Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene November 2018 Vol.13 No.5 | Page 16

EXAMPLES OF SOLUTIONS TO THE SANITATION
CRISIS
Nature-based sanitation solutions (NBS) harness
the power of ecosystems to help treat human waste
before it returns to the environment. Most NBS es-
sentially involve the protection and management of
vegetation, soils and/or wetlands, including rivers
and lakes.
For instance:
• Composting latrines capture and treat human waste
on site, producing a free supply of fertiliser to help
grow crops.
• Human-made wetlands and reed-beds filter con-
taminants out of wastewater before it is released
back into water courses.
CASE STUDIES
India: Toilets for health and safety
Worldwide, around 892 million people practise open
defecation: going to the toilet in the streets, fields
and bushes near their homes. 9 More than half of this
group – approximately 520,000,000 people – live in
India, around 40% of the national population. 10
The problems generated by this practice go beyond
the issues of disease and indignity. Girls and women
living in areas where open defecation is widespread
often wait until the cover of darkness to venture out-
side to relieve themselves.
A lack of a safe toilet close to home can result in at-
tack, rape and, as covered in recent well-publicised
media reports from Uttar Pradesh, murder.
The Government’s Clean India Mission aims to con-
struct 90 million household and community toilets in
rural India and eliminate open defecation across the
country by 2019 11 – playing a major role in helping
to achieve SDG 6 at both the national and global level,
and keeping girls and women safe.
The challenge has inspired many organisations to de-
velop sustainable and affordable sanitation models,
9 WHO/UNICEF (2017): Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG baselines.
10 World Bank: (2015): https://data.worldbank.org/
11 http://swachhbharatmission.gov.in/sbmcms/index.htm
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November 2018