Questions/Answers

The overall objectives of UBSUP initiative are to: a) Provide sustainable access to sanitation for 400,000 residents. This is achieved through the different toilet options being offered, both wet and dry by December 2018. b) Reach 200,000 residents with safe access to water which has been achieved by December 2018. c) Ensure safe and sustainable emptying, transport & treatment of toilet sludge through the construction of the decentralized treatment facilities (DTFs) and SANIGOs for transport of the dry sludge. d) Establish a monitoring system for tracking access to safe water & basic sanitation facilities e) Enhance active participation in the provision of basic sanitation to the urban poor by other stakeholders given that sanitation is wide and WSTF cannot be able to handle all the sanitation issues on their own. f) Develop a sanitation up-scaling concept in line with the sector reforms. The programme should have a countrywide approach.

UBSUP is a nationwide intervention to improve access to household sanitation in poor urban areas in Kenya. This initiative targets the poorest and the most vulnerable for whom sanitation is not a priority. The Water Services Providers (WSPs) are responsible for urban water and sanitation service provision, and therefore, are the main partners of the Water Sector Trust Fund to implement UBSUP. The WSPs are provided with technical assistance, capacity building and infrastructures to develop sanitation services in marginalised and underserved areas.

The initiative has contributed to both Vision 2030 on improved water and sanitation goal is to ensure water and sanitation are available and accessible for all and SGD Goal 6 of ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This is by 283,455 people being with water and 236,090 being provided with sustainable sanitation facilities. The Decentralized Treatment Facilities (DTFs) have been adopted by various counties as the appropriate technologies to serve small towns.

Kenya has a population of 46 million people out of which 25% live in urban areas with an urban growth rate of 4% per year. Around one third of the urban population lives below the poverty line. Most of them are residents of the approx. 2,000 urban low income areas or slums country wide. Women and children are particularly affected by inadequate sanitation in urban low income areas. UBSUP targets this segment of the population and therefore has a significant impact on vulnerable population with regards to improved hygiene and living conditions in general. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 lays down the framework for development of the sanitation sector which guarantee the right of every person to “reasonable standards of sanitation,” and “a clean and healthy environment”. In practice, however, the investment in network infrastructure is failing to keep up with the growing demand in urban areas, generating a large sanitation infrastructure and services deficit. UBSUP has identified these gaps and acted upon them to ensure that the entire sanitation service chain is covered from emptying of toilets to treatment of faecal sludge with possibility of sludge and effluent reuse.

First, the scaling-up concept is the process of reaching sustainable access to water and sanitation services at broad scale through easily replicable standard projects. Secondly, UBSUP supports the implementation of a new type of treatment plant called DTF (Decentralized Treatment Facility) to treat the faecal sludge coming from latrines and septic tanks at a decentralized level. The DTF is a modular facility with a standard design that can treat either 23m3 or 50m3 per day. It comprises of six modules which provide biological anaerobic treatment and run by gravity (no energy or chemical input).

UBSUP is an original concept that was developed in 2011 by the WSTF with the support of GIZ (German Development Cooperation) who both wanted to develop an innovative project in order to reach sustainable access to sanitation services at broad scale. While covering the entire sanitation service chain (from toilet to treatment), UBSUP incorporates a social marketing concept, technical concepts for infrastructure, emptying and transportation as well as business and financing models. The concept addresses trade-offs between demand-orientation and minimum service quality standards, cost efficiency and long-term serviceability of the infrastructure, to eventually achieve lasting economic, social and environmental impacts.

Following the success of the DTF initiative, various county governments in Kenya have rolled up the initiative including Makueni, Machakos, Nairobi, Nyandarua and Muranga where DTFs are being implemented in various parts of the country. Moreover, WSTF has done a study in 23 small towns of Kenya with support by BMGF and AfDB under the Kenya Towns Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (KTWSSP) for consideration of financing. UBSUP concept through GIZ Community of Practice (CoP) on Scaling up Access has been replicated in Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Mali, South Sudan, Zambia and Uganda, with the WSTF regularly hosting benchmarking missions.

The total investment cost for the UBSUP initiative is 18.4 million Euros from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Government of Kenya. The initiative has proven to be very cost efficient with a per-capital cost of less than US$ 50, including the construction of 14,421 constructed toilets and Ten (10) decentralized sludge treatment facilities as of Nov 2018. The Water Sector Trust Fund has allocated a team of technical, social and financing experts to implement and monitor the activities on the ground.

