Adoption and Sustained Use of the
Arborloo in Rural Ethiopia:
A Cross-Sectional Study
Dionna Fry1, Bekele Abaire2, Yeshewahareg Feyisa2, Dejene Mideksa2,
Katherine Cunliffe2, Argaw Ambelu3, Matthew Freeman1
1Emory
Rollins School of Public Health; Department of Environmental Health & Hubert
Department of Global Health, 2 Catholic Relief Services; 3 Jimma University
Katherine Cunliffe, MPH
Regional Technical Advisor for Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Catholic Relief Services
Background
• In rural Ethiopia, just 23% of the population has
access to improved sanitation (JMP 2014)
• Ethiopia’s per capita income of $470 per annum is
substantially lower than the regional average (World
Bank 2014)
Simple, low-cost sanitation solutions that are easy
to use and maintain are needed.
2
The Arborloo
3
The Arborloo – How it works
4
CRS’ Arborloo promotion in Ethiopia
5
•
Began promoting the
Arborloo in 2004
•
Arborloo was chosen
because it is an affordable
and easy to construct
option for rural
households
•
CRS has helped households
construct more than
80,000 Arborloos in rural
Ethiopia
Research Aims
Primary aim: Evaluate the reach and sustainability of
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Ethiopia’s Arborloo
sanitation intervention program 10 years after it began
Secondary aims:
6
•
Examine why people continued using the
Arborloo over time
•
Examine if there were differences in the
populations that adopted and sustained Arborloo
use as compared to the general population
Methods
Data Collection
• Conducted a cross-sectional survey of 690 adults
in 20 villages in Oromia region
• Random selection of villages and
households
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•
Interviewed 24 key informants
•
Conducted 33 in-depth interviews
Results
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Results
Among 462 households that had an arborloo in
the last 10 years, 76.2% sustained arborloo use
9
Results
10
Qualitative Results - Pros
•
Most important benefit is the
ability to plant on the filled pit
•
Safer than the traditional
latrine, especially for children,
since it is shallow
•
Easier and cheaper to construct
than a traditional latrine
•
Fewer flies and smells than
other latrines
Papaya tree planted on a Arborloo pit
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Qualitative Results - Cons
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•
Not receiving a seedling or having a seedling die
prompted a switch to a traditional latrine
•
No reason other than the pit filling up for stopping
Arborloo use and returning to open defecation
Limitations
13
•
Responses to a households’ present and past latrine
types was used to establish sustained arborloo use
which may be subject to bias.
•
Since this is a cross-sectional study, no causal
relationship can be established
Conclusions
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•
There was strong evidence that arborloo usage was
sustained in intervention communities even after many
years
•
Factors such as pit usage and concrete slab availability
were found to be strongly associated with arborloo
sustainability
•
No clear relationship between household wealth and
arborloo uptake or continued use was observed
Recommendations
• Improve access to
arborloo materials
via sanitation
marking
• Understand why
Islamic households
are not using the
arborloo for
planting and adjust
program messages
accordingly
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Acknowledgements
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