Productive sanitation aims to improve sanitation and food production in rural Africa. By reusing human waste as fertilizer, it closes the nutrient loop and provides farmers with affordable organic fertilizer. In Burkina Faso, productive sanitation has been promoted through agricultural trials demonstrating the fertilizer's benefits. This has encouraged over 8,000 farmers to adopt urine-diverting dry toilets, producing "fertilizer factories" in their homes. As a result, productive sanitation is being integrated into Burkina Faso's national sanitation plan and has boosted sanitation rates in pilot projects. Going forward, a national program combining sanitation and agriculture is needed to scale this approach across the country.

2. Productive Sanitation
– Reuse as a driver to take sanitation to scale in the Sahel
Linus Dagerskog
Research Fellow
Stockhom Environment Institute

3. • Water pollution
• Disease transfer
• Loss of nutrients
- Just do it
- Hide it
- Displace it
Sanitize and reuse !
Closing the nutrient loop
For sustainability - technical, institutional, social and economical
aspects must be appropriately addressed!
→ Productive / Ecological sanitation

4. Productive sanitation – local importance
Health and food production
• Two billion people directly depend on 500
million small holder farms in developing
countries
• Productive sanitation → improved
management of local resources
• Ex: Annual excreta from the average
rural family in Niger contain plant
nutrients equivalent of 100 kg of
chemical fertilizer – cost 80$

5. Productive sanitation – regional importance
Water quality
Decrease the load of
nutrients and pathogens
to ground and surface
waters
Source: http://bio4esobil2010.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/eutrophication/

6. Productive sanitation – global importance
• Planetary boundaries – reduce the human impact on natural
nitrogen/phosphorous cycles
• Chemical fertilizers are based on limited resources – closing the
sanitation loop is part of the solution
Phosphorous
cycle
Nitrogen cycle

7. Conclusion
 Recognize both dangers and resources in human excreta → local to
global impact
 Many ways to reduce pathogens and risks with reuse – WHO guidelines
(2006) provide a good framework
 Making the link to food production can:
• Leverage funds for sanitation from the agriculture sector
• Constitute a positive “pull-factor” in rural areas and attract farmers to
engage and invest in sanitation
 How can this be done in practice??

8. Productive sanitation - Reuse as a driver to take
sanitation to scale in rural zones , Burkina Faso
Dr Moussa BONZI, Agronomist
Researcher on ISFM; Head of NRM Dprmt; CNRST/INERA

9. Presentation outline
- Sanitation and agricultural production in
Burkina Faso today?
- Innovative approach to scale up sanitation
in the rural zones of Burkina Faso
- Conclusion

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90-99% open defecation in rural areas
Direct effects:
• Widespread diarrhea, dysentery
and parasite infections
• High risk especially for
vulnerable parts of the population
(women and children)
Sanitation situation in rural areas (BF)
Only manual pit-emptying in rural areas

11. - Small holder farmer context with low agricultural
production (ex. 400 kg/ha of cereals compared to potential
yields of 3000-3500 kg/ha)
- High population growth: 2,6% -to 3% (Burkina Faso)
→ Great need for fertilizers and improved nutrient
management to keep up food production
Agricultural production in the Sahel (BF)

12. A safe reuse of sanitation products gives multiple
benefits for health and food production
How can the productive sanitation concept be
used to boost sanitation in the Sahel?
Productive sanitation - possible solution?

13. Methodology to spread the adoption of
the productive sanitation approach
o Create demand for the Ecosan-fertilizers
Use agronomic tests with treated sanitation products, on main crops to convince the
farming community of the quality of such organic fertilizers
Rice fertilized with urea Rice fertilized with Birg-koom (liquid
fertilizer = urine)

14. o Introducing the EcoSan fertilizer factory
Introducing the urinals and dry/composting latrines as “family
factories for EcoSan fertilizer production”, with the production
capacity and benefits being clear in relation to the investment.
Methodology to spread the adoption of
the productive sanitation approach

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After 6 months of
dry storage with ash
Birg-koenga (solid fertilizer) production

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45 days of
storage
Birg-koom (liquid fertilizer) production

17. Policy level
• Ministry of Agriculture also in charge of sanitation – understand the
interest of productive sanitation for Burkina Faso
• UDDT (called EcoSan latrine in BF) is included as an option in the national
sanitation plan
Pilot projects
• Excreta fertilizers are used in many of the provinces.
• More than 8000 farmers and 300 extension officers and municipal agents
have been trained on techniques of production and use of EcoSan fertilizers
in Burkina Faso.
• Three EU-funded (both food security and sanitation funds) rural EcoSan
projects have had most impact, with 6150 households having ‘fertilizer
factories’ = EcoSan latrines
Implemented by WSA, INERA and the Ministry of Agriculture 2008-2013
Many NGOs are now adopting the approach and also private initiatives
Results in Burkina Faso

18. Changing perspective on excreta and recognizing both danger AND
the available resources allows for win-win – improved food production
and health
This productive approach can give a major boost to sanitation in the
Sahel
• Good arguments to tap into food security / agriculture funds to boost
sanitation
• Good arguments to create sanitation demand from small holder
farmers
Conclusion

19. Needs a national program that takes on the approach – with equal
emphasis on sanitation and agriculture components
Improve access through:
- Diversification of latrine types (low cost variants)
- Microcredit
- Complement with CLTS approach to reach total sanitation – with
both push (dangers) and pull factors (resources)
Next steps

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