Sanitation Progress in a Tough Physical Terrain: Belegete Community, Obanliku LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria

This case study focused on the adaptations made to implementation approaches during the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN) Programme that ensured the inclusion of the remote, hard-to-reach village of Belegete in Becheve Council ward of Obanliku Local Government Area (LGA), Cross River State, Nigeria in Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) programming.

Belegete is located at the border of Nigeria and Cameroon on a lowland tropical rainforest surrounded by high-peak mountains and rivers. Belegete entails a 10-hour hike over 10 kilometres of bush tracks that run through mountains, valleys, forests and a river crossing. Construction of toilets is an extremely difficult task due to the rocky terrain. Successful adaptations included increasing the budget to enable a team of facilitators to be resident in Belegete for a minimum of one week at each visit, as the typical daily visits were impossible due to the remoteness. Facilitators were compensated for the extra days spent in the community as well as travel costs. The approach also helped build trust with the communities and increased programme staff understanding of the culture. Returning to the village for the case study revealed that stronger post-ODF support was required as household toilets filled up quickly as the rocky soil meant they were not an ideal depth, and pits were never re-dug or emptied.