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>View discussions about this entry Country: Kenya
Organization: Lake Victoria Sunset Birders
Field of Work - Sanitation
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 2006
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? - Providing a safe environment through responsible Ecological sanitation practices.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? - The Ecological Sanitation Toilets (Eco-San Toilets) and the water harvesting have been set up to improve the sanitation conditions within the community and at the same time help them to domestically irrigate their farms for daily subsistence and hence control their dependence on the wetland for farming. This has been achieved through establishing the ecosan toilets within selected households around the wetland as well as advocating for the use of human excreta in organic farming and kitchen gardening at the household level. The project has also introduced safe water supply and harvesting alternatives based on community needs as assessed in the second phase of the project. The project is one of a kind due to the simple materials used and its output;
• The Ecosan Toilet does not require costs on water for flashing. Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? - At its inception the idea of the ecosan toilet was unique and hence required training. Training was done at the community level through the Village Environmental Committee (VEC). The committee then became ToTs (Trainer of Trainees), and the idea was spread to the community at a much faster rate. The Local administration (Local chief) and Religious leaders were also used to help train and discuss with the community at large.
How do you plan to expand your innovation? - This will be done by increasing the number of Ecosan toilets within the community. Having more households with the toilet will mean improved sanitation. Therefore we propose to add 25 more ecosan toilets in churches and schools, that will be able to serve more than 1000 individuals.
More water reservoirs will also be dug in the different households and this will include increasing the number per household. By the end of the year at least 60% of the community should be having a reservoir or should be benefiting from one. We also intend to have more stakeholders brought in i.e. the Municipal Council of Kisumu, Ministry of Water and others. Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how do you create them? - What type of partnerships to do need? The partnerships that exist include;
• OSIENALA/SIDA (Friends of Lake Victoria and The Swedish Development Agency)- they funded the project in all the three phases and have been offering a lot of technical support. • Kisumu Innovation Center( KICK) • LBDA( Lake Basin Development Authority) • SANA International. These partnerships have been created through a stakeholder’s forum that involves the community. The community comes up with their needs and after the needs assessment is done they propose those organizations that they can cooperate with. Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. - The Ecosan Toilet ensures that the community’s sanitation is improved and increases their farm produce hence high nutritional standards for the people.
How many people have you served or plan to serve? - We are currently serving the Nyamasaria community working with around 400 households. We intend to reach up to 2000 households by the end of the year (2008) and possibly expand to another community (Dunga). This will go a long way in ensuring that the sanitation of the communities living around Lake Victoria Region is improved.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation? - Improved environmental conditions around this area would be a very important indicator of the success of the project. The community has been dependent on a nearby river for there domestic water use and waste disposal. No permanent toilet has ever been constructed in the area due to the terrain (It is a plain area and is always prone to flooding). This has also attributed to the increase in diseases due to lack of proper disposal of wastes.
The Ecosan toilet provides the community with a healthy environment and there will be reduced dependent of the wetland for farming since they can use the small farms to get maximum yield.
Exactly who are the beneficiaries of your innovation? - The entire Nyamasaria Community are the direct beneficiaries of the project. The environment also “benefits” in terms of ensuring its cleanliness through proper waste disposal.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? - The project was financed by SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) through COSMERLAV and OSIENALA. It was financed in Three phases which included Training of the community Members and Construction of a Demonstration center for the ECOSAN Toilet. In the third Phase of the Project, construction of water harvesting points is going to be done.
The community has also been very instrumental in financing the project through provision of Manpower and innovative ideas. The community members have also been providing materials for the replication of the same project in other sites. This has involved the usage of readily available materials for construction. Provide information on your finances and organization: - Current Annual budget (2007 fiscal year)?
Annual budget for the past 1-2 years (2006 and 2005)? Annual revenue generated? What are your current sources and/or streams of revenue? Do you currently have sources of earned income (examples?); If not, why? Current Annual Budget (Including grants)-11000USD Annual Budget for the last (Including Grants (1-2) years- 24000USD Annual Revenue generated (by the organization) - 3000USD Sources of Earned Income- Sale of seedlings(From the Village Agro forestry Center) Sale of T-shirts (Promotion of Environmental Awareness) Tour-Guiding. What is the potential demand for your innovation? - How do you estimate this demand?
