Ecological Sanitation and Gender

Ecosan, also known as ecological sanitation, is a sanitation system that aims to ‘close the loop’ for nutrients and organic matter between sanitation and agriculture. This is due to the recycling of excreta and urine, seen as a valuable renewable resource, and their subsequent application on cropland as a fertiliser (Esrey, 2000). It represents a shift towards a new paradigm of thinking about human excreta (Esrey, 1998), by aiming to reduce the health risks related to sanitation, contaminated water and waste; to prevent groundwater pollution; and to reuse nutrients or energy contained within wastes (Eschborn, 2004). Disease reduction achieved through both reducing infections transmitted via the fecal-oral route and by reducing malnutrition in children from the use of an organic fertiliser. Ecosan is based on a combination of old and new techniques: wastewater reuse, water saving, and recycling nutrients recovery and biomass production for energy (Masi, 2009).

Urine, in particular, has proved to be very beneficial to plants due to it containing several nutrients such as nitrogen phosphorus and potassium, which are limiting factors for the growth of a variety of plants. In Zimbabwe, the results for using urine on green leafy plants such as spinach or maize has proved it to be very beneficial. By using urine as a source for phosphorus it attempts to address the possible upcoming shortage of phosphorus which is currently mined. A review by Mihelcic et al. (2011) of global phosphate supply suggests that if collected, phosphate in urine could supply 22% of the total demand.

Ecosan sludge, however, is sewage sludge, and therefore represents a health risk due to its pathogen content, with little known about safe ecosan sludge disposal. Furthermore, its disposal is seems to fall outside of the regulatory framework; legislation instead covers sludge produced in centralised sewer systems or latrines. Jimenez et al. (2006) suggests it may be worth considering pathogen content for sludge revalorisation standard in agriculture. This will enable the establishment of a maximum sludge application rate, which rather being based only on parameters such as metals or nitrogen content, it will instead be based on pathogen content.

Ecosan 'closing the loop' poster. Source

Ecosan addresses many water and sanitation related health problems, as pit latrines become breeding areas for mosquitoes and the waste can pollute the groundwater supply (Wirbelauer et al., 2003). Ecosan is generally the most appropriate to solve these problems, utilising a natural biological process to produce an odourless and fly-less dehydrated compost-like material. It is also easy to build, aesthetically pleasant and can be combined with the washing area. In a study undertaken by Mugure and Mutua (2009) in the Nakuru municipality, Kenya, respondents to a sanitation questionnaire reported that ecosan toilets were viable for a number of reasons: a congested housing pattern, desire to own a toilet, geo-hydrological conditions, improved privacy and convenience. The majority of respondents were also willing to reuse sanitised urine and faecal matter, however, there were some challenges identified, including forgetfulness by some people to spray ash after defecating, water entering the toilet vault during cleaning and confusion in using the two holes.

Gender and ecosan

Mugure and Mutua report that out of their sample in Kenya, women have sanitation (46%) and water supply (61%) as their top priorities. This may be due to traditional gender roles implying that women are to fetch water, keep the toilet/bathroom clean and usable, and are responsible for the hygiene and health of children (Drangert, 2004), while men are responsible for the installation of the systems, harvesting the excreta from the toilets and the application onto fields (Hannan and Andersson, 2002). Women respondents stated that ecosan systems were more favourable to pit latrines as there is no worry of a child falling into a latrine. This support of ecosan systems by women is very important, as there is a need to pour ashes into a toilet after use to dry out faeces (and women are in charge of tending the cooking fires) - to increase PH level and to contribute to the elimination of pathogens. 98% of women reported that they use firewood for cooking in their households, therefore ash is readily available to be used in the urine diverting toilets for drying faeces.

Gendered Problems in Ecosan

Although ecosan systems are generally met positively from women, they do present a large problem for girls, particularly those who use the systems in school. This is due to the difficulty of gender-specific requirements for menstrual management that are not commonly incorporated in the systems, especially as women and girls are rarely consulted for their management. Hoko et al. (2010) reported that during menstruation, females with NON-UDDT systems (non-urine diverting dry toilet) were more comfortable using the toilet (60%), than those with UDDT systems - which includes ecosan (40%). The larger degree of discomfort from ecosan systems is worsened by the need to minimise water use as to stop water entry into the faecal vault.

The ‘gender problem’ in providing sanitation stems from several sources, but the principle explanation lies in the fact that the decision making regarding toilet provision is made predominantly by men. Greater importance should be given to a gendered perspective in management and governance issues linked with ecosan, including legislation, policies, programmes or interventions. This is commonly known as ‘gender-mainstreaming’ (mentioned in an earlier blog article). There are, however, some pitfalls regarding gender and sanitation; although women may be encouraged through gender mainstreaming to take on additional work and management roles, they may receive no more resources or influence, which is exacerbated in the case for ecosan as the systems require more maintenance than pit latrines, placing a considerable burden on women (Dankelman and Wendland, 2008). Ultimately, ecosan approaches can only be empowering if both men and women have the possibility to influence the direction of, participate actively in the implementation of, and benefit from, these approaches.