One in Every Ten Kenyans Lack Access to the Toilet

One in every ten Kenyans has no toilet and is forced to find a bush or field to relieve themselves, a new survey has shown.

Though the situation may have changed today, in the financial year 2015/16 suggested that about 4.5 million people have to find a bush whenever pressed.

Today, on November 19th, people across the globe join in marking World Toilet Day 2018 which is about taking action to ensure everyone has a safe toilet by 2030. The theme of this year’s event is “When nature calls, we need a toilet”.

According to the ministry of Health, only Busia and Kitui counties have attained open defecation-free status. Nearly six million Kenyans have no access to sanitation facilities.

Globally, WHO and Unicef reveal 892 million people practice open defecation, 1.8 billion people use a drinking water source that could be contaminated with faeces and 4.5 billion people live without a safe toilet. This means human faeces, on a massive scale, are not being captured or treated, thereby contaminating water and soil that sustain human life.

Toilets save lives because human waste spreads killer diseases. World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

The world is not on track to reach Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): to ensure availability and sustainable management of sanitation and water for all by 2030. Today, 4.5 billion live without a safe toilet and 892 million people still practice open defecation.

The impact of exposure to human faeces on this scale has a devastating impact on public health, living and working conditions, nutrition, education, and economic productivity across the world.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), most open defecation takes place among the rural population. This stands at 15 percent, compared to three percent for the urban population. In rural areas, these people defecate in the bushes, while in urban areas, open defecation is a burden in the slums.

This is a big problem, because at least 29.9 percent of children aged below five have moderately stunted growth, with another 13 percent underweight because they do not get sufficient nutrients for optimal physical and mental development, according to the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey for 2015/16.

Only 13 percent (8,378) of villages in Kenya have been certified to be open defecation free out of 68,362 villages, but this is an improvement as only 8 percent of villages had this status in 2016, according to the Ministry of Health.  

To solve this problem, a strategy has been developed to mobilize communities to completely eliminate open defecation. Through the approach, referred to as Community Led Total Sanitation, communities are facilitated to conduct their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation.