Residents in communities of Lofa, Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba, and rural Montserrado continue to experience the exceptional benefits of the SaTo (Quee) Toilet. These benefits include its ability to eliminate flies, cockroaches, and odors. Additionally, the product’s affordability and ease of use have made it particularly attractive. As a result, demand for the SaTo Toilet is persistently growing, especially in rural areas. To address this increasing need and prevent any potential scarcity, the Countywide Sanitation Activity (CWSA) responded by importing 6,000 SaTo stools, as the SaTo pans are still in stock and not in demand compared to the stools. The products arrived in Liberia on July 9, 2024, and have since been distributed across CWSA sales hubs in the five intervention counties mentioned.
Since the SaTo product was introduced in Liberia by CWSA in 2022, the consortium has imported a total of 15,460 units (8,930 stools and 6,530 pans). Population Services International (PSI), as the lead for the CWSA Consortium, is making concerted efforts to ensure that distribution hubs across the intervention counties remain well-stocked with the products. One key initiative being considered to ensure the availability of SaTo products is the establishment of partnerships with local manufacturers in Liberia for production of SaTo products in the country to reduce reliance on importation.
When people are denied access to gainful employment in their community and lack the capital to start their own businesses, it severely impacts their livelihoods and futures. This is why the Countywide Sanitation Activity (CWSA) is committed to empowering people, particularly youth and women, by training them to become artisans in toilet product fabrication, installation, and sanitation market development. These efforts not only provide a means of earning a living for them but also support CWSA’s goal of permanently ending open defecation in five counties: Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Grand Bassa, and rural Montserrado.
In August 2024, CWSA trained 181 artisans across seven districts in Lofa County: Salayea, Quardu Gbondi, Zorzor, Voinjama, Kolahun, Foya and Vahun. The first three days of the training focused on creating toilet products using locally available materials such as banana waste, rice straw, wood dust, charcoal, and coconut fiber for bio-digesters, as well as bamboo twigs for constructing slabs and roofing of toilet structures. The last three days of the training concentrated on the door-to-door sales science, which placed particular emphasis on the various techniques that artisans can use to sell the Quee Toilets product in communities. During this session, artisans were trained to use the problem-led sales approach to initiate conversations that would encourage families to mention their challenges in not having improved toilets. This approach allows artisans to diagnose the underlying issues that are preventing families from having improved toilets. By understanding these challenges, artisans can effectively present the Quee Toilet as an affordable and practical solution for households.
After the theoretical session, the artisans were taken to the community for practical field experience. They engaged households and highlighted the benefits of purchasing and installing the Quee Toilet, emphasizing the potential high costs families without a toilet might incur. These costs include the presence of roaches, unpleasant odors, and flies which could lead to preventable diseases like malaria, typhoid, and diarrhea. The practical field visit session during the Zorzor training led to the successful sale of 24 Quee Toilets by artisans, 15 of which were installed at various households on the same day.
The USAID-funded Countywide Sanitation Activity (CWSA) aims to achieve a permanent end to open defecation (OD) across five counties in Liberia: Montserrado (rural), Bong, Lofa, Nimba, and Grand Bassa.
The objective of ending OD permanently will be accomplished through a coordinated network of public, private, and community actors, enabling Liberian households, to build improved toilets. The five-year project was awarded to Population Services International (PSI), which leads a consortium of organizations including Concern Worldwide, Athena Infonomics, and Gusceman Incorporated. This award runs from September 1, 2022 through September 30, 2027.
The consortium will achieve its project objective through interventions in the following four result areas:
Contact:
Learning and Communications Manager, CWSA
Mathew Ndote
Chief of Party, CWSA
