To increase access to drinking water and sanitation in rural populations with high levels of vulnerability, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), through the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation (FCAS), with the collaboration of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), financed the Drinking Water and Sanitation Programme for Small Localities and Rural Communities in Bolivia (2012-2018). One part of the programme, targeting dispersed rural communities of less than 500 inhabitants, was implemented in four departments of the country: Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz and Potosí.
One of the programme’s actions was the implementation of individual sanitation solutions (composting toilets) in dispersed rural communities far from urban centres, with high levels of poverty and inequality in terms of access to and use of basic services. This technological option was undertaken considering the environmental conditions and the extensive history of BES implementation in rural areas of Bolivia over 30 years.
In total, 5,315 toilets were built in homes in 186 communities. After the construction of the first toilets, the need was identified to improve their adaptability to the cultural reality of families living in rural communities, mainly Aymara and Quechua, in order to promote cultural acceptance and use of the toilets. Thus, adjustments were made to the way the programme was implemented, combining socio-cultural analysis and an analysis of people’s feelings, fears and rejection of the use of the toilets with a view to encouraging communities to adopt the practice.
In 2020, Bolivia is hosting a technical cooperation run together with the IDB to foster the sustainability of composting toilet sanitation solutions implemented under the Fund’s programmes.
