Abstract
Mkuranga District council in collaboration with African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) introduced ecological sanitation option using urine-diversion dry toilets (UDDT) to the community between 2007 and 2009, which was later declared unsuccessful. This study analyzed factors that hindered the uptake of UDDT by the community by assessing the project implementation strategy. Techniques used for the study were questionnaire, interviews, observation and focus group discussion while respondents were government official and the community at the household level. The study reveals that the literacy level in Mkuranga district is 79.1%, but only 40.6% had some knowledge of ecological sanitation although only 9% proves that. About 52% of the respondents are using conventional pit latrines, but 27.3% have no toilet facilities. There was no evidence of adoption of UDDT technology at household level and only one of the seven UDDTs constructed by the project is operational. There was no sufficient evidence to suggest that Mkuranga District has sufficiently supported the project through supervision, advocacy and addressing community requirements. As a result, the idea came in top-bottom approach which failed because communities were not adequately involved in the project. Key words: Ecological sanitation, urine-diversion dry toilets, adoption, community participation, Tanzania.
Highlights
In many towns and rural areas of the world today, people live and raise their children in highly polluted environments (Muench, 2009)
The project started in 2007 by introducing urine diverted dry toilet (UDDT) as an option for ecological sanitation, which will reduce the portion of community using open defecation, a common sanitary method in the area
The questionnaires sought information on the type of latrine they are currently using, knowledge on ecological sanitation, knowledge on urine-diversion dry toilets (UDDT), their preference between UDDT versus the current latrine; views on UDDT promotion in the area; the possibility of handling dry feacal matter and urine from UDDT if there is any contradiction between their belief or opinion in using UDDT; whether they were involved in the establishment of the project; challenges related to UDDT and their advice for the uptake of the technology
Summary
In many towns and rural areas of the world today, people live and raise their children in highly polluted environments (Muench, 2009). Urban and peri-urban areas in developing countries are among the worst polluted and disease ridden habitats of the world. Much of this pollution, which leads to high rates of disease and death, is caused by lack of toilets and inadequate sanitation services (COHRE et al, 2008). The need for safe, sustainable and affordable sanitation systems will be even more critical (UNESCO/IHP, 2006) In their Joint Monitoring Programme, UNICEF and WHO (2013) have reported that an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world do not have access to improved sanitation, the majority of those (90%) live in rural areas
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