Abstract
This paper presents the general sanitation practices by the traders in a major market in Kuje located in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and our efforts in reorientating the market stakeholders towards the provision and use of a new dry sanitation toilet complex. The market is known for its diversity in Nigerian ethnicity, culture and the variety of goods and services. A novel toilet complex was designed and built which has the following features: 8 toilet units (4 each for male and female), urine diversion, a gender-segregated urinal, a urine storage tank, used menstrual absorbents disposal facility for women, bathing facility and a composting chamber for organic fertilizer production from the generated faecal matter and market wastes. The design also made provision for culturally sensitive persons to use a small spray of water for anal cleaning. There was provision for hand washing with soap. The respondents provided baseline information that enabled the design features through 5 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and 2 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). This was followed by interviewed administered, semi-structured questionnaire which utilized a total sampling approach where the owners of all the 199 lock-up and open stalls in the market were enrolled and participated in the study. The mean age of the respondents was 34.3 ± 9.7 years and 55.8 % were females. The sources of water in the market were: hand dug well (11.7 %), borehole (37.6 %), water vendor (41.6 %) and sachet water (9.1 %). The market has three existing toilets that were mostly patronized by males. Due to poor maintenance of the existing toilets, women preferred open defecation and use of potty in their stalls, disposed with solid wastes. Most respondents (80.7 %) were willing to pay and use the newly built dry toilet in the market as they perceive aesthetics (28.9 %), cleanliness (21.8%) and disease prevention (6.6%) as major benefits. The toilet design serves as a model for other public institutions where sanitation is compromised. The market community owns, operates and maintains the facility and the user charges are levied for sustainability.
Highlights
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) [1], about 1.1 billion people globally do not have access to improved water supply, including pipe borne water that was heratic in the study area
The global sanitation crisis was recognized by the international community with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 7, target 10 that soughtto halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to basic sanitation by 2015 [2]
The design was developed based on the users’ perceptions and expectations as obtained prior to the construction. It is women friendly where gender privacy and special needs were taken into consideration
Summary
According to WHO [1], about 1.1 billion people globally do not have access to improved water supply, including pipe borne water that was heratic in the study area. The global sanitation crisis was recognized by the international community with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 7, target 10 that soughtto halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to basic sanitation by 2015 [2]. The lack of access to basic sanitation facilities, coupled with poor hygiene practices has been responsible for high prevalence of sanitation related diseases such as diarrhoea in the country. Realizing this and other problems associated with poor access to sanitation, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued the guidelines on the safe reuse of source separated human excreta [3]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
