Effectiveness of a sanitation marketing approach in rural Papua New Guinea: The ATProjects Round Loo programme

This research project identifies core components of a sanitation marketing approach and lessons learnt from international experiences. These are used to assess the effectiveness of the Round Loo sanitation marketing programme implemented by ATProjects in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The case study employs research workshops, semi-structured interviews and direct observation of the installed products. The research finds that a number of the components of a sanitation marketing programme are in place and those yet to be implemented are formative research, a marketing plan and political engagement. Similarly the Round Loo programme follows some but not all of the international lessons. The main strength of the programme is the diversity of skills within the team, covering product design and promotional material development. Areas for further strengthening include identifying business-oriented sales outlets, removing the hardware subsidy, increasing the number of products and building feedback loops to understand customer’s experiences.