Faecal sludge management in peri-urban Malawi: investigating the policy gaps

Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) in peri-urban settlements of most developing countries has gained recent attention. This is due to rapid urbanisation resulting in the mushrooming of informal settlements and onsite household sanitation facilities where there is a lack of sewer systems. A number of initiatives aimed at improving FSM have been reported in South Africa, Uganda, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Yet, the main focus in these countries has been emptying and disposal/treatment of faecal sludge. Little has been done on policy formulation to guide stakeholders on what should be done at each stage of the sanitation chain. This paper identifies the complementarities and antagonisms of existing pieces of legislation pulling lessons learned from other countries and how it applies to Malawi. The work also proposes Faecal Sludge Management Policy criteria for Mzuzu City Council in Northern Malawi and other similar situations worldwide

When faecal sludge reuse doesn’t work: a look at access for the poorest and people with disabilities in urban Malawi

Reusing faecal sludge to generate value has the potential to contribute towards solving the issue of long term sanitation solutions in cities across Sub-Saharan Africa. This research was conducted to evaluate the potential for faecal sludge reuse in Malawi, and the difficulties and challenges to existing attempts at reuse in a city. We conducted 65 semi-structured interviews in a city of Malawi. The results show that two main approaches exist currently: The implementation of Skyloos as above ground household toilets which provide compost; and a central disposal site from which compost is illegally harvested. Both existing approaches to faecal sludge management and reuse were found to be inaccessible and not working when implemented for the poorest and people with disabilities

Functional water sources that don't work: a case for household self-supply through the Mzuzu SMART centre

There remains a challenge of technically functional water sources in developing countries under the Millennium Development Goals not being used for a variety of reasons, including cost, traditional beliefs, convenience or politics. This paper presents a focus on self-supply at a newly developed water and sanitation focused centre, the Mzuzu SMART Centre. The SMART Centre concept aims at increasing the availability and functionality of water sources through increasing household ownership of low-cost systems and build-up of entrepreneurs. The primary self-supply, low-cost, technology at the Mzuzu SMART Centre is the Rope pump, a simple technology using locally available materials. It has shown great success. Encouragement of a focus on self-supply through a dedicated training centre may also be the best accompaniment towards improved household water sources in other areas of Southern Africa

CLTS plus : making CLTS ever more inclusive

If CLTS is to eliminate open defecation, issues of disability inclusion must be fully addressed. Research in Malawi aimed to discover if WASH practitioners, after a short training, could implement CLTS in a more inclusive way, and whether this made a difference to disabled people in the community, in terms of access to sanitation and hygiene facilities. After a 3-day training, CLTS implementers designed and implemented a CLTS+ Action Plan, in which additional triggering activities were introduced, and more attention paid to households with disabled and older people post-triggering. This CLTS+ intervention resulted in increased awareness among implementers and community members of the access needs of older and disabled people, and in adaptations to improve accessibility of some household latrines. Endline data will tell us whether this has resulted in improved outcomes for disabled and older people. Further piloting will be needed to explore how to incorporate this training into regular CLTS capacity building

How does inequitable planning and community resistance affect aspirations of universal sanitation services? A case study in Mzuzu, Malawi

This record includes an extended abstract and MP4 presentation. Presented at the 42nd WEDC International Conference

Number of disabled respondents experiencing each of the daily challenges.

<p>Number of disabled respondents experiencing each of the daily challenges.</p

Summary of methods.

<p>Summary of methods.</p

Number of caregivers reporting each of the daily challenges.

<p>Number of caregivers reporting each of the daily challenges.</p

Study sites.

<p>Study sites.</p

Definitions of WASH barriers, Needs and Consequences.

<p>Definitions of WASH barriers, Needs and Consequences.</p