scholarly journals Tackling Open Defecation and Improved Sanitation in Developing Countries: A Toilet Talk from the State of Bihar, India

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-57
Author(s):  
Sandeep Kumar Sinha ◽  
Pradeep Chaudhry
Keyword(s):  
Open Study ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
The State ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Old People ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Sustainable Usage ◽  
Latrine Use ◽  
Free Status

Open defecation is a major blot on India’s overall reputation as an emerging economy as it still remains stubbornly widespread across rural India. The present paper outlines the economic and psychological aspects of toilets construction and their sustainable usage in two districts of the state of Biharviz. Gopalganj& Bhagalpur. Bihar’s performance is not up to the mark with respect to the sanitation figures among other states of India. It was found that households owning a government constructed latrine,still defecate in the open. Study evidences support a preference for open defecation; many survey respondents reported that open defecation was more comfortable and desirable than latrine use. Old people prefer going outside as they are used to this routineand do not mind defecating in the open for the rest of their lives.The study was conducted with an objective to better understand and assess the issues and strategies of behavioural change, policies present in the system and suggesting suitable recommendations to address the issue of sustenance of open defecation free status in the state.

scholarly journals Shifting social norms to reduce open defecation in rural India

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
VARUN GAURI ◽  
TASMIA RAHMAN ◽  
IMAN K. SEN
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Development Interventions ◽  
Latrine Use

Abstract Toilet ownership in India has grown in recent years, but open defecation can persist even when rural households own latrines. There are at least two pathways through which social norms inhibit the use of toilets in rural India: (1) beliefs/expectations that others do not use toilets or latrines or find open defecation unacceptable; and (2) beliefs about ritual notions of purity that dissociate latrines from cleanliness. A survey in Uttar Pradesh, India, finds a positive correlation between latrine use and social norms at baseline. To confront these, an information campaign was piloted to test the effectiveness of rebranding latrine use and promoting positive social norms. The intervention targeted mental models by rebranding latrine use and associating it with cleanliness, and it made information about growing latrine use among latrine owners more salient. Following the intervention, open defecation practices went down across all treatment households, with the average latrine use score in treatment villages increasing by up to 11% relative to baseline. Large improvements were also observed in pro-latrine beliefs. This suggests that low-cost information campaigns can effectively improve pro-latrine beliefs and practices, as well as shift perceptions of why many people still find open defecation acceptable. Measuring social norms as described can help diagnose barriers to reducing open defecation, contribute to the quality of large-scale surveys and make development interventions more sustainable.

‘Why don’t they use the toilet built for them?’: Explaining toilet use in Chhattisgarh, Central India

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-115
Author(s):  
Suraj Jacob ◽  
Balmurli Natrajan ◽  
T. G. Ajay
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Central India ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Mechanism ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Problem Situations ◽  
A Chain

Poor sanitation poses problems for health and policy. Sanitation policy has traditionally addressed open defecation (OD) by constructing toilets. However, a puzzle remains: in many parts of the developing world, why do people continue with OD despite toilets being built for them? While extant research is insightful, an empirical, socially driven explanation for ‘sanitation behaviour’ is still elusive. We advance such an explanation based upon fieldwork in central India where the state has built private toilets for villagers. Drawing upon and modifying pragmatic and analytic approaches in sociology and anthropology, we analyse ethnographic examples of individual toilet behaviour to present a social mechanism that explains toilet use (TU) as an emergent social practice resulting from a chain of ‘problem situations’ experienced by villagers. We find that coercive methods deployed by the state as part of toilet and sanitation policy do not produce durable TU habits, and that good quality toilets are necessary but not sufficient for behavioural change. Instead, we show the need for non-coercive methods of ‘nudging’ that rely on the dynamics of social learning that may enable context-sensitive policies around toilets and sanitation.

scholarly journals Measuring open defecation in India using survey questions: evidence from a randomised survey experiment

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e030152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangita Vyas ◽  
Nikhil Srivastav ◽  
Divya Mary ◽  
Neeta Goel ◽  
Sujatha Srinivasan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Question Type ◽  
Household Member ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Latrine Use

