Sanishop
The topics covered ranged from an overview of public conveniences in Asia, Ergonomics and Behavior in Commercial Toilets, Guidelines for Public Toilets & Provision and Stakeholders Needs Analysis and Pain Points, etc. Each session was followed by a question and answer session. On day 2, based on day one discussions, participants presented a product gap analysis and strategy for their region.
The Issue
More people worldwide own mobile phones than toilets.
Many rural households lack basic sanitation facilities and awareness of good hygiene practices is limited. There is often no toilet or any soap for handwashing at home or in school. Children are more likely than adults to touch unclean surfaces and particularly vulnerable to unhealthy environments. Poor sanitation and hygiene leads to the transmission of numerous water-bourne diseases including Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Typhoid, Cholera, and Hepatitis A.
Our Approach
SaniShop’s social franchise model has a participatory approach, not just focusing on rural households as customers, but also engaging and empowering them as part of the solution.
The SaniShop ecosystem revolves around a business model where local sales entrepreneurs trigger demand in their community through sales and awareness events, working alongside local influencers.
Toilets are then built and supplied by local masons who have undergone SaniShop production training. SaniShop’s low-cost and high-quality toilet products are made with locally available materials and local masons who have the knowledge on maintenance and repairs.
This simple market-based model is easily adaptable, replicable, scalable, and localised to suit the needs of the community. The model is also driven by the spirit of entrepreneurship – focusing on the last-mile entrepreneur – who has the drive, energy, motivation, local connections and understanding to change perceptions and behaviours around sanitation, facilitating demand creation.
Impact
Since 2009, SaniShop Cambodia has built 11,211 household latrines and trained over 500 Sales entrepreneurs in 7 provinces (as of 8 July 2014).
Since 2013, SaniShop India had built 889 households toilets and trained 51 Sales entrepreneur in Odisha and Maharashtra (as of 8 July 2014). This project is done in collaboration with Indian-based NGO eKutir and funded by Unilever India.
From 2014-2017, SaniShop Mozambique will be developed in the peri-urban areas of Maputo City. This project is done in collaboration with Mozambique-based NGO ESTAMOS, ACRA-CCS, and is funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.