Research Request: To identify whether the current DIGIT FSSM platform is fit for purpose for FSSM in Africa

[Taherabharmal]

Background

Across the world, 4.5 billion people continue to live without access to safely managed sanitation services — this is more than half the global population. 2015’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) called attention to the need for resolving this crisis through SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation for All.

In India, commitment to SDG 6 can be seen through the efforts of flagship government missions like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), etc. However, sanitation remains a complex problem — comprising multiple waste streams, various actors, different business models, etc. — with evolving trends and emerging needs.

To catalyse the multi-stakeholder collaboration required by the sector, eGovernments Foundation proposes using a platform approach. Digital platforms are transforming service delivery and ease of living in areas like ride-hailing, food delivery, etc.; eGov works to ensure that accessing sanitation services from the government should be just as easy and hassle-free — for every citizen, irrespective of who they are and where they live.

Sanitation, as a crucial SDG, requires a robust overhaul. Digital platforms can accelerate this, as they are capable of enabling coordination and collaboration between actors across the social, private and public sectors to create sustainable step-change solutions in the sector.

About eGov’s Sanitation Mission

eGov’s Sanitation Mission, born in 2021, is working to ensure zero deaths, disease, and environmental contamination resulting from poor sanitation in the global south. To this end, the Mission believes that at the heart of Sanitation problems are systems that fail to deliver, and hence systems must be progressively reformed. A Sanitation platform, which increases the capabilities of varied actors and brings visibility to the complexities within waste value chains, is well suited to cater to the requirements of the changing Sanitation domain.

We’ve proved the value of a platform for waste management — particularly, Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) — in Odisha. The DIGIT-FSSM platform has been live in Odisha since 2022 with 70 ULBs using the platform to transact FSSM service delivery. eGov has been involved in training 100+ local government workers in using the platform, and providing policy and program advisory support to the Government of Odisha to sustain and maximize the benefits of the digital transformation of sanitation service provision in the State.

With the platform already in place, eGov is now wellplaced to scale this solution — not just across geographies, but also across waste streams. The modular and extensible design of the platform enables governments to scale the solutions, customize them to suit the local contexts they serve, and enable transformations at speed and cost.

To discern ground requirements in FSSM across different geographies, and to understand landscape the, eGov invites researchers to collaborate with us on studying sanitation systems in Africa.

The scope of the research is to identify whether the current DIGIT FSSM platform is fit for purpose for FSSM in Africa by:

1. An understanding of the current FSSM Landscape and challenges in Africa (Shit Flow Diagram, availability of physical infrastructure for containment, transport or treatment) for FSSM
2. Understanding the availability of and capacity to use Digital platforms for FSSM
3. Identifying prevalent operating models at each stage of the FSSM waste value chain (Generation, Collection, Transportation, Treatment and Reuse/Disposal) in Africa.
4. Mapping prevalent operating models with the DIGIT FSSM platform to arrive at gaps.

Feel free to break this up into smaller projects!