a) Problem, background, and objectives

Global environmental problem discussed in the project: 

The word “sanitation” refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal and resource recovery of human urine, feces, and wastewater. Sanitation is essential for promoting health, preventing environmental pollution, conserving ecosystems, and recovering and recycling resources. Therefore, it can be said that sanitation is closely related to such current global issues as poverty, urban slums, conservation of ecosystems, and resource management. In the developing world, the population is growing rapidly, especially in urban slums, and there is high child mortality and poverty issues (see Supplementary Fig. 0-1). It has been reported that as of 2015, 2.4 billion people were still using unimproved sanitation facilities, including 946 million people who were still practicing open defecation (UN, 2015). On the other hand, depopulation and aging are progressing, especially in the rural parts of the developed world (see Supplementary Fig. 0-2), and the financial capabilities of municipalities, who manage sanitation systems, are becoming weaker and weaker.

Key question of the project:  

The questions “How can we handle the waste from 10 billion people in the future?” and “How can we achieve the water and sanitation targets in the sustainable development goals (SDGs)?” are global environmental problems that need to be solved.

Working hypothesis of the research: 

Hypothesis-1: Current sanitation issues are caused by the dissociation between the value that they provide and the values of individual people and/or communities.

Hypothesis-2: Sanitation technologies cannot work well without a support system. The mismatch between the prerequisites of technologies and local characteristics makes sanitation issues more complicated.

Key concept - Sanitation value chain:  

The project proposes a sanitation value chain, which entails the following basic policies: 1) Put the values of people and communities at the center of the discussion, and prepare a sanitation system to drive this value chain; 2) design the sanitation system by focusing on direct incentives for individual users and communities; 3) recognize that a sanitation system is an integrated system with social and technical units; and 4) design the sanitation system by making a good match between social characteristics and the prerequisites of technologies.

Why a value chain?:

We strongly believe that 1) the planning and installation of infrastructures such as sanitation systems is nothing, but planning and installing a value chain, as shown in Supplemental Fig. 0-3, is more valuable; and 2) because of the weakening of municipalities, the prerequisites of the current management model for water and sanitation systems will be no longer be met in the future.

 

b) Methodology

Four research steps to achieve the goal:

In Topic 1 (Life), field and literature surveys are performed to 1) analyze the values and happiness of people; 2) understand norms relating to human excreta in the current situation, as well as historical changes; 3) re-evaluate the value of sanitation systems; 4) analyze the mismatch between the prerequisites of sanitation technologies and the region-specific characteristics of humans and communities by gathering failed cases; 5) understand historical changes in the sanitation systems of target areas; and 6) match the values of people and communities to the value provided by sanitation systems. In Topic 2 (Technology),　four research activities are planned: 1) Summarizing the prerequisites of sanitation technologies; 2) re-evaluating the value of sanitation systems; 3) analyzing the mismatch between the prerequisites of sanitation technologies and the region-specific characteristics of humans and communities by gathering failed cases; and 4) developing required technologies. In Topic 3 (Co-creation), the following three steps will be adapted: 1) identifying stakeholders and understanding the structure of the values of people and communities using a field survey; 2) analyzing the hierarchy and structure of stakeholders’ value chain and evaluating their mutual affinity; and 3) developing the co-creation process. In Topic 4 (Visualization), the main activity is developing visualization methods for our concept and research results using various media and techniques. We strongly recognize the importance of visual images in the trans-disciplinary (TD) approach.

Field study: 

The project will involve field studies in 1) the rural area of Ishikari River Basin, 2) rural and urban areas in Burkina Faso, 3) an urban slum in Indonesia, and 4) an urban slum in Zambia.

 

c) Goals and Expected results

The goals of this research project are 1) to propose that a sanitation value chain is relevant to both developing and developed countries; 2) to design several pilot studies demonstrating the significance of societal, academic, and professional involvement in the co-creation of this value chain; and 3) to contribute to the establishment of a new interdisciplinary academic foundation regarding sanitation. Examples of the sanitation value chain will be demonstrated and co-created at the pilot study sites.

 

d) Project organization and membership

For project management, a coordination group has been organized. Four research teams have also been organized.

 

e) Current status of research on resource oriented sanitation

Research groups in Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Finland are studying resource recovery-type sanitation. The specialist groups of the International Water Association (IWA) jointly held an international conference (S2SMALL) in October 2017. Also, the topics of the 6th Dry Toilet conference (DT2018) held in August 2018 were as follows: research on the safe use of excreta and/or urine; social and cultural aspects of sustainable sanitation; sanitation and nutrient recycling in business; cross-organizational cooperation and co-creation; hi- and low-tech solutions in urban/rural environments; “ecosan” meets the water-food-energy nexus; promoting sustainable sanitation and nutrient recycling among different stakeholders; and community engagement. Seven members of the project including the leader, sub-leader, and core members contributed to DT2018. The four research topics included in the project can make a big contribution to global research on sanitation.

 

Program 3 Goal                         

Our “lifeworlds” are composed of the physical spaces and socio-cultural spheres of our everyday lives. They are continually reproduced, reimagined, and evolved through an interactive and reflexive relationship with society, culture, and nature. Program 3 proposes research aimed at illuminating the reciprocal linkages between diverse rural and urban lifeworlds and contributing to solving sustainability problems by working with various societal partners such as governments, companies, and citizen groups. Special emphasis is placed on envisioning sustainable futures that improve wellbeing and gauging their feasibility.

 

Contribution to Program 3                       

In the mission statement of Program 3, there is the following message: “Through the reconstruction of the lifeworld concept and by highlighting the reciprocal linkages between rural and urban spaces, Program 3 designs lifeworlds of sustainability and wellbeing and co-creates concrete pathways for their realization.” We think that sanitation is an essential system for lifeworlds. Sanitation contributes to human public health, material/resource recycling by society, and environmental pollution/ecosystem management. In our project, sanitation value chains for not only rural areas but also for urban areas are discussed. When it comes to the sanitation value chain for urban areas, we design material and value flows between rural and urban spaces.  

Our Program 3 mission statement also says that “Pre-existing, yet latent, diverse socio-cultural elements, such as livelihood styles, lay knowledge, conflict resolution strategies, and the vitality of the people themselves can be called upon to address problems and help to chart a course toward possible future societies. Program 3 builds upon these experiences and knowledge of human-nature interaction to propose concrete changes needed to achieve a sustainable society.” We could not succeed in installing a practical scale sanitation system in Burkina Faso as part of the SATREPS project, and we think that the reason for this was the lack of analysis of the human and social aspects. In our project, we carefully examine the values of people and communities, as well as norms related to human excreta at our field sites. 

The mission statement includes the following message: “Program 3 will not investigate top-down approaches to system change, but will work with local residents, government officials, companies, citizen groups and other various stakeholders to propose sustainable alternatives and gauge their feasibility.” The co-creation of a “sanitation value chain” is one of the important points in our sanitation project. 

We will contribute to the mission by aiming to design lifeworlds; showing solutions; proposing a social transition; realizing the co-creation of a sanitation value chain with diverse stakeholders; and establishing an academic foundation for sanitation. Our program director, Dr. Saijo, has proposed the concept of “future design,” and he stresses the importance of a “virtual future generation” in design. Our sanitation project has started the discussion on how to include the “virtual future generation” in the design process of a sanitation value chain.

Project Progress during the FR Period to Date

(1) Achievement 1: The launch of an international journal on sanitation and publication of the second, third and fourth volume: 

The international online journal “Sanitation Value Chain” was launched in November 2017. The ISSN is 2432-5066 (online) and the journal web site is http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/sanitation_value_chain/journal.html. We established an international editorial board of sanitation specialist from seven countries. The second, third and fourth volume of the journal was successfully issued in November 2018 and June 2019 and March 2020.

(2) Achievement 2: Holding and co-hosting 37 international and domestic conferences and workshops: 

We organized 37 meetings each in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (Annex 2). Typical meetings include the Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition (ZAWAFE2017, 2018 and 2019), the International Symposium on Green Technology for Value Chains (GreenVC2017, 2018 and 2019), Workshops on Science Communication, and the Indonesia & Philippine & Japan Joint International Seminars on Water and Sanitation (Bandung, October 2017 and Manila, January 2019).

(3) Achievement 3: Conclusion of research agreement: 

Implementation agreements (IAs) and research contracts (RCs) were concluded in accordance with the signing of MOUs between the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and RIHN in 2017, University of Zambia (Zambia) and RIHN in 2018, and AJPEE (Burkina Faso) and RIHN in 2018, and Tam-Tam mobile and Mutcare (Cameroon) in February 2020.

 

(4) Achievement 4: Toilets that can concentrate urine:

In order to co-create a sanitation value chain for managing human urine in urban areas, transporting urine to rural farm land is essential. The technology required for transporting urine is volume reduction technology for cost reduction. As a technology to concentrate urine, we examined the forward osmosis (FO) process this year. The results obtained were as follows: 1) The area of the forward osmotic membrane required to concentrate 1 L of urine is 55.6 cm². This area is small enough to install the urine concentration device in a toilet bowl. 2) It was shown that 78.6% of ammonia, 97.8% of potassium, and 99.6% of phosphate can be recovered.

 

(5) Achievement 5: Toilets that can produce phosphorus fertilizer:

It was confirmed that the phosphorus in urine can be recovered directly from urine as calcium phosphate (DCPD) using shell as a calcium source, and we clarified the reaction pathway and rate. Thus, by installing a simple shell-packed column in the urine collection pipe of a toilet, it has become possible to make a toilet that produces phosphorus fertilizer. We set up a compost toilet with a phosphorus recovery function at RIHN and started demonstration experiments from March 2018.

 

(6) Achievement 6: New method for analyzing exposure pathways of pathogens using molecular biology:

We developed a new method for analyzing the infection route from feces to people. In this method, pathogenic Escherichia coli was separated and quantified using the PCR method, and the pathway was identified from the pathogenic Escherichia coli type. As a result, it was found that the type of Escherichia coli in drinking water and in feces was different, as shown in Supplementary Fig. 1-2, suggesting the importance of other sources of contamination such as livestock. Also, three prioritized exposure pathways were identified: pond bathing, outdoor playing, and drinking.

 

(7) Achievement 7: Evaluation of inactivation mechanism of virus during urine concentration:

The real-time qPCR method was applied to six target genome regions for monitoring MS2 (an indicator of virus) infectivity during the urine concentration process, and we found that 1) uncharged ammonia is the predominant factor in MS2 inactivation, 2) genome damage is the main mechanism of MS2 infectivity loss, and 3) MS2 infectivity loss in urine can be predicted by ion composition and speciation.

 

(8) Achievement 8: Agricultural technology for compost, urine, and reclaimed gray water reuse: 

Salinity management of soil is essential when compost, urine, and reclaimed gray water are reused on farm land. A mathematical simulation model was developed for describing the fate of salts in a soil system, and the leaching requirement for removing salts was evaluated using this model. The fate of pathogens in the soil system was evaluated, and the health risk to farm workers was estimated.

 

(9) Achievement 9: Acceptability of the sanitation system was evaluated from the technical side:

We conducted a survey on a new prototype model of a composting type toilet at the LIPI and a mosque in Sapporo. The results were as follows: 1) Half of the people answered that the bad smell was a point to be checked; 2) 70% of respondents worried about excreta sticking to the toilet bowl; 3) the new-type toilet was acceptable; and 4) 70% were unsatisfied with its size and 40% felt discomfort when sitting on the toilet seat, feeling like they might fall into the hole. We also conducted a survey on dewatered digested sludge for use as a soil conditioner in Iwamizawa, Japan.

 

(10) Achievement 10: Visualization of research:

1) In 2018, the video “Samurai-kun Sanitation Value Chain” (Indonesian version) was revised and screened at a junior high school and among flower farmers in Bandung. The Japanese version was screened at RIHN’s Open House event; 2) the playlist of SVC video archives has been opened up to the public on YouTube. 3) Original toilet paper was produced as a promotional item for the project using illustrations to make our research concept visible. 4) We participated in RIHN’s project on visualization of state-of-the-art research.

 

(11) Achivement 11: Intensive fieldwork at field sites: 

Indonesia site: 1) Health of infants and their fecal management by caretakers; 2) norms, consciousness, and values relating to human waste; 3) mental health and living conditions of urban slum dwellers; and 4) presentation of research results at an international conference (GreenVC2019).

Ishikari site: 1) Design of a water source management system coordinated with local high schools and local governments and its demonstration (Fig.1-5); 2) technology packages suitable for regional autonomous water supply (membrane treatment, sensor rings, data handling) installed locally, data collection; 3) interviewed the Furano city water supply and sewer division on the issue of septic tank management.

Burkina Faso site:  1) Conducted surveys on the private sector’s removal of sludge from households in the capital city and rural areas, revealing that the number of private companies was rapidly increasing in the capital city, whereas in rural areas, a few workers independently removed the sludge by developing manual techniques through their own efforts^31)-32) (Output numbers: 392, 396); 2) concluded an MOU, IA, and RC with a local non-governmental organization (NGO).

Zambia site: 1) Implemented a session and an exhibition booth at ZAWAFE2019; 2) conducted field surveys and held workshops; 3) based on MOU, concluded IA and RC with the Integrated Water Resource Management of the University of Zambia.

 

Progress since the last reporting

(1) Achievement 1: Further examination and establishing the concept:

In the previous year (FR2), we reviewed the concept of the “sanitation value chain” and constructed a framework consisting of three values (health and well-being, materials and socio-culture). During this FR3 period, the framework was further examined, focusing not only on the three elements of value, but also on the relationship between them. Based on this new framework, we are considering publishing an academic book (in English) that summarizes the results of the project.

(2) Achievement 2: Sanitation for women:

Issues regarding sanitation and hygiene for girls and women are closely related to not only their health, but also human rights, dignity and security. Although these are considerably important issues in this context, they have been overlooked. We have started to conduct research on female sanitation and hygiene in our field sites in India, Indonesia and Cameroon. Furthermore, we also invited specialists and held a workshop on female sanitation and hygiene in November 2019 in order to share information, exchange ideas and comments and communicate with each other.

(3) Achievement 3: Visualizing the impact of WASH on health improvement:

Motivation to invest in sanitation and generate behavioral change regarding sanitation improvement represents a fundamental challenge. Assuming the lack of such motivation stems from the invisible impact or role of sanitation on the health of local people, we conducted the following research projects in peri-urban communities in Lusaka, Zambia: 1) Quantified the impact unintentional fecal exposure to humans, with a focus on fecal transmission via flies and fecal ingestion through fomites, such as cups and dishes, which can be easily contaminated under poor sanitary conditions; 2) Tested a participatory methodology of the self-visualization of fecal contamination around living environments by local youths, through which people can visually see the contamination in survey form, learn what and how much is contaminated and design improvement actions based on their data.

