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Risk-based Participatory WASH Planning and Citizen-data WASH Statistics for African Peri-urban Settlements

Environment / Energy (Global-scale environmental issues)

Republic of Zambia

Risk-based Participatory WASH Planning and Citizen-data WASH Statistics for African Peri-urban Settlements

Experienced, not taught - Realizing safe water, sanitation and hygiene in Africa

Principal Investigator

- Associate Prof.
  HARADA Hidenori
  The Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University
- Dr.
  Kawawa Banda
  Senior Lecturer, Integrated Water Resource
  Management Centre, University of Zambia

ODA Recipient Country

Republic of Zambia

Research Institutions in Japan

Kyoto University / Tohoku University / Hokkaido University

Research Institutions in Counterpart Country

University of Zambia / Lusaka City Council – Department of Public Health / Lusaka Water Supply and Sanitation Company

Adoption fiscal year

FY 2023

Research Period

5 Years

Overview of the Research Project

Participative visualization of diarrhea risk to design your own WASH plan

Cholera outbreaks sporadically occur in low-income areas of peri-urban Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. People own cell phones but not sanitary lavatories. Water, sanitation and hygiene are not simply an issue of money, but of prioritization. Supported by an app to be developed under the project, residents themselves will examine the contamination around them and visualize the risk of diarrhea. By “experiencing” potential risks rather than “being taught” about these, residents will be better able to design their own remedial measures and implement them proactively.

The prevention of diarrhea and cholera in African urban slums with poor sanitation

By having residents design risk-based improvement plans by themselves and practicing improvement activities based on their actual experience, contamination of water and food and outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera can be prevented, leading to the realization of a healthier and more hygienic way of life. The project will create a new type of practical science to solve serious social problems by combining citizen science with advanced science.

Photo gallery

Young people in the community testing samples they have collected for coliform bacter

A toilet in a low-income community on the periphery of Lusaka. The cloth-covered toilets have holes to hold excrement, but there are no lids, and the contents overflow during the rainy season.

An outdoor water tap, shared by 20 to 30 households, is used to fetch water. The faucet is located right on the ground due to the low water pressure. Water is stored at home, but contamination occurs by the time it is consumed.