying services reached 70,000 people. This in-person campaign meant the team was able to address concerns directly and provide clear information about price ranges and how to apply for the services.
This was complemented by working with a local marketing agency, 17Triggers, to deliver leaflets and brochures to households, put up posters advertising the service in the community and perform drama shows on the importance of good hygiene and the impact of reliable pit-emptying services.
Leviers comportementaux utilisés
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Information – The project informed residents about the importance of pit-emptying services in a range of ways including promotional materials and a door-to-door campaign that reached over 70,000 people. This allowed the project team to address concerns directly and communicate clearly about the benefits of the service.
Material incentives – During initial implementation of the project, residents were offered lower tariffs when signing up to the services. This stimulated demand for the pit-emptying services so that customers were retained even when tariffs were raised.
Emotional appeals – As part of the marketing campaign for the services, road shows and drama performances were set up to show the value of high-quality pit-emptying services. This allowed the campaign to focus on a single story rather than abstract statistics and leverage several emotions in specific contexts including amusement at the drama show and the prospect of shame if they did not have clean, hygienic
Décrivez votre mise en œuvre.
The pit-emptying services provided by WSUP and LWSC’s intervention allows residents in traditionally underserved areas of Lusaka have access to reliable, professional sanitation services. This makes it easy for residents to access a service that ensures their waste is properly disposed of in communities where waste often contaminates key water sources leading to cholera outbreaks.
The project ensured that the solution was adopted through extensive training of the pit-emptiers and members of the WTs and marketing campaigns. Formalised training sessions ensured a high-quality of service for customers and the marketing campaign helped drive demand for the services. Over 30,000 people in Kanyama and Chazanga now use the pit-emptying service established by WSUP.
Before the project started LWSC was already prioritising service-delivery in low-income areas as an area for growth. This enabled the project to establish itself quickly and ensured the utility was committed to providing technical support where necessary. This also allowed LWSC to capture key learnings from the services established in Kanyama and Chazanga, a model which they are looking to replicate as part of their larger Lusaka Sanitation Programme.
A key success factor of this project was the management of the services through the local WTs. WSUP has worked with LWSC for many years to establish WTs in low-income areas of Lusaka that traditionally lack access to water and sanitation services. The WTs have a local presence in the community, providing an avenue for communication, complaints and queries that helps to build a positive relationship with residents. Community leaders and organisations are involved in the set-up and running of the WTs meaning there is a high level of respect and trust in the services. Running the pit-emptying services through the WTs helped encourage residents to invest in the services and allowed for a constant dialogue about the quality of the service.
Décrivez le leadership de votre solution. Qui dirige la mise en œuvre?
The entire waste management chain is managed by and is the responsibility of LWSC through the WTs. The front end of the service (emptying, primary transport and transfer) is undertaken by contract workers, the Pit Emptiers, while secondary transportation from the primary treatment location to the secondary treatment facility, the drying beds, is contracted to privately owned vacuum tankers. Treatment and Reuse is managed directly by the WTs.
WSUP’s team in Zambia oversaw implementation of the first four years of the pit-emptying services, providing technical expertise, training and management support to the WTs.
WSUP has had an ongoing programme in Lusaka since 2009 which has been developing innovative approaches to water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion, working in partnership with Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC), the local community-based water and sanitation providers, and local communities.
Principaux intervenants et partenaires du programme
The water and sanitation utility in Lusaka, LWSC, was a key partner for this project. Prior to implementation, LWSC was already committed to service-provision in low-income areas of the city, having identified it as a priority. During the project LWSC provided technical oversight and general support to the WTs and the Dream Team. Experiences in these two districts will help to inform LWSC’s service provision across the city and provide a model of how pit-emptying services can be delivered in previously underserved areas.
The project also worked closely with the Ministry of Health and National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) in Zambia to ensure regulatory compliance of the services. These partners were also engaged throughout the project to ensure that the model for service-delivery and learnings from the service could help influence regulations around household sanitation provision in future. WSUP currently sits on a working group for on-site sanitation chaired by NWASCO to provide technical expertise from our experiences in Kanyama and Chazanga.
Qui a adopté le(s) comportement(s) souhaité(s) et dans quelle mesure?
By the end of the project’s first four years, 31,529 people were accessing improved pit-emptying services in Kanyama and Chazanga, exceeding the project’s initial targets by 40%. The demand for services has continued to grow after the initial project period and to-date the service has reached over 67,000 customers. This represents a significant behaviour change from the start of the project where these residents relied on unsafe waste disposal services from landlords or illegal pit-emptiers.
Quel a été votre impact sur la pollution de l'eau?
To date over 67,000 people in low-income areas of Lusaka have improved access to pit-emptying services thanks to this work. This means a large number of households are now disposing of their waste safely, reducing the contamination of groundwater sources and impact on the environment. Growing demand for a safer and more hygienic service means that in future fewer landlords will dump waste indiscriminately and residents will employ fewer illegal pit-emptiers who often dump large amounts of waste unsafely. The increase in safe pit-emptying will also help to reduce the risk of cholera outbreaks in communities as a regular service means fewer pit latrines will overflow during the rainy season.
Quel a été l'impact de votre solution sur les problèmes d'équité?
One of the biggest successes of the project was the altering of the perception of pit-emptiers among the local community. Before the project started pit-emptiers were shunned and it was considered a shameful job.
By recruiting and training the ‘Dream Team’, the project showed that pit-emptying could be a professional career. Regular training for pit-emptiers helped to improve the quality of service, establishing the ‘Dream Team’ as respected members of the community. This in turn made it easier to recruit new pit-emptiers as the project went on.
One official from the Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection was interviewed about the change in perceptions:
“Before the project people in communities did not see being a pit emptying as a noble job. In fact, they had a nickname for them. But now things are changing and it’s a much more acceptable job. The perception of community members of pit emptying as a job has changed for the better.
Quels ont été les co-bénéfices environnementaux de votre solution?
The project provided additional environmental co-benefits through improved cleanliness and a lack of smell in the communities and households. A regular pit-emptying service prevented many latrines from overflowing into the streets and customers reported that the professional pit-emptying meant that there was no unpleasant smell after their latrines had been emptied.
Durabilité : Décrivez la durabilité économique de votre solution.
Initial development and implementation of the pit-emptying services relied on grant-funding with an aim of establishing the services as financially viable within four years. Revenue for the service comes from tariffs paid by customers as well as profit from the sales of biosolids produced from treated waste. A full tariff-review process was conducted in 2019 under which tariffs were raised to account for inflation and increasing demand for the service. Wages for the pit-emptiers were also transitioned from commission-based to fixed wages to allow the project to move towards full financial viability as demand grows.
Retour sur investissement : Combien a coûté la mise en œuvre de ces activités?
Initial grant funding for the project was £750,000. This was to cover initial implementation activities including one-off training and equipment costs as well as capacity development for LWSC and the WTs. This initial grant funding also allowed all initial revenue from the project to be re-invested in the pit-emptiers and WTs.
Over the initial four years the project raised $104,400 in revenue. This was slightly less than projected as the services were affected by cholera outbreaks in the target communities but still represents a significant step towards full financial viability.
Comment pourrions-nous reproduire cette solution ailleurs avec succès?
The model for low-income service delivery used in this project has been strongly influential in LWSC’s approach to increasing access to sanitation services across Lusaka. Through its Lusaka Sanitation Programme, LWSC is looking to create similar successes in other low-income areas over the next few years.
Other NGOs such as SNV working in Zambia are looking to replicate the model used in Kanyama and Chazanga and WSUP is currently supporting the Southern Water and Sewerage Company to develop a similar model in Livingstone.