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers): There is an evidently high demand for the Ecosan Toilet and Water Harvesting Kits. There is no permanent toilet that has ever been built within the community. The Nyamasaria Community which has a population of around 20,000 are in high need of this toilet to ensure that there surrounding is safe and also to improve there nutrition standards. The replication of the Toilet by some community members with the readily available materials is also an indication of the high demand of the toilet. The public institutions like schools and churches also require the Ecosan Toilet since they serve the wider community. Number of staff(Full time-150,Part-Time-100, Volunteers-500) What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? - Not all the community members have got the financial management skills therefore the money that has been made from the project might not be wisely spent to sustain the project.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - The riparian community, unique birds and animals rely on Dunga swamp for their survival. However, anthropogenic activities threaten the aforesaid as the swamp is shrinking at an alarming rate due to encroachment for agriculture/cultivation and livestock grazing, settlement, unsustainable papyrus harvesting and use in material culture industries leading to habitat loss as exemplified through cutting, burning and pollution of the swamp. According to Kenya’s IBAs Status and Trends report 2006, agricultural encroachment threatens 50% of the wetland sites and 46 % of the total number of sites in Kenya and the general status of the IBA is on decline. Papyrus cover loss at Dunga Swamp has been to the tune of 50% between 1969-2000 (Owino Alfred, 2005). And if habitat loss continues unabated at current rate, Dunga papyrus swamp will disappear before 2020 (Owino Alfred, 2005). The proximity of the swamp to Kisumu City puts particular strain on the swamp through pollution in the form of sewage and solid wastes (Nasirwa and Njoroge 1997, Bennun and Njoroge 1999). These problems are compounded by the fact that, the wetland is not under any protection and Kenya is yet to finalize on wetlands development and management policy.
Through the COSMER-LAV fund the Lake Victoria Sunset Birders has embarked on reversing this situation through setting up viable alternatives that can help conserve Dunga wetland while at the same time improve the livelihoods of the communities living around the wetland. Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material - Am Moses Odhiambo Abonga, 23 years old and Currently the head of Monitoring and Research at Lake Victoria Sunset Birders. The group is a Community Based Organization in Kenya that has been advocating for the conservation of the Lake Victoria Swamps as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
I graduated at Moi University with a Degree in Bsc. In Wildlife Management and obtained a Second Class Honors. LVSB has been able to work with the communities around to promote conservation. Contact Information:
Moses Odhiambo
Head,Monitoring and Research department Lake Victoria Sunset Birders (Community Based Organisation) Discussions about this entry
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Community Involvement in Ecological Sanitation and Safe Water Supply Activities.
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>....The entire Nyamasaria Community are the direct beneficiaries of the project.
>The environment also “benefits” in terms of ensuring its cleanliness through
>proper waste disposal.
how is the residue (with wood ash) disposed ?
regards
Jacky Foo
Program Officer (Environment and Sustainable Development)
www.globetree.org
Changemakers.net:
Sanitation: http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/6013
Youths at risk: http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/3940
The sanitation/toilet system you describe is very much akin to the once quite famous "Clivus Multrum" Anaerobic system, developed & widely used by Scandinavians. Ideal for wetlands/high water table lands, where the more common Aerobic types of collection ponds (i.e., "Septic Tanks") simply either weren't practical to install, or didn't work properly due to environmental factors. Those systems, however, simply used small fans to create safe dehydration of the human waste, liquid and solid. There was no need - hence cost factor - for the wood ash or chemicals; it relied totally on nature's anaerobic process - in which, simply put, the "good" bacteria are in an environment which allows them to destroy the bad.
And, like your units, the residue from the holding tank, at the end of a year (probably sooner in constantly warmer climes) could easily/safely be used as a rich manure/mulch-compost, without bacterial danger. I mention this, in case your group wasn't aware of it; and to possibly explore for ideas/applications which could make your system even simpler/easier to maintain.
Re; the micro household water reservoirs: The lids, fittings, pipes & related hardware involved in such containers can themselves easily become the source for water-borne pathogens. I can provide you with a fairly easy, cost effective "fix" for this aspect of your program, employing materials that can be made by local Potters, and needing to be changed out (which can mean simply recoating & replacing them) only after 1 year's use, in a very easy/non-technical manner. The process will both TOTALLY purify your potable water against ALL pathogen forms, as well as do so with NO after-taste or negative health side-effects. Post a response, if you would like to make contact to further discuss either of these ideas; I have considerable material in my Library on the Clivus Multrum, if you can't locate it On Line or otherwise.
