Issues and challenges of providing adequate sanitation to people living on the shore of Lake Malawi: Case of Monkey

Coverage of adequate sanitation facilities in rural areas in Monkey Bay is low despite initiatives by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), government institutions and the local community. NGOs have donated cement, reinforcement bars, and moulds for making 4000 dome slabs. They also trained volunteers to help the communities construct latrines. In addition, they trained local leaders on sanitation and hygiene. The communities provided bricks, sand, quarry stone and labour as a prerequisite to benefit from donations by the NGOs. A follow up survey after the initial intervention revealed that out of 21314 (100%) households, 54.4% had traditional pit latrines of which 4% had dome slabs. Coverage of kitchens, bath shelters and refuse pits was 55%, 67% and 21%, respectively. This paper analyses sanitation initiatives by NGOs and local communities, factors attributing to low coverage of sanitation facilities and also sustainability of sanitation interventions in the area.

Sanitation initiatives by NGOs and the local community in rural areas in Monkey Bay achieved 54.4% coverage of pit latrines. Only 4% of the households had pit latrines with dome slabs, built with cement and reinforcement bars donated by NGOs. The households contributed bricks, sand, quarry stone and labour as a prerequisite to benefit from assistance from NGOs. Coverage of kitchen shelters, bath shelters and refuse pits is 55%, 67% and 21%, respectively. These sanitation facilities and traditional pit latrines were solely constructed by local communities. Limitations to increased and sustained coverage of latrines were low-bearing capacity of the water logged sandy soils, poverty, continuous migration of the people and low appreciation of the importance of sanitation. These factors also hampered sanitation initiatives by NGOs.