How can sanitation policy deliver in Africa?

The document examines sanitation governance in Rwanda and Uganda, arguing that top-down policies often fail because they ignore the socio-cultural drivers of household behaviour and lack adequate national funding. It highlights a significant 'implementation gap' where international targets drive policy, but households—who provide approximately 60% of sector investment—face cultural and emotional barriers to adoption. The brief advocates for 'backward mapping' to include ground-level stakeholders in design and a deeper understanding of behavioural drivers to ensure sustainability.

• Sanitation is frequently undervalued in national budgets in Rwanda, Uganda, and other sub-Saharan African countries, despite increased political commitments. This leads to a reliance on external funding from multilateral organisations, which often results in unsustainable programmes once that funding ceases.
• There is a significant 'implementation gap' caused by a disconnect between macro-governance policy objectives—often driven by international goals—and the actual actions taken at the community and household levels.
• Households are the primary financiers of sanitation, contributing roughly 60% of the total investment in the sector globally, including in Uganda and Rwanda.
• Technical solutions alone are insufficient because sanitation and hygiene are primarily behavioural issues influenced by slowly changing cultural norms, religion, and codes of conduct.
• Top-down pressure to meet prescribed targets often fails because it ignores local context, distorts priorities, and can compromise the long-term sustainability of sanitation services.
• A 'backward mapping' approach is recommended to improve policy outcomes by involving people at the ground level in the design and implementation of reforms, which fosters consensus and flexibility.
• Emotional responses, such as repugnance toward using human excreta as fertilizer, can conflict with risk management information, indicating that communication strategies must account for emotional drivers.

APA

Ekane, N. (2018). How can sanitation policy deliver in Africa? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180822a-gill-ekane-sanitation-uganda-rwanda-pb-1806f.pdf

Chicago

Ekane, Nelson. How can sanitation policy deliver in Africa? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2018. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180822a-gill-ekane-sanitation-uganda-rwanda-pb-1806f.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ekane |first1=Nelson |title=How can sanitation policy deliver in Africa? |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=June 2018 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180822a-gill-ekane-sanitation-uganda-rwanda-pb-1806f.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ekane2018how, author = {Ekane, Nelson}, title = {{How can sanitation policy deliver in Africa?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180822a-gill-ekane-sanitation-uganda-rwanda-pb-1806f.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }