Grow Better With Arborloo

Haiti's forest cover is less than 2%. The main cause of this degradation is the exploitation of forests for charcoal production for cooking and income. Reforestation campaigns are often a failure given the already advanced state of soil erosion. Grow Better With Arborloo is a community-based, inclusive solution that encourages farmers to participate in reforestation. Farmers build arborloo composting toilets that they then use for market gardening, fruit tree planting and forestry. The compost enriches the soil and promotes the success of the plantations and the increase in market gardening yields. Our solution is a sustainable strategy in the context of countries where there is land fragmentation and sanitation issues, because one billion people worldwide do not have access to sanitation infrastructure, and instead practice open defecation in pits and drains.

Soil resources in Haiti are extremely poor with soil increasingly degraded by erosion resulting from deforestation of up to 70% of forest cover and excessive use of chemical inputs. Farm land is increasingly fragmented in order to perpetuate the family inheritance. In the rural Grand'Anse region each peasant owns 0.5 hectare of land on average. This lack of land prevents agricultural autonomy. The farmer is often unable to afford many expenses. Chemical fertilizers combined with pesticides are estimated to account for almost a third of farm expenses.

On the other hand, there is the problem of contaminated water resources due to open defecation. In Haiti, nearly 30% of the population defecates in the open air. The prevalence is even higher in rural areas such as Pestel where the population is around 50,000. Approximately 946 million people or 13% of the world's population, practised open defecation in 2015 contaminating many of the world’s water sources. Childhood (0 to 5 years) mortality in Haiti, although improving since 2010, remains near 6.5%, more than 2.5 times neighboring Dominican Republic. This is largely due to water-borne diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia.

Grow Better With Arborloo is a strategic solution implemented in the Pestel commune of Haiti that uses human excreta through composting and appropriate agro-ecological measures to reduce the destruction of the region's vegetation cover and the loss of farmers' agricultural productivity. We have assisted more than 200 farmers in setting up this system.

The solution is based on 3 fundamental components:

1.-) Presenting the technique to farmers, its advantages and disadvantages through awareness sessions, the solution targets mainly farmers who do not have toilets, but is also open to others. The Arborloo consists of a single shallow compost pit for short term use and a slab with a light superstructure. The pit is 1-1.5 m deep and has a diameter of 0.8 m.

2.-) Accompany farmers in the design of arborloo toilets. The toilets are mostly made of local materials, so they are easily replicable. A survey of the plots is also carried out to check the depth of excavation and proximity to water resources;

3.-) Knowledge sharing among technology users and continuous learning about agricultural crops, yields and environmental protection.

Youthaiti has been working in Pestel commune since 2008 implementing arboloo ecological toilets in households without access to water.  Eighty percent of the population of  50,000 inhabitants are subsistence farmers living in isolated, rural communities. The average number of children per family is five.  Youthaiti supports a group of local farmers in sanitation, reforestation, and the establishment of gardens that use compost from human excreta. The population and the community leaders are very involved in the project. Decision-making is done in consultation with the community.  Due to limited financing, projects have required buy-in and in-kind contributions from participants.  This has created increased value to the participants. The farmers have set up an association to facilitate reflection on various other practices that can be associated with the use of human excreta compost but also for community dissemination. The farmers become less dependent on chemical fertilizers, which are very expensive and difficult to obtain. In addition their garden production has increased, and they have usable toilets.

Our solution is a sustainable food system that promotes agricultural production and increases the economic profitability by cancelling the cost of chemical fertilizers. This system protects the environment by increasing the vegetation cover provided by fruit and forest trees, facilitates social cohesion through exchanges and learning. It also helps to reduce the risk of contamination of water resources. Our solution contributes to solving two problems crucial to sustainable development: low purchasing power and soil degradation. The target population consists of farmers who are the main users of natural resources and are one of the priority groups to solve the problem.

Our solution is based on a known problem in the community, which is the need for toilets, to turn it into a strategy to have several lasting effects. In concrete terms, our solution solves two crucial problems: access to toilets, which reduces open defecation in the area and therefore contamination, and enriches the soil with nutrients to increase agricultural production. This aspect of toilet use is not exploited anywhere in Haiti and is a key solution in communities.

Generally, community-based interventions do not allow people to contribute to development, they are often spontaneous and limited in time, our solution has been developed with local people and in addition to meeting targeted needs, it also encourages people to contribute to the provision of toilets, this is also important for sustainability.

Our solution highlights two types of technology: construction with local materials and biodegradation of human faeces for fertilization.

For the construction of the toilets, lime, which is a local material, was used as a binder instead of cement, and priority was given to using local sand instead of importing materials from cities that provide the same service at higher costs. Farmers are also encouraged, where possible, to make roofs using palm leaves or coconut palms. This strategy facilitates the sustainability of our solution, as an arborloo toilet that is totally built with materials purchased in town costs around US$175, while when local materials are prioritized, the cost drops to US$60. Each Arborloo latrine consists of 3 distinct parts: the pit, the footrest and the shelter. To prevent odours and flies, a layer of soil and ash is applied after each pass. 

