Learning and Adapting for Sustainable WASH Outcomes in Zimbabwe

Amalima Loko is a five-year (2020-2025) USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance-funded Resilience Food Security Activity implemented by CNFA designed to improve food and nutrition security in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe through increased food access and sustainable watershed management.  One of its objectives is to improve the health and nutrition of women of reproductive age and children under five. A key intervention under this objective is to promote the use of safe water, sanitation facilities, and improved hygiene practices, the lack of which are strongly correlated with acute malnutrition and stunting. Amalima Loko uses the Community Health Clubs (CHC), a holistic WASH behavior change approach, to train communities on Participatory Health and Hygiene Education (PHHE).

Half of the population in Matabeleland North practices open defecation, which is harmful to human health and hygiene. Amalima Loko promotes latrine construction to improve low sanitation. After identifying the lack of cement (or lack of money to purchase cement) as a barrier to latrine construction, Amalima Loko realized it needed more information to determine the most appropriate approach to promoting latrine construction and use. The program implemented two approaches—self-supply latrines and cement subsidy latrines—and conducted a rapid CLA study to make an informed decision.  

Through the CLA study, Amalima Loko concluded that while the self-supply approach may be slower, it is more sustainable than the subsidy model and can be scaled up to increase sanitation coverage in program areas. This approach is most effective when amplified with PHHE training; community and Ministry of Health support through the CHCs; and Village Savings and Loans (VS&L) groups integrated into CHCs to help mobilize resources. As a result, Amalima Loko has observed successful CHC and PHHE approaches in latrine construction, a greater sense of ownership, and enhanced community cohesion as groups work together using the VS&L approach as a financing mechanism for latrine construction.