WSP Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). 2009. Study for Financial and Economic Analysis of Ecological Sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa. (pdf, 5MB)
This study on financial and economic analysis of ecological sanitation (ecosan) in Sub-Saharan Africa was financed by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). It focused on a comparison of sanitation technologies suitable for urban settlements.
The aim of the study was to compare ecosan with conventional sanitation systems in terms of financial and economic costs and benefits, in order to assist decision-makers and sponsors of development programs to make informed decisions about relative merits of different types of sanitation. To achieve this, an analytical framework and a computer model were developed to assess and compare different technologies in terms of financial and economic Net Present Value (NPV).
The economic benefits derived from improved sanitation include health and environmental benefits, as well as those which are associated to excreta reuse. The latter is modeled by taking into account the volume of excreta, the mass of nutrients produced, and the monetary value of increased crop yields. Although there are a wide range of ecosan technologies, the study focused on those which have been implemented at sufficient scales, to enable a more robust analysis based, on a more extensive data set possible.