Composting toilets bring sanitation within reach of families

The Institut de Coopération Internationale (ICI) was founded in 2011 by a former French ambassador. This NGO carries out training and integration actions, as well as development projects designed to strengthen the social, economic, health and environmental capital of populations.

In Benin, it has developed a Compost Toilet Project (TAC) that could find an important place in the arsenal of responses to the sanitation crisis. These TACs are based on the conviction that human waste must be recycled to offset the cost of treating it. This approach could also lead to the fertilization of land degraded by global warming.

Construction, maturation, recovery

What's involved? Very simple equipment with a hard construction and a bucket to collect the excreta (urine and faeces are mixed with sawdust). Collection is then carried out once or twice a week by composting agents.

This is followed by six months' storage to allow pathogens to disappear. The compost is then ready for use: it can be sold to farmers at a lower price than conventional chemical fertilizers.

A virtuous circle to ensure the sustainability of TACs

Compost-producing farmers structure themselves as a micro-enterprise or cooperative and share part of the profits with the families (after an initial ramp-up period). They then reinvest the remainder in future developments.

Support from the Veolia Foundation will enable the installation of 150 TACs, capable of covering the needs of 1,500 people and producing 85 tonnes of organic fertilizer per year.