Kampala — THE cost of the ecological sanitation (eco-san) toilets has been lowered in a bid to promote their use countrywide. The move is also aimed at encouraging farmers to use human waste as a fertiliser to improve agricultural productivity.
Water state minister Jennifer Namuyangu said the availability of local materials to construct the eco-san toilets has helped to reduce the cost from about sh2m to only sh200,000.
Namuyangu added that massive awareness about ecological sanitation was needed so that farmers could benefit from human waste, which can be used as fertilisers.
She said the awareness would increase the use of the eco-san toilet in the country from 1% to 15% by 2015.
Namuyangu made the remarks on Tuesday at the launch of the ecological sanitation strategy at St. James Primary School, Bbiina in Kampala.
Namuyangu also launched an eco-san toilet with hand-washing facilities at the school. The pupils use the manure on the trees and grass at the school compound.
The Network for Water and Sanitation (Uganda), funded by the Stockholm Environment Institute, constructed the toilet.
Eng. Ali Tushabe, a commissioner in the water ministry, explained that the eco-san toilet separates the faeces from the urine.
Tushabe added that human urine is a good fertiliser because it contains nutrients that support plant growth.
He noted that in countries like Ivory Coast, eco-san toilets have increased agricultural production by three-fold.
Tushabe said eco-san toilets do not smell and do not contaminate water sources unlike the flush toilets.
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hey, This is a great News especialy to us who do not have proper sewer system in the rural areas.please kindly make this a part of the house requirement for schools to open for i believe schools which takes many year,and very many human waste all year through needs ecosan toilets. Also,how can my school;kinyara secondary benefit from the reduced cost of ecosan toilets?we would be glad to have an ecosan toilet as part of our waste management project for international climate champions for the year 2009/2010 reply soon please;miriam
For farmers involved in plantation agriculture especially heavy feeders like the East African Highland banana (matooke) use of human waste is the best option. On top of what could be available through eco-san systems there is also municipal treated waste available at very low rates. I have had this tested in a lab at the Kawanda research station and found to be a lot better than even animal manure. There is, however, still a problem of our people's apathy towards its use. One will not easily dismiss this factor since these are our consumers anyway. Anyone knows any success story of the use of this human waste on a commercial scale in food production?