IKotoilet Project

“Improving the living environment to create a world where everyone Counts”

1. Introduction

Ecotact envisions a world where everyone Counts: a world that offers social equity, with appropriate responses to growing environmental and social challenges, and where each individual can make a difference. Ecotact strives to develop innovative answers to the growing environmental sanitation cry in Africa and globally.  
The comprehensive understanding of key sanitation agenda, policies coupled with fundamental research enables us to forecast and provide the much needed drive to translate IDEAS into ACTIONS. Ecotact’s ability to advise on and execute community based level interventions is a clear advantage as a social enterprise to raise and manage funds that generate compelling livelihoods returns and environmental sustainability.

Ecotact has invested over US$1.2 Million to date in construction of 40 facilities in 20 Municipalities in Kenya and serving an average of 300,000 people daily with safe water and sanitation. In 2011 we served 8 Million users up from 6.2 Million Kenyans 2010 and 3.8 Million users in 2009.  Ecotact is now operating across the country and plans are underway to construct IKotoilets in Uganda and Zanzibar.

Ecotact as a catalyst in the sanitation sector in Kenya will need to invest over USD 6.0Million, by 2015. This will form a critical stimulus and contribute to approximately 1% of the country’s target to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Ecotact believes that by investing in innovations and providing sanitation facilities it will not only help to meet the basic human right for access to sanitation but also provide the most favourable setting to encourage behaviour change in the schools and in the community. Ecotact provides sanitation access through three different models:
· School IKotoilet
· Urban IKotoilet
· Slum IKotoilet
Through setting up high hygienic standards, sanitation hospitality and an ambiance of convenience, the model is revolutionalizing the sanitation industry into a dignified and decent service to the public.

Urban IKotoilet

The IKotoilet is a complete toilet mall- within the space there are toilets and showers, cold refreshments with snacks, shoe shinning services, air time vending, newspaper vending and we are finalizing details for ATM machine.

The introduction of micro enterprises that are compatible with sanitation adds the convenience perspective of a toilet thus breaking the cultural barriers associated with use of toilets in Africa. IKotoilets integrates other add-ons depending on viability and context in order to ensure sustainability.

IKotoilet sets up high hygienic standards, sanitation hospitality and an ambiance of convenience in the urban areas serving users in markets, parks and bus parks.

Ecotact collaborations with the local government and respective municipalities including Nairobi, Nakuru, Meru, Embu, Othaya, Eldoret, Kakamega, Vihiga, Limuru, Kikuyu, Machakos, Mwingi, Wote and Ruiru has seen the construction of 50 IKotoilets in Kenya.

The Slums IKotoilet

IKotoilet for slums target different low income settlements in Eastern Africa. This also involves leveraging resources to construct IKotoilet, build management capacities of local youth and women groups and incubate the groups through a franchise cover for a period of five years before handing over the facilities to the group.

The slum IKotoilet is in great demand as the government does not provide sanitation facilities in the slums. The facility has space for advertisements, barbershops and snack shops custom made depending on the user’s needs. The revenue generated from these enterprises goes back to the community through the elected management committee, and therefore reduce the user fees.

Currently Ecotact has four slum IKotoilets in Baba Dogo, Kibera, Kawangware and Mathare slums.

During the 2010, World Water Day, Ecotact organized a football tournament in Mathare slums as a way to create awareness and cultivate community participation in sustainable water and water resources management awareness campaigns.

2. Innovations

In order to achieve our mission, we focus on innovations as a clear drive towards sustainable social interventions. These innovations include:

• The Architecture

Architecture and construction of IKotoilets is based on addressing appropriate ergonomics sanitation facilities. IKotoilet aims at establishing a signature of place- a unique street-scape, in terms of built form, that enable users to link, utilize and associate closely with the toilet. This concept is also extended into the internal use of space with innovative, educative and interactive advertisements use of ergonomic furniture to ensure user comfort. Environmental concerns forms the core focus of the IKotoilet and thus the architecture aims at being a matrix of both space and environment. This is strengthened by use of waterless systems and harvesting of urine for agricultural utilisation, increased usage of natural lighting and ventilation, increase in rainwater harvesting and overall landscaping.

• Technology adaptation

Water is increasingly becoming scarce in our cities, and thus the need to strengthen conservation measures. We have installed waterless urinals, optimised rainwater harvesting and utilisation of human waste through biodigestion and production of biogas energy.

• The Unique strategic partnerships

Ecotact acts as a catalyst in order to leverage collaborations between the government, corporate, donors and the community in a sustainable way.  Ecotact’s collaborations and partnerships focus on the unique collaborations between social enterprises and corporate. The social enterprises- corporate collaborations are important in strengthening social investments under the Private Public Partnership which is a significant highlight in development.

Through licenses and contracts, Ecotact has secured Build-Operate & Transfer (BOT) Rights within key Municipal Authorities in Kenya. This has facilitated a paradigm shift from the old thinking that provision of sanitation services in our urban areas is a preserve of Local Authorities. Ecotact has been able to prove that the involvement of the private sector can be an effective way of availing sanitation services to the urban populace.

Ecotact is a clear picture of how public-private partnerships can work on behalf of all people in providing innovative solutions to pressing social problems.

• The innovative Behaviour change campaigns

Social transformation is a critical aspect for toilet use. Ecotact moves away from the traditional focus that toilets is a space that cannot link with other day to day interactions (rural approach- toilets are located in far corners), is not tenable now especially with growing urbanisation. This is a key component through innovative campaigns, sports and awards for slums and the public in all IKotoilet facilities.

Investing in fashionable campaigns, interactions with opinion leaders, policy makers and the so called ‘noble’ personalities in the society and a well trained workforce, IKotoilet ensures the public understands and appreciate behaviour transformation as a critical aspect for sustained clean toilets. Integrated add-ons also strengthen the interaction between the facilities and the public.  In 2011 Ecotact mobilised over 200 mayors to come together and discuss a way forward for sanitation in their Municipalities. The aim was to move the hygiene promotion a notch higher to the policy level and strengthen hand washing practice in our urban areas.

• The Management framework

Ecotact has developed a clear framework for sanitation management and maintenance. Ecotact works with other business oriented groups and individuals through the franchise arrangement with local youth and women for operations and maintenance of these facilities with close oversight role by the council.

Ecotact has set up a management that ensures capacity development. In the IKotoilets, for example, there is continuous capacity building for the operators through support by Water and Sanitation Programme of the World Bank and business development support.

The IKotoilet Model provides opportunities for additional revenue streams from non-water related enterprises, allowing for greater risk management through revenue diversification. This has been shared in Ghana (Kumasi and Kasoa) through Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (UK) and Madagascar through AED Kenya- Ideas changing lives.

• Strategic Youth Employment

IKotoilet provides a framework of alternative untraditional livelihood opportunities to over 300 young people in Kenya. This is through engagement in toilet enterprises including shoe-shining, toilet cleaning and mobile banking outlets. In 2010 Ecotact diversified youth employment opportunities to growing young entrepreneurs through Franchise modelling.

3. Sanitation as a product

Our focus and commitment is to remain a significant leader in sanitation development, marketing and attain a technological niche, based on sound environmental practices.We have forged strong working relations with the corporate world that are leading in segment areas of our concerns. For instance we have signed collaboration with Roto Moulders Ltd to support our water harvesting systems and development of dry toilet systems for furthering our objectives, we have signed a standing contract with Tropical Promoters who are responsible for the shine centres within the IKotoilet facilities and also with UV Trojan East Africa to support UV drinking water fountain for the public. We are also finalizing support programme with EM-Kenya and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute to develop the urine to urea conversion for agricultural value addition.

4. Pricing

The pricing for sanitation access is based on the need to increase access especially to the poor as much as possible and thus reduce environmental pollution associated with poor sanitation. Due to economic instability experienced in country we increased the urban areas user fee to kshs.10 up from Kshs 5.00. Kshs 20 is charged for shower facility (with provision of soap and warm water); while in the low income settlements, the user fee will be limited to Kshs 5.00 for toilet use and Kshs 10.00 for shower.

5. Promotions

IKotoilet is a product that strongly offers visibility, and thus can be felt, seen and understood by the user contact. We have developed a strong brand name of IKotoilet that the general public can easily identify with in Swahili dialect. We have further devised colored brochures, sanitation updates, an environmental journal dubbed Ecodigest, technical specification brief and a media brief presentation.

We participate in sanitation conferences and we are targeting to participate in major world trade fairs, and shows within the region.

6. Monitoring and Evaluation

Those in view of our projects as a way of providing Technical Evaluation, Financial Evaluation and Management Evaluation are: Government, Non-Governmental Organizations, International Organizations and Local and external financial Audits and other Institutions.

Monitoring of the IKotoilets is done across two dimensions:

a) Monitoring of the facility operations

b) Monitoring to assess the social impact of the project

· Monitoring of the facility Operations

Monitoring involves the process of routinely gathering information on all aspects of the facilities. This is done and coordinated by the field officers who frequently gather information from their visits. The following is a highlight of what is considered when conducting monitoring of the facilities:

a) The equipments and tools used, check whether they are in order and functioning and if any repairs are needed.

b) The cleanliness of the facility.

c) Feedback of service from customers.

d) Feedback from the cleaners and cashier about running the facility.

· Monitoring to assess the social impact of the project.

Monitoring to assess the social impact that the IKotoilet has on the community is done annually or depending on the rise in the number of toilets constructed. This is done by conducting thorough surveys to gather information that help in making decisions about the performance of the project and identify room for improvement in areas highlighted.

Collecting the following information allows Ecotact to determine the social impact of its facilities on the community and individuals:

• Demographic information including (sex, age breakdown, employment status, income levels etc) of IKotoilet users.
• Reducing urban pollution from human waste
• Generating employment opportunities for low income individuals and especially the youths
• The knowledge products produced by Ecotact Limited including the Ecodigest receive feedback from the readers and this helps Ecotact to track the readership as well as impact in the sector.

Evaluation

The evaluation of IKotoilets consists of gathering all the information that will enable the organization to understand if the activities correspond to Ecotact’s mission and vision. The ongoing evaluations are conducted on a monthly basis. The construction of new IKotoilet also follows a predetermined format.

7. Status of the IKotoilets programme.

Ecotact has constructed over 50 IKotoilets. Some of them are operational, some are still under construction while the rest are awaiting official opening to start operating. Here is a list of the operational IKotoilets: