Ethiopia: the success of the ArborLoo latrine

Updated - Thursday 04 February 2010

With a population of more 78 million people, Ethiopia has many households in need of assistance. The Government of Ethiopia does not endorse subsidies for sanitation and households must therefore purchase slabs and pay other building costs. Many private artisans have been trained to make slabs, but materials are often hard to come by. Project partner organisations still have to assist in getting materials, and often have to cover the cost of slabs for the poorest families. Slowly, however, the ArborLoo is becoming a part of Ethiopian rural culture by providing a payback for efforts made.

The simplest of all eco toilets

Designed by Peter Morgan of Zimbabwe for African conditions, the ArborLoo is the simplest of all eco toilets, a revolutionary approach that views human excreta as resources to be utilized rather than waste to be avoided. A pit measuring 80 centimetres deep and 60 centimetres wide is dug, dry leaves are added to the bottom and a concrete slab is placed over the opening. After each use, a cup of soil and wood ash mixture is added to encourage composting, reduce smell, and discourage insects. A simple structure can be added on top for privacy.

The toilet is used by a household for one year, after which the slab is removed, the pit is topped up with good topsoil, and a fruit tree seedling or other crop is planted in the topsoil. As the roots grow downward into the pit, the seedling takes up rich nutrients, which result in a very healthy tree that produces in abundance.

In Ethiopia, local farmers have elected to make the pits smaller and use a toilet site for only about four months, so that they can speed up the planting of seedlings.

Design for all cultures

The ArborLoo has become popular in part because the design suits various cultures. Women in particular appreciate the privacy and ease of construction. Its low cost and simple design are particularly attractive in countries where community-led sanitation concepts are being adopted. Households can construct their own ArborLoo at a cost between US$ 5 and $ 8.

US-based Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Ethiopia and its partners have explored ecological sanitation as an option since October 2004. Partners have been carrying out trials in local partner compounds, rural households and schools, as well as crop trials on the various sanitation options. Of these, the ArborLoo has proven to be the most popular. In 2006, CRS began promoting it in all project areas. By May 2009 nearly 54,000 rural households had chosen to construct ArborLoos and about 75% of these were Muslim families. Many communities achieved 100% sanitation coverage in areas that had 1% or less before the project.

Replication to other countries in Africa

The success of the ArborLoo latrine in Ethiopia means that the concept is increasingly adopted in West and Southern Africa, and is now being replicated in other CRS country programmes. CRS has helped to build 500 in South Sudan and a few in Uganda and Kenyan East Africa.

The Ethiopian experience illustrates the importance of promotion and education as the basis of community acceptance. Communities need to understand the health impacts of basic sanitation, the value of human excreta to household agriculture, and the simplicity of the design. CRS will continue to introduce the ArborLoo concept in areas where basic sanitation is lacking and maintain support to programmes where this method has begun to take root and generate growing demand from communities.

Mayling Simpson-Hebert and Dennis Warner

Contact: Christopher C. Seremet, PE, Technical Advisor - Water Supply and Sanitation, E-mail: cseremet@crs.org

Other CRS WASH documents can be found at http://www.crsprogramquality.org/category/water-and-sanitation/