Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation Mar- Apr 2015 Vol.10 No.2 | Page 26

Sanitation

Ecological Latrines Catch on in Rural Cuba
By Ivet González

involved in the construction of another 30 ecotoilets
distributed in the provinces of Sancti Spíritus,
Camagüey, Matanzas, Cienfuegos and the outskirts of
Havana.
“At first people were sceptical, but they have seen the
major advantages of these latrines such as the fact that
they don’t contaminate the wells near their houses,”
said Parra. “Water quality has improved, according
to studies carried out in the places where the latrines
have been installed.”

The latrines have been so widely accepted that
“CCSC-Lavastida doesn’t have the construction
capacity, resources or staff to respond to all of the
requests for dry toilets” through its projects, which
provide the construction material and specialized
Pastor Demas Rodríguez shows a dry composting toilet in the town of Babiney, in the eastern labour power.
Cuban province of Granma. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS The organization is now putting a priority on rural
families without sanitation, who live near rivers and
Most people in Cuba without toilets use the traditional
wells. And in the cities, it benefits families who have
outhouse. But an innovative, ecological alternative is
backyard gardens.
catching on in remote rural communities.
Of Cuba’s 11.2 million people, over 94 percent had
So far 85 dry latrines have been installed in eastern
improved sanitation services in 2012. The sewage system
Cuba – the poorest part of the country – thanks to the