2018–2023
Make a Splash!
Lessons learned from five
years of sanitation and hygiene
market strengthening© UNICEF/India/2023

Contents
Abbreviations3

Figures and tables

4

Foreword

5

Executive summary6

Introduction

14

Overview of Make a Splash! partnership	

14

Results from five years of Make a Splash!

15

Looking back: How has MaS! contributed to strengthened
sanitation markets?

21

Country approaches to strengthen sanitation markets

23

Ethiopia

24

India

27

Indonesia

31

Kenya

35

Nigeria

39

Tanzania42

Lessons learned across the MaS! partnership

46

Lesson one: Sustainable and inclusive market growthrequires addressing all barriers to household investment,such as aligning supplier incentives, building consumer
demand, policy and regulation improvements, and accessto finance

47

Lesson two: Public-private promotion – blending publichealth and private sales incentives – offers a smart way
to create ongoing demand for sanitation

48

Lesson three: Programmes can strengthen markets byconnecting rural consumers to supply chains, aligning supply
chain actors and linking with government programmes

49

Lesson four: Using both public and commercial financeis important to expand and sustain access to safe sanitationand strengthen markets
51
Lesson five: Identifying and addressing market enablers
and blockers can lead to well-functioning sanitation markets 53
Conclusion

55

UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.
2

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengtheningAbbreviations

3

Community health promoter

CHP

Community-led total sanitation

CLTS

Faecal sludge management

FSM

Make a Splash!

MaS!

Swacch Bharat Mission

SBM

Sustainable Development Goal

SDG

Standard operating procedure

SOP

Toilet business owner

TBO

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Figures and tables
Figure 1: Theory of change for sanitation market development
Figure 2: Analytical framework employed to distil approaches ineach country
Figure 3: Household sanitation service levels in Ethiopia – 2022
Figure 4: Household sanitation service levels in India – 2022
Figure 5: Household sanitation service levels in Indonesia – 2022
Figure 6: Household sanitation service levels in Kenya – 2022
Figure 7: Household sanitation service levels in Nigeria – 2022
Figure 8: Household sanitation service levels in Tanzania – 2022
Figure 9: Consumer awareness and levels of public and private
investment in promotion
Figure 10: Typology of models to overcome market fragmentationin various contexts
Figure 11: Types of public investment that support sanitation
market systems
Figure 12: Typology of approaches implemented to address market
rules
Figure 13: Summary of strengthened sanitation markets across the
MaS! partnership
Figure 14: Summary of country context, sanitation challenge andmarket functions addressed
Figure 15: Summary of lessons learned in the MaS! partnership
Table 1: Summary of MaS! country approaches
Summaries of sanitation market strengthening per country
Table 2: In Ethiopia
Table 3: In India
Table 4: In Indonesia
Table 5: In Kenya
Table 6: In Nigeria
Table 7: In Tanzania
Table 8: Summary of approaches to increase public and private
finance in MaS! contexts

4

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Foreword
In a period beset by unprecedented challenges, including
climate change, pandemics, and conflict, it is more crucial thanever to urgently ensure everyone has access to safe sanitationand hygiene.
An estimated 3.5 billion people are still living without access to safe sanitation. This lackof access is having a profound toll, with around 1,000 children under the age of five dying
every day from diseases, attributed directly or indirectly to unsafe water, sanitation andhygiene practices.
In 2018, LIXIL and UNICEF formed the Make a Splash! partnership. This landmark collaboration
is UNICEF’s largest shared-value partnership for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). It
arose from a mutual commitment to advancing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 and,specifically, to increasing demand for safe sanitation, promoting good hand hygiene practices,and strengthening sanitation markets.
Since its inception, the Make a Splash! partnership has made remarkable strides, enabling 12.7
million people across diverse geographies to gain access to basic sanitation and hygiene. Initially
focusing its efforts in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, the partnership has expanded its reach toIndia, Indonesia, and Nigeria. Through a multifaceted approach – encompassing governmentled systems change, behaviour change, and capacity building – the partnership has generated
important lessons for the global community; these are presented in this milestone report.
One of the central elements of the Make a Splash! approach is a strong focus on leveraging
both public and private finance as catalysts for change. By mobilizing over US$2 million fromgovernment budgets towards sanitation and hygiene improvements, the partnership has
bridged the gap between policy intent and tangible action. Notable examples include local
governments in Kenya committing to incentivizing community health promoters, and a Mayor
in Indonesia introducing a sanitation tariff to fund essential services.
Make a Splash! has unblocked market barriers to ensure long-term sustainability. By taking apublic-private partnerships mindset and melding government health promotion with private supply
chains, the partnership has created a conducive environment for innovation and growth. From rural
Ethiopia to urban India, it is our hope that this partnership’s impact will reverberate far and wide.
LIXIL and UNICEF remain cognizant of the enormous challenges ahead. As we mark five
years of the partnership and reflect on our collective achievements, we fortify our resolve andpush for thriving, inclusive sanitation and hygiene markets in every context. By sharing these
insights, LIXIL and UNICEF aim to inspire and empower sanitation and hygiene champions
around the world to work towards sanitation and hygiene for all.
Signed by,

Jin Song Montesano
Director, Representative
Executive Officer, Executive
Vice-President, Human Resources,
Communications, External Affairs
and Impact Strategy, and Chief
People Officer, LIXIL Corporation
5

Cecilia Scharp
Director, Water, Sanitation andHygiene and Climate, Energy
and Environment and Disaster
Risk Reduction (WASH and
CEED) Programme Group,
UNICEF

Carla Haddad Mardini
Director, Division of Private
Fundraising and Partnerships,
UNICEF2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Executive summary
An estimated 3.5 billion people are still living without safe
toilets that protect human and environmental health.1 That’s
almost half the global population. These figures come with adevastating human cost. Each day, about 1,000 children under
5 die from diseases caused directly or indirectly by unsafe
water, sanitation and hand hygiene.2
In 2018, LIXIL and UNICEF joined forces to make the Make a Splash! (MaS!) partnership.
As the largest shared-value partnership for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in UNICEF,
it combines the strengths of both organisations to support progress towards Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) 6. More specifically, it aims to promote safe sanitation and goodhygiene, increase the supply of hygiene and sanitation products and solutions, and strengthen
sanitation markets.
Since it started in 2018 the MaS! partnership has reached 12.7 million people. Beginning in
Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, the partnership focused on improving supply and demand of
sanitation services, reaching 2.9 million people in just three years. Building on this success, thepartnership expanded to reach children and families in six countries by including India, Indonesia
and Nigeria, reaching a further 9.8 million people by the end of 2023. Activities included
supporting government-led, community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approaches and ensuringthat a steady supply of affordable products was available where people needed them. Schools
and health facilities were refurbished with products such as SATO Pans to serve as models
for communities. Hygiene programmes were integrated to teach hand washing and supply
facilities, such as SATO Taps.
© UNICEF/India/2024

A demonstration of handwashing techniques at a school in Araria, Bihar, India.
1

Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000–2022: special focus on gender. New York:
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), 2023.

2

Triple Threat How disease, climate risks, and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene create a deadly combination forchildren. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2023

6

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

The Make a Splash! partnership has helped to direct over US$2 million from government
budgets to sanitation and hygiene improvements in the last five years, with governments
in Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria making specific funding commitments.
For example, Kitui County in Kenya committed to providing stipends for community healthpromoters who help communities get involved in sanitation and hygiene. A mayor in Indonesia
introduced a sanitation tariff to help fund desludging services for all residents. Ongoingadvocacy in Ethiopia includes pushing for tax exemptions on the importation of sanitation
products and making sanitation a defined loan item within the mainstream banking sector.
Meanwhile, the partnership facilitated nearly US$5 million in loans to strengthen sanitation
markets. Each country has developed different financing options. In India, MaS! helped linkstate governments with banks and microfinance institutions, while in Indonesia, the partnershiphelped create credit schemes for households purchasing safe septic tanks. The partnership
explored different innovations, including a ‘transactional ledger’ banking app in Kenya to help
local groups save and lend each other money for sanitation improvements.
The MaS! partnership supported governments to be in the lead and ensure the human right tosanitation is achieved. This resulted in over 40 developed or strengthened policy instruments.
For example, the India programme supported government strategies to retrofit single pit toilets
to become safely managed and link rural and urban sanitation services. In Indonesia, MaS!
helped set up a national target for safely managed sanitation and develop local regulations fordesludging septic tanks. The partnership trained over 738,000 stakeholders across all countries
through various approaches, including trainings and mentorship. This included self-help groups,
masons and government officials in India on the need for a second pit in their toilet system sowaste could be treated in the ground instead of being emptied.

© UNICEF/UNI539869/

Furthermore, 21 data and information systems were set up or strengthened in all countries
to improve decision making and build trust between stakeholder groups. The Indonesia
programme helped set up a digital one-stop-shop platform to connect consumers to approved
suppliers of safely managed sanitation products and services. The partnership also supported
a WASH information management system in Nigeria that allows the government to monitor
progress and plan for future investments.

The Make a Splash!
partnership has
helped to direct over
US$2 million fromgovernment budgets
to sanitation andhygiene improvementsin the last five years.

Despite its abundance of water, Zanzibar faces a chronic shortage of safe drinking and farming water due
to frequent groundwater contamination by seawater and sewage, exacerbated by poor infrastructure andheavy seasonal rains that can spread lethal diseases like cholera. In response, UNICEF and its partners
have mapped over 1,000 water vendors and institutions, including schools and healthcare facilities that
store water in bulk, distributed chlorine tablets, and trained nearly 500 vendors and institutions on theirproper use.
7

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengtheningAfter five years of positive and inspiring experience, LIXIL and UNICEF want to document
the market-based sanitation approaches in each country and draw out the lessons learned on
sanitation market development throughout the partnership. The research question guiding thisexercise was: ‘How has MaS! contributed to strengthened sanitation markets?’
To answer the question, country approaches were analysed using a document review andinterviews with LIXIL and UNICEF staff. Table 1 summarizes the different approaches taken
in each of the MaS! countries.

Country

Who is theconsumer?

What is theapproach?

Which market
functions have beenaddressed?

Ethiopia

Rural households withan unimproved toilet.

Rural supply chain
strengthening.

Skills, promotion,
finance, policy andadvocacy.

India

Rural households inBihar and Odisha statesneeding to repair orretrofit a single pit toilet
to a twin pit toilet.

Supporting government
retrofitting campaigns.

Research anddevelopment, promotion,
finance, skills and policy
and advocacy.

Indonesia

Urban or peri-urbanhouseholds with noncompliant septic tankor in need of emptying
services.

Bundling safely
managed sanitation
services into a digitalplatform.

Information forbusinesses on safe
septic tanks, promotion,
finance, regulation andmonitoring.

Kenya

Rural first-time toilet
users or upgraders
found in eight counties.

Professionalizationof community healthpromoters as toilet
promoters anddistributors.

Promotion, skills,
finance and policy.

Nigeria

Rural householdswith no toilet or an
unimproved toilet.

Supporting toilet
business owners to
supply sanitation goods
and services.

Promotion, skills,
finance and policy.

Tanzania

Rural or peri-urban
consumers who are
first time toilet users or
toilet upgraders.

Integrating safely
managed sanitation
solutions into
community-led total
sanitation.

Promotion, skills andfinance.

Table 1: Summary of MaS! country approaches.

8

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Comparing country approaches can offer reflections on how countries have responded tocommon issues. This can guide programming in other countries facing similar concerns. Five
key lessons have been distilled from the MaS! experience so far.

Lesson 1
Sustainable and inclusive market growth requires addressing barriers to household
investment, such as a lack of supplier incentives, policy and regulatory issues, anda lack of access to finance.
UNICEF’s 2020 guidance on market-based sanitation provides good reasons why
development agencies choose to work on making sanitation markets work better for
people.3 Most sanitation improvements in lower-income countries are the result of
people investing their own resources to buy a toilet of their choice from a supplier. Many
sanitation markets, however, do not work well for poor consumers. Limited affordable
options are available at convenient locations, and it may be hard to find skilled labour toinstall one. Even if the components for a desirable toilet are available, buying a toilet may
not be a priority for a family due to cash flow and seasonal liquidity constraints. And local
government housing or sanitation regulations may not incentivize a household to build,use or empty a toilet, even if incentives exist on paper.
One of the key lessons learned across different sectors is that to make markets function
effectively, inclusively and sustainably, it is often necessary to take a holistic approachto market development. Early MaS! planning and reporting documents showed an initialemphasis on improving demand for toilets and ensuring products were available locally,
without addressing some of the more systemic constraints. This is a critical first step inall market-based sanitation programmes. Over time, however, the partnership evolved to
add last-mile distribution models and working on, for example, finance, policies, guidelines
and regulations.

Lesson 2
Public-private promotion – blending public health and private sales incentives –offers a smart way to create ongoing demand for sanitation.
Developing marketing or demand creation strategies that outlast short term donor-funded
projects is a key challenge in strengthening sanitation markets.4 It is well known thatwidespread use of toilets and the safe management of waste achieve public health goals.
This provides the rationale for governments to invest in building demand for sanitation.
Sanitation enterprises also invest in marketing and sales because they have an incentive
to break even and grow in the long term. Given there are both public health and private
enterprise benefits of a household investing in a toilet or sanitation services, there is anargument to be made for a shared investment into creating awareness and demand.5‘Public-private promotion’, a joint effort that leverages both public health incentives andprivate enterprise sales goals, is a promising approach seen in all MaS! country contexts,
albeit in different ways given the nature of the sanitation challenge in each country.

