Social Entrepreneurship: A revolutionary approach to an age-old problem
December 27, 2009
By Eileen Lambert
The celebration ran high when the new well gushed water for the first time and the entire village attended the festivities. Streamers and fresh paint decorated the new pump. But the thrill was gone when the pump broke and no one in the village knew where to find or how to install the spare part required to get the water flowing again.
It's a story that is repeated thousands of times a year in developing countries where broken water pumps and latrines are abandoned throughout villages and communities. It's not for lack of caring. Many were installed by well-intentioned nonprofit organizations and philanthropic groups. But the real challenge is how to make these systems last
"One of the biggest problems around the world is that water and sanitation systems are often installed for free, without considering how they will be maintained. You see catastrophic failure rates around Africa, Asia, and Latin America," said Ned Breslin, Water For People CEO. "The International Institute for Environment and Development estimates that 50,000 water points in Africa are broken on any given day. They estimate that it's worth between $215 and $360 million in wasted investment.
Water For People is looking at the problem of access to water and sanitation from a different angle than many nonprofits do—one that involves leveraging the local businesses. To solve the problem of broken pumps, the organization is stimulating what are essentially plumbing businesses.
Water For People is looking at how to encourage more local businesses to see the value in sanitation services. As in the case of a cell phone company that gives you the phone for a low price but makes its money on the two-year contract, a business would give a latrine to a family for low cost but still make money based on their service (emptying the latrine pit later)
Every country and region in which Water For People works has a different example of how the private sector can profitably address a social cause and increase the overall sustainability of international development projects, otherwise known as social entrepreneurship
And the innovative ideas are catching on.
It all started two years ago when Water For People produced an award-winning project proposal during the Development Marketplace event held by the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a global competition that encouraged innovative solutions to the world's biggest development challenges. With the $200,000 award, Water For People developed a program that leveraged eco-sanitation toilets and local entrepreneurs
The idea works like this: Families are offered an eco-sanitation latrine financed with a microloan. The family uses the latrine, adding soil and ash after every use to create compost, and then the entrepreneur returns to purchase and remove the compost. The family earns enough to pay off the cost to build the latrine and retain a little additional money. The entrepreneur grows the business by selling the compost to local farmers. And the entrepreneur has incentive to get more people to use the eco-sanitation toilet.
This "Sanitation as a Business" model proved that the local private sector truly has a place in improving the longevity and breadth of international development programs. The number of sanitation beneficiaries in Malawi will likely increase rapidly through this program—not just when the toilets were installed, but continuing into 2010
This fall, Water For People had another opportunity to test the model. In September the Blantyre Water Board, operated by the government of Malawi, selected Water For People to provide technical support for a 31-million-euro ($45 million) initiative funded by the European Union (EU) Water Facility and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to bring safe drinking water and improved sanitation to more than 540,000 people in 21 low-income areas of peri-urban Blantyre and Lilongwe, Malawi. The projects include microloans for latrines supported by low-cost services from entrepreneurs to empty the latrines at scheduled intervals, making the toilets sustainable and incentivizing business
In addition, the Case Foundation invested in Water For People in October to accelerate and expand its efforts to provide innovative, sustainable water solutions in Africa. This investment helps us harness the power of local entrepreneurs to provide sustainable operations and maintenance support in Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda
"We're developing and incubating viable business ideas so that entrepreneurs see that everyone who doesn't have a toilet—everybody who goes to the bathroom—is a viable customer," Breslin said. "That way, Water For People doesn't have to fund and build every toilet. Many other organizations have tried that idea and it hasn't worked.
But social entrepreneurship may work differently depending on the local environment and culture. In India, Water For People trained a group known as the Jalabandhus ("friends of water") to repair broken water pumps and sanitation facilities. This group of entrepreneurs saved many lives after Cyclone Aila in May 2009 by repairing all except three water pumps installed by Water For People in the Sundarban Island villages. The three remaining pumps were under water and not repairable. Not only did the Jalabandhus (also known as mobile mechanics) get the pumps working, but the local government also employed the team to repair pumps they had installed.
"An answer Water For People has found to the challenge of sustainability is the empowerment of mobile mechanics who visit village after village to maintain and repair water infrastructure," Breslin said. "Mobile mechanics collect a fee for their services and become viable businesses that serve a social good by providing quality technical support to communities.
"By stimulating the private sector to provide water and sanitation services, we plan to show that systems are still functioning after 10 years, that latrine services are still being used, and that these communities no longer need development organizations. If we can show that water is flowing, toilets are being used, hands are being washed, not just when they get the service but in 10 years, I think that's revolutionary," Breslin said
Listen to Ned Breslin's interview with Colorado Public Radio about social entrepreneurship at www.waterforpeople.org/cpr.
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