UBSUP revolves around a solid business model to achieve long-term viability. Service delivery is driven by the commercial incentive provided by the UBSUP approach. Business opportunities are created in terms of faecal sludge collection, transport and treatment services, but also sale of by-product (fertilizer and soil conditioner) and construction of sanitation infrastructures. Decentralized faecal sludge treatment facilities offer a competitive option and alternative to conventional centralized wastewater treatment plants. Moreover, Water Sector Trust Fund encourages the involvement of the private sector in the project as it has proven to be an effective partner in delivering effective and flexible collection and transport services. The UBSUP initiative is meant to operate beyond project horizons as it is anchored in the sector institutions. The Water Act 2016 gives the Water Sector Trust Fund the legal mandate to finance the development of water and sanitation services in marginalised and underserved areas through the Water Services Providers. In terms of accountability and transparency, rigorous monitoring and evaluation enables WSTF to report on actual numbers of beneficiaries reached with the funding. In addition, WSTF reports to the public on an annual basis and WSTF funded investments can be tracked down on the MajiData website.

Yes

The UBSUP initiative was evaluated in 2016 by the GIZ Monitoring and Evaluation Unit who articulated its progress evaluation report around the following themes: Relevance (are they doing the right thing), Effectiveness (will they achieve the project’s objective), Efficiency (are the objectives being achieved cost-effectively), and Sustainability (are the positive results durable). In 2017 and 2018 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contracted Innovations for Poverty Action (research and policy non-profit) to conduct an outcome verification exercise meant to generate a complete database of the UBSUP toilets to be used for survey sampling in 15 regions.

a. The project’s objectives and strategic approach make a significant contribution to resolving the core problems facing the largely poor target groups in poor urban areas, to ensuring access to adequate sanitation. b. Basic sanitary facilities are used by the population in a sustainable and equitable manner in the urban areas supported by the project. c. Mechanisms for broad impact are intrinsic in the project. Central actors in the water sector are incorporated, which guarantees upscaling approaches. d. The alignment of sanitation services with the needs of women living in poor districts supported by the project has improved by 30%.

The UBSUP initiative was evaluated rated very successful by the GIZ Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (with a total of 15 out of 16 points). The Outcome Verification Report from IPA reported that; of those visited, 91.7% of pilot and 94.2% of upscaling toilets were still in use at the time of observation and all were more than 12 months old, the average number of users per toilet was approximately 8 users per toilet for the pilot regions and 7 users per toilet in the upscaling regions. Of the 1040 upscaling toilets which were eligible to be emptied, landlords reported only 84 (8.1%) had ever been filled to capacity.

The implementation approach is to be integrated into the water sector policies, institutions and procedures through a multi-level engagement which builds upon the strengths and weaknesses of all sector stakeholders. In order to achieve successful upscale, it was critical for UBSUP to engage various actors from the preparatory stage to the full operationalisation. The implementation of the UBSUP activities on the ground are delegated to the Water Services Providers (WSPs). The WSPs form a project task team composed of leaders of different affiliations (political, religious, representation of marginalised groups, and any other dominant influencer in the community) to disseminate information about the initiative, create ownership at the local level and create a multi-stakeholder baseline for the project’s implementation. That way, once the project is being implemented, the WSPs receive direct support from the relevant actors: Public Health Officer for law enforcement, County government for land, chiefs and religious leader for sensitization and promotion. At a national level, the Water Sector Trust Fund engages on a regular basis the Water Services Regulator (WASREB) regarding the regulation of on-site sanitation and the National Environmental Authority (NEMA) regarding the issuance of the effluent discharge permit for the DTF.

a. National up-scaling works best within sector institutions, which provide an ideal ground for proven concepts to be simultaneously replicated in different areas. UBSUP uses the financing mechanisms of WSTF, complies with policies and regulations defined at a national level and implements through the WSPs at a county level. b. Tried and tested concepts influence policy. UBSUP made a significant contribution to the Kenya’s Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene Policy (KESH). c. A range of technology options in terms of toilets, emptying, treatment and reuse options, is needed to cater for different socio-cultural and economic contexts in different area of implementation.