Theory-driven formative research on on-site, shared sanitation quality improvement among landlords and tenants in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia
Rapid, unplanned urbanization in low-income countries is leading to increasing problems of dealing with human waste. On-site sanitation systems are often rudimentary, unhygienic, and poorly maintained. In-depth, on-site interactive interviews were conducted with 33 landlords and 33
tenants in a neighborhood in peri-urban Lusaka to understand on-site, shared sanitation quality improvement behaviors and preferences. Respondents were asked about housing characteristics, toilet histories, and financial decision-making. Improved, shared toilets were common (79%), but many
were of low quality and poorly cleaned. Poor coordination among tenants, barriers to communication between landlords and tenants, and landlords viewing sanitation as a required basic service to provide instead of something for which tenants will pay more rent all limit the quality of sanitation
in this setting. Landlord-directed interventions targeting non-health motivations for sanitation improvement and introducing effective cleaning systems may increase peri-urban sanitation quality.
Keywords: Behavior-Centered Design; Zambia; behavior change; intervention development; peri-urban; sanitation
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK 2: Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Publication date: 04 May 2019
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