The latrine ownership ladder: A conceptual framework for enhancing sanitation uptake in low-income peri-urban settings
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the latrine ownership ladder as a conceptual policy framework to enhance sanitation uptake in low-income peri-urban areas.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws from literature and a case study in a Ghanaian peri-urban community to highlight the challenges that undermine sanitation uptake in low-income peri-urban areas and the prospects of various levels of facility sharing as conceived in the latrine ownership ladder approach.
Findings – The authors argue that the infrastructural and other socio-economic challenges of low-income peri-urban areas prevent some households from acquiring their own latrines. For such households, a more responsive approach to latrine promotion and prevention of open defecation would be the recognition of shared ownership regimes such as co-tenant shared, neighbourhood shared and community shared, in addition to the promotion of household latrines. The paper identifies provision of special concessions for peri-urban areas in policy formulation, education and technical support to households, regulation and enforcement of sanitation by-laws among complimentary policy interventions to make the latrine ownership ladder approach more effective.
Originality/value – The paper provides an insight into the debate on redefining improved sanitation in the post-2015 era of the Millennium Development Goals and offers policy alternatives to policy makers in low-income countries seeking to accelerate the uptake of improved latrines among peri-urban and urban slum dwellers.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Management of Environmental Quality |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 5 |
Pages (from-to) | 752-763 |
Number of pages | 12 |
ISSN | 1477-7835 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Aug 2015 |
- Ghana, Improved latrines, Latrine ownership ladder, Low-income countries, Peri-urban settings, Sanitation policy
Research areas
ID: 157043574