Burkina Faso: Race to achieve goals on sanitation

The government of Burkina Faso has embarked on the construction of 55,000 latrines each year to improve access to proper sanitation for the population from the present 10 percent to 54 percent by 2015.

According to the authorities, the average rate of access to sanitation in urban areas is currently 20 percent, while in rural areas, it is as low as one percent in some areas.

Burkina Faso will invest 24 million dollars in each of the next five years. The government, which now spends $8 million a year thanks to support from donors, plans to double, even triple its own annual contribution of around $2 million from the national budget.

“When you look at all sectors, things are moving. But on sanitation, a domain so fundamental to quality of life, we can see that we are very far behind,” Laurent Sédogo, Burkinabé minister for agriculture, water and fisheries resources told IPS.

“To put it plainly, out of every 1,000 people, only 100 have adequate (sanitation) infrastructure. The other 900 must take to the bush and, to protect their modesty, many wait until the dead of night because of the loss of vegetation,” Sédogo said.

Amélie Ouédraogo, a resident of the Tanghin neighbourhood of the Burkinabé capital Ouagadougou, said that construction of latrines will permit the dead to regain their peace. “Even the cemeteries are not safe when night falls. We see people headed there, but we cannot prevent them from relieving themselves.”

According to Ouédraogo, the situation is even more dire during the rainy season, because the water which flows through the streets, a favourite playground for children, is polluted. “We have cases of diarrhoea, but people refuse to make the link between these illnesses and their causes.”

Mahamoudou Sana, a merchant in one of Ouaga’s livestock markets said, “Once we have latrines, both we and our customers can make ablutions and wash ourselves before prayers. Previously, we had to hide ourselves in tall bush to relieve ourselves during the day.”

The ministry of health underlines that the absence of toilets leads to illness, notably diarrhoea, which is responsible for 58 percent of child deaths in Burkina.

According to non-governmental organisation WaterAid, some 2,000 children die every day. The NGO adds that simply using toilets could reduce the incidence of diarrhoea by 40 percent; clean toilets, combined with safe drinking water and good hygiene, cases of diarrhoea could be reduced by 90 percent.

WaterAid is worried that 90 percent of African nations will not achieve the Millennium Development Goal on sanitation, and says that African heads of state – who re-committed themselves to promoting maternal health at the July summit of the African Union – to resolve questions of sanitation if they want to reduce child and maternal mortality.

In rural areas, where 80 percent of Burkina Faso’s population lives, the government’s plan is for 395,000 households to build toilets, as well as the construction of 12,300 public latrines. The programme also foresees 222,000 new household toilets in urban centres, alongside 900 public latrines in schools, health centres, markets and public transit points.

The Burkinabé president, Blaise Compaoré, personally participated in the launch of the campaign, with an eye to enlisting both the general population and international financial partners to make sanitation a national priority.

The government offensive comes after finding that the pace of progress is insufficient to attain the goal on sanitation in a context of rapid population growth. According to the last census in 2006, Burkina Faso’s growth rate of three percent is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and the world.

“Across West and Central Africa, coverage in urban areas varies between 30 and 60 percent, while in rural areas the rate is from 1 to 22 percent,” says Armah Klutsé, of the Regional Centre for Low-cost Water Supply and Sanitation (known by its French acronym, CREPA).

With headquarters in Ouagadougou, CREPA is active in 17 West and Central African countries, where it supports governments in the design and implementation of policy on sanitation and potable water.

“With this display of political will, it seems that action will be taken to achieve (sanitation goals),” Klutsé says.

Source: Brahima Ouédraogo, Inter Press Service / allAfrica.com, 31 July 2010

South Africa, Cape Town: basic services needed to save babies

Toddler Sanele Qaqa should have been running around his home by now. Instead, his family is grieving his death, which could have been prevented. Sanele, the youngest of six children, died in March [2009], just two weeks ahead of his second birthday.

[...] A shocking 37 city children younger than five died of diarrhoea in February, March and April [2009] – deaths that could easily have been avoided. In 2005, more than 100 children, most of them from poverty-stricken areas, died, statistics show.

But health officials are making headway in the war on this disease. According to the Department of Health, the main contributors to the death rate are lack of access to potable water, and inadequate sanitation, sewerage services, and hygiene practices. The deaths earlier this year were largely concentrated in informal settlements where access to clean water was limited.

[Cape Town] has said that although it spends R10-million a year installing sanitation infrastructure, it is costing it R60m a year to repair infrastructure that has been damaged.

Broken toilets, stagnant pools of dirty water and human waste are common in informal settlements. These are the conditions in which disease thrives.

