Project Lead(s): David Auerbach
Issue
More than 2.5 billion people in the developing world lack access to adequate sanitation and the resulting diarrheal disease kills 750,000 children each year.
The high population density, combined with the lack of basic water, sewage infrastructure and resources, makes the problem particularly acute in slums, where populations will double to two billion by 2030.
Solution
The project has successfully launched 75 Fresh Life Toilets (FLTs), operated by 32 local micro-entrepreneurs known as Fresh Life Operators (FLOs), who provide access to hygienic sanitation for approximately 5,000 residents in Mukuru, Kenya.
The project has also begun expansion into Mathare slum, another informal settlement in Nairobi.
Each toilet in the network serves an average of 65 paying users daily.
These FLTs and FLOs are part of a larger franchise network of 684 FLTs operated by 331 FLOs, serving approximately 30,000 people every day.
The FLOs have created an additional 139 jobs in the community, by hiring people to operate and maintain their toilet businesses.
Between the FLOs, the attendants they hire and Sanergy’s team of 220, they have created 690 jobs.
They regularly and professionally collect waste from each one of their FLTs, treating it and converting it to useful end products. To date, they have collected 5,168 metric tons of waste that would have otherwise been dumped in rivers.
Outcome
The project team has also developed new service delivery models to provide hygienic sanitation in schools and residences.
The residential model encourages landlords to provide hygienic sanitation to their tenants, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
In schools, FLT installation is accompanied by a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) curriculum, developed specifically for schools in Nairobi’s informal settlements.
An internal credit team has been developed to provide interest-free loans to FLOs who would otherwise be unable to purchase an FLT with cash upfront.
New insights into the motivation behind customers’ behaviour have been gained by conducting an impact study, in conjunction with Populist and GRID Impact. These innovations have brought the team closer to their goal of reaching all members of the communities in which they work, at all times and as efficiently and effectively as possible.
The project raised an additional $850,000 US in 2015 from private foundations, NGOs and bilateral organizations.
