From subsidizing to segmenting: the changing role of non-governmental organizations in sanitation provision

Business-as-usual in the sanitation sector has traditionally involved government or non-government organizational supply-led strategies focusing on maximizing one-off beneficiaries through subsidization of hardware. Recently, a methodological shift has occurred focusing on more demand-responsive approaches that prioritize sustainability not only of infrastructure, but of processes as well. Promoting a sustainable sanitation process is distinct from subsidizing toilets. Market segmentation-the process of dividing communities into semi-homogenous groups based upon their demand characteristics- is a tool often utilized throughout the commercial sector, but has not been documented extensively as a population-demand assessment strategy in the sanitation development sector. This paper describes Water For People’s experience segmenting a population in Majes, Peru, with the eventual goal of designing sustainable sanitation process methodologies by assisting businesses to better respond to diverse demand characteristics in a given population. It is hoped that this experience will contribute to better understanding sanitation demand characteristics worldwide.