[Sanele Qaqa died on 28 March 2009, two days after falling ill]. One week earlier, on March 17, one-year-old Unabantu Mali died, tied to the back of his grandmother, as she made the two-hour walk home after allegedly being turned away from three health-care centres at which she had sought help for the boy, who had diarrhoea. A probe later cleared the facilities of wrongdoing.

Sanele was one of 3 586 children admitted to hospital for diarrhoea in the past year. Provincial health department spokeswoman Faiza Steyn said there was no accurate picture of deaths from diarrhoea that occurred outside hospitals.

[...] Of the 37 children who died, four had malnutrition and 12 were HIV-positive. Dehydration was the direct cause of the deaths of 14 of the children, said Steyn.

[...] According to Jaco Muller, of the City of Cape Town’s water and sanitation department, the capital expenditure for these services was R23m, while operating expenditure was R80m. The city has 223 informal settlements. The number of toilets needed was 27 052. In May, there were 2 078. The required number of standpipes providing potable water was 5 148, compared with the 4 402 that were in place.

“If all families were to have ready access to clean potable water, the risk of contamination would be considerably reduced,” said Steyn. “The risk would be further reduced if water was stored in clean containers that were cleaned regularly.”

While 37 deaths in three months is high, the mortality rate has improved since 2005, when more than 100 children in the metropole died. The provincial and city health departments have tried to curb the number of deaths through, among other things, awareness campaigns.

From April 1, [2010], a new vaccine is to be introduced that can reduce the incidence and severity of diarrhoea.

Source: Esther Lewis and Lavern De Vries, Cape Argus / Mercury & Independent Online, 05 Oct 2009

Swaziland: just add water and stir – multiple use water services in Maplotini

The Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (SWADE), a government parastatal, has injected new life into the community of Maplotini using an integrated water resources management approach.

When SWADE assessed the area in 2006, it found much of the land was being used to graze cattle, with some sugar cane farming, and small plots of vegetables for household consumption. Livestock and people alike suffered from a shortage of water. Sanitation facilities were also absent. “We had to wait for sunset to relieve ourselves in the nearest bush,” remarked one woman resident.

Ironically, plentiful water is available. When the Pongolapoort dam was completed just across the border in 1973, South Africa agreed to supply a specified amount of water back to the area in compensation for flooding 1,500 hectares on the Swazi side.

So in 2006, infrastructure was already in place to irrigate 530 hectares around Maplotini – to expand sugar cane production and potentially valuable vegetable gardening. It was not being used to its full potential due to internal conflicts in the community and a lack of skills and vision. Water for household use was directly dependent on the irrigation system, meaning when that supply was suspended, the taps ran dry.

SWADE’s approach involves building up local leadership and accountability and instilling an entrepreneurial mindset that allows communities to establish and maintain agricultural businesses. The parastatal’s training programmes rely on story-telling, illustrations, experiential learning and demonstrations in order to overcome typically low levels of literacy. Its philosophy is one of integrated water resource management.

Mbabazeni Matsenjwa, chair of the Maplotini Water Project [official name: Capacity Building for Lavumisa Irrigation Development Project], says SWADE partnered with the community to install water taps and build proper pit latrines. Community members dug the pits and SWADE provided the materials for the latrines.

SWADE also distributed 1,000-litre tanks to each home and connected them to a supply from Swaziland Water Services Corporation. The safe drinking water is also used to water backyard gardens. This component of the project in Maplotini cost $120,000, sourced from the Southern African Development Community, the Danish International Development Agency and the Swazi government.

“We had to drive donkey carts to Lavumisa town (five km away). Or hire a van to town at 50 rand (just over $6) to carry 210 litres. The town board charged us 60 cents per 25 litres,” explains Matsenjwa.

With the advent of the scheme, project manager Jerry Nxumalo says the community pays for the maintenance of the domestic water infrastructure – and for the water itself. Maplotini has a water committee and a small team to take care of the system.

A communal garden project has also been established, to teach and support the community to practice sustainable agriculture. The garden produces various vegetables, like spinach, beetroot, carrots and onions.

Ten hectares of land were secured from the sugar cane farmers, and SWADE’ helped to set up pipes for irrigation, fencing, and water taps to plant six hectares of vegetables. The communal garden project currently has seventy-two members, each of whom has been allocated a 25 by 50 metre plot.

The gardening project is also improving lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. A Lavumisa-based NGO, Mothers for Life, was given a hectare to grow vegetables for those who are destitute and chronically sick. Good nutrition is important for patients on anti-retroviral therapy.

In addition to the community garden, and the supply of drinking water and improved sanitation, the area planted with sugar cane was increased from 180 to 234 hectares and 91 hectares were planted with other crops by the Maplotini Cooperative. The Cooperative also planted 40 hectares with vegetables for sale in local markets.

Few of the homesteads in the area require donated food and SWADE expects the community has been set on a path of sustainable income generation.

Reviewing three years of effort, DANIDA programme officer Tania Diederiks said, “SWADE cannot remain here forever. They have assisted you to get onto your (own) feet. Now you know what you want and how to get it after being empowered, so you should go for it with all your abilities.”

For more information on the Capacity Building for Lavumisa Irrigation Development Project go to web sites of SWADE and SADCWATER.

For more information on multiple use water services go here.

Source: Phathizwe-Chief Zulu, IPS, 05 Jul 2009

Rwanda: US$ 25 Million for Rural Water and Sanitation Programme

Rwanda will receive US$ 24.76 million (UA* 16 million) in the form of grants to finance the second phase of the country’s second 2009-2012 Rural Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Sub-Programme (PNEAR).

The funding comprises a UA 10 million African Development Fund (ADF) grant and a UA 6 million grant from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) Trust Fund.

The PNEAR aims at improving drinking water supply services in 216 rural localities in the North, West and South provinces; improving household sanitation services in 216 rural localities, and community sanitation services in 15 districts. The overall goal is to provide rural communities with sustainable drinking water supply and sanitation services to improve their health and living conditions.

It involves the construction of 16,000 new individual latrines for the most vulnerable families; 130 new multi-compartment latrines and 100 storm-water harvesting reservoirs in village public infrastructures (schools, health centres and other public places); and the training of 500 masons on latrine construction techniques.

Other outputs include the training of 250 female outreach workers and 100 school teachers on hygiene in villages; provision of a large drinking water supply network covering 150 km; constructing 10 medium water supply scheme networks covering 275 km; developing 1000 drinking water supply sources fitted with laundry tubs; training 200 district borehole drillers in the maintenance of water facilities; training 10 private operators in the operation and maintenance of complex water supply systems; and conducting outreach and sensitization campaigns in 216 localities in the three provinces concerned with the programme.

[...] The direct beneficiaries of the sub-programme are the inhabitants of the 15 districts who account for 5.05 million of the country’s 9.7 population.

The sub-programme is estimated at UA 20.265 million. The ADF funding will cover 79% of the costs while the government and the beneficiary community will provide UA 3.254 million or 16%, and UA 1.011 million or 5% of the total cost, respectively.

* 1 UA Units of Account) = 1.54805 US$ = 877.915 RWF on 01/07/2009

Source: African Development Bank, 02 Jul 2009

Sierra Leone: Communities take charge, one latrine at a time

Kadiatou Samura proudly showed her pristine new toilet to her Member of Parliament, the leader of her chiefdom and the head of the UN Children’s Fund’s [UNICEF] district office as they toured her village, Kamayintin, in Sierra Leone’s Bombali district. The village was celebrating its status as the chiefdom’s fifth to be declared “free of open defecation”.

The toilet was elegant and simple: an earth floor, walls built from local wood, topped by a conical straw roof. Samura built it herself with the help of 12 other families in the village, who together built 17 toilets in a month. “This toilet has saved us from sickness. Fewer of our children are falling ill from diarrhoea now,” Samura told IRIN.

[...] Just a third of rural Sierra Leoneans have access to clean water and to sanitation facilities, according to UNICEF’s Victor Kinyanjui, water, sanitation, hygiene manager. Diarrhoea is the third leading cause of death in children under five in Sierra Leone.

[...] Reversing old aid models whereby outsiders pay for and construct expensive latrines that villagers cannot afford to maintain, in this approach villagers choose their own latrine models, find the materials locally, raise money if necessary and then build them, said Kinyanjui. Sanitation experts guide villagers on the types of toilet to suit their topography and budget. Samura’s latrine – assuming the free labour of her fellow villagers – cost her nothing, whereas a standard modern latrine can cost up to US$100, according to Kinyanjui – equivalent to a third of annual earnings for most Sierra Leoneans.

[...] UNICEF’s aims to roll it out across 10 districts of the country by 2010, with ActionAid, Plan International, Oxfam, and GOAL, implementing the project.

[...] Mohamed Sankoh, programme manager for ActionAid in Bombali district, told IRIN: “Before, communities realised they were – excuse my language – eating each other’s [faeces] and it made them feel ashamed. Now we have seen a great change in people here, in the way they think”

Not all are convinced by the new approach. District councillor Eric Ceesay prefers the “safe, clean, concrete toilets” that international agencies – including UNICEF – used to build. Some 560 of these have been built over the years, and the district needs a further 1,500, Ceesay said. The community-led facilities are “inconveniently located, they have poor ventilation, and…they attract snakes.”