3

United Nations Children’s Fund, Guidance on Market-Based Sanitation, UNICEF, New York, 2020.

4

USAID, Scaling Market Based Sanitation: Desk review on market based rural sanitation development programmes,
USAID Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (WASHPaLS) Project,
Washington, DC, 2018.

5

USAID, Water, sanitation and hygiene partnerships and learning for sustainability final report, USAID WASHPaLS
Project, Washington, DC, 2023.

9

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Lesson 3
Reducing market fragmentation in both urban and rural contexts is key tostrengthening markets.
The supply chains for the construction and management of sanitation systems are
fragmented in most of the MaS! contexts, particularly in the four African countries.
MaS! countries have tested multiple approaches to connect rural consumers to sanitation
supply chains. This is in addition to mapping and creating links between consumer-facing
outlets, such as hardware stores and masons. They included working with sanitation
businesses and builders in Ethiopia and Nigeria, community health promoters in Kenya,and local government officials in Tanzania.
In contrast to the last-mile distribution challenges found in many rural African contexts,
products are generally more available in Indonesia and India. The challenge in thesecontexts is not connecting consumers to existing supply chains, but improving relationships
and reducing fragmentation among existing value-chain actors. For example, in Indonesia,a digital platform aims to overcome fragmentation by consolidating all actors along theentire sanitation value chain, such as local public health promoters, financial institutions,
suppliers of approved septic tanks, pit emptying businesses and local regulatory agencies.
In India, the approach to overcome fragmented value-chain actors is better described asconvergence with existing public financing and infrastructure, for example persuading
publicly funded self-help groups to add sanitation to their lending portfolios or creating links
between urban faecal sludge service providers with outlying rural consumers.

Lesson 4
Smart public finance can expand and sustain access to safe sanitation andstrengthen markets.
A 2020 report6 estimated an annual investment of US$105 billion will be needed to meet
SDG 6.2 by 2030. The typical response to the large investment costs is to point out thatneither public nor development partner funding will be sufficient to fill the gap and thatprivate sector investment will be needed. The opportunity to leverage private sector
investment is often one of the reasons why governments and their partners opt to support
market-based approaches to development challenges. Yet, in practice, commercial financeat scale has not materialized to date. Recent analysis showed that between 2017 and2019, only 1.5 per cent of all commercial finance – the equivalent of 2 per cent of thesector funding gap – mobilized globally was directed to water and sanitation.7 Advocating
different uses of existing public finance will thus be important to ensure everyone,
everywhere, has a safe toilet system to use.
The MaS! partnership has successfully influenced governments to use public sourcesof funding in ways that strengthen the sanitation market. Examples are setting up publiclines of credit for financial institutions to on-lend to consumers in India and Nigeria, andpromoting sanitation through public health messaging in Kenya and India that resulted inincreased household investments.

6

Hutton, Guy, and Mili Varughese, Global and Regional Costs of Achieving Universal Access to Sanitation to MeetSDG Target 6.2, UNICEF, New York, 2020.

7

World Water Council, Blended finance in the water sector, 2022. Accessed 29 January 2024: www.worldwatercouncil.
org/ sites/default/files/World_Water_Forum_09/WWC-Successful-Blended-Finance-Projects_WEB_EN.pdf

10

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Lesson 5
A more nuanced understanding of policy enablers or blockers is key to creating astable and well-functioning market.
In some places markets are not reaching their full potential due to affordability, lack of
information or other barriers. This is not because of a lack of demand, but because policies,
strategies, guidelines or laws do not support sanitation and hygiene markets. Over time,
the MaS! partnership countries have deepened their understanding of how policies,
guidelines, or bylaws support or inhibit sanitation markets processes and outputs. These
efforts can be understood as three types of intervention:lllSupport an enabler: This type of intervention supports the creation or revision of apolicy, strategy, law or guideline, enabling an inclusive and efficient sanitation market.
Most MaS! experience falls into this category. For example, India supported a state
government to develop a finance and retrofitting strategy which was not only usefulfor planning, but also helped to persuade a different government agency to provide aline of credit to self-help groups for sanitation.
Remove a policy blocker: This type of intervention advocates a change in rules that
inhibit sanitation market efficiencies and inclusivity. For example, advocacy in Ethiopia
for reduced taxes on imported sanitation goods is expected to contribute to sector
growth by removing restrictive policies on import taxes.
Sustain a gain: This type of intervention supports a new policy, strategy, law, etc.,that sustains something that has been proven to work. A good example of this typeof challenge is the Kitui County health bill in Kenya, which provides public monthly
stipends to community health promoters (CHPs) who advocate sanitation. It is built on
a positive, practical experience of leveraging the CHP structure and trusted relationships
in communities to promote and supply sanitation to rural consumers.

© UNICEF Ethiopia/2023/emissew Bizuwerk

Momina washes her hands with soap. UNICEF provides clean water in her school and to the community.
11

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Below is a summary of the five key lessons learned over the partnership so far. One of
the most important lessons has been the need to work beyond the supply and demand of
sanitation and hygiene products and services. The MaS! experiences build on the growing
body of evidence that programmes must address factors such as finance for consumers andbusinesses or the establishment of standards and regulations for product and service quality.
Much has been learned about how to promote sanitation skilfully using public and private
resources. Various strategies to overcome market fragmentation show that new solutions to
old problems are possible, such as connecting consumers to supply chains or consolidating
value-chain actors. Many sanitation market approaches focus on increasing commercial financein the sector. MaS! has shown that public sources of finance can also be directed to improve
how sanitation markets work, and such efforts are often more catalytic. MaS! has shown thatquick progress can be made when identifying and addressing specific rules that block, enable
or sustain changes.

1Work beyond supply
and demand of toilets

MaS! adds to the growing evidence base that to scaleand sustain access to toilets provided by the private
sector, initiatives must address issues such as consumer
and enterprise finance, policies and regulation.

2

Public-private
promotion of toilets isa smart way to co-invest
in creating demand‘Public-private promotion’, a joint effort that leverages
public health incentives and private business sales goals,
is a promising approach seen in all the MaS! countries.

3

Market fragmentation
can be overcome invarious ways

Market fragmentation can be overcome by connecting
rural consumers to supply chains, consolidating
value-chain actors, or by converging existing public
programmes.

4

Public finance can
expand and sustain
access to privately
supplied toilets

Finance does not just mean more commercial finance.
Public finance can expand and sustain access to toilets,from household subsidies and lines of credit fromfinancial institutions to payment for ongoing promotion.

5

Identifying andaddressing rules canlead to better functioning
sanitation markets

Rules (policies, bylaws, standards, etc.) can enable,
block or sustain changes. MaS! has shown that byidentifying and addressing them, sanitation markets
can operate more efficiently or inclusively.

Figure 1: Summary of lessons learned in the MaS! partnership

The MaS! partnership has shown how two organizations with different mandates can apply
their complementary strengths to enable people to build, upgrade or safely empty a toilet
in contexts as diverse as rural Kenya and urban Indonesia. Much work remains, however, toensure everyone, everywhere, uses a safe sanitation system by 2030. MaS! will continue
to push the boundaries of market strengthening and facilitate the exchange of experiences
and learning in the coming years. The box below provides some suggestions to other country
programmes or initiatives working to strengthen sanitation markets and accelerate progress
towards SDG target 6.2.

12

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Box 1
Strengthening sanitation markets: Incorporating lessons from MaS! into new orexisting sanitation market strengthening initiatives.
UNICEF provides comprehensive guidance8 on how to implement market-based sanitation
programmes. UNICEF’s recently released Game Plan to Reach Safely Managed Sanitation
provides information on how to support governments to reach SDG 6.2 by 2030. The
MaS! experience and lessons learned offer practical steps to support better functioning
sanitation markets.
Beyond supply and demand: Identify and address ‘what else’ beyond promoting anddistributing toilets would catalyse a more efficient and inclusive sanitation market, suchas interventions to strengthen finance, policies and skills.
Promotion: Identify public agencies and businesses that share common goals. Publicagencies engage in promoting sanitation, such as community health promoters, public
utilities and district health offices. Businesses, such as manufacturers, retailers, builders
or financial institutions, have an incentive to promote sanitation to sell their wares.
Brokering relationships between public agencies and private companies has been one
tactic MaS! has successfully employed to facilitate this ‘public-private promotion’.
Market fragmentation: Sanitation supply chains are fragmented in nearly all contexts.
Where last-mile distribution is the challenge, look for non-traditional actors who may
have an incentive and ability to promote and supply toilets alongside their other work.
In contexts where fragmentation among value-chain actors is the greatest problem,
experiment with strategies that incentivize collaboration, such as between manufacturers
and installers, financiers and retailers, or regulatory agencies and emptiers.
Public finance: Commercial finance has been slow to crowd into the sanitation market,
especially for poor rural consumers. A key lesson from MaS! has been the positive
experience of well targeted public finance to enhance private sector activity.
Rules that enable, block or sustain: Focus efforts on addressing rules that inhibit
efficient sanitation market performance, such as creating or updating policies, guidelines
or bylaws.
8

13

United Nations Children’s Fund, Guidance on Market-Based Sanitation, UNICEF, New York, 2020.

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Introduction
Overview of Make a Splash! partnership
An estimated 3.5 billion people live without safe toilets that
protect human and environmental health. That’s almost half
the global population. These figures come with a devastating
human cost. Each day, about 1,000 children under 5 diefrom diseases caused directly or indirectly by unsafe water,
sanitation and hand hygiene.
Launched in 2018, the ‘Make a Splash!’ (MaS!) partnership
between LIXIL and UNICEF combines the two organizations’complementary strengths to support progress towards
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 to ensure access towater and sanitation for all.
The MaS! partnership shows how businesses such as LIXIL can support governments toenable sanitation markets to accelerate progress towards achieving SDG 6.2, to achieve accessto adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation by 2030. In
just three years, MaS! helped improve sanitation and hygiene for 2.9 million people in Ethiopia,
Kenya and Tanzania. Building on the success of the partnership, the scope expanded in 2022 toreach children and families in six countries by including India, Indonesia and Nigeria, enabling
access to sanitation and hygiene for an additional 9.8 million people by the end of 2023.

© UNICEF Ethiopia/2023/Demissew Bizuwerk

Both Saada and Hana want to be a doctor for two different reasons. While Saada’s says doctor help
pregnant women to have a baby, Hana believes doctors primary role is to help sick people.
14

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

The impact of five years of MaS!

12.7 million
people have been reached withsanitation and hygiene services

CONSUMER FINANCING$4.9
milliondisbursed

supporting

255,887

through37

people throughpartnerships withgovernments andfinancial
institutions

financingmechanisms

POLICY

GOVERNMENT FINANCING

43

policyinstruments
have been
supported$2.2 millionof government budget has been leveraged

DATA

21
government
data systems
have beenstrengthened

CAPACITY738,517

stakeholders have received training15

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Results Area 1: Improved supply and demand of sanitation and hygiene
products and services
The sale and installation of SATO products have made a significant contribution to the resultsof this partnership. Several countries build on community-led total sanitation interventions
that look to trigger communities to take ownership of their sanitation challenges and ensure
everyone in the community is using an improved toilet, so excreta are safely removed fromhuman exposure. With this increased demand, efforts are made to ensure a steady supply
chain of human-centred products, such as SATO Pans, Stools and Taps, are available andconveniently found. Once people are triggered to want to give up open defecation practices
or use of unimproved (unsafe) latrines, they either construct their own toilets or enlist the
support of a mason to do it for them. If they are unable to afford these products and services,the partnership makes sure loans are available.
Schools and health-care facilities are provided with gender-segregated, disability-friendly toilets
using desirable products such as SATO Pans to serve as a model of affordable options for thecommunity to emulate and the government to replicate in other areas. Since there is a riskof contact with excreta when using the toilet, hygiene behaviour change is a critical part ofthe programme.

Results Area 2: Leveraging finance and funding to the sanitation andhygiene sector
UNICEF works through government structures, which involves supplying financial and technicalassistance to government-led sanitation campaigns. Technical assistance is supplied to help
governments function more efficiently and equitably by supporting their ‘systems’.
Part of this is to advocate an increase in finance and funding for the sanitation and hygiene
sector. In the past five years, MaS! has helped to direct over US$2 million from government
budgets to sanitation and hygiene improvements. Additionally, 37 financing mechanisms
have been made available to support sanitation and hygiene products and services by thispartnership. For example, colleagues in Indonesia have worked with the government agency
responsible for Islamic social funds in East Lombok to commit 1 billion rupiah (approximately
US$64,000) towards the improvement and construction of toilets and sealed septic tanks thatwill deliver safely managed sanitation services for many poor households. In Kenya, focused
advocacy has resulted in three counties signing a combined commitment of KES140 million(US$887,000) towards county sanitation and hygiene budgets. In Nigeria, the MaS! supported
the Bauchi state government to first commit and then release ₦49,585,000 (approximately
US$54,000) as matching funds under a pooled funds mechanism to provide toilet businessowners (TBOs) with loans for business expansion and working capital so they can continue
to provide household latrine construction and pit emptying services. In Ethiopia, the MaS!
partnership, along with other sector partners, have continued to advocate a tax exemption(or reduction) on selected imported sanitation products, including SATO products, as well as
making sanitation a defined loanable item within the national bank portfolios.

16

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Results Area 3: Strengthening sanitation and hygiene markets throughconsumer finance, customer responsive products and establishingconsumer demand
MaS! has helped users access sanitation as a result of financing mechanisms, resulting in nearly
US$5 million in loans facilitated to households, rightsholder groups or businesses through thispartnership. For example, in India, this has meant easing links between state governments andconsumer finance providers such as banks, microfinance institutions, self-help groups and civilsociety organizations. In Indonesia, the partnership helped develop credit schemes for households
purchasing or constructing septic tanks, in partnership with a local bank, village-owned
enterprises and micro-finance institutions. In Kenya, households used the innovative ‘transactional
ledger’ banking app to formalize their previously informal ‘table banking’ methods, allowing
them to qualify for banking loans. For example, the Gatunga Community Group in Kitui County
has used the transactional ledger as a group savings mechanism, allowing participants to invest
in improving their toilets while using their proceeds to save towards a community soap-making
business. In Nigeria, MaS! supported TBOs to qualify as guarantors for households that wanted totake out loans from microfinance institutions to build or improve their household toilet systems.
TBOs were also able to borrow from the facility to support business activities, such as obtaining
stocks of SATO products to promote and sell in their communities. In Ethiopia, while continuing
to advocate sanitation loans as part of the national bank loan portfolio, MaS! has partnered with
FINISH Mondial to engage with local microfinance institutions and small local financial institutions,such as SACCOS, to offer sanitation loans.
The MaS! partnership has made considerable progress in making consumer-responsive
sanitation and hygiene products available where they are needed. In India, where the challenge
is ensuring waste from pit latrines is safely managed, focus was put on faecal sludge
management for rural households, ensuring masons are trained and supplies are available forretrofitting toilets, so they have a second pit to use when the first pit fills up. In support ofthis, UNICEF organized a meeting for retailers to learn about SATO products and overcome
supply chain issues in target geographies. In a similar vein, they supported one-stop shops
for consumers to get information and enlist support on toilet improvements. Operated andmanaged by women’s self-help groups, the clinics allow visitors to get information on toilet
designs and product options, as well as a list of trusted service providers who supply a rangeof services, such as installation, retrofitting, cleaners, product suppliers and trainers.

Toilet rims and slabs fitted with SATO pans. Toilet business owners (TBOs) are innovating and building smart
toilets that are easy to install. TBO, Lukman Abubakar now makes concrete rims and slabs fitted with SATO pansused for making smart toilets in Tilden Fulani, Toro LGA Bauchi state, Nigeria.
17

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening© UNICEF/UN0800154/Apochi Owoicho

Toilet businessowner, Lukman
Abubakar, said
“these toilets areeasy to install andcan be ready foruse quickly.”In Indonesia, an investigation showed widespread confusion about the role of a septic tank,making them a key weakness in the safely managed sanitation chain. This led to improperly
constructed septic tanks, limited demand for desludging services and low use of the treatment
plant. MaS! helped improve the compliance of septic tank standards to enhance public healthprotection, including a consultation with local manufacturers and masons to ensure they areaware of the standards and able to adhere to them.
In Nigeria, several options of affordable household sanitation systems were made available byTBOs, including facilities for people with mobility disabilities and those living in difficult terrains.
Some TBOs have become registered suppliers of SATO products, including SATO Pans, SATO
Stools and SATO Taps, and some established one-stop shops to improve information andpromotion of options to consumers. They also worked to improve the availability of affordable
pit emptying services, as many household toilet pits are already filled, making sanitation
systems temporarily unavailable. Pit emptiers were trained and equipped with the righttools and equipment to safely empty pits. The partnership worked closely with government
environmental protection agencies to ensure regulated service standards were adhered to andpublic health was being maintained.
In Tanzania, the partnership helped to strengthen supply chains of sanitation and hygiene
products, working closely with distributors and retailers. Where retailers do not yet exist, MaS!
worked with local government administrations, artisans and WASH entrepreneurs to function as
distributors and retailers, ensuring products were available where there was demand.
In Ethiopia, following an exchange visit by national and sub-national government stakeholders
to Kitui in Kenya, MaS! has been exploring partnerships with existing last-mile structures, suchas the Ministry of Women, Labor and Social Affairs and the Food Security and Productive Safety
Net Programme.

© UNICEF/UNI539871

Bi. Salama Ramadhan Ameir, an esteemed Community Health Volunteer (CHV) of Pangawe District, engages
in a discussion with a community member about the importance of hygiene and sanitation in the household
while holding a SATO pan. CHV are the backbone of addressing healthcare challenges and bolstering community
well-being across Zanzibar.
18

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

MaS! has undertaken various activities to raise consumer demand. In India, over 300,000
women members of self-help groups were reached through communication efforts to makethem more aware of the various loan and sanitation products available. In Indonesia, MaS!
focused on safely managed sanitation services in public places – 101 markets were surveyed,
and recommendations were put forward to national and sub-national governments on publicprivate partnership business models that can work with the private sector to improve sanitation
conditions in public markets.
MaS! worked with government stakeholders to pilot several of these PPP business models
and create an implementation plan for regular desludging of public toilets in public markets. In
Kenya, the installation of demonstration toilets in institutional settings and other public spaces,such as schools, health-care facilities, markets, churches and bus terminals, raised awarenessof improved toilet systems, including those fitted with SATO products. And events such as
Kenya Sanitation Week, Global Hand-washing Day and World Toilet Day were used to raiseawareness for sanitation, hand hygiene and diarrheal disease prevention, engaging with 191,190
people in nine counties.
The same took place in Nigeria, where MaS! engaged with a local NGO called Toilet Pride, which
engaged directly with communities in markets and public places and through announcement
vehicles to spread the word and put sanitation at the forefront of people’s minds so sales agentsand TBOs can follow up by offering their services. Community leaders and Emirs instituted local
by-laws that prohibit open defecation, further driving sanitation business activity.
In Tanzania, MaS! took a similar approach by raising demand through community-led total
sanitation activities and supporting the supply chain of SATO and other products to reachcommunities. The youth and community entrepreneurs were engaged to go door-to-door selling
products for a small commission.

Results Area 4: Strengthening policy and governance, data and information,and capacity development systems
MaS! worked at the systems level in all countries to support the government to deliver
universal access to safely managed sanitation. In all, the partnership supported 43 national andlocal government policy instruments (i.e. guidelines, action plans, private sector inclusive SOPs)
to strengthen delivery of sanitation and hygiene services. In India, the partnership supported
the state governments of Bihar and Odisha to develop policy and strategy documents to deliversafely managed sanitation for all, including a strategy for retrofitting single pit toilets to twinpits so households can manage and treat their waste on site, municipal waste treatment plant
policies and guidelines, consumer credit procedures, and hygiene strategies and roadmaps.
Equally significant, the partnership supported the development of a government strategy tolink rural households to urban sanitation services, dubbed the ‘urban-rural convergence’. This
included helping the government to set up steering committees to oversee implementationand monitoring in 30 districts and 244 blocks, issuing state-level guidance to lower levelsof government on signing of memorandums of understanding between rural and urban
government departments, and the digitalization of service requisitions for desludging services
covering 4.7 million urban and rural households.
In Indonesia, MaS! supported the government to develop a safely managed sanitation roadmap, which helped to formally establish a target of 60 million Indonesians with access to safely
managed sanitation services by 2030 in the government’s national medium-term development
plan (2025–2029). At the sub-national level, the partnership advocated greater prioritizationof sanitation in the development agenda, which contributed to the issuance of nine local
regulations on desludging of septic tanks and standard operating procedures that can be
enforced. In one city, the mayor instituted a sanitation tariff that will be used to fund desludging
services for all residents, while engaging with septic tank manufacturers to ensure products
adhere to official standards and procedures and public health is maintained. Meanwhile, the19

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

partnership supported the establishment of an association of private desludging businesses
to help formalize their operations and encourage proper disposal of waste at the treatment
plant. Also unique to the Indonesia programme, MaS! supported the development of a mobile
and web one-stop shop platform that connects businesses and households with a full range ofapproved products and services needed to deliver safely managed sanitation, including payment
options and data collection features. The platform, which has the potential to serve 6 million
people, is tailored by each district to suit their local context and is operated and maintained bya relevant local institution, based on mutual agreement.
In Kenya, MaS! supported the approval, launch and dissemination of the Rural Sanitation andHygiene Protocol, implementation guidelines and monitoring framework, and the Costed Kenya
Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Roadmap 2023–2030. In Nigeria, the partnership supported the
Bauchi state government to develop and issue guidelines for the safe removal, transportationand disposal of faecal sludge from toilets. In Tanzania, the partnership supported thegovernment to develop and finalize regional and district strategies to attain open-defecationfree status, while supporting the development of the third phase of the national sanitation
campaign. In Ethiopia, the partnership was successful in advocating safely managed sanitation
being included in the Total Sanitation to End Open Defecation and Urination Ethiopia 2030
campaign, led by the Prime Minister’s office, and a national SMS protocol has been drafted withclear indicators and steps for implementation.
Strengthening data and information systems is crucial if governments are to build trust throughinformation exchanges for decision making, incentivization and accountability. In all, thepartnership established or strengthened 21 data and information systems for the sanitationand hygiene sector. In India, this meant the creation of a web and mobile application to map
and monitor the sanitation status of over 200,000 households in Bihar, improving management
information for advocacy and decision making. In Indonesia, this has meant merging existing
local government databases with the one-stop shop platform to ensure pre-existing data areused. This required long and often intense discussions with both central and local governments
to come to a common understanding on sanitation indicators for monitoring and theirdefinitions. In Kenya, the partnership supported the establishment and training of seven county
sanitation monitoring hubs to support a national roll-out of an enhanced national sanitationand hygiene real-time monitoring system. In Nigeria, the partnership supported government
partners to collect relevant data, update the WASH Information Management System and meet
regularly to review targets against progress. The WASH Information Management System hasenabled partners to effectively monitor sanitation improvement programmes, address issues
and plan future investments to close gaps in coverage. MaS! supported similar interventions tostrengthen national monitoring systems in Tanzania and Ethiopia.
MaS! also focused on building inclusive human and institutional capacities, resulting in 738,517
stakeholders receiving training to support monitoring, implementation or design of SMS
systems. This took various forms. The partnership in India trained self-help group members
on financing for sanitation investments, expert trainers to train masons in retrofitting toilets,
sanitation workers in setting up and operating solid and liquid waste management units, plus
many government stakeholders at state, district, block, urban local body and Gram Panchayat
levels. In Indonesia, it was training of manufacturers and construction businesses on meetingsafely managed sanitation standards, the setting up of a mentorship programme between
desludging businesses in Bekasi City and Lumajang district, and organizing field visits for city
authorities to learn from each other. Similarly, in Kenya, public health officers, community
health promoters, artisans and youths were trained on sanitation marketing, monitoring,
implementation and design of SMS systems. And in Nigeria, the partnership provided training
and on-the-job mentoring for state task groups on sanitation and stakeholders of the rural
water supply and sanitation agencies, who in turn cascade what they learned to lower levels ofgovernment and community structures.

20

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Looking back: How has MaS! contributed to strengthened
sanitation markets?
After five years of implementing the MaS! partnership, LIXIL and UNICEF want to document thedifferent market-based sanitation9 approaches in each country and draw out the lessons learned
about sanitation market development across the partnership. The overall research question
guiding this exercise was: ‘How has MaS! contributed to strengthened sanitation markets?’
The analytical framework employed to answer the question is based on the market
development approach.10 A market development approach explicitly considers factors beyond
supply and demand that affect how, in this case, a sanitation market works. Rather thanaddress other factors such as finance, information or rules directly, such approaches aim tostimulate changes in the behaviours of private, public and civil society actors performing key
market functions (i.e. marketing/promotion, finance, policies) that enable the ongoing provisionof sanitation goods and services. Lastly, this approach considers the roles of not just sanitationenterprises, but also the important roles that public and civil society organizations may play incontributing to sustained provision of sanitation goods and services. A sanitation market canbe considered to have been strengthened when one or more of the functions necessary for
ongoing service delivery have been improved. A generic theory of change for this approach isshown in Figure 2 and forms the overarching approach to the assessment, which sought tounderstand which sanitation market functions were important to address in each context andhow they have been addressed through the MaS! partnership.

