Over the last 30 years, most rural sanitation interventions have had pockets of success, but were small in scale. Learning how to expand on the successes of these small-scale projects to increase access at large scale has been an enduring challenge. Project outcomes often fail the sustainability test once external funding ceases, and the benefits, even if sustained, remain limited to project areas.  Despite growing political will to do more about rural sanitation, the lack of evidence and examples of effective and sustainable large-scale rural sanitation programs has constrained governments and development partners.

A new WSP working paper, What Does It Take to Scale Up Rural Sanitation? aims to fill that evidence gap. Starting in 2007, WSP provided technical assistance to help governments design, plan, implement, and monitor national rural sanitation programs that start at scale and are sustainable. This initiative was carried out in three countries, India, Indonesia, and Tanzania. In each country, at scale service delivery was led by governments, communities, and the local private sector.

The paper shares lessons and best practices learned from this work, specifically in:

• generating demand for sanitation at the household and community levels;
• increasing the supply of affordable, aspirational sanitation products and services; and
• strengthening local and national governments to lead large-scale sanitation programs.

Download the Working Paper

WSP, July 2012

Authors: Eduardo Perez with Jason Cardosi, Yolande Coombes, Jacqueline Devine, Amy Grossman, Craig Kullmann, C. Ajith Kumar, Nilanjana Mukherjee, Manu Prakash, Amin Robiarto, Deviariandy Setiawan, Upneet Singh, and Djoko Wartono