Sanitation in Urban Poor Communities in Africa - Challenges and Solutions

This paper discusses the common constraints to the provision of improved sanitation services to people living in low-income urban communities in Africa. Over the years, all low-income and many middle-income nations, including those outside Africa, have been facing enormous backlogs in the provision of sanitation services, especially in urban poor communities. This has resulted partly from the use of inappropriate service approaches, coupled with limited financial resources and rapid urbanization and population growth. This paper also shows that for the Millennium Development Goal target on sanitation to be achieved, there is a need to develop effective links between communities and sanitation agencies and to use cheaper alternative sanitation technologies. In areas where sanitation improvements have been made there is normally a good relationship between the communities and the authorities.

The paper begins with a brief overview of the sanitation situation globally and in Africa, and gives the latest statistics for access to basic sanitation coverage in all the African countries. The consequences of poor improved sanitation are also discussed. Section 2 examines the current existing technology in the different parts of Africa. There is a range of sanitation facilities across the continent but the commonest are the dry sanitation systems. Waterborne sanitation for most people is an unrealistic option because of the costs and the chronic shortage of water in most African countries. De-sludging, wastewater and solid waste management are also discussed. Section 3 discusses the challenges to providing effective sanitation services to low-income urban areas; Section 4 discusses possible solutions; and Section 5 emphasizes the need for sanitation agencies to improve their responsiveness to the needs of the urban poor.