To promote the development of the sanitation market, the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene supported by UNICEF carries out advocacy with the private sector

Antananarivo, 17 May 2022 – Until 18 May 2022, an industrial consultation will be held at the Radisson Blu Ambodivona to discuss the development of the sanitation market in urban, semi-urban and rural areas of Madagascar. This is part of the study of the domestic sanitation market in Madagascar conducted by UNICEF, in support of the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (MEAH) through the Hydroconseil and Arafa groups.

Despite efforts made by the various stakeholders, the current pace of progress is insufficient to eliminate open defecation by 2030 and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2, which is to ensure equal access for all to adequate sanitation and hygiene services, under fair conditions, and to end open defecation, with particular attention to the needs of women and girls and vulnerable people. In Madagascar, the development and involvement of the private sector are one of the key pillars for promoting universal and sustainable access to sanitation products and services.

The current sanitation market has been evaluated in three segments: the demand of consumer households, the supply of products and services related to sanitation challenges, the business environment including the various regulations and related tax regime.

On the demand side, the study observed that 7.6 million latrines (6 million in rural areas and 1.6 million in urban areas) should be built by 2030. Households are also looking for latrines that are easily washable, sustainable and resilient to climate change. In terms of supply, there is an imbalance between cities, semi-urban and rural areas. The latter are more disadvantaged in terms of coverage and diversification of products and services.

Another case study shows that every child in Madagascar will need an investment of $8 per year over the next 15 years. This is much lower than losses related to poor conditions in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene which would represent more than $567 million per year, or $25 per person per year. The size of the sanitation market, apart from collection and treatment, would be estimated at $34 million per year on average.

Thus, the industrial consultation will allow the sanitation market players to agree on the means to be put in place in order to bring out and perpetuate healthy and sustainable markets of innovative products and sanitation services responding to the demand, accessible to all and managed safely. During the two days, the findings of the study will be presented and validated jointly. Then, participants including the Government through the Ministry in charge of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, the private sector including manufacturers and suppliers, banking and microfinance institutions, players in the Water, Sanitation, Hygiene sector, members of civil society organizations, technical and financial partners will work together in order to identify solutions to develop the sanitation market on the one hand and to think about a short, medium and long term action plan for their deployments, on the other hand.