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Published on: 07/08/2012

The supply chain should have the capacity to respond to current and future consumer demand. In the Manual for integrating sanitation marketing (forthcoming from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health) on the national rural sanitation programme in Vietnam the following components of a market study (survey) and report are mentioned:

  • Market size and market potential: Size and composition of the population, present sanitation coverage for improved and non-improved toilets of non-poor and poor/poorest population segments.
  • Sanitation demand: Current practices and satisfaction, demand for improvements (size and types), constraints, opportunities to increase demand, emotional drivers for latrine demands among key groups (women and men, ethnic minorities, etc.).
  • Supply network: Current status of the sanitation supply chain and network. Who provides what services production, sales, construction, marketing, financial services, transport, maintenance, repairs, emptying, end disposal/use. Cooperation along the chain. Constraints and opportunities for strengthening the chain and better matching demand and supply.
  • Information provision service: This covers all information and marketing services, by government (e.g. health promoters), mass organisations (e.g. women/youth/farmers’ organisations), and the private sector (e.g. retailers). The section reports on their capacity, knowledge and skills on sanitation and communication, the methods and media to provide information, adjustment to the different target groups and their interests and needs, and how well these groups can access the information.
  • Physical and institutional environment: This section deals with the physical environment (local infrastructure, soil and climate conditions), socio-economic environment (economic growth, socio-cultural change) and the institutional environment (policies and local institutions related to sanitation market development, available programmes and budgets to strengthen a sustainable services delivery approach across the full cycle).

Supply Chain

The supply chain analysis shown below helped adjust "Sustainable Sanitation and Hygiene for All”, a joint programme of regional/provincial/district governments and SNV and IRC in five Asian countries, with financial support from AusAid.

 

The sanitation supply chain (Source: SSH4A project)

Supply chain analysis is done through a desk-study and interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with selected actors. It has four steps:

  • identification and preparation: segmentation of the supply chain, map of actors and enabling environment, preparation of actor interviews and FGDs
  • supply chain analysis: roles of each type of actors, relationships between actors and with the enabling environment
  • identification of opportunities and constraints, knowledge and technology gaps
  • identification of commercially viable solutions

Practical Action has analysed the sanitation supply chain in Bangladesh’s national rural sanitation programme. WSP piloted sanitation supply chain development in Peru. It also summarized the demand and supply study approach in Cambodia. SNV, IRC and partners developed supply chains for rural sanitation in districts and provinces of five Asian countries.

Three area-specific questionnaires for demand studies and one tool for a supply study are available from the Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing project.  WSP has compiled a Sanitation Marketing toolkit as well as an Introductory Guide in print. In Bangladesh IRC and BRAC use a simplified field tool for surveying the sanitation market.

A wide range of tools for demand and supply studies is accessible from Sanitation Marketing for Managers by HIP, AED and USAID. Below is a summary of the main questions from this publication.

An example for a demand and supply study for rural household toilet comes from Cambodia. In Indonesia, the demand-responsive sanitation approaches uses the Methodology of Participatory Assessment to assess the demand and capacities to run their own sanitation programmes.

Demand studies must divide users into separate categories, e.g. by gender (male and female demands) and types of livelihood. The resulting information helps programmes to define the kind of marketing messages that will best convince each group. In rural Benin, for example, women mostly wanted toilets for comfort, cleanliness and hygiene. Male non-farmers were most attracted to the prestige of having a latrine. Male farmers were least attracted, as they appreciated the fertilization and fresh air of open defecation.

Sanitation Marketing Study: the ‘need to know’ questions

On demand:

  • Who makes or make the decisions on sanitation in the home (target audiences)?
  • What are current defecation habits, incl. for elderly/children/babies/illness/disabilities?
  • Types and styles of latrines and methods of pit emptying and end-disposal/productive uses?
  • Are there any potentially risky practices?
  • What do we want those with poor facilities/practices to do? (desired outcomes)
  • Who are they (target groups)? How many? How do they differ from those with safe facilities and practices?
  • Why would decision maker(s) invest in the desired outcome? (motivating factors)
  • Any problem factors, e.g. financing, competing demands & priorities? (barriers and constraints)
  • How do male/female target audiences communicate and find out about new ideas? (channels)
  • What do consumers know and like/dislike about present options along the sanitation cycle?

On supply:

  • What products and services are available across the cycle, from where and at what costs?
  • Who provides them (importers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, service providers (supply/service chain)
  • Who buys them now? (customers profiles)
  • What skills do the various actors have and lack?
  • What operating constraints do the businesses along the chain now face?
  • What opportunities and barriers may they have in expanding to new (usually low-income) markets?
  • Do they have the interest and capacity to expand?
  • What are the supply chains and prices for construction goods (materials, components) and pit emptying services and how are these prices determined and set?
  • What payment and credit systems, incl. (in)formal savings and loan systems for (a) households and (b) small-scale local businesses?

On enabling environment:

  • What legal requirements are there for household sanitation and how are they enforced?
  • Are permits needed for latrine construction? From where obtainable?
  • Are there regulations on types of sanitation technology, land tenure restrictions or other laws preventing households to install toilets?
  • What regulations and public services exist on disposal of faecal waste and how are they operated and enforced?

On partnerships and networks:

  • Which institutions (government, NGO) are directly involved in sanitation provision?
  • Who influences sanitation provision indirectly?
  • Where are they located?
  • What is the nature and scope of their activities?
  • When are their respective activities implemented?
  • Do the identified actors play complementary, supplementary or disruptive roles (complementary roles (NB:Complement refers to a role or product that completes or goes well with another role or product.Supplement refers to extra or additional products or roles that add to the existing ones)

Background information and materials referred to in the article:
  • supply chain analysis helped adjust “Sustainable Sanitation and Hygiene for All”, a joint programme
  • Practical Action has analysed the sanitation supply chain in Bangladesh
  • WSP piloted sanitation supply chain development in Peru
  • demand and supply study approach in Cambodia
  • SNV, IRC and partners developed supply chains for rural sanitation in districts and provinces of five Asian countries
  • Three area-specific questionnaires for demand studies, one from Indonesia, one from Tanzania and one from Cambodia
  • one tool for a supply study from the Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing project (link below)
  • WSP has compiled a Sanitation Marketing toolkit (link below) as well as an Introductory Guide in print.
  • In Bangladesh IRC and BRAC use a simplified field tool for surveying the sanitation market.
  • A wide range of tools for demand and supply studies is accessible from Sanitation Marketing for Managers
  • a demand and supply study for rural household toilet comes from Cambodia
  • the Methodology of Participatory Assessment
  • assess the demand and capacities of communities to run their own sanitation programmes
  • Demand studies must divide users into separate categories, e.g. by gender
  • in rural Benin women mostly wanted toilets for comfort, cleanliness and hygiene
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