Improved health,wealth and dignity

Women, men and children use and benefit fromsafely managed sanitation

Improved accessto safe sanitation
optionsMore people – and more poor and disadvantaged
people – have access to safely managed
sanitation options

Sanitation market
change(R&D, promotion, distribution, skills, finance, policies,
information)

MaS!
interventions(R&D, promotion, distribution, skills development, finance,
policies, information)

Key functions in sanitation market improved

Activities target improving key market functions

Figure 2: Theory of change for sanitation market development

9

UNICEF defines market-based sanitation as “an approach to improve sanitation in a country by building thesanitation market of goods and services for which the customer makes a full or partial monetary contribution (withsavings and/or cash equivalents) towards the purchase, construction, upgrade, and/or maintenance of their toilet
from the private sector.”

10 The Springfield Centre, The Operational Guide for the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) Approach, 2ndedition funded by SDC and DFID, 2014. Accessed here on 1 January 2024.
21

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengtheningTo understand the different approaches to sanitation market strengthening taken across six
countries, an analytical framework was developed to distil the customer, approach and key
functions prioritized and addressed through the MaS! partnership (see Figure 3).
The methodology used included a document review (e.g. partnership reports, monitoring
data, presentations, memorandums of understanding, etc.) and semi-structured key informant
interviews with LIXIL and UNICEF staff involved in implementing the partnership in eachcountry and managing the partnership at regional and headquarter levels. Information presented
covers the period 2018–2022, so it may omit key activities undertaken in 2023 and reflects only
the experience and perceptions of LIXIL and UNICEF staff during that time.

What’s theapproach?

Who’s theconsumer?
How has MaS!
contributed
to strengthened
sanitation markets?

Which market
functions havebeen addressed?

Figure 3: Analytical framework employed to distil approaches in each country22

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Country approaches to strengthen
sanitation markets© UNICEF Kenya/2023/MarkDenver Karubiu

The maps on the country pages within this section are stylized and not to scale. They do not reflect a position by
UNICEF on the legal status of any country, or area, or the delamination of any frontiers.
23

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Ethiopia
2022–2023 Results
Sanitation

Policies

836,100

people gained access tosanitation through SATO and other products (472,680
through a new subsidy and 363,420 through market-based
sanitation).

9

national
and local government
policy instruments were
supported by UNICEF.

Finance

SATO sales

6

72,684SATO Pans were sold.

financingmechanisms or products
were made available toconsumers through thispartnership.

Hygiene150,000
people gained accessto basic hand hygiene.
© UNICEF Ethiopia/2023/Demissew Bizuwork“It’s been three months since I started using the SATO pan. It doesn’t smell, there are no flies, and I am nolonger afraid to send my children to use the toilet,” says Misra Mohammed Abdi. Misra is happy with the change
she sees in the community. With the help of health workers, the community in the Kassa Oromia and Awdal
kebeles (sub-districts) of the Oromia region has successfully become open defecation-free (ODF).
24

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Background and market assessment
summary
Figure 4: Household sanitation service
levels in Ethiopia – 2022

Open defecation 17.64%
Unimproved 64.54%
Limited 8.49%
Basic 2.22%© UNICEF Ethiopia/2023/Demissew Bizuwork

Safely managed 7.22%

Ethiopia was selected as one of the first three
MaS! partnership countries in 2018. As the second
largest African country with a population of
123 million people,11 Ethiopia has reduced open
defecation considerably since 2000, resulting inmost people having access to an unimproved12
toilet (see Figure 4).13 The key sanitation
challenge in Ethiopia is supporting people tomove from an unimproved toilet (i.e. one that
does not have a slab or covered drop hole)
to safely managed sanitation, which protects
human and environmental health.
Market analysis14 conducted in 2019 confirmed
progress towards reducing open defecation has been
impressive, but moving people beyond access to
unimproved sanitation facilities has been a challenge
despite a well-developed network of health extension
workers. In rural areas, most households built a
pit toilet with their own resources but reported
dissatisfaction with odours from uncovered pits
and worry about small children using the toilet.
People further reported a willingness to build upon
investments already made in their facilities, but they
are constrained by limited affordable options available
locally and liquidity at certain times of the year.
The supply side of sanitation goods and services
can be summarized as limited product choice,marketing and aggregation, particularly in rural areas.
The suppliers that do exist, such as wholesalers,
pan and slab producers and manufacturers of othercomponents, operate independently of each otherand exhibit minimal coordination.

The key sanitation
challenge in Ethiopia is
supporting people tomove from an unimproved
toilet to safely managed
sanitation.

Ethiopia is unique among the MaS! partnershipcountries in its barriers to import and restrictive
foreign direct investment policies, both of which havediscouraged the entry of new products and new
domestic manufacturers. Further supply-side growthis thus constrained by the high cost of importing
raw materials, which can triple the price of imported
goods and restrictions on access to foreign currency
and repatriation of profits

Abduraman Kebede in his sanitation shop,
which sells SATO pans, sanitary pads, soap,
and other WASH supplies for the community.
11 Population, total | Data (worldbank.org).
12	The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) defines anunimproved toilet as one without a slab or platform, hanging latrines or bucket latrines.
13	JMP (washdata.org).
14 Aguaconsult, Sanitation market analysis in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, 2019. Unpublished.
25

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Sanitation market system strengthening in Ethiopia
Table 2 summarizes the findings from the analysis, including who the consumer is, what theapproach is and which market functions have been addressed.
Who is the consumer?

Rural households with an unimproved toilet.

What is the approach?

Rural supply chain strengthening.

Which market functions
have been addressed?

Skills – Rural sanitation businesses have received training
on how to manufacture concrete slabs and install SATO
Pans and how to operate a sanitation business.
Promotion – Training has been provided to rural businesses
and health extension workers on how to market sanitation
effectively.
Finance – Seed stocking for rural sanitation businesses andinclusion of sanitation in existing public subsidy programme.
Advocacy – Persuading the government to consider tax
exemptions for sanitation products and for sanitation to be
designated a priority lending sector.

Table 2: Summary of sanitation market system strengthening in Ethiopia

The MaS! partnership in Ethiopia’s approach
can be described as rural supply chain
strengthening. In practice, this has meant
working on a variety of market functions sorural businesses can supply a wider range of
products to rural consumers.
l

l

26

Technical and business management
skills for sanitation businesses. Over the
past five years, the MaS! partnership has
worked with local government authorities,
existing public training institutes andother development partners to identify
and support new or existing businesses
to improve their abilities to manufacture
and market their products – 448 people
associated with over 80 sanitation
businesses throughout the country havereceived such training.
Promotion of safe sanitation options.
In addition to the training provided to rural
sanitation businesses, health extension
workers – a key source of general healthinformation for rural populations – received
training and information on how to promote
safe sanitation options. Furthermore,
LIXIL continues to conduct marketing andawareness raising sessions to complement
the marketing efforts of businesses andhealth extension workers.

llFinance – Supply chain financing andinclusion of sanitation for existing
public subsidy recipients. Working capitalremains a constraint for rural businesses,
and this is exacerbated by the high cost ofimporting affordable sanitation solutions
such as the SATO Pan. Seed stock of SATO
Pans has been provided to rural businesses
as current import restrictions have rendereddevelopment of a commercial supply
chain challenging. In addition, the MaS!
partnership supported the Governmentof Ethiopia to implement an updated
sanitation subsidy protocol, which led tothe inclusion of SATO Pans in an existing
government subsidy programme for poor
urban households.
Advocacy for tax exemption andrecognition of sanitation as a priority
lending sector. Reducing the costs ofsanitation products and stimulating greater
investment by the financial sector are
expected to lead to greater investment
in safe sanitation by households. Thus, a
key area of work over the past three years
has been to build the evidence base for
reduced taxes on imported sanitation goods
and to advocate ministerial recognition ofsanitation as a priority lending sector, whichis expected to lead to greater investment by
the financial services sector.

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

India2022–2023 Results
Sanitation

Policies

1,570,948

people gained accessto at least basic sanitation indirectly through strategicinterventions with Bihar and Odisha governments, including
1,291,662 who gained access to safely managed sanitation.

12

state
government policy
instruments were
supported by UNICEF.

Micro-loans
Hygiene1,429,590
people gained accessto basic hand hygiene.

US$2,940,000
was lent to 118,153 customers.

Government funding leveraged

US$816,460
from state
governments for capacity building and incentives
for local groups.

© UNICEF/India/2023

Children at the Dr. Isac Santara Balniketan centre in Sambalpur, Odisha, India, are washing their hands in thepresence of a LIXIL representative.
27

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Background and market assessment
summary
Figure 5: Household sanitation service
levels in India – 2022

Open defecation 11.10%
Limited 10.51%
Basic 26.25%© UNICEF/India/2023

Safely managed 52.14%

Supply chains for
sanitation goods andservices are generally
well developed, and awide range of products
can be found throughout
the country.

India was added to the MaS! partnership in
the second phase. By far the largest country
in the MaS! partnership with a population of
1.4 billion people, India made impressive gains
in ending open defecation under the Swacch
Bharat Mission (SBM), a national governmentled sanitation initiative from 2014 to 2019 (seeFigure 4).15 Although regional differences persist,the current sanitation challenge in India canbe summed up as converting single pit toilets
to twin pits to enable the safe management ofwastes on site.
Data from 201916 showed that 180 million rural
households in India have toilets that are notconnected to a sewerage system. Of those 180
million facilities, 27 per cent are twin pit toilets thatcan manage faecal sludge onsite by using a second
pit when the first one fills; 26 per cent are connected
to septic tanks that require emptying, transportationand final treatment of faecal sludge off site; and 47
per cent are single pit toilets that need to be emptied
and managed offsite, which implies significant
investment and operational costs, or converted totwin pits to enable onsite management.
Supply chains for sanitation goods and services
are generally well developed, and a wide rangeof products can be found throughout the country.
Although the first phase of the government sanitation
initiative included a financial incentive for households
to construct a toilet, the second phase does notinclude additional household subsidies, as the focus
is more on households to repair or retrofit a single pit
to a twin pit toilet. Alternative sources of financing
will be important to identify and direct towards
sanitation.

Jayanti Andhua, a female mason from
Kuturabadi village, receiving retrofitting training
in her village, located near the Niladungri
Panchayat in Sambalpur, Odisha, India.

15 JMP (washdata.org).
16	A separate market assessment was not conducted for India, but MaS! program programme documents provide a
succinct overview of the situation.

28

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Sanitation market system strengthening in India
Table 3 summarizes the findings from the analysis including who the consumer is, what theapproach is and which market functions have been addressed.
Who is the consumer?

Rural households in Bihar and Odisha states needing torepair or retrofit a single pit toilet to a twin pit toilet.

What is the approach?

Supporting government retrofitting campaigns.

Which market functions
have been addressed?

Research and development – Consumer feedback into
new and existing sanitation products.
Promotion – Contribution to public awareness campaigns,
testing ‘toilet clinics’ and working with financial institutions
and self-help groups to share information.
Finance – Leveraging existing public sources of funding andmicrofinance institutions to lend for toilet upgrading.
Skills – Masons have received technical training on how toconvert single pits, and government officials have received
training on how to design, manage and monitor faecal
sludge management (FSM) initiatives.
Policy – State-level support to develop new policies specificto faecal sludge management.
Advocacy – Persuading the state and local levelgovernments to prioritise retrofitting.

Table 3: Summary of sanitation market system strengthening in India© UNICEF/India/2023

Establishing a cohort of skilled masons dedicated to providing WASH services wherever community needs arise.
29

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

The MaS! partnership in India targets
consumers in need of repairing or retrofitting asingle pit toilet to a twin pit toilet in 13 districtsin the states of Odisha and Bihar. The second
phase of government-led Swachh Bharat
Mission (SBM 2) is focused on sustained useof toilets and faecal sludge management, andthus, the MaS! partnership approach in India
can be described as supporting the government
retrofitting campaign. To do this, several key
market functions have been targeted.
lll

upgrades and second pits. MaS! has
persuaded an existing government
programme for women’s livelihoods tolend to self-help groups for sanitation in
Odisha. In Bihar, the programme worked
with microfinance institutions to provide
information and finance for toilet upgrades.
lResearch and development grounded inuser experience. Collaboration between
LIXIL and UNICEF in India led to important
product design modification to respond to
customer preferences by adding footrests
to the existing SATO Pan product.
Promotion of toilet retrofitting. Providing
information on why and how a second
pit is needed has meant working withvarious institutions in India. This has
included contributions to public awarenesscampaigns, testing ‘toilet clinics’ in Bihar –which are one-stop shops for information
on why and how to add a second pit, toilet
components and construction services –and working with financial institutions andself-help groups to persuade consumers
to upgrade their toilets.
Finance for toilet retrofitting. Given
the SBM 2 programme does not include
a similar household incentive payment,households are responsible for financingl

Skills to adapt single pits and to manage
FSM initiatives. Converting single pits
to twin pits requires upskilling and evenmore so if using new products unfamiliar
to masons. As part of the government
retrofitting campaign, masons havereceived technical training on how toconvert single pits to twin pits. In addition,
as the shift from ending open defecation
under SBM 1 to ensuring safely managed
sanitation under SBM 2 is underway,
government officials at various levels ofstate government have been trained on
how to design, manage and monitor FSM
initiatives.
Policies in place to support FSM.
With the shift in focus from ending open
defecation to safely managed sanitation,state government partners in Odisha andBihar were supported to develop key sector
documents to enable safely managed
sanitation. This included a financing andretrofitting strategy in Odisha, as well asa state level safely managed sanitation
strategy, hand hygiene strategy and faecal
sludge management policy brief in Bihar.

30

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening© UNICEF/India/2023

The MaS!
partnership in India
targets consumers
in need of repairingand retrofitting asingle pit toilet toa twin pit toilet.

Indonesia
2022–2023 Results
Sanitation

Policies

442,876

people gained access toat least basic sanitation at both households and in public
places, including 318,950 who gained access to safely
managed sanitation.

11

national
and local government
policy instruments were
supported by UNICEF.

Finance
Products

12
consumer-driven
sanitation and hygiene
products were madeaccessible by thispartnership.

6

financing mechanisms or products were madeaccessible by this partnership, 321 users were able to accessthem, and a total of US$10,000 was disbursed.

Data

7
Seven data and information systems were
strengthened.
© UNICEF/UNI473433/Chair

Sanitary workers from UPT PALD (Unit Pelaksana Teknis Pengelolaan Air Limbah Domestik) and IPLT (Instalasi
Pengolah Lumpur Tinja) Lumajang, pose in front of a fecal sludge truck.
31

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Background and market assessment
summary
Indonesia joined the MaS! partnership in thesecond phase. With a population of 275 million
people, its primary sanitation challenge is toensure the safe management of faecal sludge,
as nearly 90 per cent of people are classified ashaving basic sanitation17 (see Figure 6).18
Market analysis was conducted in seven regionsof Indonesia in 2020.19 Although important regionalvariations were documented, there were several
consistent findings that have informed the MaS!
approach in Indonesia. For example, across income
levels, most people own and use a toilet andseptic tank and express high levels of satisfaction
with both. However, only 12.5 per cent of households
surveyed in the analysis using septic tanks have
emptied the septage and most households believethat their septic tank does not require emptying
due to a misperception of what ‘safe’ sanitationmeans. Households prioritize price, comfort andcleanliness when building a toilet and septic tank,
not preventive maintenance, pollution prevention
or regulatory compliance.
No public, private or community group was reported
to be providing correct and actionable information
on what safe sanitation is and how and why ahousehold could comply with it. And although theassessment mentions the potential of financial
institutions developing specific lending products
for safe sanitation, there appeared to be limited
involvement of the financial sector to date.
Constructing a toilet and septic tank is not perceived
to be difficult as the products and services needed
are mostly available throughout the country. Builders
and suppliers of construction inputs such as concreterings, however, have an incorrect perception ofwhat constitutes a safe septic tank. They are under
the impression that a good septic tank is the onethat does not need to be regularly emptied, leading
to many being built without a sealed and watertightbottom, contributing to environmental pollution,
limited pit emptying and lack of compliance with
the National Indonesian Standard for septic tanks.
The problem is not necessarily with the technicalcapabilities of masons, contractors, producers
and service providers, but more in their lack ofunderstanding of access to safely managed sanitation

Figure 6: Household sanitation service
levels in Indonesia – 2022

Open defecation 4.19%
Unimproved 1.08%
Limited 6.57%
Basic 88.16%

and its required specifications.
Although both public and private pit
emptying service providers appear toexist in most localities, there is limited
coordination among businesses thatprovide construction services andthose that offer emptying services.
Many cities and districts alreadyhave regulations that requirehouseholds to use standardized
septic tanks and conduct regular pit
emptying, in addition to requiring
pit emptying service providers to belicensed and dispose of waste at atreatment plant. To date, these have
yet to be implemented as compliancestrategies to persuade households
to construct tanks that comply withnational standards and ensure theirtanks are regularly emptied. Andif pit emptying tariffs do exist, they
are not based on full cost recovery,
but simply determined by local
government regulations.

17 JMP figures differ from Indonesia’s Central Bureau of Statistics, which reported in 2018 that 74.5 per cent ofIndonesians have access to improved sanitation. Additional data from the National Development Planning Agency
states that 7.4 per cent of the population has access to safely managed sanitation and 9.4 per cent still practice
open defecation.
18 JMP (washdata.org).
19 The Nielsen company Indonesia, Market assessment of safely managed sanitation in Indonesia, 2019. Unpublished.
32

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Sanitation market system strengthening in Indonesia
Table 4 summarizes the findings from the analysis including who the consumer is, what theapproach is and which market functions have been addressed.
Who is the consumer?

Urban or peri-urban households with non-compliant septictank or in need of emptying services.

What is the approach?

Bundling safely managed sanitation services into a digitalplatform.

Which market functions
have been addressed?

Information on what constitutes a safe, compliant septictank for private companies, including individual sanitation
entrepreneurs.
Promotion of safe sanitation options by public healthworkers and sales agents.
Finance – New financial product development and digital
payment options including use of a digital platform.
Regulation – Local government regulations on domestic
wastewater management and desludging tariffs.
Monitoring – Using the digital platform to register wherecompliant products have been installed and when pit
emptying occurs.

Table 4: Summary of sanitation market system strengthening in Indonesia© UNICEF/UNI473304/Chair

A worker installs a toilet in Wonokerto Village, Lumajang, East Java.
33

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengtheningBased on the overall sanitation situation andthe findings from the market assessment, the
MaS! partnership in Indonesia targets urban
or peri-urban households in five regions ofIndonesia (Bekasi, East Lombok, Lumajang,
Semarang and West Sumbawa) with faecal
sludge management challenges. It does thisby developing a digital platform that bundles
safely managed sanitation services provided
by a range of private and public actors,
including septic tank suppliers, builders, pit
emptiers, financial institutions, public healthworkers and local government officials.
At the time of analysis, the digital platform
was still under development, but several key
market functions have been addressed by the
MaS! partnership to date.
l

l

34

Information on safely managed
sanitation for private enterprises – howto comply with government standards.
Given the pervasive misunderstanding ofwhat safe sanitation is and how to achieve
it, an important first function to address
was to provide information to septic tankmanufacturers on current Indonesian
government standards for complying withsafe sanitation and the implications fortheir product offering to households. The
Mas! partnership provided this information
to manufacturers, resulting in the local
government in Bekasi certifying these
suppliers as government compliant, thus
facilitating their participation in the digitalplatform.
Regulations for safe sanitation. To
operationalize the platform, another key
function addressed by the partnershiphas been local government wastewater
regulations. Progress in Bekasi, Lumajang
and West Sumbawa has resulted in thecompletion of the local government’s
wastewater regulations and updated
desludging tariff calculations, both important
inputs to shift consumer behaviour towards
safely managed sanitation.

l

l

l

Promotion of safe sanitation options tohouseholds. The limited understanding ofIndonesian consumers of safe sanitationand how to achieve it will require asustained promotional effort by both publichealth promoters and private companies’
sales agents. As revealed by the market
analysis, increased knowledge on safe
sanitation must be accompanied byinformed sanitation options available tohouseholds to ensure demand creation forsafe sanitation. The digital platform offers avehicle for sales agents to provide relevant
information to potential consumers.
Finance for compliant septic tankconstruction. Upgrading an existing,non-compliant septic tank to one thatmeets Indonesian standards will requirehousehold investment. At least fourbanks and village-owned enterprises
have developed a customized lending
product for such upgrades and is includedin the digital platform. Additionally, theplatform offers potential customers theability to pay digitally, potentially reducing
transaction costs and increasing customer
convenience. The lending is also available
for local sanitation entrepreneurs to enlarge
their businesses.
Monitoring of safely managed sanitation.
The lack of reliable information at local
government level on safely managed
sanitation limits the ability to plan
investments and measure progress. The
digital platform is expected to provide
useful data to government authorities on
locations of government-compliant septic
tanks as well as pit emptying services.

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Kenya2022–2023 Results
Sanitation

Policies

534,719

people gained access toat least basic sanitation in seven counties through thispartnership, including 461,986 who gained access to safely
managed sanitation.

SATO
sales

111,610SATO products

have been bought
and installed since
2018 through thispartnership.

Hygiene207,682
or more people gained
access to basic handhygiene.

8

national
and local government
policy instruments were
supported by UNICEF.

Schools

9,500

At leastschoolchildren in 56 schools
in six counties have access to safe toilets in a learning
environment provided by The School Toilet Enhancement
Programme.

Budget

US$919,141

national or local
government budget was allocated to sanitation and hygiene
improvement actions, with support from this partnership.

Finance7

financing mechanisms or products weremade accessible by this partnership, granting access to 4,287
people, and a total of US$307,215 in loans were disbursed.

© UNICEF Kenya/2023/MarkDenver Karubiu

Jane Munguti, a teacher and health club matron, talks to students about safe sanitation in Kyuso Primary, Kitui
County, Kenya.
35

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Background and market assessment
summary
Figure 7: Household sanitation service
levels in Kenya – 2022

Open defecation 6.45%
Unimproved 32.69%
Limited 24.33%
Basic 5.03%
Safely managed 31.50%

Collaboration in Kenya between LIXIL and UNICEF
in 2015 provided the initial impetus to formalize
and expand the collaboration under the MaS!
partnership in 2018. With a population of justover 54 million people, Kenya’s has progressedconsiderably on ending open defecation. Current
challenges remain in reaching the remaining
populations practicing open defecation as well as
upgrading unimproved toilets to safely managed
ones (see Figure 6).
The 2019 market assessment20 confirmed thatsolid progress has been made towards ending
open defecation, but regional disparities persist: 17
counties have less than 1 per cent of their population
practicing open defecation, while 11 counties still
have 20 per cent doing so. Households expressed
dissatisfaction with slabs that are difficult to clean
and holes that are uncovered and pose a risk to smallchildren using the toilet. Even in rural areas, people
are brand conscious and willing to invest in items that
improve the quality of their home. Rural households
still depend heavily on agricultural income and thus,
the purchasing power and willingness to pay of rural
populations peaks at the end of the calendar year
following the harvest season.

© UNICEF Kenya/2023/MarkDenver Karubiu

The market assessment found that a variety of
hardware products, at a range of prices, is available.
Particularly in rural areas, however, inconsistency,
unreliability and small margins throughout the supply
chain are key barriers to products reaching end
consumers. Even when products are available inretail outlets in towns, reaching rural consumers witheffective last-mile distribution strategies remainsa challenge.

558,050 people gained
access to at least basic
sanitation in sevencounties through thispartnership.

Although Kenya has one of the highest rates offinancial inclusion in the world, there has been limited
involvement of the financial sector in developing
lending products for either sanitation businesses
or consumers. Several barriers persist that prevent
households accessing finance for sanitation
improvements, including a lack of knowledge andfamiliarity with sanitation products and services bybanking institutions and limited access of banks tolending capital for non-income generating sectors.

A rehabilitated and upgraded school toilet
facility at Kyuso Primary, Kitui County, Kenya.

20 Aguaconsult, Sanitation market analysis in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, 2019. Unpublished.
36

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Sanitation market system strengthening in Indonesia
Table 5 summarizes the findings from the analysis including who the consumer is, what theapproach is and which market functions have been addressed.
Who is the consumer?

Rural first-time toilet users or upgraders located in eight
counties.

What is the approach?

Professionalization of community health promoters as
advocates.

Which market functions
have been addressed?

Promotion – A strategic blend of above the line marketing
efforts and below the line, face-to-face promotion using
existing public health promoters.
Skills – Construction and marketing skills for masons andbusiness management for community health promoters.
Finance – Seed stocking of SATO products for sanitationenterprises as well as the development of various products
and services from financial institutions.
Policy – The passage of a county level bill enables thepayment of a monthly stipend to community healthpromoters who engage in sanitation promotion work.

Table 5: Summary of sanitation market system strengthening in Kenya© UNICEF Kenya/2023/MarkDenver Karubiu

Women from a local women’s group discuss SATO products in Kitui County, Kenya.

37

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Successful collaboration between UNICEF
and LIXIL in 2015 in Kitui County in introducing
the SATO Pan contributed to the formalizationand expansion of the partnership three years
later. Phase I of the partnership focused onrural households purchasing their first toilet or
upgrading one in Kitui and Siaya counties. As
time went on, MaS! expanded to a further six
counties and was present in eight counties at
the time of analysis.
The main approach to sanitation market
development is through professionalizationof community health promoters to promoteand distribute safe sanitation solutions. CHPs
are present in most communities, and many
have experience promoting community-led
total sanitation in Kenya. By professionalizing
their services through skills building, links to
suppliers and masons and access to financethrough seed stock and other financial
services, they provide a key link in rural supply
chains. To effectively implement this approach,the MaS! partnership has targeted several key
functions in the Kenya sanitation market.
l

l

38

Above and below the line marketing andpromotion. The Kenya partnership reports
combining above the line, or mass media
marketing, with below the line, or targeted
face-to-face sales tactics. These efforts arethen complemented by face-to-face sales
visits by CHPs, who report that it takes anaverage of three or four visits to convincea household to purchase a safe sanitation
solution.

lll

Last-mile distribution agents. CHPs not
only promote safe sanitation solutions, butalso function as last-mile distribution agentsthrough two modalities. The first model
leverages their practices of household
door-to-door visits to include safe sanitation
promotion in those visits, whereas asecond model being trialled aggregates all
the products needed to install a complete
sanitation solution into a one-stop shop in
dispersed rural areas.
Seed stock and other financial services
for sanitation businesses. CHPs were
provided with initial working capital(typically 50 SATO Pans) to jump-start theirpromotional and sales efforts. Beyond this,however, the partnership collaborated withother partners to introduce innovations
to increase the bankability of CHPs bydigitizing their financial records and tocreate new lending products for sanitationenterprises.
County policy changes to enable
payment for CHPs. CHPs make a small
commission on sales of sanitation products,
but they incur considerable costs interms of their time and transportationin promoting safe sanitation. MaS!
effectively contributed to a policy change
in Kitui County to enable CHPs to receive
a stipend from the government for theirwork promoting sanitation. This has been
replicated in other counties through County
Community Health Bills.