(4) Achievement 4: Pre-field test for demonstrating the sanitation value chain in Indonesia:      

We held a workshop at Babakan Sinyar Elementary School, located in an urban slum of Bandung city, in order to demonstrate the sanitation value chain. Both school faculty and staff, as well as garbage collectors, farmers and gardening shop owners who agreed to cooperate with our project, attended the workshop. We started with the pre-field test of introducing composting toilets in the school. Two composting toilets were installed, with a sky blue one for boys and a pink one for girls. We explained to the school kids, their teachers and staff about what the composting toilet is and how to use it. This workshop was even featured in many local Indonesian media outlets, and the composting toilets were used by 102 students in the fifth grade.

(5) Achievement 5: Implementation of meta-studies:

A core team member, a cultural anthropologist, published a paper on the idea of meta-studies, which consider various disciplines as different cultures. He discussed his experience of joint research in the sanitation project as a form of auto-ethnography. Starting from this paper, and collaborating with the cultural anthropologist and the expert of science communication, they developed the idea of meta-studies as insiders. These meta-studies not only clarified the actual communication between different disciplines in our project, but also revealed that meta-studies itself can be developed as a tool through which to promote communication in the different disciplines our project.

Most Notable Outputs to Date

Award

1.      Ito R, Funamizu N: The best paper award: The full authors are Guizani M, Yajima K, Kawaguchi T, Ito R, Funamizu N. The title of the paper is Morphological, chemical and Electro chemical carbon based and novel metal electrode characterization for use in water electrochemical disinfection, 1st　Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration,  November 22-25, 2017, Sousse, Tunisia.

2.      Funamizu N: Environment Reconstruction and Recycling Bureau Director Award, Ministry of the Environment. October 10, 2017.

3.      Funamizu N: Hokkaido Social Contribution Award, Hokkaido Government. August 4, 2018.

External fund

4.      Harada H: Title: Transforming fecal sludge emptying business.  Source: Bill & Melinda Gates foundation “Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE)” (Period: from May 2019 to May 2020).

Journal publication

5.      The international scientific journals “Sanitation Value Chain” ISSN 2432-5058 (print), ISSN 2432-5066 (online). Editor in chief: Yamauchi T. Vol. 1, Vol. 2., Vol. 3 and Vol. 4. (http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/sanitation_value_chain/journal.html)

Videos/Photographic Works

6.      Sanitation Education Program (Free lecture series), SVC Video Archives on ‘YouTube’.  (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcDLZXSBauZWQSGE29x7lYg). (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5lF0CgqTWUqv9nUKE_R8A/playlists)

Symposia/Conferences/Workshops (Organized or Co-organized) 

7.      1.      The International Symposium on Green Technology for Value Chains. The first symposium:  3-5 October, 2016, the second symposium October 23-24, 2017, the third symposium November 1-2, 2018, the forth symposium October 23-24, 2019, Jakarta, Indonesia.

8.      Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition (ZAWAFE) 2017, RIHN project session, June 12,  2017, RIHN project session and Dziko Langa booth, June 12 , 2018, RIHN project session and Sanitation Project booth, June 10-12, 2019, Lusaka, Zambia.

9.    International workshop for Sanitation Value Chain 2019 in Philippine “Social Acceptance of New Technology”. January 26, 2019, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.

 

Book

10.      Funamizu N (ed.) (2018) Resource-Oriented Agro-sanitation Systems: Concept, Business Model, and Technology. Springer Japan, Tokyo, 314pp.

 

Academic Papers

11.      Ushijima K., Funamizu N, Nabeshima T, Hijikata N, Ito R, Sou M, Maiga AM, Sintawardani N (2015) The Postmodern Sanitation - Agro-sanitation Business Model as a New Policy -, Water Policy, 17(2); 283-298. DOI:10.2166/wp.2014.093

12.      1.      Ito R, Tanie M, Ushijima K, Nilawati D, Sintawardani N, Funamizu N (2017) Evaluation of acceptance of a composting toilet prototype for people in slum area in Indonesia, Desalination and Water Treatment. Doi: 10.5004/dwt.2017.20880

13.      1.      Haramoto E, Kitajima M, Hata A, Torrey JR, Masago Y, Sano D, Katayama H (2018) A review on recent progress in the detection methods and prevalence of human enteric viruses in water. Water Research 135:168-186. DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2018.02.004

14.      Otsuka Y, Agestika L, Widyarani, Sintawardani N, Yamauchi T (2019) Risk factor for undernutrition and diarrhea prevalence in an urban slum in Indonesia: Focus on water, sanitation, and hygiene. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 100(3):727-732. DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.18-0063

15.      Otsuka Y, Agestika, L, Harada H, Sriwuryandari L, Sintawardani N, Yamauchi T (2019) Comprehensive assessment of handwashing and faecal contamination among elementary school children in an urban slum of Indonesia. Tropical Medicine & International Health 24(8):954-961. DOI:10.1111/tmi.13279

(1) Four Research Topics to achieve the goals

The project is proposing a new concept, a sanitation value chain, which has the following basic policies: 1) Put the values of people and communities at the center of the discussion, and prepare a sanitation system to drive this value chain; 2) design the sanitation system by focusing on direct incentives for individual users and communities; 3) recognize that a sanitation system is an integrated system with social and technical units; 4) design the sanitation system by making a good match between the social characteristics and prerequisites of technologies. Accordingly, the goals of this research project are to 1) propose the concept of a sanitation value chain as relevant to both developing and developed countries; 2) design several pilot studies to demonstrate the significance of societal, academic, and professional involvement in the co-creation of this value chain; and 3) contribute to the establishment of a new interdisciplinary academic foundation regarding sanitation. In order to achieve the goals, we will adopt four points of view (Topics 1, 2, 3, and 4).

In Topic 1(Life), the following six research activities are planned: (1-1) Field survey for analyzing people’s values and happiness; (1-2) field and literature survey on norms related to human excreta in current contexts as well as historical changes; (1-3) field and literature survey to re-evaluate the value of sanitation systems; (1-4) field and literature survey to analyze the mismatch between the prerequisites of sanitation technologies and the region-specific characteristics of humans and communities by gathering failed cases; (1-5) field and literature survey on historical changes in sanitation systems of target areas; and (1-6) matching the values of people and communities to the value provided by sanitation systems.

In Topic 2 (Technology), the following four research activities are planned: (2-1) Literature survey on the prerequisites of sanitation technologies; (2-2) field and literature survey on the prerequisites of sanitation technologies by gathering success stories; (2-3) field and literature survey to re-evaluate the value of sanitation systems; and (2-4) field and literature survey to analyze the mismatch between the prerequisites of sanitation technologies and region-specific characteristics of humans and communities by gathering failed cases.

In Topic 3 (Co-creation), the following four activities are planned: (3-1) Identifying stakeholders and understanding the structure of the values of people and communities; (3-2) analyzing the hierarchy and structure of stakeholders’ value chain and evaluating their affinity; (3-3) developing the co-creation process; and (3-4) demonstrating the co-creation of a sanitation value chain.

In Topic 4 (Visualization), we will develop a transmission method using various media and methods related to our concept and research results. We strongly recognize the importance of visual images as one way to express the outcome.

 

(2) Fields 

The project involves field studies in 1) a rural area in Ishikari River Basin, 2) a rural area in Burkina Faso, 3) an urban slum in Indonesia, and 4) an urban slum in Zambia, in addition to these, two sub-field studies (in Cameroon and India) are also being conducted.

 

(3) Activities in 2019     

Topic 1 Life group:

(1-1) Fieldwork by cultural anthropologists in Cameroon and India; (1-2) historical studies on the history of the use of excreta in Japan; and (1-3) theoretical studies regarding the "public" and social relationship of sanitation for the integration of the project.

 

Topic 2 Technology group: 

1) analysis of the prerequisites and material flow of sanitation technologies; 2) developing a new methodology for identifying exposure pathways of pathogens; 3) analysis of a sanitation value chain of sludge reuse for agriculture in Ishikari; and 4) developing new sanitation technologies with different prerequisites as a disinfection method for solid excreta and urine.

