SaniMart pilot in Nepal

The Panchawati SaniMart.

Credit: WaterAid / Newah

Nepal's national census, carried out in 2001, reported the country's sanitation coverage at just 47%. This means that 53% of the population, 12 million people, do not have a latrine and have to defecate in the open, which results in widespread disease.

The sanitation coverage figure contrasts with the much higher water coverage figure, which averages over 80%.

WaterAid's partner organisation Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH) has been looking into the reasons behind the low sanitation coverage and trying to increase awareness of the importance of sanitation. Many Nepalese people living without a toilet do not have the resources or finances to build latrines.

In a recent initiative NEWAH has piloted the establishment of a SaniMart to increase the accessibility of latrine parts. SaniMarts, which were first trialled by WaterAid's partners in Southern India, are easily accessible shops, staffed by trained sanitation promoters, where latrine construction materials are sold at affordable rates.

The pilot SaniMart was located in the village of Panchawati village in the Udayapur district in the Eastern Development region. It was sited in the Nepaltar bazaar, a small market often visited by people from the surrounding villages for medicine or to go to the bank.

The region is home to around 1500 households, an estimated 500 of which have a toilet. Prior to the opening of the SaniMart, sanitation and spare parts for water supply schemes were not available in the area. Some items could only be bought in a shop in Lahan, an 80km trip away that would incur travel, food and accommodation costs. The reasons behind the low sanitation coverage figures there are starkly apparent.

As part of the project, seven men and women from surrounding villages were trained as sanitation mistris (masons skilled in latrine construction) along with the sanitation promoter to aid those wishing to install latrines at their properties.

Initially, a sanitation gift set including toothbrush, soap, toothpaste, a bucket and a jug, worth Nrs 200, was given to each household purchasing materials as an incentive. However, due to feedback from SaniMart staff it was felt that the money would be better spent subsidising the cost of the latrine pan (Nrs 400), and in October 2003 the gift incentive was stopped, and the price of the pan fell to Nrs 200.

In turn there was an increase in sales, and demand for latrines rose as villagers noticed their neighbours' new latrines, prompting them to visit SaniMart to purchase materials themselves.

At the end of the 15 month trial period, 74 households had purchased materials to construct latrines and a further 75 had purchased materials to improve or upgrade their existing latrine or water supply systems.

The latrines constructed through the SaniMart were found to be of high quality, in use, well maintained and clean. The chances of their sustainability were high and their cost to NEWAH far lower than in other NEWAH sanitation programmes.

Mrs Gurung of Napaltar was typical of those pleased to be able to build a latrine as a result of the SaniMart:

"It used to be very difficult for us when we needed to go to the toilet. Our father used to request a neighbour for the key to their toilet and then use their toilet. But my daughters and I were too embarrassed to do this we used to go to the stream when we needed the toilet. Now we have made a toilet and we feel so happy - the day we built our latrine we were happier than the day we built our house. My son helped to construct the toilet and it only cost us only Nrs 2,500".

These results are encouraging and NEWAH plans to continue with the SaniMart in Panchawati as well as establishing a further one in the Simle bazaar in the Dhading district.

However, there are still a relatively high proportion of households without latrines in Panchawati so NEWAH also plans to further boost the demand for sanitation through increased hygiene education.

For more details read a full Evaluation of the Nepal SaniMart Project ( PDF 499Kb)