The sustainable sanitation value chain includes primary activities: construction of dry toilets, use and maintenance, emptying, treatment and recycling and reuse. It is found that the dry toilets are a good sanitation option in the Madimba area bringing many benefits to the community. The construction is done sustainably, using local materials and local work force and the equipment for the facilities is bought from the local suppliers. The superstructure of dry toilets fits well to the area, which is challenging to other options, area being water locked.
The use and maintenance of the facilities is easy, and people are trained how to do that.
Water resources are saved and the environment is not contaminated, improving the health in the community. Still, at the moment the sustainability of the value chain in Madimba is not as good as it could be. There is a lot of potential in the reuse of the material, especially in
101
the Madimba -area were poverty levels are high and families big. Improved food production could be helpful for many families, but there are big challenges related to the emptying, treatment and reuse activities, which should be improved. If the aim is to make the chain work at household level, still more awareness raising, and marketing is needed to make people understand the value of the products and to start using them more actively. But still there will be households that are not willing to utilize the product, do not have space or capacity to do that, or the amount they produce is just too much for them to use. This is why effective emptying services are needed, followed by a treatment and reuse facility, where the material could be taken to and then further processed and even sold further.
Some households empty dry toilets by themselves and it is working well. But not all households are willing to do that, meaning that there is still demand for the service. Emptying service in the area is provided by one CBE doing that, and probably some other informal parties as well. The challenges exist with the households’ willingness to pay for the service.
Some households do pay and think that the payment is fair, but there are households who avoid paying and dig and dispose material illegally instead. Same thing is happening related to the waste. It would be essential to ensure that the fees for the emptying toilets and waste collection are paid, so that the services can be provided. Only by this way can be secured that hazardous material will not end up to the environment. That is why local authorities should take the responsibility of regulating the emptying services on the on-site sector and enforcing the law that every household would pay the fees. That would increase the value of the emptying service and stabilize the work as an emptier. Currently, emptying is also done once people contact that their dry toilet is full, and the amount of business varies a lot monthly. If willing to improve the business from the material, it could be good to follow-up how quickly the dry toilets get full and organize a regular schedule for the dry toilet emptying. By that way the material could be collected at agreed times, and some material could be further transported to the treatment or reuse facility regularly, for example monthly.
Scheduling the service activities would stabilize the business. Additionally, to improve the sustainability of emptying, some protective clothing for emptier should be arranged, as currently he does not have any which can cause serious health problems. Since there is no specific place where the emptied material can be taken, it would be necessary to find out or create a place where the material will be transported.
102
The treatment of the toilet waste is done in some households, but there is not a facility where the material would be taken for treatment from the households that are not willing to do it by themselves. It would be important to organize a facility, where to take the material to save the nutrients and to avoid disposing it anywhere. According to the interviews with the institutions, some CUs that are mostly treating wastewater, also receive toilet waste without charge to wastewater treatment plants and they process it further for different purposes. It could be an option to find out if there close by is a place like that where to transport the excess material. Still the transportation costs should be covered, by households or by the public sector. A better option would be to put up a treatment facility in a central place of the community, where the material could be collected for the treatment and reuse and possibly even packaging of the treated material to attract more customers. After the treatment of the material, some research or tests could be required to make sure that it is usable and safe, and by that way create trust of possible customers as well as users on the household level.
The reuse of the material would make the system circular and the value chain complete.
Some households are using the material in their backyards, filling the chain completely. Still, it would be good to have a farm or a piece of land in the central place of the community, where the processed material, that is not used on the household level, could be taken and then there utilized as a fertilizer for producing organic fruits or vegetables. Another option is that the reuse could be done in a separate farm or by interested individuals, and for them the material could be sold as an organic fertilizer. One idea by the project team is to take the material to Kasisi organic farm, but it is not yet organized. It could work, if they would be willing to pay for the material and make some agreements related to the transportation of the material to ensure the revenue streams coming to the community. For the farm, it would reduce the costs of their operations, when the need for other fertilizers would decrease and at the same time sales of the fertilizer would bring income to the community, creating a win-win situation. The sanitation experts and final users told that there is a market for human based organic fertilizers, but some proof of the safety of the products is required, for example by some legal/official organizations, to be able to sell the products and to build trust of people buying it. The value could increase further, if the fertilizer would be packed or even made to pellets.
103
The value chain in Madimba can be made more sustainable by focusing on the emptying, treatment and reuse parts of the value chain. The payments for services need to be collected from the households, and it would be good to establish a treatment and reuse facility to have effective processing of the material which is not used on the household level. If it is not possible, the material should be at least disposed to safe treatment plants or should be sold to farmers or other final users bringing revenue to community. Research and proof of safety and effectiveness of using material as a fertilizer would be needed, and the value of the material would increase by packing it or even making it to pellets. Additionally, to increase sustainability, some safety equipment for the service providers could be needed to ensure their health and well-being.