A new project is using solar energy to transform toilet waste into efficient cooking fuel, in an initiative to improve hygiene for people in communities without indoor sanitation and at the same time reduce the felling of trees for charcoal.
In the communities around Naivasha, about 90km northwest of Nairobi, Sanivation, a Kenyan social enterprise has begun providing toilets to homes that lack proper sanitation.
The locally made toilets, called “Blue Boxes”, are portable and require no fixed plumbing. Users pay a monthly charge to have them serviced twice a week.
The health implications for a community with little access otherwise to modern toilets is significant, said Dr Oren Ombiru, Naivasha’s health officer.
The leading cause of death for children under five in Kenya is diarrhoea, a problem exacerbated by poor sanitation, he said. Most homes in semi-urban areas do not have indoor plumbing, and some people have no choice but to defecate outdoors, he said.
“Safe waste disposal is one of the best ways to prevent diarrhoea. This is a challenge for the vast majority of peri-urban dwellers, who are mainly low-income people,” Ombiru said.