WASH services in small towns are frequently neglected by all branches of government due to lack of capacity, unclear mandates, low budgets and lack of feasible options to provide services. Typical high-tech infrastructure solutions are neither feasible nor affordable for these contexts. Progress towards MDG- and sanitation-specific targets in sub-Saharan Africa is much higher in urban areas. However such achievements often mask a disparity between the rich and poor in urban contexts and between major urban cities and small towns or rural centres.

The majority of households in rural Malawi construct traditional latrines with a lifespan of less than 12 months. The short lifespan of traditional latrines calls into question the sustainability of ODF status in rural villages. The typical range of sanitation products tends to be extremely limited and options are often prohibitively expensive for rural householders. High costs were commonly associated with cement prices in Malawi - USD12 per 50kg. This Field Note records the experiences to date of developing a national sanitation marketing

This report documents the various change processes that are being used for achieving Open Defecation Free Villages through a Community led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Approach in Angul Block of Angul District in the state of Odisha.

Despite huge amounts of experience of using CLTS in rural context, urban experiences are rare. This new report from Practical Action documents the processes they used and how they adapted CLTS methodologies to the context of low-income settlements in Nakuru, Kenya. The report is based on three years of innovative work funded by Comic Relief and in partnership with Kenyan NGO Umande Trust.