A Sanitation Goodbye

I'd like to say a huge thank you for keeping up with me throughout my exploration of the theme Water and Sanitation. Grab a coffee and sit down to enjoy the last portion of my blog. 

Firstly, i'd like to start of with saying that i've thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog. Although at times I find myself not being able to put the ideas in my head into writing and support this with evidence, I have found that it is part of the process of blog writing and therefore writing these blog posts has been an enriching experience for me.

Now I would like to summarise the importance of my blog posts for the theme of Water and Sanitation (and my thought process when writing these posts):

First, we saw a worldwide view of the share of deaths from unsafe water sources and found that most deaths resonated in Africa. This led to my exploration of the case of Kampala and the sanitation issues present through understanding pit latrines. I began to wonder reasons as to why Africa was behind on its Water and Sanitation targets, leading to my blogs on governance and population growth. Only then once I addressed what was causing the problems of sanitation, I outlined some solutions to the sanitation problems in Africa.

The case of Kisumu Town was an interesting case study as we saw their innovative solutions using local knowledge and 'own-key arrangements' to aid in increasing water demands. Other African countries could follow in Kisumu's footsteps given that Africa's mean population density is expected to rise by 39 persons per km^2 between 2000 and 2050 and this is a cause for alarm in Africa especially due to increasing urbanisation and per capita consumption. Figure 1 shows the upward trajectory of population density in Africa over the years and projections from 1950 to 2050. 

Figure 1: total and urban population projections (10^3) and urban % (right-hand axis) for Africa


As you can see, my blog has been quite data-heavy, as I deem this important when studying the problems and solutions to water and sanitation in Africa. However, the provision of data on water and sanitation is often inadequate due to limited budgets which are common in countries like Uganda. So the focus should be on increasing data provision to gain effectiveness for prospective sanitation solutions in Africa.

Countless videos report on the Water and Sanitation situation in Africa but I would like to leave you with this video as it explores how small scale, market-based solutions, similar to that of Sanergy and Kisumu town, is not only helping sanitation for the people of Uganda but also 'good for health, the environment and the budget'. The water filters mentioned in the video use granite to purify the water so locals no longer need to boil water and waste energy which is harmful to the environment. They train people to install filters and sell them to earn income for themselves. Amongst installing these filters in schools they also plant trees. 

Thanks for reading! 

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