The BMC is created considering all of the CBEs introduced earlier as one big enterprise with many activities, operating in the field of sanitation in the Madimba project area. The BMC template is filled in and later explained based on the researcher’s own point of view, through gaining knowledge about the CBEs operations by visiting in the project area, meeting the enterprises and reading previous researches and project documents as well as interviewing people related to sanitation in the area.
Regular text in the BMC represents the current situation of the business in Madimba, while the cursive text describes the activities that are not completely in operation in large scale yet or are in planning phase. In addition to regular building blocks of the BMC, also social and environmental costs as well as social and environmental benefits are included in this canvas, to focus on sustainability aspect of the business model as well. BMC for the CBEs can be seen in figure 10 below.
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Figure 10. Business Model Canvas for Community Based Enterprises, (Source of template: Strategyzer 2019.)
Key partners that the CBEs are working with are the GDTF, which is managing the project and controlling the funding given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. GDTF is not based in Zambia, but they have a local co-operation partner the NECOS which is running the operations in the Lusaka area. Also, the government and local councils have an effect on the CBEs business through giving the legal instructions, regulations and baselines for operations. Training institutions and private entities are partners who are needed to teach the CBEs to operate in a correct way as well as organizing training given to the households and the community. Farmers and other final users will be the people that will be buying the final products e.g. organic fertilizers and organic crops when the products will be available.
Key activities of the CBEs include construction of the UDDTs and water kiosks as well as painting and labeling those. Collection of the waste and fecal sludge are included to the key activities done by the CBEs in the area as well as sales of water in the water kiosks. Before or after emptying the dry toilets, treatment is done either by households, or in the separate
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facility that would be needed for the households that do not do the treatment by themselves.
Awareness creation and education are activities done to change the attitude and behavior towards the dry toilets and to teach people how to use and maintain the dry toilets. Demand is created through social marketing of the sanitation facilities. Livelihood is improved through the employment of locals in the sanitation chain and highlighting the reuse possibilities of the toilet products and creating livelihood based on it. In addition to the current activities and treatment and reuse done on the household level, separate facilities would be good for the treatment and farming and gardening purposes, which could be run by the CBEs. Later on, sales of organic fertilizers or organic vegetables for final users could be made by the CBEs in a bigger scale and could be added to the key activities as well.
Key resources for the business ran by the CBEs are well functioning technology of the dry toilets as well as availability of the trained good quality labor. Additionally, financing is needed, especially when starting the project, for example for toilet construction and organizing facilities. One of the key resources is also human excreta, which should be better utilized to become a base for the revenue creation in the sanitation chain. To improve the reuse part of the chain, the resource that would be needed is a treatment facility and a piece of land where the material could be transported, then treated to a correct form and used as a fertilizer for farming or gardening. Value propositions for the CBEs operations are reduction of the diseases that are caused by poor sanitation, which is done through access to improved sanitation facilities and improvement in hygiene and sanitation practices in the community.
The enterprises are also trying to make income through the sanitation chain and by that way create livelihood to the area. Another value proposition is to change attitude and behavior of the people, especially towards to use of toilet outputs as fertilizers, which is still in a process.
When toilet products will be accepted, there will be organic fertilizers available at a minimal cost and the production of organic vegetables will increase, which also can bring more income to the community.
The main customers of the CBEs are the community and households and customer relationships include maintaining and emptying toilets for the households and in the area and providing water for the community. For these customers, the CBEs also improve health and livelihood through facilitating toilets and training people. The public sector is also
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considered as a customer since the actions of the CBEs improve the sanitation coverage for the locals and helps the public sector’s role in providing the sanitation services and ending open defecation. Some dry toilets are also built for schools and other public institutions, so those can be considered as customers as well. In addition to institutions having the sanitation facility, the CBEs operations affect positively on the attendance at school and decreases health costs of the public health care, improving the livelihood. The aim of the dry toilets is also to provide fertilizers to farmers or other possible customers as well as provide and sell organic vegetables to the community. These are still in a process and not completely done.
One way to approach final users could be campaigning and giving free samples. Other channels that are used for the customer relationships are, for example, media, where information about dry toilets and the use of toilet products as fertilizers is shared. Word to mouth channel operates through the satisfied customers telling in community to other potential customers about their dry toilets or other services they are satisfied with. Also, different kinds of performances and campaigns are held related to the dry toilet sanitation.
Even door to door approach is used when communicating with customers in the area.
Cost structure consists of the funds provided by the project and other sources of smaller grants. Additionally, the CBEs may do investments themselves for example buying necessary materials for their operations. Constructing the dry toilets brings revenue to the CBEs from the households and from the project, depending on the type of the toilet they were given out of the three models. Households can pay the whole toilet themselves, which is called self-support method; they pay everything from the materials to the construction. Or the costs can be shared in a cost-sharing method, where the project participates in financing the toilet and revenues from the construction comes from both, households and the project.
Third method is free toilets that are given to the vulnerable people, and in this method the payment to the CBE comes from the project. For the emptying, there is a fee paid by the customers, bringing revenue to the toilet emptying CBE, and also the project has supported each emptying with a small subsidy. A fee for the waste collection also exists bringing revenue. People in the community pay for the water sold in water kiosks which is another revenue stream. Sales of fertilizers or organic crops and vegetables could create more revenue to the CBEs but currently that part of the business is not well managed.
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If the fecal matter is not treated in a safe and correct way, including for example necessary clothing and equipment, it can cause social and environmental cost for the people handling the material. Also, if the disposal is not properly done and the groundwater gets contaminated, there will be social and environmental costs in regard to health and environment in the community. There are social and environmental benefits in the CBEs operations as well. Firstly, they bring employment for the people in the community in the sanitation related tasks and jobs. Secondly, livelihood in the community improves while the waste is turned into a resource creating income to the community members, and the health costs decrease due to use of proper toilets. Thirdly, the risk of groundwater contamination causing environmental and health hazards will be reduced which also have a positive impact on better health in the community. Fourth benefit is the access for farmers to affordable local organic fertilizers, which could be provided when the operations improve.
All in all, it seems that many things are in place when it comes to the business in the Madimba-compound. Customers are defined, as well as the value brought to them and even revenue can be generated. The business from dry toilets has many benefits not only financially but also socially and environmentally. When the reuse will be considered, even more value and revenue can be expected.