Construction and business management
skills for CHPs and masons. Both CHPs
and masons have received informationand training on how to market sanitation
products, install SATO products (includingPans, Stools, Flex, V-Trap and I-Trap)
effectively, and promote their services.

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Nigeria
2022–2023 Results
Sanitation

Policies

617,821

people gained access to atleast basic sanitation, including 381,513 who gained accessto safely managed sanitation.

2

national
and local government
policy instruments were
supported by UNICEF.

SATO sales

6,301

SATO products have been bought
and installed since 2018 through this partnership.

Hygiene462,475

Budget

US$85,310

national or local
government budget was allocated to sanitation and hygiene
improvement actions, with support from this partnership.

people gained accessto basic hand hygiene.

Finance5

financing mechanisms or products weremade accessible by this partnership, 12,989 users
were able to access them, and a total of US$945,769 inloans were disbursed.

© UNICEF/UN0854613/Owoicho

Volunteer Hygiene Promoters teaching community members good hygiene and sanitation in Nigeria.
39

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Background and market assessment
summary
Figure 8: Household sanitation service
levels in Nigeria – 2022

Open defecation 18.44%
Unimproved 18.64%
Limited 16.35%
Basic 14.60%
Safely managed 31.97%

Nigeria is home to over 218 million people andjoined the MaS! partnership in the second phase.
Sanitation challenges include ending open
defecation of nearly 40 million Nigerians, as wellas upgrading toilets for an additional 80 million
who currently have unimproved or limited access(see Figure 8).
A 2019 market analysis in Nigeria21 found that
consumer preference for open defecation remains
relatively high and that even when communities
have been triggered through community-led total
sanitation processes, the risk of reverting to open
defecation remains if poor quality toilets are built.
Yet, the analysis confirms that if preferences forhigh-quality toilets can be created through promotion
and marketing, coupled with access to finance,
consumers will invest in improving their toilets.
At the time of analysis, the most common way
to finance a toilet in Nigeria was through using aVillage Savings and Loan Association or a loan froma microfinance institution, although this practice
did not appear to be widespread.
Supply chain analysis in Nigeria focused on thechallenges manufacturers, importers, builders
and toilet business owners face. Availability of
construction materials, not just toilet components,
appeared to be an issue for builders. And a lackof finance for working capital, business expansion
or investment was reported to limit the growth ofsmaller businesses engaged in the sanitation sector.

Abubakar, a WASHCOM member who lost his wife and son to during the cholera outbreak in his community.

21

Oxford Policy Management, Sanitation market analysis in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria, 2019. Unpublished.

40

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening© UNICEF/UN0854613/Owoicho

The approach in Nigeria
is best describedas supporting toilet
business owners toprovide sanitation
goods and services.

Sanitation market system strengthening in Nigeria
Table 6 summarizes the findings from the analysis including who the consumer is, what theapproach is and which market functions have been addressed.
Who is the consumer?

Rural households with no toilet or an unimproved toilet.

What is the approach?

Supporting toilet business owners to provide sanitation
goods and services.

Which market functions
have been addressed?

Promotion – Integrating specific safe sanitation solutions
into existing community-led total sanitation programmes
has been the main promotional tactic.
Skills – Business management and sanitation information
has been provided to toilet business owners.
Finance – Toilet business owners have been provided seedstock of SATO products and the partnership expanded a
pre-existing government-backed loan for sanitation.
Policy – Bauchi state created the first faecal sludge
management guidelines in the country.

Table 6: Summary of sanitation market system strengthening in Kenya

In Nigeria, the MaS! partnership has identified
rural first-time toilet users or upgraders infour local government areas in Bauchi, Benueand the Federal Capital Territory as the main
consumers. The approach in Nigeria is best
described as supporting toilet businessowners to provide sanitation goods andservices. This has been implemented throughworking on the following key functions.
l41

Promoting specific safe sanitation
options alongside communityled total sanitation triggering. As
ending open defecation remains a key
sanitation challenge in Nigeria, much of
the promotional efforts have focused on
integrating specific safe sanitation options
into existing CLTS triggering processes.
These have been complemented withother marketing tactics, including roadshows at public markets and events andusing banners and mass media to createawareness. Lastly, religious leaders haveplayed a key role in promoting messages
about safe sanitation in Nigeria.

l

l

l

Skills for masons and government
officials. TBOs and artisans have received
training on how to construct toilets and how
to market their services. In addition, various
government officials have been trained or
re-trained in CLTS planning, implementationand monitoring.
Finance for toilet business owners andincreased government investment. TBOs
have been provided seed stock of SATO
products to partially address the financial
constraints. In addition, in Bauchi, thegovernment increased its contribution toa pre-existing fund for on-lending to two
microfinance institutions for sanitation.
Policy changes to support faecal sludge
management. Under the partnership,
Bauchi state was supported to create
the first state-level FSM guidelines in
Nigeria, laying the foundation for shiftingfrom ending open defecation to safely
managing sanitation.

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Tanzania
2022–2023 Results
Sanitation

Policies

1,935,508

people gained accessto at least basic sanitation through this partnership, including
343,355 who gained access to safely managed sanitation.

1

national
and local government
policy instruments were
supported by UNICEF.

SATO sales

69,686

SATO products have beenbought and installed through this partnership.

Hygiene1,636,682

Budget

US$340,590

national or local
government budget was allocated to sanitation and hygiene
improvement actions, with support from this partnership.

people gained accessto basic hand hygiene.

Finance2

financing mechanisms or products were madeaccessible by this partnership, 212 users were able to accessthem, and a total of US$4,906 in loans were facilitated.

© UNICEF/UNI539872/

Salum Issa Salum and Shaib Mbawala Salum, experts in SATO Pan installations, proudly exhibit a prime exampleof the SATO pan, before an installation at a community member’s home. Their demonstration symbolizes theconcerted effort to improve community health and well-being through accessible sanitation solutions. Makea Splash! partnership in collaboration with the Zanzibar government, emphasizes a collective commitment toelevate hygiene and sanitation practices.
42

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Background and market assessment
summary
Figure 9: Household sanitation service
levels in Tanzania – 2022

Open defecation 6.32%
Unimproved 43.58%
Limited 19.49%
Basic 5.50%© UNICEF/UNI539873/

Safely managed 25.11%

The approach tostrengthening thesanitation marker can besummarized as integrating
safe sanitation solutions
into CLTS programming.

Tanzania, home to 65 million people, was oneof the first three MaS! partnership countries.
Although open defecation practices persist insome areas of the country, many areas are on
track to be declared open defecation free as aresult of the government’s National Sanitation
Campaign. That said, considerable challenges
remain in shifting from ending open defecation
to ensuring safely managed sanitation for millions
of people who continue to use unimproved
toilets22 (see Figure 9).
A 2019 market analysis23 revealed that although many
Tanzanians across income and gender strata haveand use an unimproved toilet, people value toilets
that are durable, easy to clean, free from odours andhide the waste from sight. Ceramic pans have been
historically popular with consumers as they offer a
product that responds to many of their pain points.
Supply chain analysis identified five toilet products
relatively available in the Tanzanian market and awell-developed spoke and hub distribution networkthat moves ceramic and plastic goods to market.
Yet, the sector appears to be relatively conservative,
as wholesalers and retailers are unwilling to stock
products with uncertain demand and importers andmanufacturers have done little to incentivize themto introduce new products.
The government’s past and current efforts topromote sanitation have contributed to increasing
access, although they remain focused on ending
open defecation by 2025 and have yet to addresssafely managed sanitation at scale. CLTS campaigns
continue and are complemented by other types ofpublic health messaging to inspire people to abandon
open defecation by building and using a toilet with
their own resources. Public subsidies have not been
provided as part of the various government sanitation
campaigns and programmes, and financial institutions
appear to have limited involvement in the sector.

Salum Issa Salum, an expert in SATO
Pan installations, proudly exhibits a primeexample of the SATO pan, before an
installation at a community member’s home.

22 The JMP defines an unimproved toilet as one without a slab or platform covering the pit.
23 Aguaconsult, Sanitation market analysis in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, 2019.
43

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Sanitation market system strengthening in Tanzania
Table 7 summarizes the findings from the analysis including who the consumer is, what theapproach is and which market functions have been addressed.
Who is the consumer?

Rural or peri-urban consumers who are first time toilet
users or toilet upgraders.

What is the approach?

Integrating safely managed sanitation solutions into CLTS.

Which market functions
have been addressed?

Promotion – Various promotional efforts have been tested
over the partnership, with most effort including specificsanitation products in CLTS triggering events.
Skills – Masons in each of the regions have been provided
training on how to install SATO Pans.
Distribution – Existing local government and community
structures have been leveraged to support last-mile
distribution of SATO Pans linked to CLTS triggering events.
Finance – Seed stock has been provided to partners andone agricultural cooperative was reported to lend to its
members for toilet construction.

Table 7: Summary of sanitation market system strengthening in Tanzania© UNICEF/UNI540113/

Mohammed, a member of the SWASH CLUB and a disabled student at Chunga Primary School, joyously
demonstrates handwashing outside the school toilet. His enthusiasm reflects the importance of inclusive andaccessible hygiene facilities for all students. Mohammed’s active engagement in the SWASH clubs exemplifies
his dedication to promoting cleanliness and health inclusively.
44

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

The MaS! partnership in Tanzania is focusedon consumers who are first time toilet
users or toilet upgraders in 14 districts of
the Iringa, Mbeya, Njombe and Songwe
regions, as well as of Zanzibar. Under thepartnership, both UNICEF and LIXIL aresupporting the Government of Tanzania’s
current National Sanitation Campaign to end
open defecation by 2025. In Tanzania, theapproach to strengthening the sanitation
marker can be summarized as integrating safe
sanitation solutions into CLTS programming.
Implementing this approach in Tanzania has
meant focusing on the following key functions.
llPromoting specific safe sanitation
solutions alongside CLTS programmes.
Over the course of the MaS! partnershipin Tanzania, promotional tactics have
evolved. Early promotional tactics included
participation in government sanitation roadshows, using sales agents to promote
SATO Pans on a commission basis, andhiring local NGOs to promote sanitation.
In the last year, the promotional activities
have been focused on supporting theefforts of local government authorities and
CLTS committees to provide information on
specific sanitation products and the contact
details of trained masons to install them.
Construction skills for installing SATO
Pans. The partnership reports training
over 500 people in construction andbasic business techniques to be able torespond to demand generated by the local
government CLTS programmes.
ll

Last-mile distribution using existing
public structures. In Tanzania, thehardware sanitation market is fragmented
with huge gaps in reaching the villages
where the majority of the rural population
lives, even with the hub and spoke
distribution system in place. Some villages
are as far as 200 kilometres from thenearest trading centre where they could
access the sanitation components, whichtranslates to a doubling or tripling ofunit prices. To address these distribution
challenges, the MaS! partnership recently
pivoted to creating links between hardware
retailers and local government authorities
so that when local governments are
conducting CLTS triggering events, orders
for SATO products can be placed andproducts delivered directly to government
promoters who aggregate supply anddemand and serve as a last-mile distribution
network.
Seed stock financing and testing
financial products for sanitation. The
MaS! partnership in Tanzania has provided
seed stock to trained masons and otherpartners to address working capitalconstraints. In addition, one agricultural
cooperative was supported to lend toits members to invest in improving theirsanitation facilities.
© UNICEF/UNI539874/

Mr. Shaibu Mbalawa, a dedicated toilet contractor, demonstrates his expertise as he meticulously installs a Satopan toilet for a resident of Pangawe, Zanzibar. Trained specifically in SATO pan installations, his work is pivotal inadvancing sanitation and hygiene standards within communities. By ensuring the precise installation of thesefacilities, he contributes significantly to public health and hygiene enhancement efforts.
45

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Lessons learned across the MaS! partnership
Synthesizing the approaches across countries offers reflections
on common issues and practical responses to the issues insanitation market strengthening in a variety of contexts. The
MaS! partnership has learned valuable lessons about promoting
sanitation using public, private and community actors, overcoming
diverse market fragmentation challenges, leveraging public
and private sources of funding to support sanitation markets,and identifying and advocating changes in rules to support andsustain sanitation markets.
This section offers five lessons learned over the course of the
MaS! partnership.
© UNICEF Ethiopia/G8A29741/

Mission 2023: Hygiene and good sanitation practice in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
Obistu Yussuf, a health extension worker promoting social behavior change, and good hygiene practices to end
the spread of cholera.

46

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Lesson 1
Sustainable and inclusive market growth requires addressing barriers to household
investment, such as a lack of supplier incentives, policy and regulatory issues, anda lack of access to finance.
UNICEF’s 2020 guidance on market-based sanitation provides good reasons why
development agencies choose to work on making sanitation markets work better for
people.24 Most sanitation improvements in lower-income countries are the result of
people investing their own resources to buy a toilet of their choice from a supplier. Many
sanitation markets, however, do not work well for poor consumers. Limited affordable
options are available at convenient locations, and it may be hard to find skilled labour toinstall one. Even if the components for a desirable toilet are available, buying a toilet may
not be a priority for a family due to cash flow and seasonal liquidity constraints. And local
government housing or sanitation regulations may not incentivize a household to build,use or empty a toilet, even if incentives exist on paper.
The rationale for working with the private sector to supply toilets to households isstrong. One of the key lessons learned across different sectors is that to make markets
function effectively, inclusively and sustainably, it is often necessary to take a holistic
approach to market development. For example, research into businesses serving lowincome consumers found that barriers ‘beyond the firm,’ such as finance, regulation andinformation, limited the scale and sustainability of firms in many different sectors.25 A
synthesis of cross-sectoral initiatives that reached large numbers of low-income people,
including after donor funding had ended, reported on the importance of being able towork on issues beyond individual businesses.26
In the sanitation sector specifically, similar findings are emerging. One of the mostcomprehensive reviews of market-based sanitation initiatives to date found that themost successful interventions were those that addressed factors such as finance for
consumers and enterprises, advocacy for targeted public subsidies, or policy changes andimplementation of regulations, in addition to working to improve the supply of and demand
for toilets.27 Another similar finding from the sanitation sector comes from the Container
Based Sanitation Alliance. The alliance’s analysis showed that the innovative solution offered
by a business model that provides a modular infrastructure and household emptying services
has been slow to scale, not just because of low demand and a limited number of providers,
but also due to, for example, toilet designs, transport and logistics, finance and regulations.28
Early MaS! planning and reporting documents reflect an initial emphasis on building demand
for toilets and ensuring products were available locally. Over time, however, the partnership
evolved to complement work being done to generate demand and experiment with lastmile distribution models by working on factors such as finance, policies and regulations.
For example, in 2022, over US$2.4 million was mobilized for consumer finance across thepartnership, and 14 national and local policy instruments were developed to support theprovision of toilets. The remainder of the lessons learned explores each of these areas –promotion, last-mile distribution, finance, and policies and regulation in greater depth.
24 United Nations Children’s Fund, Guidance on Market-Based Sanitation, UNICEF, New York, 2020.
25 H. Koh, Hedge, N., and Karamchandani, A., Beyond the Pioneer: Scaling Inclusive Industries, Deloitte Touche
Tomatsu Limited, London, UK, 2014.
26 Gareth Davies, Getting to Scale: Lessons in Reaching Scale in Private Sector Development Programmes,
Adam Smith International, 2016.
27 USAID, Scaling Market Based Sanitation: Desk review on market based rural sanitation development
programmes, USAID Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (WASHPaLS)
Project, Washington, D.C.,
28 2018. K. C. Russel, et al., Taking Container-Based Sanitation to Scale: Opportunities and Challenges, Front.
Environ. Sci. 7:190. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2019.00190, 2019.

47

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Lesson 2
Public-private promotion – blending public health and private sales incentives –offers a smart way to create ongoing demand for sanitation.
Developing marketing or demand creation strategies that outlast short term donor-funded
projects is a key challenge in strengthening sanitation markets.29 It is well known thatwidespread use of toilets and the safe management of waste achieve public health goals.
This provides the rationale for governments to invest in building demand for sanitation.
Sanitation enterprises also invest in marketing and sales because they have an incentive to
break even and grow in the long term. There is no one-size-fits-all model on how to create
sanitation and hygiene demand but rather, whoever has an ongoing incentive and capacity
to do so is a good starting point. Given there are both public health and private enterprisebenefits of a household investing in a toilet or sanitation services, there is an argument
to be made for a shared investment into creating awareness towards building demand.30‘Public-private promotion’, a joint effort that leverages both public health incentives andprivate enterprise sales goals, is a promising approach seen in all the MaS! country contexts,
albeit in different ways given the nature of the sanitation challenge in each country.
l

l

l

l

l

l

Ethiopia: Publicly funded health extension workers provide public health messaging on
the benefits of sanitation, which is complemented by LIXIL’s investment in above the line
marketing campaigns and regional sanitation businesses’ face-to-face product promotion.
India: Several actors participate in promoting the government’s retrofitting campaign inOdisha and Bihar. LIXIL, UNICEF and government partners participate in key events toraise awareness of the challenge and opportunity to retrofit toilets. Here, public financial
institutions and self-help groups contribute significantly to providing information andcreating demand.
Indonesia: The digital platform under development offers local government healthpromoters, certified product suppliers, pit emptying businesses and financial institutions
a single promotional platform to provide targeted messages to potential customers.
Kenya: Professionalized Community health promoters offer public health messages andsanitation solutions complemented by targeted market activation activities and mass
media promotions led by LIXIL.
Nigeria: Toilet business owners liaise with government-led CLTS facilitators to be able
to offer their products and services once triggering events have occurred to offer timely
solutions when sanitation issues are most salient to people.
Tanzania: Local government CLTS facilitators and other officials collaborate withretailers to be able to provide information and products following governmentsponsored promotional events, from National Sanitation Campaign roadshows to more
localized community triggering events.

All MaS! partnerships exhibit some form of public-private promotional efforts, but therelative investment of each likely varies from place to place and involves different public
and private actors depending on the context. In addition, as Figure 9 shows, the relative
effort of public versus private promotional efforts changes over time depending on
consumer awareness of the sanitation issue.
29 USAID, Scaling Market Based Sanitation: Desk review on market based rural sanitation development
programmes, USAID Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (WASHPaLS)
Project, Washington, D.C., 2018.
30 USAID, Water, sanitation and hygiene partnerships and learning for sustainability final report, USAIDWASHPaLS Project, Washington, D.C., 2023.

48

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengtheningIn situations in which consumer awareness of the most pertinent sanitation issue is low,whether that is to invest in a safe septic tank in Indonesia, or retrofit a single pit toilet
to a twin pit in India, the need for public investment in creating awareness will be high.
Conversely, where awareness and even demand for better sanitation is high, private
promotional efforts build on what public agencies have done to create basic awareness.

–

Level of consumer awareness of sanitation issue+

Private investment in specificsanitation goods and services

Public investment in creatingawareness of the sanitation issue

Potential private promoters include
retailers, builders, pit emptying
businesses and loan officers fromfinancial institutions.

Potential public promoters include
CLTS facilitators, elected officials,
community health volunteers orcommunity health workers.
Figure 9: Consumer awareness and levels of public and private investment in promotion

Lesson 3
Reducing market fragmentation in both urban and rural contexts is key tostrengthening markets.
The supply chains for the construction and management of sanitation services are
fragmented in most of the MaS! contexts, particularly in the four African countries. Thisfragmentation is amplified in rural areas, where transportation networks and relationships
between remote value-chain actors are weak. Thin product margins add an additional
challenge to sustaining the availability of products. In addition to mapping and creating
links between more ‘traditional’ distribution networks, such as hardware stores or masons,
MaS! countries have been testing multiple approaches to connect rural consumers tosanitation supply chains.
l49

Sanitation businesses and builders: This model supports local businesses to supply
sanitation goods and services to rural consumers. In Ethiopia, given the market
opportunity to upgrade existing toilet slabs, many of these businesses manufactureslabs with SATO Pans already integrated into them and serve as the ‘last-mile’ retailer
as well, rather than selling to another value-chain actor. In Nigeria, there are emerging
signs of a more networked business model between larger and smaller TBOs, withlarger businesses playing a wholesale function to smaller TBOs located in more remoteareas.31 Lastly, both Kenya and Tanzania reported instances of masons, or builders,
acting as distributors, but it was difficult to quantify to what extent they were acting
as the last-mile agent.32

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

llCommunity health promoters: This model, found in Kenya, leverages community
health promoters to serve as last-mile distribution agents, including testing a one-stop
shop that stocks all the inputs needed to construct a toilet in more remote locations.
CHPs are found throughout the country, have mandates to improve community health,and trusted sources of information by households. Supporting them to become lastmile retailers has included training on how to promote sanitation, basic business andfinancial management skills, an initial supply of products, and institutionalization of apublicly funded stipend payment in one county.
Local government officials: The recent model adopted in Tanzania leverages local
government structures and facilitates relationships between them and retailers located inlarger towns. Government agents or CLTS volunteers then serve as last-mile aggregatorsof demand, following CLTS triggering or other promotional events, and supply.

In contrast to the last-mile distribution challenges found in the non-saturated markets inrural African contexts, products are generally available in India and Indonesia. The challenge
in these contexts is not connecting consumers to existing supply chains. Rather, the focus
is on improving relationships and reducing fragmentation among existing value-chain
actors. For example, in Indonesia, the digital platform aims to overcome fragmentationby consolidating all the actors along the entire sanitation value chain, such as local publichealth promoters, financial institutions, suppliers of approved septic tanks, pit emptying
businesses, and local regulatory agencies. In India, the approach to overcome fragmented
value-chain actors is better described as convergence with existing public financing or
faecal sludge management schemes, for example persuading publicly funded self-helpgroups to add sanitation to their lending portfolios, or creating links between faecal sludge
service providers with outlying rural consumers.
Figure 10 summarizes the types of approaches taken by the MaS! programmes toovercome different market fragmentation challenges. In situations with non-saturated

Nature of market fragmentation
Non-saturated predominantly
rural contexts

Greater market saturation,
both rural and urban contexts

Strategies to overcome fragmentation
Connect

rural consumers to supply chains
Sanitation
businesses

CHPs

Local
authorities

MODEL 1

MODEL 2

MODEL 3

Converge

Consolidate

existing initiatives toaddress sanitation
challenge

all value-chain
actors into a single
platform

MODEL 4

MODEL 5Figure 10: Typology of models to overcome market fragmentation

31 Ongoing market research is investigating how these relationships could be strengthened to further support
the emergence of a more integrated business model in the future.
32 Monitoring data from phase I suggested about one quarter of products were sold and distributed throughmasons in Kenya, but more recent data was not available to see if the trend continued.

50

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

markets in which connecting rural consumers to existing supply chains is the main
issue, three models of last-mile distribution have emerged. They include the sanitation
businesses playing this role in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania, the CHPs in Kenya, and local
authorities in Tanzania. In more saturated market contexts, however, the fragmentation
challenge is more about improving connections between value-chain actors. Here, twomodels have emerged. India has taken an approach of convergence between existing
government programmes to finance and manage rural sanitation wastes. Indonesia has
opted for a more consolidated approach to market fragmentation by working to build adigital platform in which all value-chain actors participate.

Lesson 4
Smart public finance can expand and sustain access to safe sanitation andstrengthen markets.
A 2020 report33 estimated an annual investment of US$105 billion will be required to meet
SDG 6.2 by 2030. The typical response to the large investment costs is to recognize thatneither public nor development partner sources of funding will be sufficient to meet theSDGs, and that the private sector will be needed. Indeed, the opportunity to leverage
private sector investment is often one of the reasons why implementers opt for supporting
market system approaches to development challenges. Yet, in practice, commercial
finance at scale has not materialized to date. Recent analysis showed that between 2017and 2019, only 1.5 per cent of all commercial finance – the equivalent of 2 per cent of
the sector funding gap – mobilized globally was directed towards water and sanitation.34
Advocating smarter uses of existing public finance will thus be important to ensure
everyone, everywhere, has a toilet to use.
Using public sources of funding differently or advocating to spend on things that support
sanitation markets has been a key success of the MaS! partnerships. As Figure 11 shows,these range from direct investment in toilets for existing public subsidy recipients inEthiopia (model 1), to public lines of credit for financial institutions to on-lend to consumers
in India and Nigeria (model 2), and to supporting the ongoing promotion of sanitation inIndia and Kenya (model 3).
Users

MaS! Example

Agricultural cooperative
members

Agricultural cooperative in Tanzania creates sanitation lending
product.

Consumers

Microfinance institution offers loans for septic tankmanufacturers or businesses in Indonesia.

Enterprises

Financial institutions in Kenya offer lending products tosanitation enterprises.

Table 8: Summary of MaS! experiences with financial inclusion for sanitation

33 Guy Hutton and Mili Varughese, Global and Regional Costs of Achieving Universal Access to Sanitation to
Meet SDG Target 6.2, UNICEF, New York, 2020.
34 Blended finance in the water sector, 2022, World Water Council. Accessed 29 January 2024:
www.worldwatercouncil.org/sites/default/files/World_Water_Forum_09/WWC-Successful-Blended-FinanceProjects_WEB_EN.pdf

51

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

MaS! countries have also worked with financial institutions to create lending products fordifferent users, as shown in Table 8.
It is well-documented that the total investment must increase in the sanitation sector tomeet SDG 6.2. The MaS! experience confirms households remain the most significant
source of investment into their sanitation solutions. Financial institutions can be persuaded
and supported to create specific lending products, but to make a dent in the sanitation
challenge, public funding must increase. The MaS! experiences have shown some
practical ways in which public funding can be used in different ways to support the private
sector to deliver toilets that people want to use.

