Scaling Market-Based Sanitation: Desk Review on Market-Based Rural Sanitation Development Programmes

June 2018

Inadequate access to sanitation remains a significant problem globally and is linked to the transmission of numerous communicable diseases with a disproportionately large effect on children. The scale of investment required to deliver sanitation goods and services to those who lack access is beyond the capacity of public finance alone.

The private sector has already proven itself a key player in the financing, construction, and operation of municipal water supply and wastewater systems in both developed and developing world settings, and has a significant role to play in the provision of onsite sanitation.

This desk review describes the current state of knowledge in market-based sanitation (MBS) and establishes a framework to analyse, design, and improve MBS interventions. It is based on a survey of approximately 600 documents on MBS, in-depth research into 13 MBS intervention case studies across the global south, and interviews with sector experts and programme personnel.

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