Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene November 2018 Vol.13 No.5 | Page 17

4
such as ‘composting latrines’ that biodegrade hu-
man waste ready to be used as a fertiliser for crops. 12
Many models are designed to be built and maintained
by communities themselves, helping to foster a sense
of ownership, which is crucial in changing the often
ingrained practice of open defecation.
Nigeria: community-led total sanitation
In Warji, Bauchi state, Nigeria, the local government author-
ity (LGA) is helping communities to learn about the effects
of open defecation on their health and to be therefore in-
spired to build latrines and eradicate open defecation.
In a ‘community-led total sanitation’ approach, people
are sensitised to issues such as the transmission of
pathogens from exposed human and animal faeces
back into the food chain. Citizens become aware of the
link between deadly disease outbreaks and open defe-
cation due to the lack of latrines.
Once a community has improved its sanitation situation
and demonstrated sustained, universal usage of the fa-
cilities, the LGA awards the village ‘open defecation-free’
(ODF) status. This then has a ‘ripple effect’ with neigh-
bouring settlements, who see the
health benefits and associated
prestige and are encouraged to
emulate the effort to become an
ODF community.
Warji LGA is one of 12 LGAs sup-
ported by UNICEF to implement a UK
Aid-funded sanitation, hygiene and
water project and overall has reached
over 2 million people in four states.
(Read more: https://www.unicef.
org/nigeria/media_6791.html)
12 https://www.unicef.org/ghana/Latrine_technology_option_manual_final__a4_size.pdf
All information in this factsheet comes from UNESCO (2018) United Nations World Water Development Report 2018: Nature-based solutions for water
unless specified otherwise.
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