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Steven Sugden gravatar image
Knowledge Point

If somebody was to offer me a car that I knew would only last 6 months, I would not pay more them more than $300 – and then only if it had a full tank of petrol . If someone was to offer me a car that would last forever, I would pay $20,000 for it, may be more. There are cars and cars and there are toilets and toilets. Price is dynamic depending on quality and, in case of Blantyre toilets, the ‘permanence’ the investment offers.

In Blantyre there has never been a simple way for people to empty pit latrines and there is no tradition of manual pit emptying or self-emptying, unlike Kampala and Dar es Salaam. When the pit becomes full, the whole latrine has to be moved and a new superstructure built. In such circumstances even $30 seems high and the Householders are been entirely rational.

By developing and offering to households’ affordable pit emptying services it changes the nature of the investment decision. People are willing to pay more for quality and permanence and this is where Durasan could enter the market. Ability to pay is another question and another solution.

In Blantyre latrine building and the provision of pit emptying services more closely linked than in other places. This is described in the Sugden Blantyre Trip report of 2010. https://waterforpeople.box.com/s/c2l3lkgt1ghe9xc2lhjhc1bi2cj11izw

What people are paying now is not always a useful guide and can be an easy get out. A more useful indicator is ‘Disparity’, which is a proxy indictor for demand. If somebody pays $200 for a house, then $30 represents a large investment, if somebody $10,000 in building a house then $30 for a latrine is nothing? People who build nice houses (cement rendered, grill on the window, tie roof etc) generally have more money, a perceived higher status and higher aspirations. I remember talking to such a house owner in Blantyre and them being acutely embarrassed by their $30 latrine. These are the customers for the Durasan.

The other indicator which makes me question the reliance on the survey date is that the Malawi CP has reported they have facilitated the building of 6,000 latrines. People would have paid a lot more than $30 for these.

I’ve dug up another Market Survey carried out in 2010, which you probably have not seem and re-emphasizes the need for KP. https://waterforpeople.box.com/s/1xxm918hf5kfw4uiylddt184n7biwtzu It states “From the marketing of latrines point of view, it is interesting to see that 98% of the very rich and 87% of the rich are using latrines below their wealth status. This confirms the difficulties households have in maintaining access to good quality latrines and the selling potential of an affordable, highly desirable, permanent latrine. Latrines, like mobile phones, are status symbols and a method of visibly displaying to the neighbors, friends and family the social standing of the user within the community. Relatively rich people will not like owning, or being associated with, poor quality latrines”

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No.2 Revision

If somebody was to offer me a car that I knew would only last 6 months, I would not pay more them more than $300 – and then only if it had a full tank of petrol . If someone was to offer me a car that would last forever, I would pay $20,000 for it, may be more. There are cars and cars and there are toilets and toilets. Price is dynamic depending on quality and, in case of Blantyre toilets, the ‘permanence’ the investment offers.

In Blantyre there has never been a simple way for people to empty pit latrines and there is no tradition of manual pit emptying or self-emptying, unlike Kampala and Dar es Salaam. When the pit becomes full, the whole latrine has to be moved and a new superstructure built. In such circumstances even $30 seems high and the Householders are been entirely rational.

By developing and offering to households’ affordable pit emptying services it changes the nature of the investment decision. People are willing to pay more for quality and permanence and this is where Durasan could enter the market. Ability to pay is another question and another solution.

In Blantyre latrine building and the provision of pit emptying services more closely linked than in other places. This is described in the Sugden Blantyre Trip report of 2010. https://waterforpeople.box.com/s/c2l3lkgt1ghe9xc2lhjhc1bi2cj11izw

What people are paying now is not always a useful guide and can be an easy get out. A more useful indicator is ‘Disparity’, which is a proxy indictor for demand. If somebody pays $200 for a house, then $30 represents a large investment, if somebody $10,000 in building a house then $30 for a latrine is nothing? People who build nice houses (cement rendered, grill on the window, tie roof etc) generally have more money, a perceived higher status and higher aspirations. I remember talking to such a house owner in Blantyre and them being acutely embarrassed by their $30 latrine. These are the customers for the Durasan.

The other indicator which makes me question the reliance on the survey date is that the Malawi CP has reported they have facilitated the building of 6,000 latrines. People would have paid a lot more than $30 for these.

I’ve dug up another Market Survey carried out in 2010, which you probably have not seem and re-emphasizes the need for KP. https://waterforpeople.box.com/s/1xxm918hf5kfw4uiylddt184n7biwtzu It states

“From the marketing of latrines point of view, it is interesting to see that 98% of the very rich and 87% of the rich are using latrines below their wealth status. This confirms the difficulties households have in maintaining access to good quality latrines and the selling potential of an affordable, highly desirable, permanent latrine. Latrines, like mobile phones, are status symbols and a method of visibly displaying to the neighbors, friends and family the social standing of the user within the community. Relatively rich people will not like owning, or being associated with, poor quality latrines”

latrines”

click to hide/show revision 3
No.3 Revision

If somebody was to offer me a car that I knew would only last 6 months, I would not pay more them more than $300 – and then only if it had a full tank of petrol . If someone was to offer me a car that would last forever, I would pay $20,000 for it, may be more. There are cars and cars and there are toilets and toilets. Price is dynamic depending on quality and, in case of Blantyre toilets, the ‘permanence’ the investment offers.

In Blantyre there has never been a simple way for people to empty pit latrines and there is no tradition of manual pit emptying or self-emptying, unlike Kampala and Dar es Salaam. When the pit becomes full, the whole latrine has to be moved and a new superstructure built. In such circumstances even $30 seems high and the Householders are been entirely rational.

By developing and offering to households’ affordable pit emptying services it changes the nature of the investment decision. People are willing to pay more for quality and permanence and this is where Durasan could enter the market. Ability to pay is another question and another solution.

In Blantyre latrine building and the provision of pit emptying services more closely linked than in other places. This is described in the Sugden Blantyre Trip report of 2010. https://waterforpeople.box.com/s/c2l3lkgt1ghe9xc2lhjhc1bi2cj11izw

What people are paying now is not always a useful guide and can be an easy get out. A more useful indicator is ‘Disparity’, which is a proxy indictor for demand. If somebody pays $200 for a house, then $30 represents a large investment, if somebody $10,000 in building a house then $30 for a latrine is nothing? People who build nice houses (cement rendered, grill on the window, tie roof etc) generally have more money, a perceived higher status and higher aspirations. I remember talking to such a house owner in Blantyre and them being acutely embarrassed by their $30 latrine. These are the customers for the Durasan.

The other indicator which makes me question the reliance on the survey date is that the Malawi CP has reported they have facilitated the building of 6,000 latrines. People would have paid a lot more than $30 for these.

I’ve dug up another Market Survey carried out in 2010, which you probably have not seem and re-emphasizes the need for KP. https://waterforpeople.box.com/s/1xxm918hf5kfw4uiylddt184n7biwtzu It states

“From the marketing of latrines point of view, it is interesting to see that 98% of the very rich and 87% of the rich are using latrines below their wealth status. This confirms the difficulties households have in maintaining access to good quality latrines and the selling potential of an affordable, highly desirable, permanent latrine. Latrines, like mobile phones, are status symbols and a method of visibly displaying to the neighbors, friends and family the social standing of the user within the community. Relatively rich people will not like owning, or being associated with, poor quality latrines”