Faecal Sludge Management in Africa: Socioeconomic Aspects and Human and Environmental Health Implications

This publication aims to explore how current trends in faecal sludge management are impacting human and environmental health in Africa (both sub-Saharan and Northern Africa). Faecal sludge comes from on-site sanitation technologies in the form of raw or partially digested slurry or semi-solid material. Its management involves storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal. Some factors that make it difficult to manage sustainably include population growth and urbanization, over-reliance on financial aid for the construction of treatment plants, low revenue generation from users of treatment facilities, poor operation and maintenance, and inefficient institutional arrangements for faecal sludge management.