The second technology used is the biodegradation of human faeces. It's an anaerobic decomposition process. Leaves or grass are used sparingly, this facilitates the conversion of nitrogen into nitrates usable by plants. The arborloo latrine can operate for 4 to 6 months and until the pit is  ¾ full. Once the shelter and footrest are removed, the pit is covered with soil if the objective is to plant fruit or forest trees, but when the objective is to amend the crops, the compost will be removed 6 months later. After this time, we have good organic matter ready to fertilize the soil.

Our "Grow Better With Arborloo" technology solution is based on an approach that is globally justified for its economic and ecological benefits. The Arborloo latrine is an ecological toilet treating human excreta as a valued resource and a source of revenue. Based on the utilisation of materials available locally, this cost effective and affordable technology is within the reach of everyone, even the poorest. 

https://www.joinforwater.ngo/s... , 

Arborloo latrines, designed by Peter Morgan in Zimbabwe, are environmentally friendly and cost-effective toilets that can be used in rural and peri-urban areas and that have been widely used throughout Africa. (https://www.joinforwater.ngo/s... https://www.ircwash.org/sites/...

Studies have been carried out on the contribution of compost from faeces to plant nutrients. Results showed that soil containing compost from arborloo toilets is 7 times richer in nitrogen, 6 times richer in phosphorus and nearly 5 times richer in potassium. See pages 33, 34 of https://www.geozentrum-hannove...

While the arborloo approach is mainly limited to tree planting, our approach opens the framework for fertilization for market garden production. Many articles have demonstrated that compost from faeces is a good source of Potassium and Phosphorus for horticulture and is even suitable for Eastern European climate conditions. https://www.researchgate.net/p...

The spread of diseases such as digestive disorders, diarrhoea, and low agricultural production are the main problems identified in the community. Contamination of water by faecal matter is one of the main causes of recorded diseases. Our solution of building ecological toilets addresses this problem and then links it to agricultural production. As many toilets as there are built, there will be fewer cases of open defecation, and it will be easier to collect these excreta to make compost for soil fertility improvement.  

(1) Farmers shall be provided with a place for defecation.

(2) Improvement of sanitary conditions, since there will be less contamination by bacteria, etc.

(3) Obtaining cheap compost rich in nutrients such as N, P, K for crops

(4) Increasing soil productivity

(5) Conservation of the soil resource by maintaining chemical fertility

Our solution will have lasting impacts for the following reasons:

(1) It was the result of an inclusive and participatory community diagnosis and therefore reflects the needs of the population.

(2) Our solution has been implemented in several regions internationally and has yielded good results.

(3) Our solution facilitates support and monitoring at all levels of the implementation and composting activities. Dialogue and constructive sharing are also favoured.

(4) Emphasis is placed on outreach within community and state bodies.

The solution is currently being implemented with 320 beneficiaries, they have built their arborloo toilets with the help of the project's technicians, we follow up with them in terms of maintenance, composting and incorporation into the gardens.

Next year, the solution will integrate 100 new farmers who have already been identified on the basis of certain vulnerability criteria such as the absence of toilets (these farmers defecate in the open air), the number of dependent children, the age and the amount of land they own. The small area is a factor of poverty because it does not allow the farmer to be economically self-sufficient, so priority is given to farmers with small plots of land. In some cases, nearby farmers are inclined to use a toilet in pairs. 

In 5 years, we will have increased our community extension capacity, we could reach 5000 farmers at 500 per year, five times our current capacity. 

Our medium-term objective, in one year's time, is to reach 100 new farmers for the implementation of new ecological toilets, but also to form an Arborloo network where sharing experiences will be a key element. Our objective for the next 5 years is part of the overall objective of the solution which is the implementation of a functional Arborloo network throughout the country (rural communities specifically) validated by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Haiti has a population of 11 million people, 2/3 of whom live in rural areas, which are the poorest and lack health infrastructures. Our vision is to reach the 4 million people who live in rural areas with no latrines and who are engaged in agriculture. Concretely, these millions of people will have access to toilets built with local materials. Over the next 5 years, we will have strengthened our network at the local and regional level with approximately 5,000 beneficiaries, and created new skills for capitalization in other rural areas.

Urbanization remains the biggest challenge for our project in the long term. With urbanization, more and more city dwellers come to build in remote areas. Two phenomena occur: the agricultural area is reduced which sometimes forces farmers to emigrate to the capital, and secondly with urbanization there is a deconstruction of ecological toilets, modern flush toilets are prioritized. However, in areas without running water supply this is impractical. In 5 years, there will certainly be more roads built, which will increase the influx of people. 

Financially, we are dependent on donors, our funds come mostly from individual donations in the USA. Often it is difficult to raise funds for the construction of our ecological toilets and to support farmers. This is even more difficult now with the Covid-19 crisis which may last a long time. The only cultural barrier we face is getting people to accept to compost their faeces, they still see human faeces as unpleasant to see and that agricultural products fed with the compost of human faeces are infective and useless for agriculture.

