BPD Sanitation Competition

Sanitation Title Competition

BPD is delighted to announce the latest installment of its annual Christmas title competition.

As in previous years, the best suggestion for a title for the 3,500 word article will receive a book of their choice from the Amazon Website (up to a value of £20 before postage) and envy of their peers on the BPD mailing list and beyond. J. K. Rowling’s next book is now at your fingertips! Or why not “The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters” by Rose George (an Economist book of the year).

This year’s article, wrapping up the International Year of Sanitation for BPD, is on the widespread, yet poorly understood role of sanitation entrepreneurs and what to do about it.

As ever, please get in touch once you have had a look, as we are working on the topic in greater detail in 2009.

So please view the article and join in the competition!

The deadline is 14 January 2009

Last year’s winner was Alex Nash for To let or toilet? Is that the question? (PDF document - 393 Kb)

Article Abstract

Despite the inclusion of sanitation in 2002 as part of the MDGs, the global backlog still grows. Current investment is heavily biased in favour of sewerage over non-network forms of sanitation, yet the vast majority of urban dwellers in developing countries actually live with what is (often euphemistically) known as “on-site sanitation”.

On-site sanitation is seen as a household responsibility however and if people want a toilet built or emptied, it is for them to find someone to do it. Small-scale providers or entrepreneurs often fill this service gap.

This article reviews the 'sanitation market', the relative market share and the potential roles for sanitation entrepreneurs. It explores the private, public and providers' 'good' of sanitation and identifies four areas that need exploring in order for the sanitation aspects of the MDGs to become relevant to the urban poor.