Building Cholera Free Communities with the Paid to Poop Model - Sustainably Scaling Sanitation in Low Income Markets

Purpose and goal

We fulfilled our ambition of unifying a carefully selected constellation of sanitation stakeholders under the vision of a “Cholera Free Community”. Through the workshops and desktop research we identified the social, technical and economic prerequisites for building the circular community-driven sanitation system. Through partner discussions we have secured interest in progressing this project to Step 2.

Expected results and effects

The most important result of Step 1 is all partners are aligned & committed to take the project forward together. We identified 3 potential use pilots for the closed-loop sanitation ecosystem: -Pop-Up Poop Stations (public toilets) -Self Funding School (community schools) -Slum Dweller Units (individual household units) This indicates genuine intrigue, curiosity & interest amongst the actors for a “Paid-to-Poop” model. We also discovered broader market opportunities within sewage epidemiology & fecal microbiota transplants

Planned approach and implementation

19 experts participated in workshops on 30 & 31 Jan 2020. Project Partner, Sam Malinga of Sanitation Africa, flew from Uganda, joining representatives from: Vinnova, Sida, Solvatten, SEI, Better Development, Konstfack, KI, Swecare, Expedition Mondial, Impact Breakfast Club, SE Forum, Avvoniv, TargetAid, Ultiro & Läkarmission. Due to COVID-19, the planned trip to Uganda was cancelled. Instead, we designed a “virtual visit” with SSE students conducting desktop research & interacting with Ugandan community members via whatsapp to conduct the analysis that was planned for the visit

External links

An overview of the MAD Sanitation Leap and our journey so far. The "Model Village" concept - reflections from our time in Uganda where the paid-to-poop concept emerged