Duration: 2-3 months

Markets are not a magic bullet solution – SanMark may not be suitable for every environment. So how do you know if SanMark is right for your country and context? The very first step is to assess broad market and partnership conditions before deciding whether and where to move forward.

Tips:

• Start SanMark where conditions for market growth are favourable and the approach is most likely to succeed. Typically, these will be areas close to roads and market centres where population densities are higher, improved coverage is low and where some existing businesses and markets are working.  Very remote places where there is no market activity are probably not the best places to start.  Remember: SanMark strategies will help supply chains and businesses grow and expand to harder-to-reach places over time.
• Because SanMark is new, you may need to build understanding among sector stakeholders about what a market-based approach is (and is not). Remember: SanMark and Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) are compatible and consistent, but favourable conditions for the two approaches can differ. And while the goals and principles of CLTS and SanMark are complementary, there are operational differences related to start-up, geographic scale, timing and required skills. So avoid treating SanMark as simply a supply-side ‘add-on’ to CLTS.

Deciding if and where to start:

1. Make a Go/No Go decision: Consult available secondary data and talk to stakeholders to see if market, government, and partner conditions are generally favourable for trying SanMark in your country. Work with national government to build understanding. Use the checklist of favourable conditions in UNICEF Guidance Note 1 to decide.
2. Select provinces/districts with more favourable market conditions for ‘proof of concept’ piloting: Look at your existing program communities to see if favourable market conditions exist (and if not, consider choosing other areas). Consider the level of interest of local government leadership and how to engage them in this new approach.
3. Narrow down further to select the most favourable target area for piloting. Within a province or district, work with government staff to select an area with the most favourable market conditions for initial piloting. Your initial geographic area should have a large enough market size - perhaps about 200-500 villages that are within close proximity to each other and not too far from roads and market centres.

Slides

Introduction to Sanitation Marketing (490 KB)

Assessing Favourable Conditions (1117 KB)

Webinar 1, Jenkins and Pedi, SanMark principles and practices (388 KB)

Documents

WSP, 2011, Introductory guide to Sanitation Marketing (4109 KB)

Sanitation Marketing for Managers, USAID-HIP, 2010 (1817 KB)

UNICEF Guidance Note 1 Situational Analysis (324 KB)

Achieving the good life, latrines in rural Benin, Jenkins Curtis (221 KB)

Cairncross, 2004, WSP -The Case for Marketing Sanitation (630 KB)

Demand assessment for sanitary latrines in rural and urban areas of Cambodia, WSP, 2007 (843 KB)

Doing business with the poor - A field guide, WBCSD, 2004 (1515 KB)

Market led approaches to rural sanitation (4440 KB)

Rural sanitation supply chain brief, SNV and IRC, 2012 (472 KB)

USAID, 2009, Sanitation Bibliography (96 KB)

Waterlines, 2006, WELL Fact Sheet - The process for SanMark (1199 KB)

WHO, 2005, Sanitation and Hygeine Promotion - Programming Guidance (680 KB)

WSP, 2012, What does it take to scale-up rural sanitation (3612 KB)