7 Conclusion
7.1 Achievements
The aim of the research was to analyse the sanitation situation
in Cap-Haitien and for- mulate recommendations, using on a sanitation marketing
approach. Several research tools have been used, including semi-structured
interviews, field visits, a household sur- vey, a workshop with partner
organisations, a focus group discussion and a pilot test. Interviews and visits
have allowed to divide the city in similar areas, distinguishing low-lying land
and zones on the hillsides, emerging and established areas, dense and less
dense housing areas, amongst other characteristics. Five main types of areas
have been identified, on top of the city centre which is not usually targeted
given better living conditions. An example zone for each type of area was also
chosen for more in-depth investigation, namely Shada as the most well-known
central dense slum, the emerging zone of Petite-Anse partly built over the
Mangrove, the peri-urban zone of Mansui in
the hills, Bas-Ravine on the slopes close to the city centre, and
Champin in the Cités. All but Champin were investigated during the
survey.
The visits also allowed to review the existing sanitation
options in use in Cap-Haitien. The dozen public latrines are inadequate, poorly
managed and are likely to be out of order after a few years. The few communal
latrines in the Cités which are not either broken or with full pits are
also poorly managed and likely to be full after a short time. Private latrine
building programmes have been rare, with only three of these in the last
15 years; only the first one seems to have had a significant
impact; all programmes heavily subsidised the latrines and promoted expensive
options, with little evidence of participation from the beneficiaries.
Defecation practices, according to the survey results, are
appalling, with 58% of respondents practising open defecation and only 15%
owning a latrine, those figures reaching their extreme values of respectively
74% and 3% in Shada. Plastic bags and buckets are also used in Bas-Ravine
(38%), while overhung latrines are in use in Shada (21%), often for a fee of
one Gourde. Dissatisfaction with those practices is general, the few exceptions
being some private latrine owners.
Most private latrines are expensive, around US$ 300, and
require a long acquisition process. The main reasons for building a latrine
seem to be the building of a house, to avoid going to nature, and for visitors;
those with an intention to get a latrine usually say
Rémi Kaupp 7. Conclusion
they want one for practical reasons, or for improved security,
especially at night. The
main constraint is money, hence the price of a latrine; space
issues are also mentioned
in Shada. Pit emptying services are limited between Jedco and
its expensive vacuum tankers, and the bayakous who empty pits manually and work
in poor conditions.
An analysis of current practices has revealed that they are
not compatible with «sus- tainable sanitation», whose criteria have
been defined during the workshop. The MDGs have little chance of being achieved
if supply-led programmes continue to be done, like
the recent project in Mansui; an evaluation of this project
has revealed that its impact is not as high as expected, and could even have
reduced of inhabitants to build their own latrines and have divided the
community.
Findings from this research therefore urge the need for a radical
change in the way sanitation is approached in Cap-Haitien.
7.2 Recommendations for the project
Possible alternatives have been proposed with the help of the
London School of Hy- giene. Given the presence of urban agriculture in some
peri-urban areas like Mansui,
an approach based on ecological sanitation could be tried,
using its simplest model, the Arborloo. it would have several impacts including
improved health, creation of fertiliser without the need to handle compost,
stabilisation of the soil, and possibly improved nu- trition and livelihood.
The Arborloo can be built at a low cost, suiting the users' needs.
A pilot has been tried with a family in Mansui, as they are
willing to improve their sanitation and keen to test this kind of latrine;
follow-up is now needed to assess the suitability of this option, and possibly
to promote it in case of success.
In established high-density areas like Shada, located in low
lands, a proposed option would feature a product-service package, by marketing
low-cost and small latrines cou- pled with a reliable emptying and disposal
system. The current proposal does still have shadow areas regarding the users'
willingness to pay, the feasibility of low-cost empty- ing and the availability
of a dumping site. Willingness to pay would be better estimated
by further focus group discussions with varied types of groups
(men / women, mem- bers of the KLPS, masons, neighbouring areas), and in-depth
interviews with selected inhabitants. Finding a suitable solution for the
final disposal requires cooperation or a partnership with the public
authorities, and particularly the MSPP.
Financial viability calculations could still be refined by
examining different business models and considering best case / worst case
scenarios. The project should seek advice from experienced micro-entreprises
managers and entrepreneurs, who would have a more valuable input than
sanitation officers for this part of the project.
In order to develop a common understanding of sustainable
sanitation, and re-inforce
the importance of excreta management amongst the project
partners, more work is
Rémi Kaupp 7. Conclusion
needed in continuation of the workshop. Local knowledge and
practices have been
found to be focused too much on hardware and on water, which
is only one side of the «water and sanitation» sector. The main aim
of the project, i.e. improving health con- ditions in Cap-Haitien, has to be
stressed again to avoid it being only an «infrastructure project».
Developing sustainable excreta management for any of the poor
areas of Cap Hai- tien is not going to be an easy process. Using a sanitation
marketing based process to provide low cost building, emptying and transfer
services to the poor living in the high density areas is an option worthy of
further experimentation and behaviour trials, but its success will require a
dedicated team, flexibility and determination. An easier option from a project
management perspective is to use a traditional supply driven approach and
provide a subsidy for building the latrines. Whilst this option is easier to
manage, it will not lead to sustainable sanitation, only have a very limited
impact on public health, and be insignificant with regard to help Haiti achieve
the sanitation MDG.
7.3 Future research
Future research in Cap-Haitien would have to address this
study's shortcomings: in particular, the demand tool needs to be improved and
tested again for areas with low coverage; one way would be to conduct the
survey with the same households, once a pilot has been set up and its effects
can be evaluated. A new survey with the same households done after two or
three years can indicate how new products and services have penetrated the
market.
Pit emptying appears to be a recurrent problem, and
Cap-Haitien is only one of the numerous examples where appropriate solutions
are hard to find. The use of a direct- action handpump for small pits coupled
with a low-cost transport system would be an interesting alternative to bulkier
systems, but still has to prove its effectiveness. The provision of low-cost
latrines and the sustainability of the whole sanitation system is highly
dependent on emptying.
The categorisation of the city into several typical areas has
helped to devise possible solutions: this approach could be generalised by
comparing with other cities in Haiti, and with cities in other developing
countries. The comparison of different contexts, along with an evaluation of
past and current practices, would allow to create a hand- book, presenting
different options suitable for each context, as well as bringing together
current ideas in sanitation such as ecological sanitation, total sanitation or
sanitation marketing, which are too often considered separately.
Rémi Kaupp
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