Adapting Sanitation Needs to a Latrine Design (and Its Upgradable Models): A Mixed Method Study under Lower Middle-Income Rural Settings

Artwell Kanda, Esper Jacobeth Ncube and Kuku Voyi
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Artwell Kanda: Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Private Bag 323, Pretoria 0007, South Africa
Esper Jacobeth Ncube: Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Private Bag 323, Pretoria 0007, South Africa
Kuku Voyi: Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Private Bag 323, Pretoria 0007, South Africa

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: Rural households have latrine preferences and unique sanitation needs. An assessment of how rural households adapt their sanitation needs to a nationally encouraged latrine design was done. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 790 households in a rural district of Zimbabwe from November 2020 to May 2021. Data were analysed using logistic regression. Qualitative data were collected using focus groups and analysed using thematic analysis. Analyses were done in STATA 16 and considered significant at p < 0.05. There was low adoption of the Blair ventilated improved pit latrine and its upgradable models. Significant predictor variables of BVIP latrine adoption were mainly contextual and psychosocial at the individual and household levels. They included source and level of household income, residence period, nature of homestead, number of cattle owned, knowledge of sanitation options and perceived high latrine cost. The latrine design was considered not a pro-poor option as it was unaffordable by many rural households resulting in its non-completion, poor-quality designs, alternative options, sharing and open defaecation. Poverty appears the main barrier for latrine ownership. However, a window of opportunity to improve access to sanitation in rural Zimbabwe exists by considering alternative sanitation options and financial investment mechanisms.

Keywords: access; alternative technology; BVIP design; latrine ownership; rural sanitation; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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