Executive Summary

Seventy percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to a ‘basic’ or ‘safe’ toilet, which creates substantial health and economic repercussions. One example: poor sanitation and hygiene contribute to the diarrheal deaths of 289,000 children under the age of five each year worldwide.

The project will help solve this serious threat by implementing a proven, sustainable sanitation model, FINISH, which will mobilize communities, governments, financiers, and businesses to construct 5 million improved toilets that will serve 25 million people. The new toilets will reduce diarrheal disease transmission by at least five percent in beneficiary communities, reduce medical expenditures related to diarrhea, increase the privacy and dignity of women, and generate over 2.25 million tonnes—nearly 2.5 million U.S.—of compost annually for agriculture.

The project also will create more than 273,000 jobs. Every dollar invested will leverage 4 dollars of commercial financing, creating system change.

Accomplishments

African Sanitation Revolution/FINISH improved sanitation by building one million toilets in India and Kenya. The effort also generated more than 10 million workdays in construction alone, contributing significantly to local business development.

In 717 villages in different states across India, more than 75 percent of the population gained access to safe sanitation. In addition, grant funding leveraged 14 times the amount in local funding for a total of 140 million euro generated locally.

Finally, African Sanitation Revolution developed a sanitation value chain: More than 25 tonnes—27.5 U.S.—of human waste was converted to marketable compost and sold, while 25,000 tonnes—27,500 U.S.—was converted to soil conditioner for local use.