Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change Resilience of Sanitation Systems in Rural Ethiopia and Uganda

Basic sanitation is a fundamental human need, yet data from the WHO and UNICEF show that globally approximately 4.2 billion people still lack safely managed sanitation. Although this number is decreasing, more than 673 million people still practice open defecation. In order to end this practice by 2030, as is set out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, governments need clear strategies to use, which take into consideration more than just cost. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with off-grid sanitation systems, such as pit latrines and septic tanks, are not widely studied. This coupled with increasing risks posed by climate change, such as floods and drought, mean that systems need to be understood in terms of resilience too. Often sanitation projects focus on laboratory based and designed technology, and then its implementation in the field through trials. Although sometimes this can yield promising results, the lack of foresight for evaluating the whole Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) chain can lead to great technologies in unsuitable environments. The aim of this PhD is to fill this knowledge gap by assessing sanitation management systems in off-grid and rural communities, with an emphasis on infrastructure resilience and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Focusing on Ethiopia and Uganda, this study sets out to develop a user-friendly (for government and others) assessment matrix, looking at trade-offs between emissions, resilience, public health, costs and user satisfaction. Specifically, this study with focus on answering the following questions:
Is it possible to find new solutions to long-standing problems?
Can this help to guide new ways of delivering technology and services?
Are there current practices that work but are not widely heard of?