ObjectivesTo investigate differences in reported open defecation between a question about latrine use or open defecation for every household member and a household-level question.SettingRural India is home to most of the world’s open defecation. India’s Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2015–2016 estimates that 54% of households in rural India defecate in the open. This measure is based on a question asking about the behaviour of all household members in one question. Yet, studies in rural India find substantial open defecation among individuals living in households with latrines, suggesting that household-level questions underestimate true open defecation.ParticipantsIn 2018, we randomly assigned latrine-owning households in rural parts of four Indian states to receive one of two survey modules measuring sanitation behaviour. 1215 households were asked about latrine use or open defecation individually for every household member. 1216 households were asked the household-level question used in India’s DHS: what type of facility do members of the household usually use?ResultsWe compare reported open defecation between households asked the individual-level questions and those asked the household-level question. Using two methods for comparing open defecation by question type, the individual-level question found 20–21 (95% CI 16 to 25 for both estimates) percentage points more open defecation than the household-level question, among all households, and 28–29 (95% CI 22 to 35 for both estimates) percentage points more open defecation among households that received assistance to construct their latrines.ConclusionsWe provide the first evidence that individual-level questions find more open defecation than household-level questions. Because reducing open defecation in India is essential to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, and exposure to open defecation has consequences for child mortality and development, it is essential to accurately monitor its progress.Trial registration numberRegistry for International Development Impact Evaluations (5b55458ca54d1).

Rotary Club of Madras: Open Defecation Free Communities Project

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Ashis Jalote Parmar ◽  
G. Raghuram
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Cultural Challenges ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rotary Club ◽  
Village Communities

This case describes the social cultural challenges confronted by Mr. Srikanth, President, Rotary Club, Chennai in making a village near Chennai in rural Tamil Nadu, Open Defecation Free (ODF). It highlights the role of a non-profit organization such as the Rotary Club and behavioral change consultants such as Feedback Foundation in the effective deployment of toilet construction and bringing about a social cultural change in village communities towards acceptance of ODF. The case also points to the of critical need of Swachh Bharat Mission addressing the socio cultural issues and bringing behavioural change, towards acceptance of ODF.

Community interactions and sanitation use by the urban poor: Survey evidence from India’s slums

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 004209802091182
Author(s):  
YuJung Julia Lee ◽  
Tiffany Radcliff
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
High Population Density ◽  
Community Interactions ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Slum Dwellers ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Latrine Use

While the current scholarship on open defecation overwhelmingly focuses on increasing access to sanitation facilities as the solution, millions of people around the world still practise open defecation despite having latrines. This is especially problematic in urban slums where people are more vulnerable to sanitation-related diseases compared with rural areas because of their high population density. We explore why latrines are not being used even when they are available to slum dwellers by identifying social interactions that serve as information channels that promote public latrine use. Using an original survey in New Delhi, we find that slum dwellers who frequently interact with slum leaders, more so than other community leaders, are more likely to use nearby public latrines regularly. A survey of slum leaders finds that their role in fixing and maintaining public latrines and informing others of these acts as well as educating people on hygiene encourage public latrine use.

Spatial variations in access to improved sanitation and water in Lagos state

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 612-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kunnuji
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The State ◽  
Waterborne Diseases ◽  
High Likelihood ◽  
Lagos State ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Domestic Solid Waste

Research has documented the connection between poor waste management and the contamination of ground and surface water across the globe and in Lagos in particular. This makes access to improved sanitation and water central to the pursuit of a good quality of life. This paper set out to explore variations in access to improved sanitation and water across Local Government Areas in Lagos state. Secondary data from the 2006 census of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were used. The study shows that access to improved sanitation and water is not equitable in the state. Collection of domestic solid waste ranges from 4 to 73% while access to improved water provided by the water corporation in the state ranges from 2 to 50%. The paper concludes that access to improved sanitation and water in Lagos is largely ‘metropocentric’. The implication is a high likelihood of variations in the incidence of cholera and waterborne diseases in the non-metropolitan parts of the state. The paper recommends concerted research-based intervention aimed at increasing access to sanitation and government-provided safe water in the non-metropolitan parts of Lagos state.

Assessment of urine diverting dehydrating toilets as a flood-resilient and affordable sanitation technology in the context of Bangladesh

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saif Mohammad Uddin ◽  
Mariska Ronteltap ◽  
Jules B. van Lier
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Urine Diversion ◽  
Flood Level ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Capital Intensive ◽  
Flood Prone Areas

Bangladesh has made a significant contribution to supply improved sanitation facilities in rural areas in recent years. As it is the most known option, pit latrines were the most favourable technology. Yet, as Bangladesh is a country of flooding and high groundwater table, pit latrines not only flush out and cause pollution; they also become inaccessible during floods, and remain filled with silt after the floods. Every year floods destroy many sanitation facilities and force people to resort to open defecation, despite the capital-intensive investment. Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilets (UDDTs) were evaluated on their suitability in flood-prone areas and their affordability in the context of Bangladesh. A survey conducted in two flood-prone areas of Bangladesh showed that with an average height of 0.69 m the UDDTs are higher than the average highest flood level of 0.31 m. To decrease cost and construction complexity, a local design was developed based on the current pit latrine, at 50% of the costs of the current UDDTs. Although the resulting cost is still not within reach for most Bangladeshi, the affordability could be increased by taking into account avoided emptying costs as well as the added value of human excreta as a fertilizer.

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