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Reframing the Challenges and Opportunities for Improved Sanitation Services in Eastern Africa Through Sustainability Science

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Sustainability Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa II

Part of the book series: Science for Sustainable Societies ((SFSS))

Abstract

Sustainable sanitation services are still unavailable to most people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) despite decades of implementing very diverse sanitation projects across the continent. Using a Sustainability Science lens, this chapter identifies through an extended literature review the drivers and shortcomings of business-as-usual sanitation approaches that tend to fail in SSA. As one of the main challenges for the success of sanitation project is the creation of an enabling environment, we attempt to identify some of the critical elements that could support the development of such an environment. Subsequently we identify characteristics and competencies conducive to breaking the cycle of failure and to developing sustainable sanitation systems. We use data from key informant interviews with sanitation implementers, focus group discussions with sanitation facility users and visits to sanitation project sites in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The sanitation approaches explored, although different, are all characterized by their adaptation to the local context, community participation, built-in mechanisms that ensure financial viability, use of technologies that are culturally appropriate and emphasis on environmental sustainability. We offer several policy and practice recommendations for the development of successful sanitation governance structures for national governments, external support agencies and project implementers. The examples discussed in this chapter show promise, but do not guarantee success, as all solutions will require several iterations to adaptate to the local context, as well as financial and governance support, to be scaled up.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    WASH-related diarrhoea is the most widespread and dangerous of these diseases, estimated to have caused 842,000 deaths in 2012 alone (Pruss-Ustun et al. 2014).

  2. 2.

    The sanitation chain refers to the series of processes necessary in order to safely manage human waste. The steps are capture, containment, transport, treatment and disposal/reuse (Galli et al. 2014).

  3. 3.

    Wet sanitation refers to a system of capture and transport of excreta that uses water as a carrying medium. This is the Victorian era model used in western style flush toilets and sewer networks. Dry sanitation does not use water and hence does not require sewers but needs an alternative transport and treatment method for the more solid medium, composed primarily of faeces.

  4. 4.

    Data from WHO/UNICEF 2017 baseline. Mean estimate for Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole

  5. 5.

    Slum Dwellers International is a network of community-based organizations that advocates for the human right to land and to basic services in informal settlements by sharing lessons from other organizations working in similar contexts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the community members and sanitation organizations who voluntarily contributed precious time to share valuable insights about their lives and sanitation activities in their respective communities. Thanks also goes to the Swedish research council for sustainable development, FORMAS, who enabled this research through Dr. Gabrielsson’s PostDoc project, ‘Water for life and dignity: A study on the sustainability and scalability of community-based water supply and sanitation systems in Tanzania’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund, Sweden

    Sara Gabrielsson

  2. McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Angela Huston & Susan Gaskin

  3. IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Angela Huston

Authors
  1. Sara Gabrielsson
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  2. Angela Huston
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  3. Susan Gaskin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Gabrielsson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Alexandros Gasparatos

  2. Graduate Programme in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Merle Naidoo

  3. Department of Planning, University for Development Studies, Wa, Ghana

    Abubakari Ahmed

  4. Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Alice Karanja

  5. Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Kensuke Fukushi

  6. Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES), Hayama, Japan

    Osamu Saito

  7. Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES), Hayama, Japan

    Kazuhiko Takeuchi

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Gabrielsson, S., Huston, A., Gaskin, S. (2020). Reframing the Challenges and Opportunities for Improved Sanitation Services in Eastern Africa Through Sustainability Science. In: Gasparatos, A., et al. Sustainability Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa II. Science for Sustainable Societies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5358-5_4

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