Incentivising private sector provision of faecal waste emptying services to low-income customers in Kisumu

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.

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