Optimizing the faecal sludge management scheme in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

In 1996, the National Utility of Water and Sanitation (ONEA) in Burkina Faso was one of the first West African National Utilities to adopt a National Sanitation Strategy including faecal sludge (FS) management. ONEA is thus responsible for the challenging task of organising effective FS management for about 90 % of the population served by on-site systems in Ouagadougou, the capital city. The French Agency for Development (AFD) provided funding to establish a three-year partnership between ONEA and the Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (Sandec) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). One of the main goals of this unique collaborative partnership is to implement sustainable solutions for FS management by joint research, stakeholder capacity strengthening, and the design of guidelines and
tools. This article presents the activities conducted in collaboration with ONEA to develop an adequate institutional framework for FS management in Ouagadougou, and strengthen the capacities of the collection and transport companies. [authors abstract]