What is Sanergy?

Sanergy is a social enterprise that addresses the sanitation issues in developing countries like Kenya. They do this by constructing low-cost toilet facilities that can be accessible to low-income individuals.

What is the problem?

The problem with most urban slums is that there are no sewage systems that are developed around the area. Hence, fecal materials are often excreted and thrown away in the rivers running along slums. The high population density of urban slums increases the likelihood of contamination from the exposure to the fecal matter as well.

What is the Sanergy Model?

Sanergy constructs low-cost and efficient toilet facilities that are cheap, waterless, and hygienic.

The toilet facilities can then be distributed to urban slums through a franchising models. The stalls operate on a pay-per-use basis such that the franchisee can earn revenue through the business in order to fund employees in charge of maintaining the sanitation of the facilities. Moreover, employees are also present to take the fecal and waste matter out of the facilities on a daily basis. The sanitation employees safely seal the wastes and transport them to a composting facility where the wastes would later be processed and turned into organic fertilizer, compost, and worm feed that can be sold to farmers.

Benefits of the Sanergy Model

Sanergy?s centralized collection model is safe and sanitary which dramatically reduces the likelihood and risks of contamination from the waste matter thereby reducing the health hazards that waste poses. Moreover, people now have the convenience to use toilet facilities at any of the day which was not the case before as defecating in the fields outside becomes unsafe at dark. This incentivizes individuals to practice regular defecating methods and reduces the risks of contamination from the lack of sanitary defecation practices.

Economically, the model also empowers local entrepreneurs as the stalls have the capacity to generate profits and employees who will be receiving wages for the sanitation and transportation of waste. This capitalizes on a bottom-up approach such that the initiatives are initiated by the community members and/or entrepreneurs themselves which ensures that the problems are being addressed by the people who are knowledgeable of the local nuances and contexts. This creates further opportunities for community members to earn money and to mobilize out of the poverty trap. Not only does the model solve health and environmental issues, however, it also provides economic opportunities for the community members.

Works Cited:

1. ?Sanitation Markets at the Bottom of the Pyramid .? WATER AND SANITATION PROGRAM: June 2011, www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP-Sanitation-Markets-Bottom-Pyramid-Peru.pdf.