The third constraint is to get our approach accepted by the national structures of the Ministry of Environment, which is important to reach millions of people in the country who need this change. This requires very lengthy discussions with those concerned, but the validation process is slow and political instability is aggravating the situation.

To overcome the first barrier of urbanization, there will be a strong emphasis on community outreach. Posters will be made showing the importance of soil resource conservation for agriculture, but emphasis will also be placed on the use of arborloo toilets, that this approach can be suitable for any level of development.  

On the financial level, as part of our project, we intend to set up a sustainable self-financing mechanism, which means making people responsible for the arborloo toilet and composting activities. On the other hand, we are gradually positioning ourselves as a supplier to other institutions that wish to use our know-how. By working with the Ministry of Agriculture to endow recipients with skills and provide them with forest seedlings allows us to release funds to support our projects in the communities. We are involved in capacity building through awareness-raising, training and monitoring. This is one of the reasons that led us to prioritize the use of local materials to reduce the construction costs of arborloo toilets.

The cultural barrier is gradually being broken down with good upstream awareness. Farmers, initially reluctant, always manage to understand the benefits of composting faecal matter when the basis of plant nutrition, nutrient requirements and plant physiology is technically demonstrated.

For the official validation, we currently have a partnership with the Ministry of
Agriculture on a project to supply forest and fruit seedlings to local farmers. We'll start from the local level and work our way up to the national level.

We currently have 12 staff in Duchity,  1/2 of them are part-time.  We have 4 in our Agronomy dept and 3 'toilet technicians' who are also community educators.  The remainder include our Program director and support/maintenance staff. Stateside, we are all volunteers. We have a board of 9, 3 of whom are Haitians.

Firstly, our staff is very diverse in terms of the skills required to implement this solution. We have several agronomists on our team, one of them has a master's degree in natural resource conservation in Belgium. We also have construction technicians.

Secondly, our staff share a common objective, which is community development through the strengthening of agriculture. We have 21 Haitian volunteers with 13 from the intervention area. They are usually employees of other institutions with other skills that are useful for the implementation of our project. This is a key example of local reinforcement from local human resources. Our team has been working in the area for about 10 years, we have a good experience of the needs of the area. This solution is the result of a community diagnosis that our team carried out which showed that agriculture and sanitation are the central elements on which we must act. We exist as a community organization recognized by Haitian law and the community.

Youthaiti has a partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) of Haiti. The Ministry is implementing a project called PITAG (Programme for Technological Innovation in Agriculture and Agroforestry). We are the leader in the geographic area of intervention in terms of technical resources. Youthaiti provides coffee seedlings, forest and fruit trees to the Ministry for distribution to local farmers. This allows us to have some income to subsidize our arborloo activities when fundraising periods are difficult. 

Farmers, households, are the target group of our solution. We build arboloo toilets for the beneficiaries, but the solution is implemented with them. We provide them with technical support by mobilizing funds, the beneficiaries are responsible for a good part of the tasks such as providing our technicians with local materials, etc. Households increasingly ask for our assistance in building new toilets, because they have seen the results of the beneficiaries, which can be summarized below :

(1) Beneficiaries have usable toilets, which reduces cases of contamination through open defecation ;
(2) The capacity of the beneficiaries is strengthened on the technique of construction of arboloo toilets, some build for other people what becomes a source of income:
(3) Beneficiaries are provided with nutrient-rich composts for plant nutrition.
(4) Soil productivity has increased in the beneficiaries' gardens.
In short, our solution has a positive impact on the quality of life of our target population.

This application aligns with our goal of popularizing our solution. This application first of all allows to demonstrate the impacts of ecological toilets, but mainly to highlight a strategy based on two pillars: construction and composting, and which allows to solve a very complex problem in Haiti: open defecation. Our solution is the first in Haiti to address this complex problem and provide a sustainable solution. Solve brings together several solutions and several specialists in different fields. This will give us visibility but also allow us to discuss with donors who wish to provide technical or financial support to achieve the desired change. 

Solve will allow us to overcome two barriers:
The advice of specialists in the field can be useful in order to perfect our solution, therefore has a direct link with the performance of ecological toilets for a reduction in cases of contamination, and/or a better treatment of excreta matter for a more effective use of composts. 
Solve could also help to have financial partnerships that would overcome the financial barrier.

Our partnership goals extend over three levels: local, national and international.

At the local level, we work with local authorities who help us in the selection of the beneficiaries of our solution but also represent the government at the local level, so this allows us to have a first level of validation. We have a partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, which we intend to strengthen and extend to other ministries (environment) and community organizations.
At the national level, we target NGOs working in the health and environment/agricultural sector for synergies.
At the international level, there is interest in donors for sustainable financing, thematic orientations or to develop synergies.

Our partners can be of various kinds: NGOs, foundations, universities and faculties, associations, etc. We are developing a solution focused on the protection of natural resources, the development of agriculture and the limitation of contamination rates. This covers several areas including health, agricultural and community development, and the environment. 

A partnership can help our staff for capacity building, in the case of faculties, or thematic development of our solution, or to ensure sustainable funding through which phase objectives are established.