Sustaining the gains of community-led total sanitation (CLTS) through latrine demonstration centre: a case study of rural communities' challenge of constructing latrines on loose soil formation in Jigawa state, Nigeria

Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) remains a very effective sanitation strategy to help rural communities to stop open defecation. It is a Strategy that has had unprecedented outcomes in motivating rural communities to transform from a haven of open defecation to clean environments where all households now have and use latrines. This is the experience in rural communities of Birniwa Local government of Jigawa State where open defecation was a norm and was never connected to the prevalent cases of diarrhea especially among children. Even though, there had been several health enforcement interventions by the sanitary Inspectors of the LGA for people to build latrines, yet the practice of open defecation persisted. This situation remained until CLTS was introduced and implemented through UNICEF/DFID supported Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN) aimed at promoting mass safe excreta disposal campaign, first among households and then to communities taking charge of their sanitation. Introduction of CLTS helped so many communities to construct latrines and open defecation was gradually becoming history. Suddenly, latrines began to collapse and open defecation crawled its back into nerve center of communities especially communities with loose soil formation. The onus was now on us to find lasting solution to this challenge. A forum of local artisans was organized by the affected communities from which various local latrine options emerged for demonstration and adaptation. A demonstration center was supported by UNICEF for all communities to visit and borrow the most affordable option for their communities. Once again, this initiative has brought back smiles into faces of householders who were disappointed at the negative experience of collapsing latrines. Now, CLTS is back on its track.