Development of a business model for FSM (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh has attained 99% of sanitation coverage with onsite sanitation technologies but the importance given to faecal sludge management (FSM) is very negligible and has caused negative effects on public and environmental health. This study focused on documenting the FSM practices of the stakeholders in Kushtia Municipality, financial flows in the existing FSM and suggesting an appropriate financial flow model for the municipality. Also, it provided recommendations on improving FSM services in Kushtia Municipality. Primary data was collected for this research using key informant interviews, joint stakeholder meetings and focus group discussions. It was shown that the demand for faecal sludge emptying in the municipality was large but the municipality was not able to fulfil the demand as there was no FSM department to plan and execute the emptying and transport (E&T) operations in the municipality with the available resources. The existing financial flow model of the municipality was incurring a loss of 4,465 USD per year in E&T (operated by the municipality) and a profit of 578 USD per year from treatment and reuse (operated by a private company). A new financial model, modified parallel tax and discharge fee model, was therefore created for the context of the municipality and it will generate a net profit of 49,861 USD per year in E&T while the net profit of the private company will remain unchanged at 578 USD per year. Awareness creation, formation of a dedicated wing for FSM, and increased coverage of service delivery were some of the activities recommended to achieve better FSM services in the municipality.