Hi Seamus,
Thank you very much for the comments and the advice. I would really want to know more about the clivus Multrum, i know the idea is the same but there might be differences in the implementatoin strategy because of the diffences in weather conditions(we are in the equatorial region hence much warmer). But am going to sorce more on the possibilty of not using wood-ash or the EM.
Am totaly facsinated by the water harvesting technique that you are suggesting and of course i would like to know how it works or rather if its possible to have the technology here. i believe it will go a long way in helping the community tackle the water problem too. Am going to try and read about the clivus multrum on line.
Thank you and hoping to hear from you soon.
Moses
I'm formerly scholarmate mate to Moses, back at Moi University. I appreciate the community development initiatives being made by LVSB in tackling environment challenges using friendlier approaches. I agree to the fact that Wetland Policy is crucial especially to help the in your Initiative. Otherwise I didnt understand how the Iniatives indicators have been put inplace so as to avert any looming threats considering the climatic change threats, population rise and demand controls.
Otherwise the initiative is a briliant idea and deemed to promote and upgrade rural urban areas while ensuring healthy environment.
Thanks for this Platform and Kudos to your Initaitive.
Moses Mitau
Thanks for the kind words andi know that they will help alot in our activities plans. On the indicators that have been put in place, i want to say that alot of consideratins were put into place and this involved working with the water and fisheries department to ensure that all there policies on targeted areas are follwed. considering the fact that there is no wetalnd policy and intergrated aproach like you say has to be employed. Apart from ensuring tht sanitation is to high starndards we are trying to incooporate other ministries.
Thank you very much Mose.
Chao
Hello Moses,
How labor intensive is the implementation of this innovation? Can you describe the production process and the distribution process and what happens in between? Is there an information pamphlet that goes along with the technology? Thank you.
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
Hi Dana
There is no much labour required. On the production process i believe you mean the production of manure. I had briefly stated that the toilet is used until its full and the human excreta left for six months, this is the "composting period". Remember that pure wood ash is used in killing the germs, within the six months EM( Effective Microorganism) can be used again to kill germs, EM costs around 2 dollars per bottle and only a small amount is used depending on the quantity, during the composting period no water is supposed to come into contact with the manure and therefore it should be carefully prtected from rain water. Labour is also required in the transportation of the manure to the organic farms.
There are alot of pamplets that we have including "Humanure Compost Toilet System Instruction Manual" by Joseph Jenkins this is also available in the web. We also have proceedings from international meetings and other case studies from other countries.
Thank you
Hi Moses,
Great work you are doing and I see others are sending you suggestions...hopefully you can have some time to read through the information offered by the other "competitors" and find ideas that you can also apply in your efforts to help the people and environment where you live.
Best wishes,
Brian
Thanks Brian. I have been reading all the comments and am currently editing the work and adding some of the things that i might over looked or might not have been clear. It is a great encouragement just to have people reading through your competiotion and commenting.
Thanks again.
Moses
Hello Moses, I really enjoyed reading your entry. Please bear with me as I have several questions that I hope you can answer to help me better understand what you are doing. Could you please give more description of the training you provide at the community level with VEC? How long does the training take? How many people are involved? What is the relationship that you have with VEC?
You mention that the lack of a wetland policy is contributing to the unsustainable use of the land. Can you describe what an ideal wetland policy would look like? How much do you charge for the toilets? Can you give an example of the environmental awareness messages that you print on t-shirts?
Lastly, I'm not sure I totally understand the connection between the toilets, the water harvesting and the irrigation of the farms. How does the water and fertilizer get from the toilets to the farm?
I look forward to your responses.
Dana Frasz
Hi Dana
Sorry, the links were low and the space was also full.I also mistakingly sent the reply twice.
Nway the other question was on how much we charge for using the toilet- The toilet is actually free of charge and we are infact encouraging more people to use it instead of going in the bush.The ground within this area has been unstable and the comunity complains about sinking of the toilets imediately there are heavy rains. The ecsan has therefore been economical in the long run and has also managed to help in solving the sanitation problem.
