New “sustainable” and “smart” technologies such as Ecosan (a sanitation revolution concept which practices the simple recycling of waste to ensure safe reuse and return in the environment) possess practical and innovative solutions to meet the current problems being faced globally. Many aid agencies worldwide recognize this and are engaged in Ecosan projects around the world. The central purpose of the study was thus to contribute to research efforts for eradicating a clear evidence on the effectiveness of Ecosan aid interventions and to learn lessons for future project design. The focus was hereby set on Valley View University’s “Development of ecological cycles” project in Accra, Ghana,which served as a case study for evaluation from an ex-post-perspective, two years after the project’s ending. The evaluation consisted of a field visit to the study area over a one month period and comprised analyzing the activities of the project on an output, outcome and possible impact basis, adopting the RBM (Results Based Management) approach. Key lessons identified are the need for locally generating building and maintenance materials for the establishment of ecological systems, the importance of a constant and continuous training of both users and managerial staff of Ecosan technologies, the mandatory incorporation of local stakeholder participation during all stages of a project’s cycle as well as the consideration of local habits and sociocultural beliefs of Ecosan project areas.

Bibliographic information

Okan-Adjetey, P. (2012). Ecological sanitation efforts in Africa: Lessons learned and further recommendations for future project design The case study of Valley View University in Accra – Ghana MSc Thesis, Technical University of Munich (TUM), School of Forest Science and Resource Management, Munich, Germany

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Urine diversion dehydration toilets (UDDTs) SchoolsCase studies in other formatsEnglish

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Ghana

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