Dear Smuyani,


Thanks for this information. Iam from Uganda and would to know if our company can join the BDS in Uganda


Deo
Technical Director
www.cagiea.com
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Dear Sherina

Thank you for this detailed summary.

Would you mind to shortly introduce yourself to those of the community who don't know you and your organization yet? What is your role in this project?

I then have few more specific questions on SAAB:
- Where are the opportunities and where the limitations of supporting the private sector as the main driver in the sanitation service providers?

- Objectives/methodology: What are the main objectives of your project? What are the working steps to achieve your goal? How and who does choose the business models and what is your role in this task?

- Could you give some more details on what a BDS is exactly, its size, organisational structure etc. (e.g. they are privat and for-profit, but have up to know support from you and duties to the project – e.g. "BDS firms are responsibe for identifying profitable business models for sustainable sanitation service delivery that benefit the poor ")?

- Who is bearing the financial risk when a entrepreneur launches his new business, the entrepreneur, the BDS, the banks, etc.?

- How do the different business model look like? Can you share more details for India, Africa and LA? Do you have pictures of the projects?


Many thanks,
Dorothee

Dear Dorothee,

Thanks so much for your comments. Please see below a bit more background information and an update on our activities.

Short description of the project
With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Water For People is implementing Sanitation as a Business (SAAB), a market‐based approach to sanitation intended to explore different methodologies for catalyzing and facilitating sanitation businesses in developing countries. It is a 4-year project ending July 2014 under which Water For People is working through Business Development Service (BDS) firms. BDS are for‐profit, private sector firms, who serve as the primary program implementers and are the main point of contact for sanitation entrepreneurs receiving support in business planning and expansion. SAAB is currently being implemented in seven different countries: Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda in Africa; Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador in South America; and Bihar and West Bengal in India. Currently, Water For People is working with these BDS partners:
Uganda – Captiva Communications
Malawi – Tools for Enterprise and Education Consultants (TEECS)
Rwanda – Boundless Consultancy Group
India – BASIX
Bolivia - IMG

Goal and objectives:
The overriding goal under SAAB is developing a methodology for supporting sanitation businesses that, if successful, could provide an alternative to conventional sanitation approaches and lead to the significant expansion of sanitation services to poor people by the local private sector. The BDS firms are responsibe for identifying profitable business models for sustainable sanitation service delivery that benefit the poor (drawn on market research and through testing in different contexts in several countries). They then recruit entrepreneurs under these business models and will be responsible for providing ongoing business support to these entrepreneurs to strengthen the managerial and technical capacity of sanitation businesses.

Grant size: $5,659,264 according to www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quic...nts/2010/07/OPP53246

Progress to date and main findings:

Business models:
Depending on the specific country situation, BDS providers are using different business models to implement the SAAB program. The business models that have been identified are:
• Pit latrine construction
• Pit latrine emptying using a tanker
• Pit latrine emptying using a manual emptying device referred to as a Gulper

Africa:
By January 2013, there were 24 entrepreneurs supported under the SAAB program in Africa - 8 in Malawi, 11 in Uganda and 5 in Rwanda. The entrepreneurs in Malawi ( 8 ) and Uganda (4) that are currently operational are mainly under the Gulper pit latrine emptying model, which requires much smaller start-up costs in comparison to pit latrine emptying using a tanker and pit latrine construction.
Main challenge:
For the sanitation businesses that require bank financing, acquisition of loans from the banks has been a very slow process and this has stalled commencement of operations by a number of the entrepreneurs supported under SAAB.

India:
BASIX, the BDS in India is focusing on a strategy to sell better quality toilets to customers in Sheohar. BASIX has developed a product catalogue of different toilet options and employed their own sales team to market these products to potential customers in an effort to promote quality toilet options and at the same time find opportunities for sanitation businesses. BASIX is also working with a sanitation entrepreneur to sell cement rings for leach pit toilets. Under this arrangement, they have been able to link entrepreneurs to customers that prefer this toilet option. To date, BASIX has sold 30 toilets through market approach without any government subsidy and assisted 40 households with toilet construction and they are slowly gaining credibility in the community.

South America:
South America has completed sanitation market assessments in Peru and Bolivia and is currently in the process of finalizing their strategy under SAAB and recruiting sanitation entrepreneurs to work with under the market-based model. More updates of this will be provided as the strategy develops.


Find enclosed some further readings. Or see here for more documents about our project in the SuSanA library:
susana.org/lang-en/library?view=ccbktypeitem&type=2&id=1733

Looking forward to receiving your feedback,


Kind regards
Sherina

Dear Sherina

Thank you for this short introduction.
Your post lies over 1 year back – can you give us more background information and an update on this initiative?

Best regards,

Dorothee

Sanitation as a Business (SAAB) is intended to explore different methodologies for catalyzing and facilitating sanitation businesses targeting low-income markets of developing countries. Operationally, SAAB will be implemented through local Business Development Service (BDS) providers. These BDS will be the primary actors and program implementers, serving as the main point of contact and support to sanitation entrepreneurs. The main rationale for choosing to partner directly with BDS is to involve the private sector more directly in sanitation business support and ultimately create more sustainable sanitation solutions that can last without external grant support. How does this BDS approach work? BDS providers advertise for local entrepreneurs interested in working in the sanitation sector and request them to submit proposals on their intended sanitation business and areas of operation. Applications are accepted from all categories of entrepreneurs – small, medium and large scale entrepreneurs to work in the sanitation sector. At the very least, entrepreneurs must demonstrate basic business acumen and commitment to working in the sanitation sector. Once selected, entrepreneurs will receive capacity building from the BDS, who will work closely with them in the business planning and implementation process. Entrepreneurs under SAAB are real businesses and not case studies.

So far, this approach has been employed in three countries – Rwanda, Malawi and Uganda, with each country having a BDS provider responsible for working with the entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs are currently at a point where they are working with the BDS to finalize their business plans and get working! The main businesses being focused on at the moment are pit latrine construction and pit latrine emptying. Please share your thoughts on what you think of the initiative.