
Aims
To identify and initiate policy measures which encourage the private sector to target low-income urban customers for the provision of faecal waste emptying services, resulting in enhanced private sector engagement and improved levels of sanitation access for low-income urban residents.
Findings
- Promoting safe pit-emptying services in urban, low-income areas is required to achieve universal access to safely-managed sanitation.
- We compared the performance of three different groups in coordinating safe emptying services in the city of Kisumu, Kenya: the Association of Wastewater Managers, a formal manual emptying organization, and a community-based water supplier.
- The Association of Wastewater Managers performed the best at coordinating emptying services, as indicated by the number emptying jobs, financial viability, and customer satisfaction.
- Productive collaborations between VTOs and formal manual emptying organizations are a useful model for improving pro-poor service delivery.
- However, safe emptying services are often unaffordable, and will likely require subsidies and political action to service low-income areas.
Next steps
Future interventions need to address the price barrier between formal (safe) and informal (unsafe) faecal sludge emptying. The Aquaya Institute are currently conducting a randomised, real-money demand trial in Kisumu to quantify the gap between existing prices and consumer willingness-to-pay for safe pit emptying services.
Read more
- Research Call (now closed): June 2018
- Policy Brief: June 2019 – Assessing the market for safe faecal waste emptying services in low-income areas of Kisumu, Kenya
- Blog: July 2019 – What is the market like for pro-poor, safe emptying services in Kisumu, Kenya? Findings from a landscape assessment
- Research Brief: August 2020 – A Comparison Study of Latrine Pit-Emptying Services
- Journal Article (Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development) 2020 – Expanding Safe Fecal Sludge Management in Kisumu, Kenya: an Experimental Comparison of Latrine Pit-Emptying Services