Subsidising moulds instead of latrines

Problem:

How can subsides be reduced and phased out in low cost sanitation programmes?

Reality:

Low-cost sanitation can not depend on subsides for ever.

The SanPlat is the easiest way of improving a traditional latrine to become hygienic, child safe and modern.

• The SanPlat is by itself the first step in phasing out of subsidies in a Low-Cost Sanitation Programme. In stead of paying for skilled labour and building materials, more and more sanitation programmes in Africa are introducing the SanPlat as a simple form of reducing subsidies.
• Commonly, a SanPlat is provided free of charge as a project contribution to sanitation improvements, while the family contributes with materials and labour for the latrine in which the SanPlat will be installed. In most cases the traditional latrines can be built by the family itself using local freely available materials at no cost.
• As a second step many projects are introducing a symbolic price for the SanPlat which now becomes a more prestigious product. Increasing the price will eventually create a market for non subsidised sanitation. As subsidies are reduced the portion of what goes to administration is becoming higher as the level of subsidies are reduced. And controlling subsidies is not a stimulating or easy job.
• Decentralising production is an other way to cut costs and pave the way for local management and privatisation. It has, however, proven to be difficult to combine decentralisation with subsides, as it is very time consuming and expensive to control many producers.

Solution:

A way around these problems has been introduced with the new SanPlat mould.

With the new moulds 10 SanPlats can be made out of one bag of cement (!) and the production cost will stop around 2 USD. No special skills are required and any layman can learn to make excellent SanPlats with a few days practice. This makes the SanPlat system still better for local production with increased possibilities to reach out to the most remote corners of the programme.

Establishing more and more SanPlat producers is a natural way of keeping prices down and quality high, as it paves the way foe competition, increases the service and gives the clients a freedom of choice.

• Providing moulds free of charge or selling them at a subsidised prize becomes a natural way to approach a free sanitation market, where the producer is allowed to sell SanPlats to whom he wants to at the price and the quality that the market demands.
• Eventually the subsidies can be withdrawn also on the moulds, and the role of the project becomes to sell moulds at a market price to an increasing number of SanPlat producers. The individual family and the private sector will take care of the rest.

The New Moulds Make It Possilbe: