Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA)

The concept of food security has been perceived by many as one of the fundamental rights of human beings. Unfortunately, the prevailing reality on the ground has foiled this international claim gravely. The FAO estimated in 2006 that 854 million people worldwide are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty and about 2 billion people lack food security intermittently due to varying degrees of poverty. Considering the rising food and fertiliser prices, the increasingly limited global fertiliser and water resources and the continuous growth of the world population, the problem of food insecurity is likely to worsen in the coming decades.

A large proportion of the population growth will take place in urban areas resulting in a substantial increase in the volume of urban wastewater and a significant increase in urban food demand. Facing the huge number of people to be fed and the existing natural limitations on earth, it appears reasonable and inevitable to approach the food security issue from a perspective of resource preservation and recovery. A paradigm shift in sanitation towards a recycling-oriented approach is highly advisable to bring the limited nutrient resources back to the agricultural fields. This requires a renewed alliance between the agricultural and sanitation sectors, stressing resource recovery as a key requirement for sustainable sanitation concepts.

This working group aims to raise awareness for the reuse-oriented sustainable sanitation approach, its prospective contribution to global food security and to promote this approach on a large scale. The group aims at bringing together all relevant organisations with global competence in agriculture (e.g. soil fertility, irrigation), sustainable sanitation and neighbouring disciplines, which are not yet fully involved in the sanitation discussions. This will help to convey the sustainable sanitation approach to new groups and stakeholders. The main deliverables of the group are a factsheet, flanked by a collection of case studies and a guide for farmers.

Xavier University, AEE/INTEC, Aquamor, BASA, CREPA, Ecosanlac, EKWMA, gtz, FAO, Freiburg University, ICEE, IDRC, IEES, IFAD, IWMI, PUVeP, RUAF, SEI, SLU, SUDEA, TTZ, University of Essex, Uni Kalyani, Water for People, WHO.

Contact of the working group is:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Xavier University, Philippines

Click on the link below to download the presentations from the SuSanA meetings.

Presentation of the 10th meeting

Working Group 05: Food Security and Productive Sanitation Systems
Robert Gensch, Xavier University PH

Presentation of the working group meeting during the 9th meeting

Previous activities and current sate of WG05
Robert Gensch, School of Medicine, Xavier University, Philippines

EcoSan fertilizers for a sustainable agriculture: Synthesis of research and dissemination in Burkina Faso
Dr. Moussa BONZI, CREPA –HQ, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Urine and faeces as fertilizers in the CREPA network
Linus Dagerskog, Associate Expert, CREPA ECOSAN program, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Experiments at recycling urine in the school garden
Peter Morgan and Annie Shangwa, Zimbabwe

Criteria list for development of locally adapted farmer guidelines
Robert Gensch, School of Medicine, Xavier University, Philippines

Some results of the urine experimentation with yam and irrigated rice
Bernard COMOE, Agricultural Engineer- ph D student, EcoSan Program Supervisor in Ivory Coast

Systems drop by drop of application of the urine on several crops
Bernard COMOE

Urine collection – storage delivery in Ouagadougou
Linus Dagerskog, Associate Expert, CREPA ECOSAN program, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Methods of using “toilet compost” in agriculture
Peter Morgan, Aquamore, Zimbabwe

Garden Trails using urine as a plant food – Some practical methods
Peter Morgan, Aquamore, Zimbabwe

Large scale handling of urine and faeces
Anna Richert, Consultant

Handling systems (on-site, smale scale), Cagayan de Oro
Robert Gensch, School of Medicine, Xavier University, Philippines

Presentation of the 8th meeting

Presentation of working group 5
Robert Gensch, Xavier University, Philippines

Presenations of the 7th meeting - working group meeting

Presentation of working group 5
Robert Holmer, Xavier University, Philippines

Current state of the SuSanA working group 5
Robert Gensch, Xavier University, Philippines

Guide for farmers
Robert Gensch, Xavier University, Philippines

Presentation of the 6th meeting

Presentation of working group 5
Robert Gensch, gtz, Germany

Presentations of the 5th meeting

Presentation of working group 5
Robert Gensch, gtz, Germany

Presentation of working group 5
Pay Drechsel, IWMI - West Africa Office, Ghana

Presentation of working group 5
Linus Dagerskog, CREPA/SEI, ECOSAN and REUSE

Presentation of the 4th meeting