This paper shows how two agriculture funded sanitation projects in rural Niger and Burkina Faso have introduced sanitized urine and faeces as new fertilizers for improved local nutrient management, food security and health.
The link between food production and sanitation is at the centre of two agriculture funded sanitation projects in Burkina Faso and Niger. Productive sanitation is used to increase food security, based on the fact that urine and faeces from a family of ten contain nutrients equivalent to approximately 100 kg of chemical fertilizer, locally worth ~80 US$. Urine contains the main part of these nutrients and is relatively easy to collect and reuse.
The agriculture extension officers have a key role in supervising participative tests with urine as a fertilizer that help create demand for sanitation. Farmers are trained on how to produce liquid and solid fertilizers from urine and faeces, by eliminating the dangers and capturing the resources via the good use of simple urinals and “productive toilets”.
The article describes the arguments and methodology used in the projects and perspectives for up scaling in Burkina Faso and Niger.
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