MODEL 1

MODEL 2

MODEL 3Finance for sanitationfor existing public
subsidy recipients

Government lines ofcredit for on-lending byfinancial institutions

Public investment
in ongoing sanitation
market promotion

Figure 11: Types of public investment that support sanitation markets

Household52

ToiletPublic financeLine of credit for
financial institutions

Sanitation
promotion

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Lesson 5
A more nuanced understanding of policy enablers or blockers is key to creatinga stable and well-functioning market.
In some places markets are not reaching their full potential due to affordability, lack of
information or other barriers. During the first phase of the partnership, there was lessof an emphasis on changing policies, laws, guidelines, etc. As the sanitation sector
and country priorities evolved to increasingly focus on safely managed sanitation froma narrower focus on ending open defecation, the MaS! partnership countries have
deepened their engagement in policy processes and outputs.
These efforts can be understood as three models, or approaches:1) Support an enabler: This model of reform refers to supporting a new policy, strategy,
law or guideline that would enable a more inclusive and efficient sanitation market.
2) Remove a policy blocker: This model refers to advocating to change a rule that isdeemed to be inhibiting sanitation market efficiencies and inclusivity.
3) Sustain a gain: This model refers to supporting a new policy, strategy, law, etc. thatsustains a key sanitation market function proven to work.
As Figure 12 shows, most of the MaS! efforts have been directed at supporting enablers,or new policies, guidelines and strategies that have an expected or demonstrated
contribution to more efficient sanitation markets. In addition, Ethiopia continues to address
several macroeconomic policy blockers that inhibit the entrance of new products anddomestic businesses. Lastly, the experience in Kenya offers a third model of policy changewith its successful efforts to institutionalize a public stipend payment to CHPs engaged insanitation promotion.
© UNICEF Kenya/2023/MarkDenver Karubiu

Beatrice and her fellow students play a UNICEF-supplied card game that teaches about safe sanitation in
Kakoongo Primary School, Kitui County, Kenya.

53

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Lesson
MODEL 1: Support an enabler
MODEL 2: Remove a blocker
Identifying and addressing market enablers and blockers can lead to well-functioning
sanitation markets.
The financing and retrofitting strategy in

Ethiopia’s macroeconomic policies have

In someplacesmarkets
are notmanagement
reaching their fullpotentialdue
affordability,
Odishaand thefaecal sludge
been
identified
asto
a key
barrier to a lackmoreofinformationor otherbarriers.
the first phaseof sanitation
the partnership,
there
was less
policy brief
in Biharare goodDuring
examplesrobustmarket. The
barriersof anofemphasis
onchanges
changinglaws, guidelines,
etc.
the sanitation
sector andenablers, orthatpolicies,
contributed
to importandAs
restrictive
foreign direct
countrypriorities
evolvedto increasingly
safely managed
sanitationthe
from
a of
to otherpositive
developmentsin the focus on
investment
policies discourage
entry
sanitation
marketin India.
Havingsuch
new products
and domestic
manufacturers.
narrowerfocus
on endingopen
defecation,
the MaS!
partnershipcountries
have deepenedin place
was important
Further growth is also constrained bytheirdocuments
engagementin policy
processes and outputs.
to crowd in new financing sources tothe high cost of importing raw materials,
implementthestrategies,
such
as
the
restrictions
on access to foreign currency
These efforts can be understood as three models,or approaches:
self-help groups and MFIs.
and repatriation of profits. Considerable
advocacy efforts have been undertaken
1) Support
an enabler:
Thisismodelof reform refers to supporting a new policy, strategy,
Another enabler
underway
the advocacy
by MaS! to persuade the government tolaw
or inguideline
thatwouldtheenablea more inclusive
and efficient
sanitation
market.
work
Ethiopia topersuade
Ministry
make targeted
macroeconomicchangesof Finance to designate sanitation a priority
to facilitate sector growth but this remains
lending sector.
This blocker:
change would
to refers atowork
2) Removea policy
This leadmodel
advocating
to change a rule that isin progress.
the issuing
regulation sanitation
so that financial
deemedto ofbeainhibiting
market efficiencies and inclusivity.
institutions would be obliged to include
sanitation
theirmodel
portfolios.
3) Sustain
a loans
gain:inThis
refers to supporting a new policy, strategy, law, etc. that

MODEL 3: Sustain a gain
sustains
keyfaecal
sanitation
function proven to work.
No state alevel
sludgemarket
management
guidelines existed in Nigeria until MaS!

As Figure
12supportedshows, mostof the MaS! efforts havebeen directed at supporting enablers,
recently
the government
The Kitui health bill that provides public
or new
policies,
guidelines
strategies
that havean
orCHVsdemonstratedin Bauchi
state
to developand
them.
Their
monthlyexpected
stipends forpromotingcontribution
to moreefficientbut
sanitation
markets.sanitation
In addition,
Ethiopia
continues
to address
implementationis ongoing,
theis a good
exampleof this typedevelopment
has beenpolicy
a foundational
severalmacroeconomic
blockersstep
that inhibit
the entranceof anew
products
andof change.
It built on
positivepractical
towards
better managed
wastes.
domestic
businesses.
Lastly,the experience in Kenya
offersthird modelof policy
changeexperienceof aleveraging
the CHV
structureand trusted
in CHPs
communities
with its successful efforts to institutionalize a public
stipendrelationships
payment toengaged in
The lack of a clear domestic wastewaterto promote and supply sanitation to rural
sanitation
promotion.
tariff policy in Indonesia needed to beaddressed to progress with consolidationof the value chain actors into the digitalplatform. Implementation is also underway,
but an important first step in rolling out
the digital platform and working towards
improved compliance.

54

consumers.

Figure 12: Typology of approaches

to address rules that enable, blockor sustain changes

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Conclusion
SDG 6.2 will only be achieved if people with toilets today
continue to use them, if people who do not have one canbuild a toilet they want to use, and if wastes are managed
appropriately. Ensuring that systems are in place to build,repair, and safely empty toilets, not just once, but on an
ongoing basis is fundamental to achieving SDG 6.2.
Five years ago, LIXIL and UNICEF determined that one way to ensure affordable, accessible
and desirable products and services were available was to work together. By joining forces,
UNICEF and LIXIL have strengthened sanitation markets in Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya,
Nigeria and Tanzania. This analysis considered a sanitation market to be strengthened when
there was 1) evidence of change in one or more key functions; and 2) a plausible contribution
from that change in market function to improve access to safe toilets as visualized in Figure 13.

Improved health,wealth and dignity

Women, men and children use and benefit fromsafely managed sanitation

Improved accessto safe sanitation
optionsMore people – and more poor and disadvantaged
people – have access to safely managed
sanitation options

Sanitation market
changeKey functions in sanitation market improved

MaS!
interventions(R&D, promotion, distribution, skills, finance, policies,
information

Promotion: More private
and public agencies invest in
ongoing demand creation.

Distribution: More last
mile distributors supply
households.

Finance: More publicand commercial financeavailable for consumers andhouseholds.

Rules: Policies/guidelines
developed and implemented
to support market efficiency.

Activities target improving key market functions(R&D, promotion, distribution, skills development, finance,
policies, information

Figure 13: Summary of strengthened sanitation markets across the MaS! partnership55

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

Over time, understanding if these changes are sustained and people continue to access toilet
building and emptying services will only provide richer information on the depth of changes
achieved in the sanitation market.
Through these strengthened markets, the partnership has reached many millions of people
in countries with different socio-economic contexts, sanitation challenges and approaches, assummarized in Figure 14.

–

Ethiopia,
Nigeria

Kenya,
Tanzania

India,
Indonesia+

Context
Lower resource, more open defecation,less public investment plus weakersupply chains.

More resources, less open defecation,
more public finance, more developed
supply chains.

Key sanitation challenge
Ending open defecation or
upgrading unimproved toilets;
mostly rural.

Ensuring safely managed sanitation;
more focus on fecal sludge
management; rural and urban.

Main market functions addressed
Ending open defecation or
upgrading unimproved toilets;
mostly rural.

Ensuring safely managed sanitation;
more focus on fecal sludge
management; rural and urban.

Figure 14: Summary of country context, sanitation challenge and market functions addressed

Figure 15 summarizes the five key lessons over the partnership so far. One of the mostimportant lessons has been the need to work beyond the supply and demand of sanitation
services. The MaS! experiences build on the growing body of evidence that, to support theongoing provision of sanitation products and services, programmes will likely need to address
factors such as consumer and enterprise finance or policies and regulations that enable theprovision of toilets. Much has been learned about how to promote sanitation skilfully using
public and private resources. Various strategies to overcome market fragmentation, fromconnecting consumers to supply chains to consolidating value-chain actors, show that new
solutions to old problems are possible. Many sanitation market approaches focus on increasing
the supply of commercial finance to the sector, which is a valid thing to do. MaS!, however, has
shown how public sources of finance can be directed to improve how sanitation markets work.
By identifying and addressing specific rules that block, enable or sustain changes in the market,
further progress can be made.

56

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

1

Work beyond supply
and demand of toilets

MaS! adds to the growing evidence base that to scaleand sustain access to toilets provided by the private
sector, initiatives must address issues such as consumer
and enterprise finance, policies and regulation.

2

Public-private
promotion of toilets isa smart way to co-invest
in creating demand‘Public-private promotion’, a joint effort that leverages
public health incentives and private business sales goals,
is a promising approach seen in all the MaS! countries.

3

Market fragmentation
can be overcome invarious ways

Market fragmentation can be overcome by connecting
rural consumers to supply chains, consolidating
value-chain actors, or by converging existing public
programmes.

4

Public finance can
expand and sustain
access to privately
supplied toilets

Finance does not just mean more commercial finance.
Public finance can expand and sustain access to toilets,from household subsidies and lines of credit fromfinancial institutions to payment for ongoing promotion.

5

Identifying andaddressing rules canlead to better functioning
sanitation markets

Rules (policies, bylaws, standards, etc.) can enable,
block or sustain changes. MaS! has shown that byidentifying and addressing them, sanitation markets
can operate more efficiently or inclusively.

Figure 15: Summary of lessons learned in the MaS! partnership© UNICEF Ethiopia/2023/Demissew Bizuwork

Gezahegn Melese, the team leader for communicable disease prevention and control, providing technicalsupport, so the toilet made with cement slabs are built properly. “The toilets were unimproved and made ofmud, but now we build it with cement so its easy to clean and sustain”, says Gezahegn Melese.
57

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

The MaS! partnership has shown how two institutions with different mandates can practicallywork together to enable people to build, repair or safely empty a toilet in contexts as diverse as
rural Kenya and urban Indonesia. Much work remains to be done, however, to ensure everyone
everywhere, uses a safe toilet by 2030. The box below provides some suggestions to othercountry programmes or initiatives that aspire to strengthen sanitation markets to support
governments to reach SDG 6.2 by 2030.

Box 2
Strengthening sanitation markets: Incorporating lessons from MaS! into new orexisting sanitation market strengthening initiatives.
UNICEF provides comprehensive guidance35 on how to implement market-based
sanitation programmes. UNICEF’s recently released Game Plan to Reach Safely Managed
Sanitation provides information on how to support governments to reach SDG 6.2 by2030. The MaS! experience and lessons learned offer practical steps to support better
functioning sanitation markets.
Beyond supply and demand: Identify and address ‘what else’ beyond promoting anddistributing toilets would catalyse a more efficient and inclusive sanitation market, suchas interventions to strengthen finance, policies and skills.
Promotion: Identify public agencies and businesses that share common goals. Publicagencies engage in promoting sanitation, such as community health promoters, public
utilities and district health offices. Businesses, such as manufacturers, retailers, builders
or financial institutions, have an incentive to promote sanitation to sell their wares.
Brokering relationships between public agencies and private companies has been one
tactic MaS! has successfully employed to facilitate this ‘public-private promotion’.
Market fragmentation: Sanitation supply chains are fragmented in nearly all contexts.
Where last-mile distribution is the challenge, look for non-traditional actors who may
have an incentive and ability to promote and supply toilets alongside their other work.
In contexts where fragmentation among value-chain actors is the greatest problem,
experiment with strategies that incentivize collaboration, such as between manufacturers
and installers, financiers and retailers, or regulatory agencies and emptiers.
Public finance: Commercial finance has been slow to crowd into the sanitation market,
especially for poor rural consumers. A key lesson from MaS! has been the positive
experience of well targeted public finance to enhance private sector activity.
Rules that enable, block or sustain: Focus efforts on addressing rules that inhibit
efficient sanitation market performance, such as creating or updating policies, guidelines
or bylaws.
35 United Nations Children’s Fund, Guidance on Market-Based Sanitation, UNICEF, New York, 2020.

58

2018–2023 Make a Splash! Lessons learned from five years of sanitation and hygiene market strengthening

United Nations Children’s Fund3 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017, USA
www.unicef.org
www.unicef.org/partnerships/lixil© United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
May 2024