Bridging the sanitation supply chain in rural Tanzania

By Justin Mbowe – Leader – Tanzania, SATO and LIXIL Public Partners

Tanzania has undergone a sanitation revolution over the past decade. Following a number of national campaigns led by the government, at SATO we are building on the foundation created, and are playing our part in driving the next phase of sanitation and hygiene access in Tanzania.

In partnership with the local and national government, the World Bank, and last-mile partners, we aligned efforts with to focus on two key priorities: targeted distributor and retailer expansion as well as direct community engagement.

Focusing on these priorities we engaged more than 80 retailers and dealers, and – in just three months – sold more than 1,800 SATO products, improving the lives of nearly 10,000 people. It built on the momentum of previous successful campaigns, moving more people away from open defecation and poor open pit latrines to hygienic closed pits. Here’s how we’ve done it.

Matching the previous ‘Nyumba ni Choo’ campaign – roughly translated to ‘a house is not complete without a proper toilet’ – we built on the spirit of innovative and creative marketing, and rolled out a ‘marketing storm’ model during Mtu ni Afya – an intensive, focused outreach designed to ensure the availability of product in regions of focused behavioural change and provide ongoing support to partners and retailers. This involved our team actively engaging on the ground, visiting shop to shop, household to household, spreading our sanitation message and supplying our products in areas of high customer demand.

We also partnered with artist Mrisho Mpoto, an ambassador of Water for the Government, who received training to confidently speak about SATO products. He joined us during our campaign, demonstrating our products to individuals at community gatherings, sport events, or other public forums. By tapping into the power of celebrity and direct engagement, we were able to change perceptions and behaviours at scale.

With expansive but not exhaustive reach, the initial Nyumba ni Choo programme covered 16 out of Tanzania’s 26 regions. The second phase expanded into the remaining 10, primarily rural regions, bringing affordable and hygienic sanitation to more consumers.

A key part of this geographic expansion relied on an expanded network of distributors and retailers. As our campaign ventured into different regions, we identified a handful of local distributors and retailers per region to ensure product availability ahead of, during, and after campaign events. These partners were supported by local artisans who could then provide installation and aftercare services to ensure long-term impact. This not only helped to capitalise on the immediate demand but also had a halo effect on retailer partnerships; as local demand increased, the willingness of retailers increased too.

The collaboration was a great success. The project could not have been delivered without a desire and appetite for all partners to adopt a market-based approach and address the existing barriers to investing in toilets. The World Bank, for instance, provided vital funding for NGOs and last-mile partners to execute local marketing campaigns and activations while the Government’s advocacy for sanitation and SATO created even greater legitimacy for our products. SATO, representing the private sector, played a key role in building supply and product accessibility with local retailers. It was a campaign that delivered results through the sum of its parts.

It’s created a brighter future for thousands of people across the country and has helped further strengthen Tanzania’s sanitation and hygiene growth. There is still more to do in the country, though. If you are a retailer, NGO, artisan, or distributor and would like to enhance Tanzania’s sanitation and hygiene challenge, get in touch. We are constantly looking for more partners to bring sanitation and hygiene to the families across the nation and would love to hear from you.