 

Topic 3 Co-creation group:

1) continuing to trial the co-creation process with actors who may relate to the sanitation value chains in Indonesia and the Ishikari river basin; 2) continuing observation of the co-creation process in Zambia and Burkina Faso; 3) summarizing and comparing the co-creation process in each field.

 

Topic 4 Visualization group:

1) archiving videos of events to be shared among researchers in remote areas; 2) Carrying out action research utilising visualisation in Zambia; and 3) conducting a qualitative analysis of science communication among researchers on visual representation.

 

Indonesia team:

Based on our field research site, Kiaracondong, which is an urban slum area in Bandung, we will do the following: 1) analyse the results from participatory observations and interview surveys with garbage workers on their work environment, life history, cash-flow, personal hygiene, priorities, values and preferences; 2) conduct questionnaire and interview surveys on women’s menstrual situations and the disposal of menstrual products; 3) perform intermittent pre-field tests regarding composting toilet usage in an elementary school in order to demonstrate sanitation value chain; and 4) discuss the plan to publish a book in cooperation with RIHN and LIPI (our counterpart institute in Indonesia) during the past 15 years of collaborative research achievements.

 

Ishikariteam:

A local community-based water management system has already been co-created along with various local actors. Based on those experiences and that network, in FY2020 we aim to: 1) overview the sanitation problem in the Ishikari river basin with local high school students; 2) share the results with other local actors; and 3) discuss future sanitation value networks with local actors.

 

Burkina Faso team:

Given the number of incidents in the main frontier of Mali and Niger by jihadists, we have decided to postpone our research activities in Burkina Faso for the moment. Therefore, we will temporally join the Cameroon team to complement their research. If the security situation in Burkina Faso improves, we aim to: 1) hold a workshop at Kongoussi in Bam prefecture to share the results regarding the quality and quantity of the harvest on a pilot farm settled in Ronguin village for comparing efficiency between human excrete and animal compost; 2) conduct interviews with 10-20 households in several villages concerning toilet use and treatments in anthropological views, especially regarding the number of toilets, toilet space, positioning of toilets and the frequency of treatment; 3) participate in observations regarding sludge management in Ouagadougou and Kongussi (continuing research).

 

Zambia team:

We seek a people’s centred approach to the investment in sanitation and realise behavioural change regarding sanitation improvement in collaboration with a local youth group called ‘Dziko Langa’. We also aim to establish a resources-oriented fecal matter treatment/reuse system based on the sanitation value chain, as well as the following goals: 1) establish holistic quantification regarding the impact of WASH, with a focus on fecal transmission and unintentional faecal exposure; 2) provide methodology development of local youth’s self-visualisation of faecal contamination around their living environments, followed by the implementation of this methodology as part of a package of workshops with Dziko Langa; 3) improve understanding of informal learning on sanitation through digital storytelling by Dziko Langa; 4) analyze the value flow network in peri-urban Lusaka and the role and impact of Dziko Langa; 5) analyze political consistency on sanitation and the generation mechanisms of community-based organisations related to sanitation; and 6) pilot resource-oriented faecal reuse by cotton cultivation using fecal compost, as well as testing the feasibility of its business model.

 

Cameroon team:

1) conduct interviews with sanitation facilities, NGOs and workers at private companies who remove faecal sludge in urban areas (Yaoundé); 2) trial a pilot farm aimed at the cultivation of fruit trees using toilet traces in local cities (Bertoua and others) and surrounding areas; 3) conduct a survey on sanitation for the Baka hunter-gatherers, who settled in the forest area. In particular, we will focus on the introduction of toilets and confirmation of usage for them. We consider both questions in the project through field surveys in urban and rural areas, and we are expecting international information dissemination on water and sanitation in Cameroon.