Mary Ekadeli during the World Toilet Day on Sunday in Loima sub-county, Turkana. PHOTO | PETER WARUTUMO | NMG
Kenya is one of the countries that did not achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for increasing access to water and
sanitation.
Only 30 per cent of Kenyans have access to
improved sanitation, that is, the use of sanitation facilities that
hygienically separate excreta from human contact.
This
means that about 30 million Kenyans are still using unsafe sanitation
methods such rudimentary types of latrines, and almost six million are
defecating in the open.
Although this figure is higher
if shared facilities are included, it is the rate of increase in access
to improved sanitation that is worrying. Access to improved sanitation
in Kenya increased by only five per cent between 1990 and 2015.
The
socio-economic, health and environmental impacts of poor sanitation are
too huge to be ignored. A study on the economic impact of poor
sanitation conducted in 2012 by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation
Program shows that Kenya loses Sh27 billion ($260 million equivalent)
per year due to poor sanitation.
Current estimates
indicate that these losses have increased as the rate of increase in
improved sanitation is not commensurate with the rate of population
growth.
Open defecation alone contributed 27 per cent
of these losses. This figure may be higher if indirect impacts on
health, environment, travel and tourism were included.
Studies, including the Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene
(WASH) Poverty Diagnostics undertaken by the World Bank for 17 countries
globally have linked poor sanitation and, particularly open defecation
to stunting in children.
Stunting affects children’s
health and it also has long-term effects on cognitive development,
educational achievement and economic productivity as well as maternal
reproductive health outcomes. As of 2014, one in four children is
shorter for their age.
Poor sanitation remains a major
cause of waterborne diseases such as cholera. In 2016, 30 out of 47
counties experienced cholera outbreaks that resulted in several deaths.
By
October, 18 counties had reported cholera cases, with 3,244 cases and
60 deaths reported, out of which nearly half (27) were from Nairobi
County alone.
Access to improved sanitation is a major
challenge both in urban and rural areas. In the rural areas, people
continue to defecate in the open (15 per cent against three per cent in
urban areas), primarily due to the availability of open land, but also
because it is considered culturally appropriate in some regions.
The
northern counties specifically continue to present very high rates of
open defecation, which is also linked to high poverty levels.
As
the population grows, development takes place and resources become
scarcer, the impacts of unsafe disposal of human waste are beginning to
bite.
This is particularly so for communities that
depend on unprotected surface water sources like water pans or shallow
groundwater sources.
Since replenishment of these
sources happens when it rains, open defecation results in direct
contamination of the water sources with faecal waste.
The
challenge is even more daunting in urban areas. Why? Urban growth
outstrips the provision of basic services, sanitation included.
Second,
urban planning hardly precedes settlement, making it much harder for
utilities to provide water and sanitation services. Third, having a
toilet, either connected or not connected to a piped wastewater system
is only one part of faecal waste management.
Other
issues at play are how safely the waste is contained, emptied,
transported, treated and disposed of. This is the new focus of the
Sustainable Development Goals, which have shifted from only addressing
access to sanitation facilities to considering safe waste management
along the entire sanitation service chain, from waste generation to
disposal or re-use.
Sanitation in the urban areas is
further compounded by the inter-linkages with other services including
stormwater drainage, solid waste and water supply.
Wajir
town, for instance, has a high groundwater table and shallow water
wells are the main source of water for domestic and livestock use. This
means that construction of simple pit latrines is not feasible.
Instead,
about 68 per cent of the 100,000 residents use bucket latrines, a
system introduced during the colonial times to protect the groundwater.
During
the rainy seasons, faecal waste overflow from buckets is swept away by
the stormwater, resulting in contamination of the shallow wells.
Consequently, Wajir town suffers from frequent outbreaks of waterborne
diseases, especially cholera and diarrhoea.
Kenya
hopes to reach universal sanitation coverage by 2030 and to end open
defecation by 2020. But, achieving universal improved sanitation
coverage requires a paradigm shift in policies, technologies and
mindsets.
It is estimated that if the current trend of
sanitation coverage is maintained, it would take Kenya another 200
years to achieve universal sanitation coverage.
Finally,
universal sanitation cannot be achieved without strong stakeholder
engagement and community consultations. This will ensure that the right
solutions are being proposed and collectively implemented to assure
sustainability.
Pascaline Ndungu is Water & Sanitation Specialist, World Bank.
No comments :
Post a Comment