Water and Sanitation in Africa

The story so far… It is evident that the sanitation sector has been historically dominated by colonial power dynamics that thus now requires the collaboration of many stakeholders to progress, especially in the wake of climate change. The COP26 summit brought together various parties to accelerate action towards the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The water sector launched the first ever Water Pavilion this year (2021), attending by “over 30 organisations, governments and companieswith an interest in water” . Though deemed “cutting edge, science-based advise” – were the key stakeholders actually involved? Having discussed the colonial overhang that exists insub-Saharan Africa , community engagement appears to be the priority in best addressing sanitation support in the areas suffering the most. For me –I am thus skeptical if corroborating between international investors in an echo chamber of Western-dominated discussion is likely to bring fort...

As previously discussed, urban slums in Africa are burdened with poor governance that undermines the delivery of key sanitation services. This week I aim to discuss some of the proposed solutions that circumvent the inertia of current strategies, whilst simultaneously creating economic opportunity for the urban population.   The PeePoo:  The PeePoo is a self-sanitising, single-use, biodegradable personal toilet. It is essentially a bag containing urea, which then sanitises faeces from dangerous viruses and parasites. It is odour free for 12-48 hours, making it a dignified solution to use and store in the privacy of the home, avoiding the social problems associated with shared sanitation facilities (SSFs) such as the  safety of women .  By eliminating the need for built infrastructures, water resources and space, the small bag is well suited for the urban slum environment. They are also relatively accessible with the average cost for PeePoo in the urban slum of ...

Welcome back! After touching on WASH infrastructure inequalities as a result of colonial legacies, in this week's post I hope to contextualise this in present-day Cape Town through exploring the struggles and rebellions of its urban population.  Who gives a shit?  For European political theorists such as Arendt, the private domain of the household and everything that takes place within it were not considered political matters of concern.  However, in 2013, the BBC published an article on what was referred to as the "poo wars" , where citizens of Cape Town protested over the lack of proper sanitation in their urban residences (figure 1). Actively rejecting the current portaloos and current methods of sanitation and disposal, residents pushed for their want of modern flush toilets - just like the ones middle-class people all have.  Figure 1 : BBC news article. Source: BBC News Some 500,000 residents of Cape Town experience inadequate services , and members of the com...