For a better dissemination of sanitation works in rural Sahelian areas - 80 concrete proposals

The NGO Eau Vive, with the support of the Seine-Normandy Water Agency (AESN), of the FARM Foundation, of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE), and of the Interdepartmental Union for the Sanitation of the Paris Agglomeration (SIAAP), carried out a study in 2009 on rural sanitation in 4 countries in the Sahel region: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal.

The objective of the study is to to identify, on the one hand, the obstacles and barriers to the dissemination of sanitation equipment and, on the other hand, to identify the conditions favorable to the large-scale development of autonomous sanitation in rural areas in the Sahel.

Presentation of the study

In sub-Saharan Africa, 2 out of 3 people do not have improved sanitation facilities. In rural areas, this concerns more than 400 million people.

Lack of sanitation causes epidemics and thousands of avoidable deaths every year., especially among children. Diseases due to poor sanitation lead to absenteeism from school and work, which represents significant losses on a national scale.

Access to quality sanitation is a necessary condition for ensuring the dignity of populations and contributing to the development of countries.

Africa and the international community have planned to achieve a sanitation coverage rate of 63,100 people in 2015.Two out of three people would then have access to improved sanitation equipment.
But how can we meet this challenge? The current trajectory shows that the target will not be reached in 2015... but in 2080In rural areas, all the projects and programs combined only produce 10 % of the equipment needed to achieve the objective each year.

And yet! The sanitation techniques are relatively simple and well-known. And the efforts are numerous and diverse: those of the African population and states, of migrant populations, of cooperation organizations.

So where are the obstacles? And where are the assets? How can we promote hygiene and sanitation for all in rural areas, at a sustained pace and at an affordable cost?

To try to answer these questions, Eau Vive launched in 2009, with the support of the Seine Normandy Water Agency (AESN), the Foundation for Agriculture and Rurality in the World (FARM), the Interdepartmental Syndicate for Sanitation of the Paris Metropolitan Area (SIAAP), and a contribution from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE), a large study on 4 countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal.

It includes a country-by-country overview and the results of surveys conducted among 3,400 households and stakeholders in rural areas.

 Summary of the study (pdf – 986 KB)

Country reports:

 Burkina Faso (pdf – 1.2 MB)
 Mali (pdf – 2.6 MB)
 Niger (pdf – 1.5 MB)
 Senegal (pdf – 2.3 MB)