The Message in the T-shirts is WETLANDS ARE A RESOURCE HELP PROTECT THEM- this is translated from the local language. The long term aim of the Ecosan is to help in Sanitation and improve in wetland conservation.
The last Question was on the connection between toilets, water harvesting and irrigatin of farms. Fist the manure is got from the toilet, then this is used in the organic farm. since there are seasons of short rains there was the need for construction of water points for irrigating the farms. The community collected money and dug a bore hole for irrigating the organic farm. On water harvesting-there was also need for having simple water reservoirs within households to help in domestic issues considering that the river has been polluted over time. therefore in the current phase of the project, water harvesting kits are going to be added to help the community store water. I hope you can somehow see the connection between all these.
Incase of any other points please ask me and am already editting some of the inputs that you gave me, so as to be more clear.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Moses
Hi Dana,
Thank you very much for the questions and for the comments you made.
i will try and answer all your questions and incase they arent so clear then you can ask again.
1. Training of the Community.- At the inception of the project there were many issues that had to be addressed. one was the cultural belief that was not to the wider community but a section of them. Some people believe that when u use wood ash on human excreta then some calamities might befall you. These were some of the issues that had to be brought out on the trainning. Since the Eco-san toilet was a new idea, alot of sensitization had to be done. How the toilet was to be used and its care. Like for example, when one of the vaults is full, and well treated it had to be left for 6 months from the start of its use inorder to use the manure. The vault is closed and the other(2nd) one is used. Training was also done on Kitchen gardenning to try and encourage the people not to farm in the wetland and to try and maximize there produce within the small farms.
2.The training was donein two sessions, where the first session took 6 weeks while the second took 4 weeks. this was not done everyday since most of the work was on the field.
3. The number of people involved directly are 400 households. and we are serving and entire sublocation which benefits indirectly.
4. Our(Lake victoris sunset Birders) relationship with VEC- we helped in the formation of the VECs which never existed we are discuss issues dealing with the environment and try to solve them.
5. Ideal Wetland Policy- should have the conservation actions and should clearly state how these should be sustainably utilized. Currently the wetlands in Kenya are Trust lands and anyone can go and farm in them this lead to encroachment and pollution because no one is answerable.
Will get back to you
Hi Dana,
Thank you very much for the questions and for the comments you made.
i will try and answer all your questions and incase they arent so clear then you can ask again.
1. Training of the Community.- At the inception of the project there were many issues that had to be addressed. one was the cultural belief that was not to the wider community but a section of them. Some people believe that when u use wood ash on human excreta then some calamities might befall you. These were some of the issues that had to be brought out on the trainning. Since the Eco-san toilet was a new idea, alot of sensitization had to be done. How the toilet was to be used and its care. Like for example, when one of the vaults is full, and well treated it had to be left for 6 months from the start of its use inorder to use the manure. The vault is closed and the other(2nd) one is used. Training was also done on Kitchen gardenning to try and encourage the people not to farm in the wetland and to try and maximize there produce within the small farms.
2.The training was donein two sessions, where the first session took 6 weeks while the second took 4 weeks. this was not done everyday since most of the work was on the field.
3. The number of people involved directly are 100 households. and we are serving and entire sublocation which benefits indirectly.
4. Our(Lake victoris sunset Birders) relationship with VEC- we helped in the formation of the VECs which never existed we are discuss issues dealing with the environment and try to solve them.
5. Ideal Wetland Policy- should have the conservation actions and should clearly state how these should be sustainably utilized. Currently the wetlands in Kenya are Trust lands and anyone can go and farm in them this lead to encroachment and pollution because no one is answerable.
Will get back to you
Am checking the two examples out and will get back to you incase of anything.
Otherwise thank you very much for the input.
You mentioned one of your challenges being that the wetlands are close to the city. I work with a different program within Ashoka and was recently reviewing the case of an entrepreneur who had some creative solutions for mobilizing the community to clean up the river drainage area. That case was in Brazil (http://www.citizenbase.org/en/node/2784)
Regarding your challenge of financial sustainability, here is an example of an entrepreneur in Nigeria using user fees and personal ownership of toilets to create incentives for sustainability.
I love how your project spreads across so many issues: environmental preservation, to sanitation, to health, to agriculture and nutrition.