School of Engineering & Architecture

The Influence of Social Factors on the Promotion 0f Safe Fecal Management in Flood-Prone Areas: A Case of Nyando Sub-County, Kenya

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Influence of Social Factors on the Promotion 0f Safe Fecal Management in Flood-Prone Areas: A Case of Nyando Sub-County, Kenya Onyango, Reagan Omondi; Mugambi, George; Muriungi, Robert; Mworia, Lilian Sustainable Development Goal No. 6 target 2 aims to provide universal access to sanitation by the year 2030. The study aimed to investigate the influence of social factors on the promotion of safe fecal management in Nyando Sub-County. The area was selected due to prevalent flooding which led to the collapse of pit latrines stemming open defecation and reversal in sanitation access. The study employed a convergent methods approach that incorporated both quantitative and qualitative techniques. A sample size of 177 households was chosen as a representative of the 38,460 total households in the study area. Structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were used for data collection. SPSS version 26 was used to analyze quantitative data and the relationship between the variables was examined using Pearson’s Product Moment correlation at a 5% significance level. Similarly, MAXQDA software was used to group coded data from qualitative methods into themes. From the results, household wealth and gender roles had the strongest influence on the regressor variable with correlation coefficients of (r =.722**; P ≤.022) and (r =.687**; P ≤.049) respectively. Additionally, the study revealed that 18.4%, (n=30) of the respondents did not have toilets and 55.2%, (n=90) of the toilets were unimproved. In conclusion, the choice of affordable sanitation solutions incorporating the aspects of gender may increase sanitation access during floods. Future studies should therefore focus on other factors affecting the promotion of safe fecal management in Nyando Sub-County and suitable sanitation solutions for floodable environments.

Social-Cultural Factors Influence on Management of Shared Sanitation, in Nakuru Town West Slums

2024-08-01T00:00:00Z

Social-Cultural Factors Influence on Management of Shared Sanitation, in Nakuru Town West Slums Kipngeno, Aaron; Kubai, Patrick; Mutembei, Josephine Abstract:- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.2 calls for 'adequate and equitable sanitation for all.' However, rapid urbanization in developing countries has led to the growth of slums, where access to private toilets is impractical. Evident studies showed that shared toilets are more often poorly managed with adverse harmful health risks such as diarrheal diseases, environmental pollution, and economic deprivations. The study's specific objective was to establish social-cultural factors influencing the management of shared sanitation in Nakuru Town's west slums, Nakuru County, Kenya. The study adopted a convergent parallel mixed-method design involving 288 household heads selected through a cluster and random sampling technique. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and interview guides. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics was computed. The study findings indicated that the majority, 74.7%, of shared sanitation was poorly managed. The study established statistically significant associations of secondary education (p=0.024), marital status (p=0.025), user satisfaction (p=0.001), household sharing (p=0.000), social norms (p=0.001), cultural beliefs (p=0.002), Rituals on use and cleaning toilet (p=0.038), Privacy and modesty concerns (p=0.002) and management of shared sanitation. In conclusion, a large proportion of households in slums used poorly managed shared sanitation due to the influence of multiple factors like users' satisfaction, Household sharing, marital status, social norms, and cultural beliefs, thus polluting the public health of the place. The study recommended that the Government and all other agencies implementing sanitation promotion interventions should understand the social-cultural practices of the target communities and articulate this knowledge to tailor sanitation initiatives effectively. Future studies should focus on implementing and assessing the effectiveness of behavioral interventions.

Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitude and Perception towards Uptake and Utilization of Treated Human Excreta as Organic Fertilizer in Imenti South, Meru County

2022-06-01T00:00:00Z

Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitude and Perception towards Uptake and Utilization of Treated Human Excreta as Organic Fertilizer in Imenti South, Meru County Ntabathia, Festus M.; Rutto, Jane J; Kirimi, James G; Kiogora, Domenic S Universal access to safe and adequate sanitation for everyone remains a global challenge as over 35% of the total global populations have no access to adequate sanitation. This call for action and a paradigm shift from the sanitation conventional approach systems to onsite sanitation approach to ensure complete sanitation value chain and safeguard circular nutrient economy. This study explores small scale farmers’ knowledge, attitude, perception and practices on the uptake and utilization of treated human excreta as organic fertilizer. Data was collected from 96 respondents comprising of the farming household heads using both stratified and purposive sampling techniques across the six wards of Imenti South Sub-County using questionnaires. The study showed that education level and religion significantly influence on the level of utilization (p<0.05), while gender, occupation and farming duration had no significance level (p>0.05) on the utilization of treated human excreta. Half (50%) of the respondents agreed that increase in knowledge, positive attitudes and perceptions on treated human excreta improved on their application of treated human excreta as organic fertilizer. However, negative attitudes and health risk perceptions were the main limiting factors to utilization of treated human excreta. The type of sanitation technology used also influenced on the uptake and utilization of treated human excreta where by improved sanitation practices increased usage and application of human excreta as organic fertilizer by 52%. Therefore, there is a need for frequent open dialogues around the benefits and risks of treated human excreta utilization as organic fertilizer to increase farmers’ knowledge on it proper application. Further, it is important to understand the nature and direction of attitudinal influence dimensions and characteristics of farmers for mainstreaming circular economy interventions.

Co-treatment of fecal matter with kitchen waste using black soldier fly: process performance evaluation

2022-06-01T00:00:00Z

Co-treatment of fecal matter with kitchen waste using black soldier fly: process performance evaluation Oyoo, Valary Achieng; Riungu, Joy N.; Kirimi, James G.; Dey, Prasanta; Matheka, Rosemary M. Organic matter processing through Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly) technology offers promising fecal sludge management (FSM) and sustainable sanitation option. Fecal matter has been valorized using black soldier fly (BSF) technology; however, there is insufficient knowledge in substrate co- treatment rationing rates to scale up the extant BSFL systems for optimum waste conversion. In this study, an evaluation of BSF process performance during co-treatment of fecal matter and kitchen waste was carried out under laboratory-scale conditions. BSF larvae feeding substrates were formulated using fresh fecal matter and kitchen waste (FM: KW) in the ratios; 1:0, 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, and 0:1. The experiments were set out in rectangular plastic containers (26*13*11cm). Under each mixing ratio, 1000g of the feed substrate was treated utilizing 5g of 5-day old BSF larvae. One hundred larvae were randomly picked at three-day intervals from each treatment (in triplicate) to monitor the larval weight gain across the treatment process. Larval days to 50% pupation, mean pupal yield, waste reduction rate (WR), bioconversion rates (BR), and feed conversion rates (FCR) were monitored for the process performance. The results showed that substrate mixed 1:1 attained the best measures; WR (90.56%), a high weight reduction index (WRI) (5.66), high BR (14.56), and a high overall pre-pupal yield (72.78g) within a shorter development time (16 days). This study affirms the performance efficacy of BSFL to sufficiently convert fecal substrates when co-treated with kitchen waste, promoting a circular economy. It, therefore, illustrates that a co-treatment strategy has the potential to boost and enhance sustainable fecal waste management for future applications.