PROMOTING ECOLOGICAL SANITATION IN A RURAL VILLAGE OF NEPAL

ROLE OF ETHNIC WOMEN
IN
PROMOTING ECOLOGICAL
SANITATION IN A RURAL VILLAGE
OF NEPAL
Yaba Laxmi Shrestha, Raimo Lilja
CoDeF/KEMA
Kathmandu , Nepal
August 23,2012, DTC, Finland

NEPAL
• Officially named as "Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal"
• Nepal, a developing country has diversified geography spread from Terai " flat plain
" to Himalaya " highest peak in world", also rich in biodiversity and ethnicity having
multicultural and multilingual societies.
• Nepal has 26.6 million population at present that covers 39% of ethnic or
indigenous groups . 31% of indigenous people are still below poverty line.
• Situation of ethnic women is very poor in the country in many aspects like
awareness, education, employment, opportunity, rights etc.
• Their roles and responsibilities in many sectors such as agriculture, childcare,
household, reproductive health etc. are very high in society but in practical, they are
less prioritized and participatory.

COOPERATION BETWEEN NEPAL AND FINLAND
• Joint cooperation between Community Development Forum ( CoDeF), and Mikkeli
Association for sustainable development (KEMA), Mikkeli,Finland with support of
MFA,Finland
• Launched the Project titled " Livelihood and Environmental Awareness project, ( LEAP)"
• The project period is 3 years from 2010-2012
• Project area: Devichour Village ( VDC), Lalitpur District

DEVICHOUR VILLAGE,
LALITPUR
Latitude 27° 32' to 27° 35' N Longitude 85° 14'60" -18'30" E; Highest elevation : 5000 m

OBJECTIVES
Main Objective:
• To improve livelihood of people in Devichaur
through environment awareness program in
sustainable integrated approach.
Specific objectives:
– To develop women institution at local level, their
empowerment through capacity building and
mobilization
– To increase awareness raising and improve health,
hygiene and sanitation
– To increase income generation through using natural
resources at local level

DEVICHOUR VILLAGE
• Devichaur is one of 41 villages of
Lalitpur district
• Total households - 524 with
population - 2733
• 49% of total population are female
• 80% of Total population is Tamang,
ethnic community of Nepal
• Tamang, ancient Tibetan origin and
culture
• Cousin marriage system, polygamy
( commonly having 2 wives)
• Major profession are agriculture,
livestock farming and labor work
• The literacy rate is only 43.3 %
(male - 24.5 %, female - 18.8 %)

MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION
• 97% of the families access to drinking water from ground water source but it is
unsafe
• Toilet coverage in the community is 41 %.
• Rest of people, 88% defecate nearby forest and another 12% use open field.
• 60% of households used soap for washing hands and rest by only water or ash
after defecation.
• Most common diseases - diarrhea/dysentery, Typhoid, skin diseases , Jaundice,
cholera etc. related to unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation

MAJOR STRATEGY
Development of
women institution and
strengthening of their
capacity
Identification of
problems and needs,
preparation of Action
Plan with participatory
approach
Implementation of
activities with
community
initiative
Increase level of access
of women on local
resource mobilization
and income generation
• Introduction of
project to local
government
organization and
stakeholders,
• Identification of poor
communities
• Women group
formation
• Saving and credit of
group
• Social mobilization
• Discussion and
sensitization of
problems and
needs in monthly
meeting of
women group
• Participating
women group in
Action Plan
• Awareness raising
• Training and capacity
building
• Construction of toilet
• Technical guidance
• Materials distribution
• Capacity building on
FHCV for improving
health and hygiene
• Hand washing
program
• Drinking water quality
improvement
• Identification of
local natural
resources
• Training on Organic
vegetable farming
and use of urine
• training on Nontimber
forest
plantation
• Develop market
linkage for products
• extension of foot
trail n its
maintenance

IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS
1.Women institution development
2. Sensitization of problems on Health and Sanitation
3. Awareness raising campaign
4. Training and Study Tour

IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS
5. Planning
6. Construction of ECOSAN toilet
7. Capacity building training and study tour on use of urine and organic
farming
8. Awareness raising on preventive measures for improvement of
health and sanitation

ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TOILET
• Community of Devichour
prefer and constructed Urine
diverting ecological sanitation
(ECOSAN) toilets
• Constructed about 100
Households ECOSAN toilet in
Devichour and still more
demands
• Constructed 2 ECOSAN toilet
in secondary school of
Devichour
• Altogether 600 population
and 750 students benefitted

CASTE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF
ECOLOGICAL SANITATION TOILET
14%
1%
Tamang Brahman Dalit
85%

USE OF URINE AS ORGANIC FERTILIZER
• The LEAP provide training and
field tour for all toilet users on
using urine as organic fertilizers
• 80% of ECOSAN toilet users used
urine as organic fertilizers.
• 40% used urine directly as
fertilizers mixing with two third
amount of water while using
• 60% used urine first in compost
pit and then after time being
used compost in the agriculture
field
• 20% of ECOSAN toilet users still
hesitate to use urine as organic
fertilizers

IMPROVEMENT OF HEALTH AND HYGIENE
Female community heath volunteers (FCHV) along with women groups
organize various awareness raising and provide basic health services
to community on :
• Reproductive and child health care
• Awareness raising on health impact of poor sanitation
• Preventive measures from water borne diseases
• First aid services
• Support to promote mobile health clinic centers

Improvement of Drinking water quality
• Formation of Drinking Water users group committee
• LEAP initiated 6 drinking water improvement
schemes which are all lead by women
• Organized training on water quality test and safe
drinking water to the women groups

PROMOTION OF INCOME GENERATION ACTIVITIES USING
LOCAL NATURAL RESOURCES
•Mobilization of women group saving in
income generation activities providing
microloan to their members in various
sectors like livestock farming, poultry
farming, tailoring etc.
•capacity building training for women
group members on cash crop plantation,
herbal plantation, varieties of vegetables
farming, fruit plantation, vegetable
marketing management, Swing and
cutting training , organic farming training
etc.
•Distribution of various seeds and sapling.
The groups generate fund selling those to
their members in subsidy price.
•Distribution of Bee-hive to farmers for
honey production
•Training and Production of Briquette (
smokeless coal)

• Hand washing is a basic
and preventive measures
of improving sanitation.
• Female community
health volunteers
organized household
campaigns in the
community for hand
washing campaign.
• Hand washing practices
to school students
through school child club.
HAND WASHING

Integrated community development
• Repair and maintenance of
green roads Voluntarily by
various women groups in
different area. within 2010-2012,
they have repaired about 25 kms
• Construction of Improve
(Smokeless) cooking stoves
• School environment awareness
programs and formation of
children nature club
• Active participation of women
representatives in village
development planning
• Celebration of World
Environment Day, Women Day,
Teej and Tihar festival
• Plantation in the community
forest

CHALLENGE
• Initially difficulties in motivation of
community in construction of
toilet
• Hesitate to use urine as organic
fertilizers
• Difficult to reduce use of pesticides
and chemical fertilizers among
professional vegetables farmers
• Difficult to change behavior of
social leaders in compare to
general community.
• Difficult to promote Dry Ecological
sanitation toilet.
• Reaching the ultra poor family
• Technical maintenance from HH
level

• Improvement of sanitation
and Community
development can be
successfully implemented
in women leadership
• Difficult to bring up ultra
poor people into
development mainstream
• Indigenous technology
should not be avoided but
it needs to integrate in the
development activities.
LEARNING