Lessons from a pilot co-composting plant in Kumasi, Ghana

Lessons from a pilot co-composting plant in Kumasi, Ghan

Learnings from implementing the excreta flow diagram (SFD) process in Kumasi

Excreta, Faecal or Shit Flow Diagrams (SFDs) are away to clearly represent how excreta flows along the sanitation service chain. This approach has already gained popularity and many SFDs have already been produced. To date little attention has been paid to the methods and data used, or the credibility of the SFDs. The SFD Promotion Initiative has created a tool to enable the wider roll-out of SFDs, which includes a credibility assessment. The product is a report on service delivery context with an embedded SFD. This briefing paper discusses the lessons learnt from trialling the tool and process developed through this initiative, in the city of Kumasi (Ghana). The most important lesson learnt is that stakeholder engagement is critical not only for obtaining credible data, but also for validating the SFD produced

Locally responsive intervention to improve municipal solid waste collection coverage in Accra, Ghana

The paper reports on a process that engaged stakeholders to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the city of Accra’s approach to raising solid waste collection coverage. Stakeholders, working with researchers, have made the evaluation using a combination of benchmark indicators, analysis of franchise agreements, process flow diagramming of collection trends, and statistical analysis of user answers to a survey. Informal services are growing while formal services are shrinking. A logistic regression model suggests that regular collection and affordable user charges significantly increases the levels of user satisfaction. The use of a participatory approach has led to an unusual alliance: formal service providers have agreed to work with informal providers as subcontractors and support them to formalize and increase collection coverage. The positive experience of participation leads the authors to advocate institutionalizing the use of a participatory approach through stakeholder platforms to evaluate interventions and develop plans for service improvement