User-acceptance of sanitation technologies in South Africa and Malawi

Abstract

There is a great need for the planning and implementation of sanitation technologies (STs) to take into consideration the user-acceptance factor and, therefore, limit resource wastage. This article aims to determine whether the pattern of relative importance of the factors that affect sanitation technology user-acceptance (STUA) is similar across study areas located in South Africa and Malawi with respect to the STs rolled out. Information from the study is especially critical for resource conservation, considering the recent relatively poor performance of the South African economy (a 7% slump) in 2020. Desktop research methods, using data from previous studies, were used to perform an analysis of the significance of the underlying factors that influence STUA. These were based on a systematic review that uses a structured protocol for literature review, together with the snowball approach. The methodology proposed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) under the sanitation suitability index was used to perform the sanitation technology comparisons. This article adds value to previous research in that, unlike previous research studies, it considers several relevant researched technologies to establish whether there exist similar patterns of relative significance of factors that influence STUA. Reliability, health, user- and technical acceptability were the predominant influencers of STUA. Education, training, and technical support are necessary throughout the sanitation project life cycle.