[...] To reinforce [sustainability of safe hygiene practices], local chiefs should resurrect now moribund local by-laws giving health inspectors the right to assess households’ hygiene levels and to exact fines of up to 16 US cents when they are sub-standard, Serra Limba Chief Kandeh Luseine said.

See also:  CLTS – Sierra Leone

Source: IRIN, 24 Feb 2009

Rwanda: Belgium funds 2nd phase Southern District water and sanitation project

On 22 January 2009, Honourable Rosemary Museminali, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Rwanda and Mr Theofiel Baert, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Kigali, signed a new Cooperation Agreement for an amount of EUR 12,320,000 for the phase 2 of the Programme to supply drinking water and sanitation in the Nyaruguru, Huye and Gisagara District of the Southern Province. The second phase of this programme focuses on ensuring safe drinking water access and improving hygienic conditions for a population of about 300,000 by improving supply through drinking water master plan studies and the construction of almost 340 kilometres of water supply networks and by improving hygienic and sanitation conditions through the construction of 850 latrines in schools and health centres.

Source: BTC, Jan 2009

Congo: Red Cross sets sights on cholera

The lack of clean drinking water and proper hygiene fuelled the spread of cholera in the south and southwest of the Republic of Congo [Brazzaville], says the Congolese Red Cross, which has just completed a campaign to teach people how to recognise and stem the spread of the disease.

[B]y the end of November [2008], 127 cases of the disease and three deaths had been registered [and] at least 22 other cases have been reported in the Kinkassa area and in the Pool region, which surrounds the capital, Brazzaville.

[...]

“In the affected zones, most people have no latrines and they defecate in the grass or near their homes. They have no access to clean water and simply drink untreated water from lakes or rivers,” said [Yvette Mbazo'o Mve of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)].

[..] The Congolese Red Cross mobilised 120 volunteers to carry out a public awareness campaign between July and December [2008] on the dangers of cholera and how to avoid it. “This was done through theatre, sketches and picture boxes,” said Mbazo’o Mve.

Due to this campaign, the number of latrines in Loudima [pop. 10,500] has now risen [from 458] to 1,222 , and locals have built around 400 rubbish pits.

[...] China recently agreed to provide four million dollars to build up the water distribution network in the northern town of Ogo, which has a population of 10,000.

Source: IRIN, 12 Dec 2008

Uganda: 11 million lack latrines

Speaking at the opening of a two-day sanitation workshop at Mt. Elgon Hotel in Mbale town,  state minister for water, Jennifer Namuyangu, urged the public to practice hygiene and proper sanitation in order to control diseases.

According to the health ministry statistics, about 11.2 million people in the country do not have latrines.

Namuyangu said safe water and sanitation issues are not only about disease prevention, but also human dignity. “Easing yourself in the bushes could lead to contracting diseases and even sexual harassment,” she warned.

[...]

The Mbale district chairman, Bernard Mujasi, said enforcing sanitation laws in homes had not succeded because the village leaders were preferred to the district leaders. Mujasi said in the 1960s and 70s, latrine coverage in the country was over 90% because chiefs had powers to enforce sanitation laws in the communities, unlike today where LC officials just watch the bad situation because they fear to lose their positions during elections.

Source: Joseph Wanzusi, New Vision, 25 Sep 2008

Nigeria: 1 Million Latrines – Benue to Get 29,000 Units

Benue State is expected to get 29,716 out of the one million latrines to be provided in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Nigeria by the Federal Government and UNICEF.

The latrines, according to reports, are to be provided between now and 2015 for improved health of the people, as provided for in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In Benue State, each of the 23 Local Councils are to get 1,292 latrines for the convenience of the people, with the hope that the number will increase with time.

Read more: Abel Orih Idoma, This Day (Lagos) / allAfrica.com, 26 Aug 2008

Uganda: School Head Jailed Over Lack of Latrine

SEVEN people, including a headmaster, will spend six months in jail for lacking latrines at home.

[...]

The prosecutor, Patrick Tigawalana, told court that lack of latrines was likely to lead to an outbreak of cholera in the district. Francis Kyakulaga, the district health inspector, ordered the swoop in which 30 people, 23 of whom are yet to appear in court, were arrested.

[...]

However, many residents attributed the low latrine coverage to sandy soils. Aggrey Basooma said the it required one to construct latrines with bricks over 30 feet below the ground, a very expensive venture that many could not afford.

See also: Florence Nakaayi, Uganda: Man Arrested Over Lack of Latrine, New Vision (Kampala) / allAfrica.com, 10 Aug 2008

Source: George Bita, New Vision (Kampala) / allAfrica.com, 22 July 2008